Laura Jeanne Kelly is the Democratic Governor of Kansas, serving since 2019 after defeating Republican Kris Kobach in the 2018 election (48.0% to 43.0%) and Derek Schmidt in 2022 (49.5% to 47.3%). Born in New York City to a military family, she frequently moved during childhood, including overseas, before settling in Topeka, Kansas, in 1986. A Catholic, she earned a B.S. in psychology from Bradley University in 1971 and an M.S. in therapeutic recreation from Indiana University Bloomington, later receiving the Bradley Distinguished Alumna award and induction into the Centurion Society on October 4, 2021. She married physician Ted Daughety in 1979, with whom she has two adult daughters including Kathleen Kelly Daughety; they divorced amicably in 2024 after over 40 years. Professionally, before entering politics, she worked as a recreation therapist at Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center in New York, directed physical education and recreation therapy at National Jewish Hospital for Respiratory and Immune Diseases, and served as executive director of the Kansas Recreation and Park Association from 1988 to 2004. In the Kansas Senate, she represented the 18th district from 2005 to 2019, holding roles such as Minority Whip, Assistant Minority Leader (2011-2012), and ranking member on committees including Ways and Means, Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services and KanCare Oversight, and Public Health and Welfare. As governor, she has balanced the state budget without tax increases, building $1.1 billion in reserves by 2020; signed legislation to phase out the sales tax on food (eliminated in 2025); expanded Medicaid via the HAWK Act (2025); increased funding for schools, teacher pay, and early childhood programs; issued an executive order reinstating LGBT employment protections in 2019; and opposed anti-abortion amendments in 2020 and 2022. Her administration earns $110,707 annually. Key controversies include her COVID-19 response—declaring a state of emergency on March 12, 2020, with stay-at-home and masking orders that faced legislative challenges (overturned then reinstated by the Kansas Supreme Court), plus criticism for slow vaccine rollout and unemployment backlogs; signing a 2022 law blocking Wyandotte County's local ID program for immigrants, formerly incarcerated individuals, and the homeless; vetoing Republican tax-cut bills in 2019 and 2024 over deficit risks and favoritism toward the wealthy; 2025 allegations by a Republican lawmaker of covering up SNAP program waste, fraud, and abuse with the Department for Children and Families; and a 2022-2024 lawsuit by former Kansas Highway Patrol superintendent Mark Bruce alleging forced resignation involving Kelly, chief of staff Will Lawrence, and KHP Col. Herman Jones. No criminal convictions or major scandals are documented.