Randy Kelly

Randy Cameron Kelly (born August 2 1950) is an American politician. He is/was a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL).

Born in North Dakota, Kelly graduated from Harding High School in Saint Paul, and the University of Minnesota. He was the mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota from January, 2002 through January, 2006. Kelly won office in 2001 in a tight race with Jay Benanav, a city councilman, by 403 votes. As mayor, Kelly was noted for his efforts to represent the lower- and middle-income people of Saint Paul by increasing the minimum wage, increasing access to home ownership, creating more higher-paying jobs, and retaining those that exist.

Kelly previously served in the Minnesota Senate representing District 67 (covering most of Saint Paul's East Side). In the legislature, he worked to reform Minnesota's criminal justice system, including creating a statewide criminal gang strike force, developing a four-year law enforcement degree, authoring many of the existing crime-victim and witness laws, and worked towards requiring sexual offender registration and community notification.

He served as the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, and a member of the Crime Prevention Committee, Finance Committee, the Telecommunications, Energy, and Utilities Committee, and the Transportation and Public Safety Budget Division.

Kelly faced re-election in 2005 and narrowly avoided being dropped from the mayoral ballot in the September primary. Fellow DFLer Chris Coleman finished in first place with 52% of the vote, Kelly at 27%, and the Green Party candidate, Elizabeth Dickinson, at 20%. The top two finishers went on to the general election.

In the November, 2005 election, Kelly was defeated by Coleman 69% to 31%, only the third loss by an incumbent mayor, and the greatest percentage loss on record for an incumbent mayor.

Kelly currently serves on the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board for the city of Saint Paul. He resides in Saint Paul, on the East Side with his wife and family.

Controversy as Mayor

During Kelly's term in office, his political views and several appointments generated controversy. In 2005, one of Kelly's appointees, Sia Lo, head of the criminal division of the city attorney's office, was reported to be at the center of an investigation into alleged corruption in a city development deal which focused on a new Hmong funeral home on the West Side. He was never charged.

In 2004, Kelly became embroiled in controversy by endorsing and campaigning for President George W. Bush's re-election [http://www.citypages.com/detail.asp?ArticleID=12373] .

According to critics, Kelly's conservative views, which may have been intended to garner support from Republicans and independents, began rankling his constituent base in the Democratic party. An unsuccessful grassroots campaign to recall him was launched shortly after his announcement to support Bush's re-election effort.

Earlier polling of city residents indicated that they were pleased about the direction that the city was headed, leading political observers to conclude that Kelly's defeat was due to his endorsement of the president a year earlier. Kelly offered an alternative explanation, saying that he believed his support for immigrants was unpopular with the people of Saint Paul. However, his opponent had campaigned on a series of pro-immigrant promises.

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