A graduate of Bradley University is one of three front-runners for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in Illinois.
U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, who serves the 2nd Congressional District that stretches from Chicago to Danville, is running for the seat vacated by longtime Sen. Dick Durbin alongside fellow Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of the 8th Congressional District and Lieutenant Gov. Juliana Stratton, among others.
Here’s a look at Robin Kelly’s background and campaign:
What did Robin Kelly do before becoming a congresswoman?
Kelly didn’t grow up in Illinois. Rather, she was a product of Harlem, graduating from Rhodes Prep High School in New York in 1973 before deciding to attend Bradley with dreams of becoming a child psychologist.
She got her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1977 and a master’s in counseling in 1982, becoming the director of a crisis nursery and even working in a hospital. She even worked at Bradley as a director of minority student services.
At one point in her life, she was running a youth shelter in Greenwich, Conn., closer to her New York home. By the early 1990s, however, she returned to Illinois, settling in Matteson, a suburb south of Chicago, to work as the village’s director of community affairs.
While she worked for the village, Kelly took her first stab into politics in 2002, running for the Illinois General Assembly in the 38th Legislative District. In the heavily Democratic seat, Kelly knocked off Harold Murphy, an incumbent who had served for over a decade, in the primary before winning the seat in November.
Kelly would serve two terms in the General Assembly and had been elected for a third in 2006 before being tabbed by then-Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias to serve as his chief of staff. Her appointment made history, as she became the first Black woman ever to serve as chief of staff to a statewide officeholder.
The aftermath of Barack Obama’s victory in the 2008 presidential race led to the wild circumstances of replacing him in his U.S. Senate seat, which led to Giannoulias running for that seat in 2010 both in the special election to fill out the remainder of Obama’s term and the regular election for a full six-year term.
Kelly took a stab at running for treasurer in a brutal year for Democrats, both in Illinois and nationwide. As her boss lost to Mark Kirk in both Senate elections that year, Kelly lost to State Sen. Dan Rutherford by over 161,000 votes in the treasurer’s race.
Following her defeat for treasurer, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle appointed her as chief administrative officer, working in that role before a prime opportunity to return to politics came up.
How did Robin Kelly get to Congress?
In November 2012, just weeks after winning reelection to his U.S. House seat in the Second District, Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned, citing health issues such as bipolar disorder and gastrointestinal distress. At the same time, Jackson, son of the legendary civil rights leader, was under federal investigation for violating federal campaign finance law by using over $750,000 in campaign funds for personal items, such as cashmere capes and a fedora worn by Michael Jackson.
Jackson eventually pleaded guilty to wire fraud and mail fraud and would have to serve a 30-month jail sentence as a result. This left his congressional seat wide open, with a large field of contenders vying to replace him in Washington.
Kelly quickly became one of them, vying for the Democratic nomination alongside former Congressman Mel Reynolds – Jackson’s predecessor, who resigned in 1995 after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old volunteering on one of his campaigns – Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson, who had previously served in the 11th Congressional District, and Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale, who served in the city’s 9th Ward.
Kelly got strong backing from key members of the Illinois congressional delegation – Bobby Rush of the 1st District, Danny Davis of the 7th District and Jan Schakowsky of the 9th District. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also gave his backing to her campaign, spending $2 million on ads to bolster her credentials on gun control.
With the help of those endorsements, Kelly won easily in the Democratic primary, getting over 52% of the vote, before cruising to victory in the April general election in the heavily-Democratic district.
What has Robin Kelly done in Congress?
For the most part, Kelly has been a reliable vote for Democratic priorities in Washington. She voted in line with each of President Joe Biden’s stated priorities in his term and has worked to pass legislation improving dental care for underserved communities, increase access to infant formula and mandate safety requirements for coin batteries.
Kelly also was one of the leaders of the sit-in on the House floor shortly after the 2016 Pulse shooting in Orlando, Florida, that attempted to bring attention to gun violence issues.
Why is Robin Kelly running for the U.S. Senate?
According to her campaign website, Kelly decided to run “to make Illinois safe from crime and gun violence, lower costs for families, and tackle health inequities.”
“We need proven leadership, not just talk,” the website said. “And that’s exactly what Robin is known for.”
The website cites her work fighting for gun control both in the General Assembly and the House, her advocacy for domestic violence victims, her work in her district supporting farmers, seniors and small businesses and her work in passing a bill expanding health care for mothers.
Can Robin Kelly win the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate?
Despite the backing of the Congressional Black Caucus and several members of Illinois’ U.S. House delegation, Kelly remains a distant third in most polls behind Krishamoorthi and Stratton.
It may explain why groups associated with Krishnamoorthi are spending money to boost her at the expense of Stratton, in an attempt to potentially split Black voters and get the 8th District Congressman the nomination, as he would likely have a stronger base among other groups.
The Impact Fund, a group that largely supports Indian-American candidates like Krishnamoorthi, has spent $1 million on ads both supporting Kelly and Krishnamoorthi while bashing Stratton, while two other PACs, Progressive Values Illinois and Protect Progress, have also spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in adds trying to boost Kelly at Stratton’s expense, according to reporting by the Chicago Sun-Times.
Kelly, for her part, has spent over $1 million for her own ads and said that “a vote for Robin Kelly is a vote for Robin Kelly. Period.”
If either Kelly or Stratton wins Tuesday and goes on to win the general election in November, they would become the sixth Black woman ever to serve in the Senate.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Who is Robin Kelly? What to know about Senate candidate in Illinois
Reporting by Zach Roth, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
