Kennedy, John Neely (1951-…), became a United States senator in 2017. Kennedy, a member of the Republican Party, represents the Southern State of Louisiana. Kennedy had earlier served as the state’s treasurer.
Kennedy was born in Centreville, Mississippi, on Nov. 21, 1951. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1973. He received a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1977. He then studied at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, receiving a bachelor of civil law (B.C.L.) degree in 1979. He then worked as a lawyer in private practice.
Kennedy became special counsel (legal assistant and adviser) to Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer in 1988. He served as secretary to Roemer’s Cabinet in 1990 before returning to work as an attorney in private practice. From 1996 to 1999, he served as secretary—that is, head—of the state Department of Revenue and Taxation in the Cabinet of Governor Mike Foster. Kennedy, running as a Democrat, was elected state treasurer in 1999 and took office in 2000. He was reelected in 2003. He changed political parties in 2007. That year, he ran for reelection as a Republican and won. He was reelected state treasurer in 2011 and 2015. Kennedy also served as an adjunct (part-time) professor at the law school of Louisiana State University and worked as a substitute teacher in the state’s public schools.
In December 2016, Kennedy defeated Democrat Foster Campbell in a run-off election for Louisiana’s open U.S. Senate seat. In the general election in November, Kennedy and Campbell had received the most votes among a total of 24 candidates for the open seat. Kennedy took office in January 2017. He was reelected in 2022.
