Kelly Thompson
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Contact
Kelly Thompson (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Indiana's 3rd Congressional District. She declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]
Thompson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Kelly Thompson was born in Palo Alto, California. She earned a high school diploma from Tippecanoe Valley High School and a bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida in 1989.
Her career experience includes working as a business owner. Thompson has been affiliated with the following organizations: Planned Parenthood, ACLU, the Working Families Party, and the Indiana Democratic African American Caucus.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Indiana's 3rd Congressional District election, 2026
Note: At this time, Ballotpedia is combining all declared candidates for this election into one list under a general election heading. As primary election dates are published, this information will be updated to separate general election candidates from primary candidates as appropriate.
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2020
See also: Indiana House of Representatives elections, 2020
General election
Democratic primary election
Republican primary election
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kelly Thompson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Thompson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Kelly Thompson is a Hoosier business owner, non profit founder, and lifelong advocate for families and children. Kelly graduated Salutatorian from Tippecanoe Valley High School, attended Valporaiso University's Honor's College, Christ College before moving to Florida with her family to graduate with her BS in Business Administration from University of Central Florida. Kelly is a member of the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, NOW, Habitat for Humanity and Human Rights Watch.
Her career experience outside of her business has been as a substitute teacher, a visiting pastor of the local jail ministry where she counseled inmates.
- A government of the people, by the people and for the people is still a goal in this country. Working families are struggling to put a roof over their head, food on the table, access medical care, and get a good education. The reason we are all struggling is because for far too long the people in power have not felt our pain. Because of this they both blame us for our struggles and shame us when we bravely ask for our tax dollars to actually work for US. Let's elect people who are both committed to fight for all of us and brave enough to hold the line when pressure to cave to corporate and political influence inevitably comes.
- As a woman with a business degree and a small business owner I see the defunding and attack on public education as not just insulting and cruel, but unsustainable. A strong and well funded public education system is necessary to compete and survive in a global economy. Not only do we owe it to our kids but we as a country benefit from high quality education. It is a matter of fiscal responsibility and national security. But we can't stop there. We have real needs as a country for skilled and educated labor. To not help our people meet those needs is short sighted and dangerous.
- We have a uniquely American problem with access to healthcare. The number one reason for bankruptcy in this country is medical debt. On average we pay 12% of our income on medical expenses. We can reduce that to 5% by moving to a single payor system. As a mother, I know the fear of having to make a run to the ER not knowing, even WITH insurance, what my bill will be. As a daughter, I have experienced the frustration of my mother's insurance company making health care decisions, overriding her oncologist, as she is battling breast cancer. Inefficient private insurance companies are taking our premiums, refusing treatment, and cashing bonus checks . It's time to provide heath care to everyone regardless of our net worth.
Kitchen table issues: education, healthcare, worker's rights, climate, childcare, housing, civil rights.
I look up to people who work tirelessly to make the world a better place for all living things. I cannot, and will not pick just a few, because that inevitably leaves out others. There are so many people I have had the privilege to meet who work with no fame, very little money, but are sustained on the sense of purpose and legacy they live and will leave.
Honesty, integrity, accountability, courage, empathy, curiosity.
To listen to the people of this district and take their needs to Washington DC and fight for the policies and budgets that will protect and benefit them. But my responsibilities are also to come back to the district to tell the people who hired me what is going on in DC. This is a job of service to the people.
I guess when I die I want people to say about me, "she was a lover of life and people. She asked why enough times to find real answers to problems that needed to be solved. She believed in inherent worth and when she interacted with people who caused harm to themselves or others she looked for the reasons for that behavior. She was a believer in second chances and wanted everyone who came in her presence to know that she believed in their ability to go higher, dream bigger, and join the fight to make the world a safer, gentler place."
I remember the bicentennial. I was 11. Our country turned 200. I remember visiting the traveling bicentennial train. It felt special and i remember feeling immense pride and awe.
My very first job was working at a fast food restaurant, Penguin Point (also where my mother first worked.). I had it for two summers while I was in high school.
