EMILYs List Endorses Laura Kelly for Governor of Kansas

For Immediate Release
May 3, 2018

EMILYs List Endorses Laura Kelly for Governor of Kansas

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Laura Kelly for governor of Kansas. Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:

“Laura Kelly is the candidate Kansans need as Governor to revive economic opportunity for working families. Laura has been a vocal opponent of the disastrous Brownback tax plan that left public schools, health care, and infrastructure severely underfunded. As the next governor, Laura will prioritize investing in kids and families to ensure all Kansans have the opportunity to succeed.

“Laura is likely to face off against one of two out of touch Republican candidates: incumbent Jeff Colyer, who worked as Governor Brownback’s partner in decimating the state’s budget, or secretary of state Kris Kobach, who has developed a national reputation for going to unconstitutional lengths to deny voting rights. Laura plans to be the leader Kansans can count on to fight for them and their priorities – like good jobs and excellent schools. Women remain underrepresented in powerful executive leadership positions in the state, and with only two Democratic women governors in the country, this is an opportunity the EMILYs List community can’t pass up. We look forward to fully supporting Laura’s campaign.”

Growing up in a military family, Laura Kelly was taught the importance of serving her community at a young age. She served as the executive director of the Kansas Recreation and Park Association for over a decade, advocating for public parks across the state. In this role, Laura also sought to make communities healthier by improving the state’s recreation services. Before that, she worked with disadvantaged adolescents, providing mental health services and recreational therapy to patients in need. Laura was elected to the Kansas state Senate in 2004 and has been a leader on issues dealing with the state budget, public schools, early childhood programs, health care, and more. Laura lives with her husband in Topeka and has two grown daughters.

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILYs List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.