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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder |name= Donald Gene "Don" Kelly |office= Louisiana State Senator for District 31 (Grant, Natchitoches, Rapides, Red R..."
{{Infobox officeholder
|name= Donald Gene "Don" Kelly
|office= [[Louisiana]] State Senator for District 31 (Grant, [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], Rapides, Red River, Sabine, and Winn parishes)
|term_start=1976
|term_end=1996
|preceded=[[Paul Foshee]]
|succeeded=[[Mike Smith (Louisiana politician)|Kenneth Michael "Mike" Smith]]
|birth_date=May 23, 1941
|birth_place=Coushatta, Red River Parish, Louisiana
|spouse= Patricia A. Kelly
|party= [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
|residence=Natchitoches, Louisiana
|occupation=[[Attorney]];<br>
American Quarter Horse breeder
|footnotes='''Note'''<br>
*Don Kelly could presumably have become president of the Louisiana State Senate for the asking, but instead he concentrated on steering dozens of projects to his north central Louisiana district.
}}
'''Donald Gene Kelly''', known as '''Don Kelly ''' (born May 23, 1941), is an [[attorney]] and American Quarter Horse breeder in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], [[Louisiana]], who served as a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] state semator for District 31 from 1976 to 1996. His tenure covered three of the four terms of Democratic [[Governor]] [[Edwin Edwards]] and the single gubernatorial term of [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[David C. Treen]] and Democrat-turned-Republican [[Buddy Roemer]].
==Background==
Kelly graduated from Red River Senior High School, then known as Coushatta High School in Coushatta, the seat of Red River Parish located thirty miles north of Natchitoches. He attended the [[University of Mississippi]] at Oxford and then [[Northwestern State University]] in Natchitoches. He obtained his law degree from [[Louisiana State University]] Law Center in [[Baton Rouge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Senators/Archives/1995/LinkShell.asp?type=kelly|title=Senator Donald G. "Don" Kelly|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
Kelly practices in the firm Kelly, Townsend & Thomas at 137 St. Denis Street in Natchitoches. He specializes in criminal law and retirement issues. The Townsend in the firm is William Lloyd Townsend, brother of Taylor Townsend and Kelly's nephew. He and his wife, Patricia A. Kelly (born February 1943), reside in Natchitoches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statelawyers.com/Lawyer/Profile.cfm/AttorneyID:82180|title=Donald G. Kelly, Attorney at Law - Criminal Law - Natchitoches, Louisiana|publisher= Louisiana Lawyer Directory - Louisiana Attorney Directory|accessdate=February 9, 2008; no longer on line}}</ref>
Kelly's niece, Alyssandra "Michelle" Fulton Kilgore (born 1969), is a family law, divorce, estate planning and probate attorney at the Fulton Law Firm in League City, [[Texas]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.martindale.com/league-city/texas/alyssandra-tracey-mi-michelle-fulton-2511671-a/|title=Alyssandra "Michelle" Fulton|publisher=Martindale.com|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
==Political life==
Kelly's nephew and law partner, Natchitoches attorney [[Taylor Townsend]], served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008, having been defeated in a race for Kelly's former Senate seat in 2007 by Gerald Long of Natchitoches, the only member of the [[Huey Long|Long family]] thus far to have been elected as a Republican. Long was term-limited in the seat in 2019 and will be succeeded by Republican [[Louie Bernard]]. Kelly is a brother of Townsend's mother, Dorothy Kelly Townsend. In the 1999 election for state representative, Townsend unseated Gerald Long's older brother, Jimmy Dale Long, Sr. (1931-2016), of Natchitoches.
