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Brendan Kelly (Illinois)
Brendan Kelly is an officeholder of the Illinois Director Department of State Police.
Kelly (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Illinois' 12th Congressional District. He lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Biography
Kelly's professional experience includes serving as the Illinois' attorney for St. Clair County. He attended the University of Notre Dame aided by an ROTC scholarship and earned a degree in government and international relations as well as a commission as an officer in the U.S. Navy.
Kelly has been the representative for the National District Attorneys Association observing the prosecution of terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. He has also served as an executive committee member of Fight Crime, Invest in Kids, and as chairman of the St. Clair County Child Advocacy Center.[1]
Elections
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Illinois District 12
Incumbent Mike Bost defeated Brendan Kelly and Randy Auxier in the general election for U.S. House Illinois District 12 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mike Bost (R) | 51.6 | 134,884 |
 | Brendan Kelly (D) | 45.4 | 118,724 | |
 | Randy Auxier (G) | 3.0 | 7,935 | |
| Total votes: 261,543 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12
Brendan Kelly defeated David Bequette in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brendan Kelly | 81.0 | 40,555 |
 | David Bequette | 19.0 | 9,526 | |
| Total votes: 50,081 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Charles Koen (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12
Incumbent Mike Bost defeated Preston Nelson in the Republican primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mike Bost | 83.5 | 31,658 |
 | Preston Nelson | 16.5 | 6,258 | |
| Total votes: 37,916 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Green primary election
Green primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12
Randy Auxier advanced from the Green primary for U.S. House Illinois District 12 on March 20, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Randy Auxier | 100.0 | 131 |
| Total votes: 131 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
2018
Campaign website
The following themes were found on Kelly's campaign website.
| “ |
Infrastructure It’s time to literally rebuild Southern Illinois. It’s time to invest hard dollars in projects that will grow our economy, put thousands of people in organized labor back to work, and ensure Southern Illinois won’t be left behind in the 21st century. A four lane highway between Carbondale and St. Louis will make travel to SIU easier, which will help grow enrollment. Public investment that expands internet access will allow our communities that have been ignored by the big cable companies to compete on an equal playing field with the rest of the world. We need to make the ways we collect and distribute energy more efficient. We can use our brownfields for solar energy, and use our crops for biofuel. Updating our grid will make our energy sources less susceptible to foreign hackers and put union electricians back on the lines. We must focus on the specific needs of Southern Illinois. The numerous infrastructure needs for the Kaskaskia must be a federal priority. Let’s fulfill the potential of the Cairo Port Authority, bring tourism to Cahokia Mounds by turning it into a National Park, build more ramps onto I-57 near Benton, and turn that old Bombardier factory into a hub for growing companies. Fighting the Powerful Few But that’s not the way it is in D.C. Political and economic power is being consolidated in the hands of fewer and fewer people. They have a vested interest in seeing us divided and torn apart. As their power grows and near monopolies get bigger and bigger, every part of our lives fall beneath their shadow. The price of almost everything–healthcare, prescriptions, cable, and even beer–creeps higher and higher. Big Pharma profits from the opioid crisis it created, and then cowers behind donors in Congress. Meanwhile, a flood of dark, secret political money erodes the basic pillars of our democracy. Southern Illinois deserves a Congressman who will take the basic, common sense decency of home to Washington. We need a leader who will stand with working families and hold the special interests to the same rules as the rest of us. It’s time for the hard working many in Southern Illinois to fight back against the powerful few. Holding Big Pharma in Check Still, Big Pharma’s grip over Congress just keeps getting tighter. We know that huge amounts of money flow from Big Pharma to Congress. Lobbyists paid by Big Pharma swarm through the halls and offices of our representatives. Checks arrive like clockwork in P.O. Boxes all over the country, and are promptly deposited into campaign coffers. All the the while, drug prices just keep going up and up. So, what does Congress do? It hands Big Pharma a massive $50 billion windfall. But instead of investing in more research and hiring more people, the pharmaceutical companies lay off workers, cut research and development, and buy more of their own stock on Wall Street. We need leaders who will keep Big Pharma in check. We need leaders who will allow Medicare to negotiate prices, a move which will save seniors’ money and lives. We need leaders who will listen to science, and will commit to easing the restrictions on cannabis research and removing marijuana from the Schedule 1 drug list. We need new leaders who will fight for our lives, turn down the easy money, and stop Big Pharma from blindly profiting off the destruction and pain of Southern Illinois families. We need leaders who will demand that pharmaceutical companies become part of the solution, not part of the problem.[2] |
” |
| —Brendan Kelly's 2018 campaign website[3] | ||
Campaign advertisements
The following is an example of an ad from Kelly's 2018 election campaign.
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Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Brendan Kelly Illinois Congress. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- Illinois' 12th Congressional District election, 2018
- Illinois' 12th Congressional District
Footnotes
- ↑ Brendan Kelly 2018 campaign website, "Meet Brendan," accessed January 24, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Brendan Kelly's 2018 campaign website, "Priorities," accessed September 20, 2018
