Rae Ann Gummer Kelsch (November 16, 1959 – October 30, 2018) was an American politician.

Biography

Kelsch was born in

Mayville, North Dakota Mayville is a city in Traill County, North Dakota, Traill County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 1,854 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. which makes Mayville the largest community in Traill County. Mayville was founde ...

. She received her bachelor's degree in business administration from the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

. She contested her first state election legislative election in 1990, serving on the

North Dakota House of Representatives The North Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly and is larger than the North Dakota Senate. North Dakota is divided into between 40 and 54 legislative districts apportioned by population as d ...

starting in 1991 until losing reelection in 2012, when it was reported that she had not filed state income tax returns for seven years. Kelsch's husband Thomas said he was responsible for the couple's tax problems and the tax bill was eventually paid. After leaving the state legislature, Kelsch worked for the

National Federation of Independent Business The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is an association of small businesses in the United States. It is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, with offices in Washington, D.C., and all 50 state capitals. The goal of NFIB is to ad ...

. Kelsch died, aged 58, in New Orleans of a bacterial infection on October 30, 2018, after consuming raw

oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

References

1959 births 2018 deaths People from Mandan, North Dakota People from Traill County, North Dakota Businesspeople from North Dakota Republican Party members of the North Dakota House of Representatives Women state legislators in North Dakota University of North Dakota alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American women 21st-century American women {{NorthDakota-politician-stub