Conservative Leadership

Note: In late 2023, his father had surgery and Kelly was not able to vote for the 2023 budget; he obtained an excused absence during the final days of negotiations and votes. Regardless, during the year, he successfully had key appropriations for the district inserted into the budget. Thank you for understanding.

Kelly is a common-sense conservative; he recognizes that to win your support he must remain trustworthy and honor his promises and pledges, even if this means losing committee assignments and making insiders and elitists mad.

He continues to support conservative policies such as the following:

• Voter IDs and election integrity – Kelly voted for voter IDs and other measures to prevent stolen elections and election fraud.
• Less crime and more public safety – He does not support the left’s desire to defund law enforcement, and he supports all of the men and women who honorably serve and protect us. He served as a primary and lead sponsor of laws to help protect the men and women who honorably serve us as public servants and emergency personnel. He also sponsored laws to help protect our most vulnerable citizens. 
• Less red tape – Kelly voted for tort reform and other types of regulatory reform to help cut red tape and enhance economic security for our citizens, including our farmers.
• Education, student learning and school choice – Kelly voted to empower parents and legal guardians to choose the best options for their students. He also voted to enhance the compensation and benefit packages for teachers, other school personnel, and all state employees. He sponsored a law to increase penalties for teachers and school personnel who engage in inappropriate relationships with students.
• Lower taxes – Since 2011, Kelly voted to cut taxes by billions of dollars in North Carolina, and he supports future tax cuts for people in the public and private sectors.
• Economic, energy and food security – Kelly is opposed to the federal government’s astronomical amount of debt, which hurts our economy, and he voted not to let the leftist’s energy policies control North Carolina. He supports our farmers and votes for bills to make it easier to survive as farmers in our great state.
• U.S. sovereignty, border security and the border wall – He understands that the sovereignty of our country and peace of mind are important; he does not support illegal migration/immigration, and he voted not to allow “sanctuary” cities. 
• Peace through strength via a strong military and National Guard – The National Guard awarded Kelly the Civilian Meritorius Service Medal for sponsoring strategic legislation to improve our National Guard. He also prioritized key capital projects for the National Guard.
• Balanced budgets – As required in North Carolina, Kelly voted for numerous balanced budgets. He also voted for bills that help maintain balanced budgets, eliminate waste and fraud, and maintain a AAA bond rating in North Carolina.
• Capital and infrastructure improvements and access to broadband – At various times, Kelly serves on key committees to help appropriate money for capital, to learn state and federal transportation laws, and to help with access to broadband for our whole state, including rural areas.
• Life – He voted against the abhorrent act of partial-birth abortion.
• Liberty – Kelly voted not to allow COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
• Private property rights – He voted to prevent foreign land grabs by our enemies so that U.S. citizens have opportunities to own private property.
• Congressional term limits – He voted for a limited convention of states that would focus on Congressional term limits and balancing the federal budget.
• Second Amendment rights – Kelly served as a lead sponsor of the Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground provisions that became law in North Carolina. He voted to eliminate the redundant pistol purchase permit requirement and he supports “constitutional carry.”
• Market-based healthcare solutions – He voted to exempt North Carolinians from the individual mandate/tax increases included in Obamacare.
• Other common-sense and conservative policies – Kelly believes that all people are created equally by God, and he does not support the left’s attacks on the United States and her people via the use of “critical race theory.” He voted to protect women’s sports, to outlaw sex changes for minors, to fight human trafficking, and to ban the liberal ESG agenda.