Kelly Kultala

Kelly Kultala
Kansas State Senate District 5
Former Member
In office
2009-2013
Party	Democratic
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 2008
Term limits	No
Education
High school	Ames High School
Bachelor's	University of Kansas
Personal
Birthday	August 16, 1958
Profession	Community Outreach Director
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

The information about this individual is current as of when his or her last campaign ended. See anything that needs updating? Send a correction to our editors

Kelly Kultala (b. August 16, 1958) is a former Democratic member of the Kansas State Senate, representing District 5 from 2009 to 2013. She also served as the 5th District Commissioner for the Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City from 2001 to 2005. Kultala ran for Lieutenant Governor in 2010, and was defeated by Jeff Colyer. Kultala was defeated in the 2012 election.

Kelly is the Director of Community Outreach for Youthville, one of Kansas’ largest child advocacy organizations.

Kultala earned her degree from the University of Kansas.

Issues

Campaign themes

Kultala's website highlights the following campaign themes:

Education

• Excerpt:"I will continue working tirelessly to fully restore funding to our local classrooms."

State Budget

• Excerpt:"I will continue to fight for a state budget that protects early learning programs, reduces waiting lists for Kansans with disabilities, and supports aging programs."

Taxes

• Excerpt:"I will not support policies that give tax breaks to big corporations and the wealthiest Kansans, at the detriment of middle-class Kansans and seniors living on fixed incomes."

Policy Positions

Sen. Kultala co-sponsored a bill regarding elections and an election commissioner as well as various other senate bills.

Committee assignments

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Kultala served on these committees:

• Joint Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice Oversight, Vice Chair
• Ethics and Elections
• Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services Oversight
• Local Government, Ranking Minority Member
• Joint Committee on Special Claims against the State
• Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations
• Transportation, Ranking Minority Member
• Utilities, Ranking Minority Member
• Ways and Means

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Kultala served on these committees:

• Local Government
• Transportation
• Ethics and Elections
• Joint Committee on Home and Community Based Services Oversight
• Joint Committee on Special Claims against the State
• Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations
• Ways and Means

Elections

2012

See also: Kansas State Senate elections, 2012

Kultala ran for election in the 2012 election for Kansas State Senate District 5. Kultala ran unopposed in the August 7 Democratic primary and was defeated by Steve Fitzgerald (R) in the general election which took place on November 6, 2012.

Former Democratic Senator Mark Gilstrap ran in the Republican primary in 2012. Kultala defeated Gilstrap in the Democratic primary in 2008, but Gilstrap lost the 2012 Republican primary and was not able to run against Kultala in the 2012 general election.

Kansas State Senate, District 5, General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Steve Fitzgerald	51.5%	12,803
	Democratic	Kelly Kultala Incumbent	48.5%	12,040
Total Votes				24,843

2010

See also: Kansas lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2010 and Lieutenant Governor elections, 2010

Kultala was defeated by Jeff Colyer in the general election on November 2, 2010. Kultala faced Jeff Colyer (R), Stacey Davis (L) and Daniel J. Faubion (R).

2008

On November 4, 2008, Kultala was elected to the 5th District Seat in the Kansas State Senate, defeating Steve Fitzgerald (R). Kultala raised $81,268 for her campaign, while Fitzgerald raised $127,729.

Kansas State Senate, District 5 (2008)
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Kelly Kultala (D)		15,184	52.3%
Steve Fitzgerald (R)		13,838	47.6%

Campaign donors

In 2008 Kultala collected $81,268 in donations.:

Her four largest contributors were:

Donor	Amount
Kansas Democratic Party	$28,484
Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce	$3,750
Kansans for Lifesaving Cures	$2,000
Carpenters District Council of Kansas City & Vicinity	$2,000

Scorecards

Kansas Economic Freedom Index

The Kansas Economic Freedom Index is a project of Bob Weeks, creator of the blog Voice For Liberty in Wichita. The purpose of the Index "is to identify Kansas legislators who vote in favor of economic freedom — and those who don’t." Legislators receive a rating from 0-100 percent based on their votes on bills promoting economic freedom.

2010

Kelly Kultala received a rating of 7% on the 2010 Kansas Economic Freedom Index.

Personal

Kelly is married to husband, Dan. Together they have three daughters, Taylor, Whitney, Spenser, two sons-in-law Barry and Ryan and two grandchildren, Lane and Claire.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a google news search for the term Kelly + Kultala + Kansas + Senate

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

External links

Suggest a link

• Official campaign website
• Kansas State Senate Website
• Project Vote Smart Biography
• Project Vote Smart Legislative Profile
• Kelly Kultala on Vote-KS
• Kelly Kultala on the Kansas Democratic Party website
• Kelly Kultala on Facebook
• Kelly Kultala on Twitter
• Campaign contributions: 2008

References

Political offices
Preceded by Mark S. Gilstrap	Kansas State Senate District 5 2009–2013	Succeeded by Steve Fitzgerald (R)