Kelly Loeffler | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2025 | |
| 28thAdministrator of the Small Business Administration | |
| Assumed office February 20, 2025 | |
| President | Donald Trump |
| Deputy | Bill Briggs |
| Preceded by | Isabel Guzman |
| United States Senator fromGeorgia | |
| In office January 6, 2020 – January 20, 2021 | |
| Appointed by | Brian Kemp |
| Preceded by | Johnny Isakson |
| Succeeded by | Raphael Warnock |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kelly Lynn Loeffler (1970-11-27)November 27, 1970 (age 54) Bloomington, Illinois, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Education | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (BS) DePaul University (MBA) |
Kelly Lynn Loeffler (/ˈlɛflər/LEF-lər; born November 27, 1970) is an American businesswoman and politician who has served as the 28thadministrator of the Small Business Administration since 2025. A member of theRepublican Party, she served as aUnited States senator fromGeorgia from 2020 to 2021.
Loeffler was thechief executive officer (CEO) ofBakkt, a subsidiary of commodity and financial service providerIntercontinental Exchange, of which her husband,Jeffrey Sprecher, is CEO. She is a former co-owner of theAtlanta Dream of theWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA).[1] Loeffler is a member of theRepublican Party.
Brian Kemp, the Republicangovernor of Georgia, appointed Loeffler to the U.S. Senate in December 2019 after SenatorJohnny Isakson resigned for health reasons. Loeffler proved a consistent ally of PresidentDonald Trump on key votes during her time in the U.S. Senate.[2][3] Loeffler ran in the2020 Georgia U.S. Senate special election, seeking to hold the seat until January 2023. She finished in the top two in the November 3 election, advancing to a runoff withDemocratRaphael Warnock held on January 5, 2021, where she narrowly lost by two percentage points.[4] After the November 2020 election, Loeffler claimed that there had been unspecified failures in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.[5] She later announced her intention to object to the certification of the Electoral College results in Congress.[6] Loeffler ultimately withdrew her objection and voted for certification in January 2021.
In February 2025, Loeffler was confirmed as Administrator of the Small Business Administration in the second Trump administration.[7]
Kelly Lynn Loeffler was born on November 27, 1970, inBloomington, Illinois, to Don and Lynda (née Munsell) Loeffler, and raised on her family's corn andsoybean farm inStanford, Illinois.[8][9] She has a brother, Brian.[10] In 1988, she graduated fromOlympia High School in Stanford, where she was in the marching band, ran cross-country and track, and played varsity basketball.[11]
In 1992, Loeffler graduated with aBachelor of Science inmarketing from theUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign'sGies College of Business, where she was a member of theAlpha Gamma Delta sorority.[12] After college, she worked forToyota as a district account manager.[13][14] In 1999, she graduated with aMaster of Business Administration (MBA) ininternational finance and marketing fromDePaul University'sKellstadt Graduate School of Business.[9][12] She financed her graduate school tuition by mortgaging land inherited from her grandparents.[9]
After earning her MBA, Loeffler worked forCitibank,William Blair & Company, and theCrossroads Group.[15] In 2002, she joinedIntercontinental Exchange, a commodity and financial service provider, in investor relations.[16] She married the firm's CEO,Jeffrey Sprecher, in 2004.[9][17] Loeffler was eventually promoted to senior vice president of investor relations and corporate communications.[18] In 2018, she became thechief executive officer (CEO) ofBakkt, a subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange.[19]
In 2010, Loeffler bought a minority stake in theAtlanta Dream of theWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA).[9] In 2011, she andMary Brock bought the team from Kathy Betty.[18][20] Loeffler took an active role in the team, arranging her travel schedule to attend all games and often meeting with head coachMichael Cooper during halftime to analyze the first half of the game.[21] Due in part to her stance on theBlack Lives Matter movement, and the resulting criticism expressed by many players on the Dream roster and within the league, in February 2021 Loeffler sold her stake in the team.[22]
When Loeffler left Intercontinental Exchange to join the Senate, the company awarded her over $9 million of financial assets. A spokesperson for Loeffler said Loeffler "left millions in equity compensation behind" by joining the Senate.[23]
According toOpenSecrets, as of December 2019, Loeffler and her husband,Jeffrey Sprecher, had donated $3.2 million to political committees. Ninety-seven percent of these donations went toRepublicans, and three percent toDemocrats, includingHillary Clinton,Chris Dodd,Debbie Stabenow,[24] and Georgia congressmanDavid Scott (GA–13), who received $10,200.[24][25] Loeffler donated $750,000 toRestore Our Future, asuper PAC supporting former governorMitt Romney's2012 presidential campaign.[8] TheNational Republican Senatorial Committee received $247,500 from Loeffler and Sprecher.[25]
