Issues I care about and why I’m running: In my early career, I spent several years with a major corporation and one year in private law practice, until I made a deliberate choice to devote my professional life to public service. In my appointments as a deputy with the Idaho Attorney General’s office and later as a senior manager at the Department of Environmental Quality, I was able to serve people of the State of Idaho. And, I was able to effect long-lasting changes to protect Idaho’s environment and public health. My membership in the Idaho Senate is a continuation of my public service and a chance for me to help solve a broader range of problems for the benefit of future generations.

Thoughts on The Common Interest: I am very supportive of the work, goals and purpose of The Common Interest. Idaho is very fortunate that Keith Allred decided to try this “experiment” here. As legislators we are asked to vote on bill covering a wide range of complicated issues. Many of us hold down a more traditional job the rest of the year when we aren’t in session. Any collection of materials we can access to objectively explain the issues before us and help inform our decision-making are welcome. The Common Interest issues briefings and members’ analyses have proven useful in that regard. I look forward to working Keith again in the Senate.

I have been an environmental professional in Idaho for over 20 years. I hold a B.A. from George Mason University, a M.S. from the University of Idaho College of Mines, and a law degree from the University of Utah College of Law. I spent four years with Boise Cascade Corporation’s Minerals Department, six years with the Idaho Attorney General’s Office Natural Resource Division and five years as a senior administrator with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality where I – in turn- organized and staffed the Waste Management and Remediation Division, reorganized and oversaw the Air Quality Division, and administered DEQ’s Southwest Idaho regional office. I am presently practicing law out of my own small business: the Law Office of Kate Kelly. I have three sons ages 14, 16 and 18.