Laura Kelly

Because Kelly's orders on public gatherings applied to Easter Sunday celebrations in churches, the Republican-majority Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC), a group of leaders of the Kansas Legislature, voted to revoke her order on a 5–2 party-line vote on April 9, 2020, asserting that the order violated the free exercise of religion. Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt opposed Kelly's order, issuing a memorandum calling it a violation of the Kansas state law, and urged law enforcement not to enforce it. Kelly called this "shockingly irresponsible"; at the time, there had been more than a thousand confirmed COVID-19 cases, and dozens of confirmed COVID-19 deaths, in Kansas, and of 11 identified sources of contagion, three had come from recent religious gatherings. She challenged the LCC's decision in the Kansas Supreme Court. Following an expedited oral argument (conducted remotely via Zoom teleconference), the state Supreme Court unanimously reinstated Kelly's orders, concluding that her executive order was valid and that the LCC lacked the authority to overturn it.

In January 2020, Kelly called for major changes to the Osawatomie State Hospital, the long-troubled state psychiatric hospital that has faced scrutiny from federal regulators over security, safety, and treatment lapses. She has supported a plan for state funding for mental health crisis centers in the state.

Kelly opposed a Republican proposed anti-abortion amendment to the Kansas Constitution in early 2020, saying it would return Kansas to the "dark ages." Amid acrimonious debate, the state House fell four votes short of the two-thirds majority required to put it on the state ballot.

In 2019, Kelly vetoed two Republican bills that would have cut state income taxes in Kansas. She said that the state could not afford the cuts, and that the Republican bill, which would have cut revenues by an estimated $245 million over a three-year period, would have precipitated a "senseless fiscal crisis" and created a budget deficit. Kelly's decision, as well as higher-than-expected state revenue intakes, led to the state beginning its 2020 budget year with $1.1 billion in cash reserves. She sought to use some of the reserves to pay down debt and make payments to the state pension system.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Kelly, like other governors, took steps to halt the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). She declared a state of emergency on March 12 following the state's first COVID-19 death, and issued a 60-day ban on public gatherings of 50 or more people and a moratorium on utility shutoffs on March 16. On March 18, citing the unprecedented crisis, Kelly directed the end to all in-person K-12 classes for the remainder of the school year, making Kansas the first state to take that step. On March 23, to combat the virus's spread, she limited public gatherings to ten people. On March 28, amid increasing deaths and illnesses, Kelly issued a "stay at home" order that directed all residents to remain at home, except for travel for essential work, essential business (such as traveling to obtain medical care or groceries), and outdoor exercise with social distancing measures. Almost two dozen states had already issued a similar orders, and almost 75% of Kansas's population were already affected by similar orders from local orders, since 25 Kansas counties, including the most populous ones, already had a stay-at-home order in place. Kelly strongly criticized the Trump administration's slow response to the crisis and the federal failure to provide Kansas and other states with adequate supplies of personal protective equipment (such as masks, gloves, and gowns) and testing kits.

On May 24, 2018, Kelly announced State Senator Lynn Rogers as her running mate. On August 7, she defeated Brewer and Svaty, receiving 51.5% of the vote. On November 6, Kelly defeated the Republican nominee, Secretary of State Kris Kobach, receiving 47.8% of the vote.

On December 15, 2017, Kelly announced her intention to run for governor of Kansas. In the Democratic primary she ran against former mayor of Wichita Carl Brewer and former Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Josh Svaty.

In her first official act as governor, Kelly signed an executive order reinstating the employment discrimination protections for LGBT state workers that Governor Sam Brownback had eliminated in 2015.

In late 2009 Kelly briefly considered a run for Kansas's 2nd congressional district. During the 2011–2012 legislative sessions, she served as the Assistant Minority Leader of the Kansas Senate.

Some of the top contributors to Kelly's 2008 campaign were the Senate Democrats of Kansas, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee of Kansas, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Astrazeneca, the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA), the Kansas Trial Lawyers Association, and herself.

Kelly was elected to the Kansas Senate in November 2004, later serving as Minority Whip. In 2007, she was asked to serve as the Ranking Minority member of the Kansas Ways and Means Committee. Kelly helped to establish the Early Childhood Development Block Grants program in the State of Kansas.

Kelly has been married to physician Ted Daughety, a specialist in pulmonary and sleep disorders, since 1979. They moved to Topeka in 1986. They have two adult daughters, Kathleen and Molly Daughety.

Laura Kelly (born January 24, 1950) is an American politician serving as the 48th governor of Kansas since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented the 18th district in the Kansas Senate from 2005 to 2019. Kelly ran for governor in the 2018 election and defeated the Republican nominee, Kris Kobach.