I am an avid reader so picking one book is hard. I would say the Bible has most affected my life and who I am today, but I have seen such suffering when that book is wielded as a weapon. So, is it my favorite, I am not so sure. In all honesty, this question has given me the greatest pause. Anything Andrea Gibson has written has changed me in a good way. Jodi Piccoult has written books that always make me see issues from the other side. Dan Brown makes me think. The list goes on. So many books, so little time.
The biggest struggle in my life is learning what problems are actually mine to solve and what are not. As a mother of 6, and grandmother of 13, my love is huge, and so is my concern. Learning that I cannot control other people has been a journey. I live by the mantra, "The only person I can control is myself. When it comes to others, it is my job to control how I respond to them."
The defined role of the House of Representatives includes: the power of the purse, the legislation of our laws, and the power to declare war. The fact that the term for representatives is two years is supposed to ensure that the people they represent can make a quick change if they decide that the member of congress is not spending their tax dollars, or legislating as they feel is in their best interest. This is a good thing. Too much is on the line for working families.
No. To be honest, part of the reason we are facing the problems that we are is because we believed the lie that only career politicians should be in government. Remember, we are to have a government of the people, by the people and for the people. We need to elect people who have a proven track record of honesty, courage, integrity and public service. Don't elect people who are only telling you they care without a life of lived experiences to back up that claim.
Today we are faced with real problems, many of which are threatening our very survival. Some of these are our outdated and vulnerable electrical grid, climate refugees, food supplies, unregulated AI and cryptocurrency, an untrained labor force, threatened civil liberties, free & fair elections, and terrorism. These are solvable if we can work together. But our current cultural wars divide us. Those financially benefitting from the status quo are intentionally dividing us to keep us from locking arms together to solve these problems. We can do big things. We can do hard things. But only if we stop fighting each other and muster the courage to look at the issues and collaborate to find the solutions our children and grandchildren are counting on.
But I am sad to admit that our very democracy is in danger. We have an unchecked, reckless executive branch. The damage it has done will have to be repaired, rebuilt, redesigned. This will take courage, curiosity, and an ability to collaborate to build back better.
Yes. The job of the representative is to represent the people. If after the election the people believe that their representative is not representing them well then a change needs to be made quickly.
I believe we should have term limits for every office including the Supreme Court.
I have respect for many, but currently I am intrigued and inspired by Representative Jasmine Crockett. She is both brilliant and brave. She is steadfast in making sure that she works tirelessly to build a country that works for the common people, the very people who have built and are working every day to build this country.
As a non profit founder who spent over a decade coming alongside families in my community I have many stories. As a candidate in 2020 for the statehouse, knocking on thousands of doors, I was entrusted with many more. And now, running for congress, I again am hearing of the struggles of the people. Some of the stories emphasize the harm done by policies and systems like a story told to me by Jose as he was waiting in line at the Adams County Fair. He told me he and his wife work at a local motel. And while his life had been hard, the story he wanted to tell me wasn't his. He told me a story of two elderly guests that had been staying there. This couple came to him one day in the office to explain that they had just gone to pick up the wife's medications and they were costing them more now than they did before so they couldn't afford the weekly rent. They weren't asking to get a price reduction. They explained that they would be living in their car. Then Jose looked me in the eye and said, "They are both veterans."
But we are facing more than bad policies and systems. At that same fair, standing in the same line, I met a man who asked me for my opinion on the "Israel Gaza situation." I explained that it is never ok to bomb starving children while they are waiting in line for food. He agreed with me. Then told me he could never vote for me because I was running as a democrat. I asked why?
He said, "because of the gays."
After more discussion I realized we weren't going to agree on much else, so I said in closing, "Well at least we agree genocide is bad."
He shook his head and emphatically replied, "Not all genocide."
I asked, "You think some genocide is good? Who do you think deserves to be killed"
"The gays. I am a Christian Nationalist." I believe that cooperation and collaboration are necessary to ensure that we produce the best policies. Sometimes working together feels like compromise. That is ok. Even desirable. But there are issues about which there should never be compromises. Civil rights for one. Our constitution outlines the non-negotiables. We all have unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
I understand the power of the purse. I also am aware that there exist two economies: Wall Street & Main Street. When I see the need to raise revenue I will endeavor to make sure that the Wall Street and not Main Street that foots the bill.
The House needs to make sure that it is using its full power to be the check on the executive branch that the founding fathers designed it to be. Oversight, investigation, and impeachement for illegality is non negotiable.