In May 2020, Loeffler's husband gave $1 million to aTrump 2020 reelection super PAC, his largest federal political donation to date.[26][27]
In June 2025, following her confirmation as head of the Small Business Administration, Loeffler and her husband each donated $2.5 million toMAGA Inc., a super PAC that supports Donald Trump.[28]
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Loeffler considered seeking the Republican nomination in the2014 United States Senate election in Georgia but ultimately passed on the race because of Intercontinental Exchange's pending acquisition of theNew York Stock Exchange.[29]
On August 28, 2019, sitting Georgia senatorJohnny Isakson announced that he would resign at the end of the year, citing health reasons.[30] On December 4, 2019, in accordance with Georgia law, GovernorKemp appointed Loeffler to fill Isakson's unexpired term until the next regularly scheduled statewide election in November 2020.[31] Kemp traveled to Washington to explain why he wanted to appoint Loeffler instead of Trump's choice, RepresentativeDoug Collins, who helped lead the House opposition to Trump's impeachment. The choice of Loeffler angered many Georgia conservatives who had supported Collins.[8][32][33][34]
On January 6, 2020, Loeffler was sworn in to the Senate.[35] She became the second female to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate. The first wasRebecca Latimer Felton, also the first female U.S. senator, who served a symbolic one-day term in 1922.[36] The appointment was valid until therunoff election scheduled for January 5, 2021, because no candidate in the November 2020 election received a majority of the vote.[4]
Loeffler characterized herself as among the mostconservative Republican in the Senate[37][38] and allied herself with President Trump.[37][39] During her tenure in the Senate, Loeffler sponsored 57 bills and cosponsored 210.[40] She voted in line with President Trump's stated position 80% of the time.[41][2]
Loeffler supported Republicanefforts to repeal theAffordable Care Act.[42] Loeffleropposed abortion and supported anti-abortion legislation.[43][44][45] The anti-abortion groupSusan B. Anthony List initially opposed Loeffler's appointment, but endorsed her in the 2020 election.[46][47][44] Loeffler donated portions of her Senate salary to anti-abortion pregnancy centers and an anti-LGBTQ adoption agency.[48]
On gun issues, Loeffler received "A" ratings from theNRA Political Victory Fund[49] andGun Owners of America.[50] She cosponsored theConcealed Carry Reciprocity Act and opposed theassault weapons ban andred flag law proposals. Loeffler supported constructing aborder wall along theMexico–United States border,[51] and the appointment of conservative judges to federal courts.[52] In September 2020, she introduced legislation to the Senate floor that would bartransgender women from participating in girls' and women's sports.[53] The bill stated "sex shall be recognized based solely on a person's reproductive biology and genetics at birth".[54]
In February 2020, Loeffler said that "Democrats have dangerously and intentionally misled the American people on #Coronavirus readiness".[55] She went on to say that regarding COVID-19, "Americans are in good hands with" the Trump administration.[55] In March 2020, Loeffler said that the U.S. was "in the best economic position" to handle COVID-19.[55] She criticized Democrats, writing that they "continue to play politics with" COVID-19.[55]
In October 2020, shortly after Trump and First LadyMelania Trump were diagnosed withCOVID-19 after attending events where they closely interacted with other individuals while maskless, Loeffler, who often appeared at rallies and gatherings without wearing a mask,[56] blamed their contraction of the disease on thePeople's Republic of China, tweeting, "China gave this virus to our President @realDonaldTrump and First Lady @FLOTUS. WE MUST HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE."[57]
During the2021 United States Electoral College vote count in January 2021, Loeffler was slated to vote against the measure, but after thestorming of the U.S. Capitol, which Loeffler witnessed, she changed her mind, saying, "The events that transpired have forced me to reconsider. I cannot now in good conscience object to the certification of the votes."[58]
On March 19, 2020, the release of federalfinancial disclosure documents showed that Loeffler and her husbandJeffrey Sprecher, chairman and CEO of theIntercontinental Exchange (a corporation that owns theNew York Stock Exchange), had sold stock in companies vulnerable to theCOVID-19 pandemic with an aggregate value of several million dollars. They began selling stocks on January 24, the same day Loeffler attended a private briefing of theCommittee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions on the spread of the disease, before the public had been alerted to its severity.[59] Loeffler denied any wrongdoing, saying the trades were made by a third-party advisor and that she learned about them only after they occurred.[60] Between January 24 and February 14, the couple sold between $1.275 and $3.1 million worth of stock in 27 companies, while buying stocks worth between $450,000 and $1 million, including inCitrix, which develops remote collaboration software.[61][62]
