Robin Lynne Kelly (born April 30, 1956) is an American politician from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

who has served as the U.S. representative from since 2013. A Democrat, Kelly served in the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

from 2003 to 2007. She then served as chief of staff for

Illinois State Treasurer The Treasurer of Illinois is an elected official of the U.S. state of Illinois. The office was created by the Constitution of Illinois. Current Occupant The current Treasurer of Illinois is Democrat Mike Frerichs. He was first elected to head ...

Alexi Giannoulias Alexi is a given name that is a variant or nickname of Alexander or Alexandra. Notable people with the name include: Men * Alexi Laiho (1979–2020), full name Markku Uula Aleksi Laiho, Finnish singer, composer, and guitarist of the death metal ...

until 2010. She was the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Democratic nominee for state treasurer, but lost the general election. Before running for Congress, Kelly served as the

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

chief administrative officer. After winning the Democratic primary, she won the 2013 special election to succeed

Jesse Jackson Jr. Jesse Louis Jackson Jr. (born March 11, 1965) is an American politician. He served as the U.S. representative from from 1995 until his resignation in 2012. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the son of activist and former presidential cand ...

in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early life and education

The daughter of a grocer, Robin Lynne Kelly was born in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

on April 30, 1956. Hoping to become a child

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the pre ...

, she attended

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,400 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in five colleges. Th ...

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Ce ...

, where she was a member of

Sigma Gamma Rho Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority, international collegiate, and non-profit community service organization that was founded on November 12, 1922, by seven educators on the Irvington campus (1875– ...

sorority. At Bradley, she obtained her

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in psychology (1977/1978) and her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in counseling (1982). While in Peoria, she directed a "crisis nursery" and worked in a hospital. Kelly earned her Ph.D. in political science from

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

in 2004.

Early career

From 1992 through 2006, Kelly served as a director of community affairs in Matteson.

Illinois House of Representatives

Elections

In 2002, Kelly defeated a ten-year incumbent Illinois state representative in the Democratic primary. In November, she defeated Republican Kitty Watson, 81%–19%. In 2004, she won reelection to a second term, defeating Republican Jack McInerney, 86%–14%. In 2006, she won reelection to a third term unopposed.

Committee assignments

*Appropriations-Human Services *Housing & Urban Development *International Trade & Commerce *Local Government *Mass Transit (Vice Chair) *Para-transit *Whole

State and county government

In January 2007, Kelly resigned her House seat to become chief of staff to

Illinois Treasurer The Treasurer of Illinois is an elected official of the U.S. state of Illinois. The office was created by the Constitution of Illinois. Current Occupant The current Treasurer of Illinois is Democrat Mike Frerichs. He was first elected to head ...

. She was the first African-American woman to serve as chief of staff to an elected constitutional statewide officeholder. Kelly was appointed Cook County President

Toni Preckwinkle Toni Lynn Preckwinkle (née Reed; born March 17, 1947) is an American politician and the current County Board President in Cook County, Illinois, United States. She was first elected as President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, the ...

's chief administrative officer in 2011.

2010 Illinois treasurer election

In 2010, Kelly ran for

Illinois treasurer The Treasurer of Illinois is an elected official of the U.S. state of Illinois. The office was created by the Constitution of Illinois. Current Occupant The current Treasurer of Illinois is Democrat Mike Frerichs. He was first elected to head ...

. In the Democratic primary, she defeated founding member and senior executive of the

Transportation Security Administration The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that has authority over the security of transportation systems within, and connecting to the United States. It was created ...

Justin Oberman, 58%–42%. She won most of the counties in the state, including

with 59% of the vote. In the November general election, Republican State Senator

Dan Rutherford Dan Rutherford (born May 26, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd Treasurer of Illinois from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the Illinois State Senator from the 53rd district from 2003 to 2011 a ...

defeated her 50%–45%. She won just six of the state's 102 counties: Cook (62%),

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

(52%), Gallatin (51%), St. Clair (50%), Calhoun (49%), and Rock Island (48%).

U.S. House of Representatives

2013 congressional election

Kelly entered the field for

Illinois's 2nd congressional district Illinois's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Illinois. Based in the south suburbs of Chicago, the district includes southern Cook county, eastern Will county, and Kankakee county, as well as the city ...

after Democrat

resigned three weeks after being elected to a tenth term. On February 11, 2013, two Chicago-based Democratic congressmen,

Bobby Rush Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician, activist and pastor who served as the U.S. representative for for three decades. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Black Pant ...

and

Danny K. Davis Daniel K. Davis (born September 6, 1941) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative from , elected in 1996. The district serves much of western Chicago, including the Loop. It also includes several of Chicago's inner western subur ...

, endorsed her. On February 13, U.S. Representative

Jan Schakowsky Janice Schakowsky ( ; née Danoff; born May 26, 1944) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. representative from since 1999. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district is anchored in Chicago's North Side, including mu ...

endorsed Kelly. A few days later,

New York City Mayor The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a c ...

endorsed her and committed $2 million in TV ads supporting her by highlighting Kelly's opposition to the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while cont ...

. She was also endorsed by the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

''. On February 17, State Senator Toi Hutchinson decided to drop out to endorse Kelly. On February 26, Kelly won the Democratic primary in the heavily Democratic, black-majority district with 52% of the vote. In the April 9 general election, she defeated Republican community activist Paul McKinley and a variety of independent candidates with around 71% of the vote.

Tenure

Kelly took office on April 9, 2013, and was sworn in on April 11.

Committee assignments

Robin Kelly and Steve Chabot celebrate their legislation

Committee on Energy and Commerce A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

(vice chair) ** Subcommittee on Communications and Technology ** Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce **

Subcommittee on Health The U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health is a subcommittee within the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Jurisdiction The House Subcommittee on Health has general jurisdiction over bills and resolutions relating to pub ...

* Committee on Oversight and Reform ** Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Caucus memberships

Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is a caucus made up of most African-American members of the United States Congress. Representative Karen Bass from California chaired the caucus from 2019 to 2021; she was succeeded by Representative Joyce B ...

* Medicare for All Caucus

Personal life

Kelly lives in Matteson with her husband, Nathaniel Horn.

Electoral history

References

External links

Congresswoman Robin Kelly
official U.S. House website
Robin Kelly for Congress
* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Robin 1956 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American state legislators in Illinois African-American women in politics Bradley University alumni Bradley University people County officials in Illinois Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois Female members of the United States House of Representatives Living people Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives Northern Illinois University alumni People from Matteson, Illinois Women state legislators in Illinois 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women Illinois Democratic Party chairs

Early life and education

Early career

Illinois House of Representatives

Elections

Committee assignments

State and county government

2010 Illinois treasurer election

U.S. House of Representatives

2013 congressional election

Tenure

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Personal life

Electoral history

See also

References

External links