Jewel Kelly, Jr.

Jewel Kelly, Jr. is the Democratic candidate for Missouri House of Representatives District 106 in the November 3, 2026 general election, running against incumbent Republican Travis Wilson.[1][2] Kelly is a U.S. Air Force veteran, licensed real estate agent and small business owner who founded a mental health and suicide awareness nonprofit.[1]

Jewel Kelly was born in Chicago, Illinois, and served in the U.S. Air Force from 2001 to 2011.[1] Kelly earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1997, a graduate degree from Olivet Nazarene University in 2002, and a second graduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law in 2018.[1] According to Ballotpedia, Kelly's career includes work as a licensed real estate agent and small business owner and, earlier, as a program and operations manager for an American multinational conglomerate.[1] In a Ballotpedia survey, Kelly said he was the oldest of 18 children, the first in his family to graduate college, and a captain in the Air Force who deployed twice to the Middle East, and that he became a licensed mortgage lender in 2023.[3] Kelly founded A Fighting Chance Foundation, a mental health and suicide awareness nonprofit, which he said in the survey began after his family lost a teenage bonus daughter to suicide in 2018.[1][3]

Kelly was unopposed in the August 4, 2026 Democratic primary for District 106, receiving 3,262 votes.[1] In a Ballotpedia survey, Kelly named lowering costs for working families, healthcare that includes mental health, and public safety as his three key campaign messages.[3] He said he supports legalizing accessory dwelling units, expanding Missouri's Working Family Tax Credit, and fully funding the state's 988 suicide and crisis lifeline.[3]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21. Not yet independently fact-checked.