The government watchdog groupCommon Cause filed complaints with the Justice Department, theSecurities and Exchange Commission and the Senate Ethics Committee, alleging possible violations of theSTOCK Act andinsider trading laws in the matter of stock sales by Loeffler and three other senators,Richard Burr,Jim Inhofe, andDianne Feinstein.[63] Loeffler and Sprecher had sold at least $18.7 million in Intercontinental Exchange stock before the2020 stock market crash.[64] After being criticized for the trades, Loeffler and Sprecher sold their individual stocks in an effort "to move beyond the distraction" caused by trades they made before and during the market decline caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.[65] On May 26, 2020, theU.S. Department of Justice announced that it had closed its inquiry into Loeffler.[66] On June 16, 2020, the Senate Ethics Committee dismissed Common Cause's complaint, writing to Loeffler, "Based on all the information before it, the Committee did not find evidence that your actions violated federal law, Senate Rules or standards of conduct."[67]
Loeffler ran to serve the remaining two years of the Senate term to which she had been appointed. She planned to spend $20 million of her own money on her campaign.[68] Under Georgia's election law, all candidates for the seat (regardless of political party) compete in anonpartisan blanket primary;[69] in addition to Democratic candidates, Loeffler, backed by theNational Republican Senatorial Committee, was challenged by fellow RepublicanDoug Collins, who representedGeorgia's 9th congressional district.[70]
In July 2020, Loeffler, who co-owned the Atlanta Dream, wrote the WNBA a public letter objecting to players wearing shirts with "Black Lives Matter" and "Say Her Name" printed on them, and suggesting they wear American flags instead.[71][72][73] She stated her opposition to theBlack Lives Matter movement, saying it "advocates things like defunding and abolishing the police, abolishing our military, emptying our prisons, destroying thenuclear family" and "promotes violence and antisemitism".[74][73] Her comments led some WNBA players to call for her removal from ownership.[75] Loeffler later said that the movement was "based on Marxist principles" and threatens to "destroy" America.[76] In August 2020, players from the Dream and several other teams wore "Vote Warnock" T-shirts in support of one of Loeffler'sDemocratic challengers in the special election.[77][78]
During her 2020 campaign, Loeffler said that she had never disagreed with Trump. Loeffler touted that she had been endorsed byMarjorie Taylor Greene, a controversial Republican[citation needed] who won the election for Georgia's 14th congressional district. Greene had a history[citation needed] of promotion of theQAnon conspiracy theory and of commentary that has been consideredracist.[79][80][81] Asked whether she accepted Greene's endorsement given Greene's history of remarks, Loeffler said she knew nothing about QAnon and criticized the media for misrepresenting or faking events.[82]
As no candidate received over 50% of the vote in the election, Loeffler, who came in second, participated in a runoff election on January 5, 2021, against the primary's first-place finisher, Democratic candidateRaphael Warnock.[4][83][84] The other senate race from the state betweenDavid Perdue andJon Ossoff also went to a runoff. This meant if Democrats won both seats, which they ultimately did, they would take control of the senate in a 50–50 tie, because Vice PresidentKamala Harris had the tie breaking vote. After the November election, Loeffler and the other U.S. senator from Georgia,David Perdue, claimed without evidence that there had been "failures" in the election, and called for the resignation of theGeorgia secretary of stateBrad Raffensperger, a fellow Republican. Their rhetoric fed into falsehoods and conspiracy theories among segments of the right, including Trump, who lost the presidential election toJoe Biden.[84][85][83] There was no evidence of wrongdoing in connection with the election.[84] Raffensperger rejected the calls for his resignation.[83] According toPolitico, Loeffler repeated Trump's baseless claims of fraud because she wanted the support of Trump and his core voters in the January runoff.[86] In December 2020, Loeffler supported a lawsuit by Trump allies seeking to overturn the election results.[87]
On November 20, 2020, Loeffler spoke without a mask at a rally inCanton, Georgia, 46 days before the runoff. Later that day, she tested positive for COVID-19; the result of a subsequent test the following day was inconclusive. She had intermittently worn a mask while campaigning.[56] Attendees at her rallies were mostly maskless.[88] As a consequence of the initial positive test result, Loeffler canceled future appearances at rallies, entering quarantine for the recommended time period.[56] On January 1, 2021, Loeffler absented herself from the successful override of Trump's veto of the defense spending bill.[89]
