Staff Reports
Alex Kelly is officially a Deputy Chief Staff in the Governor’s Office.
“Alex Kelly is a Deputy Chief of Staff and his portfolio includes education and economic development. He brings with him extensive experience in state government and we are thrilled to have him on the team,” Meredith Beatrice, a spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis, said.
Lobbying registrations show Kelly started the job on Wednesday.
Before joining the Governor’s office, Kelly served as Chief of Staff to Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran.
Regarded as one of the most capable staffers in state government, Kelly served as vice president for the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a school choice advocacy group founded by former Gov. Jeb Bush, before Corcoran tapped him for Chief of Staff in late 2018.
He held the VP position at ExcelinEd for four years.
Before joining ExcelinEd, Kelly worked as the Chief of Staff in the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and in the Florida House, where he served as staff director for the Redistricting Committee and as a chief analyst for the Select Policy Council on Strategic & Economic Planning.
He has also held positions at the Florida Department of Corrections and the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, serving as the director of legislative affairs to both agencies in the mid 2000s.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from York University and his master’s degree from the University of Florida.
Kelly was also nominated by Corcoran to serve on the Florida Election Commission, a nine-member panel charged with ensuring transparency in Florida elections. His term on the commission expired at the end of 2019.
Kelly was one of a handful of names floated for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Chief of Staff last month. The Governor ultimately selected Adrian Lukis, formerly a Deputy Chief of Staff, to take over the position from Shane Strum, who left the Governor’s office to become CEO of Broward Health.
