Kelso will seek SC House Seat 108 for Republicans

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 2008
Contact: Jill Kelso (843) 543-0180

MURRELLS INLET--- Pawleys Island business owner Jill Kelso announced Tuesday that she has formed an official campaign committee and will file this month to run for State House of Representatives in District 108 on the Republican ticket. Kelso, 31, made the announcement as guest speaker at the organizational meeting of the Georgetown Women's Republican Club at Applewood House of Pancakes in Litchfield Beach.

Married to her junior high school sweetheart, John, Kelso says that their daughters Molly and Emily are a principle reason why she decided to seek the position. "In one way or another," she noted, "every job I held until I began running my own business convinced me that we cannot let another year go by without drastically improving education. Our children deserve better and I simply will not rest until we've finally turned the corner on this problem."

Kelso operates Smart Saver Advertising, a direct marketing firm serving Georgetown and Horry Counties. She received a degree in English from University of Pittsburgh. Following graduation, she worked as a full-time substitute teacher, then on the staff of the non-profit Close-Up Foundation, for the National Rifle Association, and helped to organize and open the new Sylvan Learning Center in Conway, SC.

"I was raised in a working-class environment," Kelso continued, "my grandparents, who immigrated to America from Greece, and my parents, taught me the importance of education and the value of hard work. Some of my earliest childhood memories were of dinners at my grandparents' house listening to heated discussions about politics among the grown-ups. Even then, I began developing the conservative core beliefs that guide me today."

Kelso is convinced that the people of this District need a representative that truly understands the role of government and will work hard with the majority in Columbia to support and pass the Governor's reform agenda. "The primary focus of my campaign and my first term in office will be to improve education, build roads and infrastructure and curb wasteful spending," she added.

"We must send a representative to the State House," she continued, "who will vote to put an end to loose fiscal policy and who will work with Mark Sanford. Our governor received over 70% of the votes in this District little more than a year ago, yet our representative continues to stand in the way of progress. I place my faith in free thinking, independent American citizens and the innovation and competition of the private sector over an overreaching bureaucracy. That is what I offer to my fellow citizens."