Throughout the campaign she sought to win the support of pro-Trump voters.[90] She touted her endorsement from Trump; he held a rally in the state shortly before the election.[91] At the rally, he asked his supporters to vote for Loeffler, also repeating debunked voter fraud allegations. Her campaign tried to paint her opponentRaphael Warnock as asocialist in a series of campaign ads, calling for people to vote for her to "hold the line" against what she called socialism. In a December 6, 2020, debate she repeatedly accused her opponent of being a "radical liberal" and refused to admitJoe Biden was the winner of the2020 United States presidential election.[92] With Democrats in the race calling for $2,000COVID-19 stimulus payments if they won andDonald Trump backing the policy, she announced she would back the payments.[93]
TheAssociated Press called the race for Warnock (51%-49%) in the early morning hours of January 6.[94] Warnock's narrow win was attributed to a large black voter turnout in the runoff.[94] That same day, Loeffler planned to object to the certification of the presidential election results, but ultimately withdrew her objection and accepted the results. Loeffler conceded to Warnock on January 7.[95]
Following her tenure in the U.S. Senate, Loeffler founded Greater Georgia, an organization that planned to register likely conservative voters in Georgia, expand conservative messaging infrastructure, andadvocate for changes to voting laws to increase election security.[96] Loeffler personally invested at least $1 million in the organization.[97]
In July 2023, Loeffler joined the board of directors ofPublicSquare, an online marketplace marketed towards conservatives.[98]
During the2024 United States presidential election, Loeffler was a major donor toDonald Trump, having contributed more than $4.9 million to his re-election effort.[99]
On December 5, 2024, President-electDonald Trump announced his intent to nominate Loeffler forAdministrator of the Small Business Administration in the second Trump administration.[100]
Loeffler appeared before theSenate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on January 29, 2025.[101] The committee advanced her nomination in a 12–7 vote on February 5, 2025.[102] On February 19, 2025, the U.S. Senate confirmed Loeffler's nomination with a 52–46 vote.[103]
Loeffler was sworn in as the 28thAdministrator of the Small Business Administration on February 20, 2025.
During the2025 United States federal government shutdown, Loeffler became as administrator of the SBA subject of aHatch Act complaint filed by thePublic Citizen watchdog group alleging that Loeffler engaged in "electioneering" while on duty.[104]
Loeffler is aRoman Catholic.[44]
In 2004, Loeffler marriedJeffrey Sprecher, the founder and CEO ofIntercontinental Exchange and chairman of theNew York Stock Exchange.[16] They live inTuxedo Park, Atlanta,[105] in a $10.5 million, 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) estate, bought in 2013 in what was then the most expensive residential real estate transaction ever recorded in Atlanta.[14] They have four additional homes and a condo.[106] In November 2020,Newsweek reported Loeffler's and Sprecher's combined net worth at $800 million, making her the wealthiest sitting U.S. senator at the time.[107][21]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Raphael Warnock | 1,617,035 | 32.9% | ||
| Republican | Kelly Loeffler (incumbent) | 1,273,214 | 25.9% | ||
| Republican | Doug Collins | 980,454 | 20.0% | ||
| Democratic | Deborah Jackson | 324,118 | 6.6% | ||
| Democratic | Matt Lieberman | 136,021 | 2.8% | ||
| Democratic | Tamara Johnson-Shealey | 106,767 | 2.2% | ||
| Democratic | Jamesia James | 94,406 | 1.9% | ||
| Republican | Derrick Grayson | 51,592 | 1.0% | ||
| Democratic | Joy Felicia Slade | 44,945 | 0.9% | ||
| Republican | Annette Davis Jackson | 44,335 | 0.9% | ||
| Republican | Kandiss Taylor | 40,349 | 0.8% | ||
| Republican | A. Wayne Johnson | 36,176 | 0.7% | ||
| Libertarian | Brian Slowinski | 35,431 | 0.7% | ||
| Democratic | Richard Dien Winfield | 28,687 | 0.6% | ||
| Democratic | Ed Tarver | 26,333 | 0.5% | ||
| Independent | Allen Buckley | 17,954 | 0.4% | ||
| Green | John Fortuin | 15,293 | 0.3% | ||
| Independent | Elbert Bartell | 14,640 | 0.3% | ||
| Independent | Valencia Stovall | 13,318 | 0.3% | ||
| Independent | Michael Todd Greene | 13,293 | 0.3% | ||
| Write-in | Rod Mack | 7 | 0.0% | ||
| Total votes | 4,914,368 | 100.0% | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Raphael Warnock | 2,288,923 | 51.0% | ||
| Republican | Kelly Loeffler (incumbent) | 2,195,373 | 49.0% | ||
| Total votes | 4,484,296 | 100.0% | |||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | |||||
I adamantly oppose the Black Lives Matter political movement
| U.S. Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Georgia 2020–2021 Served alongside:David Perdue | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forU.S. Senator fromGeorgia (Class 3) 2020 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Administrator of the Small Business Administration 2025–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | Order of precedence of the United States as Administrator of the Small Business Administration | Succeeded by |
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