Kevin J. Kelley is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

lawyer and politician in Cleveland, Ohio who served as the president of

Cleveland City Council Cleveland City Council is the legislative branch of government for the City of Cleveland, Ohio. Its chambers are located at Cleveland City Hall at 601 Lakeside Avenue, across the street from Public Auditorium in Downtown Cleveland. Cleveland Ci ...

from 2014 to 2022. In Council, he represented Ward 13 (Cleveland's

Old Brooklyn Old Brooklyn is a neighborhood on the West Side of Cleveland, Ohio, United States, located approximately five miles south of downtown Cleveland. It extends east-to-west from the Cuyahoga River to the city of Brooklyn and north-to-south from the ...

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

) from 2005 to 2022.

Biography

Born in Cleveland to Catholic

Irish American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

parents, Kelley earned his BA from Marquette University, a master's degree in social work from

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

, and a JD degree Magna Cum Laude from

Cleveland State University Cleveland State University (CSU) is a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1964 and opened for classes in 1965 after acquiring the entirety of Fenn College, a private school that had been in operation since 1923. ...

Cleveland–Marshall College of Law Cleveland State University College of Law is the law school of Cleveland State University, a public research university in Cleveland, Ohio. The school traces its origins to Cleveland Law School (founded in 1897), which merged in 1946 with the Jo ...

. He met his wife while working for the

Jesuit Volunteer Corps The Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) is an organization of lay volunteers who volunteer one year or more to community service with poor communities. JVC works in inner city neighborhoods and rural communities in about 36 different cities throughout ...

. On April 8, 2021, Kelley announced his candidacy for

Mayor of Cleveland The mayor of Cleveland is the head of the executive branch of Local government in the United States, government of the Cleveland, City of Cleveland, Ohio. As the chief executive in Cleveland's Mayor–council government#Strong-mayor government fo ...

in the

2021 Cleveland mayoral election The 2021 Cleveland mayoral election took place on November 2, 2021, to elect the Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. The election was officially nonpartisan, with the top two candidates from the September 14 primary election advancing to the general elec ...

. On September 14, 2021 Kelley came second in the mayoral primary, advancing him to the general election alongside nonprofit executive Justin Bibb. Kelley lost to Bibb with 37% of the vote in the November 2 general election.

Electoral history

References

External links

Kevin Kelley for Mayor of Cleveland
21st-century American politicians American people of Irish descent Candidates in the 2021 United States elections Cleveland City Council members Living people Ohio Democrats Year of birth missing (living people) {{ohio-politician-stub