Mike Kelly for County Commission Chair
๐๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ป๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ ๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฟ๐ฒ-๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. Kelly grew up in Johnson County, attended Rockhurst High School, did his undergraduate work at Kansas State University (Journalism and Political Science), and earned his J.D. from The University of Kansas Law School.ย
๐๐ผ๐ต๐ป๐๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ #๐ญ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ for Best Counties to Live, Best for Families, Healthiest Counties, Best Public Schools, and Best for Young Professionals. It consistently ranks in the top 50 in the nation in these categories. Eight public school districts are located at least partly in Johnson County. In 2025, Forbes Magazine ranked Johnson County as an employer: the #5 best place to work in the state of Kansas. ๐ก๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ - the Board of County Commissioners works every day to guide and manage a population of over 600,000 - and still growing.
Mike Kelly served as Mayor of Roeland Park before being elected 4 years ago to replace outgoing Chair Ed Eilert. He is Senior Counsel at Husch Blackwell, focusing on real estate, design, and construction litigation, and he volunteers as an attorney with the Neighborhood Justice Center at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church.
As parents and patrons who advocate for our Blue Valley Schools, we think ๐ถ๐โ๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฏ๐ผ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ด๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ถ-๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐. We appreciate Kellyโs willingness to do that. Hereโs Kellyโs statement:
โOur public schools are the cornerstone of our economy and the heartbeat of our community. Johnson County is continually recognized as a premiere place to live specifically because of our public schools. At a time when our public schools are under attack from state legislators and dark money groups, itโs more important than ever that the Johnson County Board of Commissioners supports excellence in our education system.ย
As Chair of the Commission, I will use my position to represent the people of Johnson County and speak out in support of public education and policies that support it. I will work directly with elected representatives in the state house and on the State Board of Education to lobby for our schools.โ
Itโs our opinion that a County Commission Chair candidate should have some previous experience in local government prior to asking voters for the biggest job in the county. Mike Kelly served as Mayor of Roeland Park, a city in northern JoCo, before he ran for the office of Chair. Before Kelly, the County Commission was chaired by Ed Eilert - who had previously served on the OP City Council, as OP Mayor, and as a County Commissioner. Prior to Eilert, the late Annabeth Surbaugh served as BOCC Chair, and before that she was a County Commissioner and served on the Water Board and as its Chair.ย
Kellyโs challenger, Karen Crnkovich, has not held public office before. She ran in 2024 for US Congress and was defeated in the Republican primary. She owns a commercial heating, cooling, ventilation, and plumbing contracting company.ย
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ท๐ผ๐ฏ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐, ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฌ,๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐, ๐ถ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐. We urge voters to re-elect Mike Kelly as Chair of the Board of County Commissioners. ALL Blue Valley voters will have this race on their ballots.
In-person Advance Voting starts Sat. Oct. 17 at 12 locations throughout JoCo. Find your closest location and voting hours at link below.
JoCo Advance Voting Locations/Days/Times:ย https://www.jocoelection.org/voting.../advance-voting
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