Votetracker

Kelley, a third-term senator from Hopkins, is one of the Pawlenty administration's leading critics, especially when it comes to education matters. As chairman of the Senate Education Committee, he led the hearings that resulted in the ouster of Education Commissioner Cheri Yecke and he helped draft the state's new academic standards after disagreeing with ones put out by Yecke. He was a candidate for governor in the 2006 election, but did not receive the endorsement from the DFL. He then ran for attorney general and lost the primary.