By TIM CARPENTERKansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Gov. Laura Kelly said Thursday that she and her husband of more than 40 years were granted a divorce.
She decided to speak publicly about the amicable end of her marriage because of inquiries about the status of her relationship with retired physician Ted Daughety.
Kelly, 75, said the pair remained on friendly terms before and after the divorce was finalized in October. They were married in 1983 and have two adult daughters.
“Throughout my time in public office, I’ve always guarded my family’s privacy. It’s been my policy to keep my personal life separate from my public one to the extent possible,” Kelly said.
She said it had “come to my attention that my marital status has become a topic of some speculation, so I will share that Ted and I divorced in October of 2024.”
“It was amicable and mutual, and we both continue to share in the lives of our family,” the governor said.
The Democratic governor’s brief statement was the first official confirmation of a split. The governor resides at the Topeka residence for Kansas governors known as Cedar Crest. Her family home in the Potwin neighborhood of central Topeka has been sold.
In a statement, Daughety said that “Laura and I made this decision together, based on what worked best for us and for our family.”
Kelly was elected to the Kansas Senate to represent a Topeka-area district in 2005 and remained in that job for nearly 15 years. She was elected governor in 2018 and reelected in 2022.
Daughety was a pulmonary and sleep disorder specialist who practiced medicine for decades in Kansas.
Divorce among sitting U.S. governors hasn’t been common, but Democrat John Carlin ended two marriages while serving as governor of Kansas.
Carlin took office in 1979 and received a divorce from Ramona Hawkinson in 1980. Carlin and his second wife, Karen Bigsby Hurley, were divorced in 1985 during his second term.