Fort Wayne City Councilwoman At-Large Michelle Chambers, My Labor Radio
This summer, at a 4H fair I was talking to people in Adams County, Indiana. I was speaking about the housing crisis and a young man spoke up and told me a story I have not been able to forget. He worked in the office of a pay by the week motel. He had an elderly couple that had been staying there. One day the elderly gentleman came into the office and said, "We just went to pick up my wife's medications and the cost was so high we will not be able to stay at this motel anymore. Would it be ok if we slept in our car in the parking lot?" I shook my head, in empathy for both the couple and this young mad telling me the story, but then he added, "Both of the elderly people are veterans."
This country is broken. We have had people in power who have not felt our pain. The systems will never be fixed by those people. This is to be a government of the people, by the people, for the people. Instead it has been of, by and for the corporations.
I am proud of many things. Surviving for one. But also for the work I have done to improve who I am and how I interact with my world. I am proud of the work I did with my non-profit helping local families. I am proud of the campaign I ran in 2020 for State Rep. And I am proud of the campaign I am running now.
But I am most proud of the learning I have done to know that everyday is important. That success is a series of small decisions, and moments of courage. Together I have built a life of which I am proud and I believe leaves the world better than I found it. What else is there?
We need STRONG voting rights legislation that provides all voters access to the polls (time of day, geographic locations, early and mail in voting) without long lines, without voters being incorrectly (and illegally) purged from the rolls, without punishing volunteers providing water to those who are waiting, and that ends political gerrymandering once and for all.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2020
Kelly Thompson completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Thompson's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am a wife, mother and grandmother. I am a small business owner, and community service non-profit founder. I am a 1083 graduate of Tippecanoe Valley High School and earned a Bachelors in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida.
My life as an employee taught me what it feels like to wait until Friday to be able to pay some of my bills.
My life as an employer has taught me what it feels like to hope we have the money on Friday to cover our employees' paychecks.
My life as a mother has taught me how to work hard, be brave, and keep going even when the task before me seems too big.
I have spent the last decade volunteering to help local teens navigate the sometimes treacherous transition into adulthood. That service has taken me from their living rooms and ball games, and even to a couple jail cells. Walking with kids and trying to make a positive difference has also brought me into relationship with their families. It was in this work I got to learn what all of my neighbors were really facing each day. These struggles were not something I could ignore.
So now I am taking all I have learned, and all my passion, energy, and determination to make legislative and budgetary changes in Indy on behalf of Hoosier families and businesses. - I have a business degree and understand how to make our money work in our best interest. Housing, schools, childcare - we must do better.
- Creating a non-profit to help struggling families in our community has proven both my heart and my determination to put action where my mouth is.
- I am not looking for a political career. I am answerable to God and the people of District 22. Full stop, I cannot be bought.
I believe that everything is connected and we get into trouble when we try to fix one or two things without thinking about how our fix affects everything else.
We need to be open to the industries that are asking to come to Indiana. From green energy to legalized cannabis.
We in Indiana need good paying jobs. We need good schools to attract business. We need good teachers to have good schools. We need to listen to our teachers and find the money to pay teachers well to maintain those good schools. We need affordable housing to help those businesses attract employees and to keep those employees' dollars in this district. We need accessible and affordable quality childcare to enable those parents to work those jobs. We need to help women have easy access to birth control to cut down our unintended pregnancy rate.
How can we afford this? The new industries that want to come will bring sales, income, property and excise tax dollars into this state and the return on investment in education, quality childcare, and public health spending is high. We cannot afford not to do these things.
Teachers. Childcare. Housing. Livable wage. Access to birth control.
Those are the policies I am passionate about. I admire Martin Luther King, Jr. I am in awe of his ability to stay the course. He kept focus and true to what he believed God had shown him. I, like MLK, work hard to communicate in ways that reduce defensiveness so that I can be effectively heard. No one is ever 100% correct. We need each other. Civil discourse is missing in our political and personal interactions. MLK was able to attract supporters to his cause, to the cause of all Americans, by staying peaceful in the midst of danger and injustice. He was brave, forgiving, and determined all the while knowing that he would never see the fruition of his endeavor in his lifetime. Yet still...he saw his life as one of purpose, service, and necessary for the greater good for generations to come.
