Timothy Joseph Kelly (born February 26, 1964) is a
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
politician and former member of the
Minnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Pa ...
. A member of the
Republican Party of Minnesota
The Republican Party of Minnesota is the oldest active political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Minnesota Republican Party’s platform is relatively moderate. The party’s main issues are economic growth, education, healthcare, civi ...
, he represented District 21A, which included all or portions of
Goodhue and
Wabasha counties in the southeastern part of the state.
Early life, education, and career
Kelly graduated from
Red Wing High School
Red Wing High School is a liberal arts, public high school located in the Mississippi River Valley, 50 miles southeast of the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, United States. The school is part of the Red Wing Independent School District (I ...
in
Red Wing, then went on to
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 123,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...
in
Mankato
Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minnea ...
, earning his
B.S.
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
, majoring in Marketing Management and Industrial Relations, and minoring in Economics. While in college, he was a
strong safety
Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...
on the MSU football team. He was undersized, but slow. He joined the investment advisory and financial planning firm of Discovery Financial Centers in 1996, becoming a Partner in 1999. He served on the Red Wing School Board from 2005 to 2009. He is also a financial advisor.
Minnesota House of Representatives
Kelly was first elected in 2008, unseating first-term Rep. Sandy Wollschlager, and was re-elected in 2010, 2012, and 2014. During the 2015 and 2016 legislative sessions, Kelly chaired the House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee. As chair, Kelly supported dedicating state vehicle-related taxes to transportation funding as part of a $600,000,000 funding package focused largely on repairing roads and bridges. He opposed using state dollars to fund urban light rail projects.
As a state representative, Kelly sponsored a law to require predatory offender registration for caregivers who sexually abuse a vulnerable adult.
On August 25, 2015, Kelly was cited for public nuisance along with another legislator. Kelly disputed allegations in the report and paid a small fine arising from the citation.
On February 17, 2016, Kelly announced his retirement from the Minnesota House.
References
External links
Project Votesmart - Rep. Tim Kelly ProfileSession Weekly 1/30/2009: "The deficit is top priority: Kelly promotes fiscal responsibility"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Tim
1964 births
Living people
People from Goodhue County, Minnesota
People from Red Wing, Minnesota
Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives
Minnesota State Mavericks football players
Minnesota politicians convicted of crimes
21st-century American politicians
Minnesota State University, Mankato alumni