In the 1975 nonpartisan blanket primary, also known as the jungle primary, the first ever held in Louisiana in which all candidates regardless of party appear on the same primary ballot, Kelly upset freshman Senator [[Paul Foshee]], of Natchitoches. In Louisiana congressional, state and local elections, the winner of the primary, or the runoff election (called the [[general election]] even if both finalists are of the same party designation), hence wins the office. In 1979, Kelly won a second term by defeating Foshee's 23-year-old son, Democrat George Barnes Foshee (1956–2000). In 1987, Foshee unsuccessfully challenged Kelly. In 1991, Kelly defeated 19-year-old Republican (later [[Libertarian Party|Libertarian]] Randall Todd Hayes (born 1972) of Atlanta in Winn Parish, 29,410 votes (75.4 percent) to 9,599 (24.6 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 19, 1991.</ref>
In 1995, Kelly did not seek a sixth term and was succeeded by fellow Democrat [[Mike Smith (Louisiana politician)|Kenneth Michael "Mike" Smith]] of Winnfield, the traditional home of the Longs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/Documents/SenateMembership1880ForwardRevisedMar2011.pdf|title=Membership of the Louisiana Senate, 1880 - Present (Natchitoches Parish)|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
Kelly worked closely with the Edwards administration to upgrade Northwestern State University and to bring public works projects to his north central Louisiana district, which includes Natchitoches, Winn, Grant, Rapides, and Red River parishes. For a time DeSoto Parish was also in District 31, but no longer. Kelly was considered such a political powerhouse that he could have on more than one occasion become state Senate President for the asking, but he instead concentrated on his district.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080201/NEWS01/80201018|date=February 1, 2008|title=Don Kelly|publisher=''Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=February 9, 2008; no longer on-line}}</ref>
In 1981, Governor Treen appointed Kelly to the board of the newly established Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legis.state.la.us/boards/board_members.asp?board=369 Louisiana Boards and Commissions|title=Louisiana Boards and Commissions|publisher=Louisiana House of Representatives|accessdate=December 7, 2011}}</ref>
In 2003, the Democrat Kelly contributed to the reelection campaign of [[Moderate Republican]] [[U.S. Representative]] James Otis "Jim" McCrery, III, whose then Fourth District includes Natchitoches Parish. In 2004, Kelly gave the maximum $2,000 permitted under federal law to the Democratic presidential nominee, [[U.S. Senator]] [[John Kerry]] of [[Massachusetts]], who was defeated by [[George W. Bush]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.city-data.com/elec/elec-NATCHITOCHES-LA.html|title=Natchitoches, LA Political Contributions by Individuals|publisher=city-data.com|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
On February 2, 2008, Kelly was among nine inductees, along with environmental journalist [[John LaPlante, Jr.]], and former Lieutenant Governor [[Robert Freeman]], into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, located in Senate District 31. A previous state senator from Natchitoches Parish, [[Sylvan Friedman]], was posthumously inducted into the organization in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lapoliticalmuseum.com/inductees.php|title=Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame|publisher=Louisiana Political Museum|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
Kelly's quarter horse specimens have brought him substantial earnings through the American Paint Horse Association of [[Fort Worth]], Texas. One of his former legislative colleagues, [[B. B. "Sixty" Rayburn]] of Bogalusa in Washington Parish, was also active in Louisiana horse racing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paintracing.com/press/07_2006runningchamps.html|title=Press Release: PaintRacing.Com|pblisher=paintracing.com|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref> Kelly is also active in the Natchitoches chapter of the sportsmen's organization Ducks Unlimited.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cp-tel.net/ducksunlimited/dusponsor.htm|title=Ducks Unlimited Sponsors|publisher=cp-tel.net|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Don}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Horses]]
|name= Donald Gene "Don" Kelly
|office= [[Louisiana]] State Senator for District 31 (Grant, [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], Rapides, Red River, Sabine, and Winn parishes)
|term_start=1976
|term_end=1996
|preceded=[[Paul Foshee]]
|succeeded=[[Mike Smith (Louisiana politician)|Kenneth Michael "Mike" Smith]]
|birth_date=May 23, 1941
|birth_place=Coushatta, Red River Parish, Louisiana
|spouse= Patricia A. Kelly
|party= [[Democratic Party|Democrat]]
|residence=Natchitoches, Louisiana
|occupation=[[Attorney]];<br>
American Quarter Horse breeder
|footnotes='''Note'''<br>
*Don Kelly could presumably have become president of the Louisiana State Senate for the asking, but instead he concentrated on steering dozens of projects to his north central Louisiana district.
}}
'''Donald Gene Kelly''', known as '''Don Kelly ''' (born May 23, 1941), is an [[attorney]] and American Quarter Horse breeder in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], [[Louisiana]], who served as a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] state semator for District 31 from 1976 to 1996. His tenure covered three of the four terms of Democratic [[Governor]] [[Edwin Edwards]] and the single gubernatorial term of [[Republican Party|Republican]] [[David C. Treen]] and Democrat-turned-Republican [[Buddy Roemer]].
==Background==
Kelly graduated from Red River Senior High School, then known as Coushatta High School in Coushatta, the seat of Red River Parish located thirty miles north of Natchitoches. He attended the [[University of Mississippi]] at Oxford and then [[Northwestern State University]] in Natchitoches. He obtained his law degree from [[Louisiana State University]] Law Center in [[Baton Rouge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.legis.state.la.us/Senators/Archives/1995/LinkShell.asp?type=kelly|title=Senator Donald G. "Don" Kelly|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
Kelly practices in the firm Kelly, Townsend & Thomas at 137 St. Denis Street in Natchitoches. He specializes in criminal law and retirement issues. The Townsend in the firm is William Lloyd Townsend, brother of Taylor Townsend and Kelly's nephew. He and his wife, Patricia A. Kelly (born February 1943), reside in Natchitoches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statelawyers.com/Lawyer/Profile.cfm/AttorneyID:82180|title=Donald G. Kelly, Attorney at Law - Criminal Law - Natchitoches, Louisiana|publisher= Louisiana Lawyer Directory - Louisiana Attorney Directory|accessdate=February 9, 2008; no longer on line}}</ref>
Kelly's niece, Alyssandra "Michelle" Fulton Kilgore (born 1969), is a family law, divorce, estate planning and probate attorney at the Fulton Law Firm in League City, [[Texas]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.martindale.com/league-city/texas/alyssandra-tracey-mi-michelle-fulton-2511671-a/|title=Alyssandra "Michelle" Fulton|publisher=Martindale.com|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
==Political life==
Kelly's nephew and law partner, Natchitoches attorney [[Taylor Townsend]], served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008, having been defeated in a race for Kelly's former Senate seat in 2007 by Gerald Long of Natchitoches, the only member of the [[Huey Long|Long family]] thus far to have been elected as a Republican. Long was term-limited in the seat in 2019 and will be succeeded by Republican [[Louie Bernard]]. Kelly is a brother of Townsend's mother, Dorothy Kelly Townsend. In the 1999 election for state representative, Townsend unseated Gerald Long's older brother, Jimmy Dale Long, Sr. (1931-2016), of Natchitoches.