First and foremost, elected officials need to commit to honesty, always and in all ways. The people need to be able to trust our leaders. A lie from a politician is proof that his allegiance has shifted from the people he was elected to serve to himself.
Second, elected officials must be courageous. It takes courage to try to do big things. It also takes courage to keep going. And again it takes courage to report back to the people about what has and has not worked, and why.
And finally, those we elect to represent us must have hope. Without hope, they are just going through the motions, place holders, grifters. But with hope they see a way, find a way, make a way. I am a mother of six. I have learned a lot in this role about how to communicate effectively, how to listen to what is being said and what is not, and how to disagree with people while maintaining connection.
I have traveled the country for training in counseling and effective communication.
And I have spent a decade helping families deal with the day to day issues of life. I have felt their fears and seen their tears. Each issue I intend to address as their representative has a name and a face, often many names and many faces, so I cannot just ignore them. I cannot give up. I will continue to fight for them and their families - because that is the job they are hiring me to do. The first historical event that I remember was the Bicentennial. I was eleven when the Bicentennial train came to town and we went for the tour. It was there that I began to realize what a rare and brave experiment the founding of this country was. I remember being moved by the idea that ordinary people came together to discuss, argue, debate, and ultimately cooperate and collaborate to form such an idealistic dream of a government of the people, by the people, for the people.
After that tour, I saw the flag differently. The institutions differently. Our political leaders differently.
Now, as an adult the other side of 50, I again see us differently
I see that the country that I was told that we were we have yet to fully become. I see our nation as one of united states, each struggling to grow and evolve and adapt to changing times. I see a need for brave men and women who still have hope, and love, and determination to honor our forefathers by not giving up - by continuing on - willing to sacrifice to continue leading our country into its best years yet! My very first job was working at Penguin Point Restaurant in Warsaw, Indiana. I worked there my junior and senior year in high school. I did all the normal things there from cashier, cook, and server. My mother also worked at "The Penguin" in high school. It was actually perfect training for my next job, Burger King opening manager, which I held while in college. And now that I think about it, as a mother of six, what I learned managing the restaurant and cooking for the masses came in handy for my family, as well. :)
Jack Johnson's "With my Own Two Hands." I played this song on repeat while cleaning my house. It is encouraging and motivating. We can each make a real difference with our own two hands.
Not only do I not believe it is beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics, I believe that such experience can be detrimental to our state. We need real people who have struggled themselves. How can our legislators write laws in our best interest if they don't know what real people are dealing with. Experience in politics can change people if they are not determined to resist the influence. Our legislators quickly forget they are public servants, tasked with spending the money of the people in the best interest of the people. When legislators view their service as jobs, they begin to protect their careers. Most people are too busy trying to put food on the table to watch what sour senators and representatives are up to and how they are spending our money. Our people feel unheard, unseen, dismissed. Mothers, fathers, business owners, hourly workers, teachers, farmers, young and old feel forgotten. So we need them to be where decisions are being made. Real people, in touch with real life, ready to find and implement real solutions - that is what we need.
We are bleeding money and people across state lines. We need to ask ourselves the hard questions as to why, and be willing to be bold in our solutions.
We have to take care of our kids. That is our biggest challenge.
But in order to do that, many moving parts will need to be addressed. Access to healthcare. Quality childcare. Schools. Mental health access. Housing. The environment. Pubic health spending. Internet access.
If we raise, educate, protect, and value our children we will not only save money down the road, but we will return to the compassionate Hoosier heart for which we were once known.
People will want to live here. Work here. Raise families here. Build businesses here. Invest here. Create here. Visit here. Stay here. Yes, of course. We must respect each other and listen to each other. Any meaningful legislation will require cooperation and collaboration. We must be able to communicate. Listen and lead. I believe their are good men and women on each side of the aisle. We need to find each other and be brave and consistent. We must educate each other, work together, and get real issues addressed. People are literally dying while we fight and posture. Ego be gone.
We need a non-partisan, out of state redistricting commission who will employ the unbiased analysis of computer generated districts that are population based, involving no political input.
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See also
External links
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on December 3, 2025
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