Kelly Loeffler facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kelly Loeffler
Official portrait, 2019
United States Senator from Georgia
In office January 6, 2020 – January 20, 2021
Appointed by	Brian Kemp
Preceded by	Johnny Isakson
Succeeded by	Raphael Warnock
Personal details
Born	Kelly Lynn Loeffler (1970-11-27) November 27, 1970 (age 54) Bloomington, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Jeffrey Sprecher ​ (m. 2004)​
Education	University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (BS) DePaul University (MBA)

Kelly Lynn Loeffler (born November 27, 1970) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as a United States senator for Georgia from 2020 to 2021. She is a former co-owner of the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Loeffler is a member of the Republican Party.

Early life and education

Loeffler was born in Bloomington, Illinois, to Don and Lynda (née Munsell) Loeffler, and raised on her family's corn and soybean farm in Stanford, Illinois. She has a brother, Brian. In 1988, she graduated from Olympia High School in Stanford, where she was in marching band, ran cross country and track, and played varsity basketball.

In 1992, Loeffler graduated with a Bachelor of Science in marketing from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign's Gies College of Business, where she was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. After college, she worked for Toyota as a District Account Manager. In 1999, Loeffler graduated with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in international finance and marketing from DePaul University's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.

Early career

After earning her MBA, Loeffler worked for Citibank, William Blair & Company, and the Crossroads Group. In 2002, she joined Intercontinental Exchange, where she met and later married the firm's CEO, Jeffrey Sprecher. In 2018, she became the chief executive officer (CEO) of Bakkt, a smaller company under Intercontinental Exchange.

In 2011, Loeffler and Mary Brock bought Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). While she owned the team, she was active in meetings and attended all games. In February 2021, Loeffler sold her part of the ownership of the team.

Political donations

According to OpenSecrets, as of December 2019, Loeffler and her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher, had donated $3.2 million to political committees. Ninety-seven percent of these donations went to Republicans, and three percent went to Democrats.

U.S. Senate

Appointment

Loeffler meeting with Mitch McConnell in December 2019

Loeffler after being sworn in as Senator by Vice President Mike Pence

On August 28, 2019, sitting Georgia senator Johnny Isakson announced that he would resign at the end of the year because of his health. According to Georgia law, Governor Kemp was required to choose someone to finish Isakson's term. He chose Loeffler. On January 6, 2020, Loeffler was sworn into the Senate. She became the second female to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate.

Political positions

Loeffler called herself the most conservative Republican in the Senate and allied herself with President Trump. During her term in the Senate, Loeffler sponsored 57 bills and cosponsored 210. She voted in line with President Trump's stated position 80% of the time.

Committees

• Committee on Health Education Labor & Pensions
  • Subcommittee on Children and Families
  • Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety
  • Primary Health and Retirement Security
• Joint Economic Committee
• Committee on Veterans Affairs
• Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry
  • Conservation, Forestry, and Natural Resources
  • Livestock, Marketing, and Agriculture Security

Loeffler in 2020

2020–21 U.S. Senate special election

Loeffler ran to serve the remaining two years of the Senate term to which she had been appointed. Under Georgia's election law, all candidates for the seat (regardless of political party) compete in a nonpartisan blanket primary.

Because no candidate received over 50% of the vote in the election, Loeffler, who came in second, participated in a runoff election on January 5, 2021, against the primary's first-place finisher, Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock. The other senate race from the state between David Perdue and Jon Ossoff also went to a runoff. The Democrats won both seats and took control of the Senate in a 50-50 tie. Whenever there is a tie, the Vice President would have the tie-breaking vote. Kamala Harris, a Democrat, was that vote.

Greater Georgia

Following the special election, Loeffler founded Greater Georgia, an organization that planned to register more voters in Georgia. According to their website, they plan to do this by "engaging communities that feel left out of the political process and restoring trust and integrity in our election process." Loeffler personally invested at least $1 million in the organization.

Personal life

Loeffler is a Roman Catholic.

In 2004, Loeffler married Jeffrey Sprecher, the founder and CEO of Intercontinental Exchange and Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. They live in Tuxedo Park, Atlanta. They have four additional homes and a condo.

Kelly Loeffler quotes

• "I will always fight for the unborn, and I will always stand up against the radical left and the cancel culture."
• "I condemn violence no matter where it shows up or who the source is."
• "Civics curriculum is an important part of an education that prepares students for lives of leadership and service."
• "Schools fail to serve the best interest of their students when they promote a political agenda and push them into partisan activism rather than academic success."

Interesting facts about Kelly Loeffler

• She has an MBA (MBA).
• She traded in the stock market.
• She was a co-owner of the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
• She has fought against defunding the police, racism, and the breakdown of the American family.
• In 2014, she considered running for an open U.S. Senate seat but passed up the opportunity.

Electoral history

See also

In Spanish: Kelly Loeffler para niños

• Women in conservatism in the United States
• Women in the United States Senate