In the 1975 nonpartisan blanket primary, also known as the jungle primary, the first ever held in Louisiana in which all candidates regardless of party appear on the same primary ballot, Kelly upset freshman Senator [[Paul Foshee]], of Natchitoches. In Louisiana congressional, state and local elections, the winner of the primary, or the runoff election (called the [[general election]] even if both finalists are of the same party designation), hence wins the office. In 1979, Kelly won a second term by defeating Foshee's 23-year-old son, Democrat George Barnes Foshee (1956–2000). In 1987, Foshee unsuccessfully challenged Kelly. In 1991, Kelly defeated 19-year-old Republican (later [[Libertarian Party|Libertarian]] Randall Todd Hayes (born 1972) of Atlanta in Winn Parish, 29,410 votes (75.4 percent) to 9,599 (24.6 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 19, 1991.</ref>
In 1995, Kelly did not seek a sixth term and was succeeded by fellow Democrat [[Mike Smith (Louisiana politician)|Kenneth Michael "Mike" Smith]] of Winnfield, the traditional home of the Longs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/Documents/SenateMembership1880ForwardRevisedMar2011.pdf|title=Membership of the Louisiana Senate, 1880 - Present (Natchitoches Parish)|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
Kelly worked closely with the Edwards administration to upgrade Northwestern State University and to bring public works projects to his north central Louisiana district, which includes Natchitoches, Winn, Grant, Rapides, and Red River parishes. For a time DeSoto Parish was also in District 31, but no longer. Kelly was considered such a political powerhouse that he could have on more than one occasion become state Senate President for the asking, but he instead concentrated on his district.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080201/NEWS01/80201018|date=February 1, 2008|title=Don Kelly|publisher=''Alexandria Town Talk''|accessdate=February 9, 2008; no longer on-line}}</ref>
In 1981, Governor Treen appointed Kelly to the board of the newly established Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legis.state.la.us/boards/board_members.asp?board=369 Louisiana Boards and Commissions|title=Louisiana Boards and Commissions|publisher=Louisiana House of Representatives|accessdate=December 7, 2011}}</ref>
In 2003, the Democrat Kelly contributed to the reelection campaign of [[Moderate Republican]] [[U.S. Representative]] James Otis "Jim" McCrery, III, whose then Fourth District includes Natchitoches Parish. In 2004, Kelly gave the maximum $2,000 permitted under federal law to the Democratic presidential nominee, [[U.S. Senator]] [[John Kerry]] of [[Massachusetts]], who was defeated by [[George W. Bush]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.city-data.com/elec/elec-NATCHITOCHES-LA.html|title=Natchitoches, LA Political Contributions by Individuals|publisher=city-data.com|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
On February 2, 2008, Kelly was among nine inductees, along with environmental journalist [[John LaPlante, Jr.]], and former Lieutenant Governor [[Robert Freeman]], into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield, located in Senate District 31. A previous state senator from Natchitoches Parish, [[Sylvan Friedman]], was posthumously inducted into the organization in 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lapoliticalmuseum.com/inductees.php|title=Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame|publisher=Louisiana Political Museum|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
Kelly's quarter horse specimens have brought him substantial earnings through the American Paint Horse Association of [[Fort Worth]], Texas. One of his former legislative colleagues, [[B. B. "Sixty" Rayburn]] of Bogalusa in Washington Parish, was also active in Louisiana horse racing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paintracing.com/press/07_2006runningchamps.html|title=Press Release: PaintRacing.Com|pblisher=paintracing.com|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref> Kelly is also active in the Natchitoches chapter of the sportsmen's organization Ducks Unlimited.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cp-tel.net/ducksunlimited/dusponsor.htm|title=Ducks Unlimited Sponsors|publisher=cp-tel.net|accessdate=December 7, 2019}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Don}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Attorneys]]
[[Category:Politicians]]
[[Category:State Senators]]
[[Category:Democrats]]
[[Category:Horses]]