Kelley Paul

Kelley Ashby Paul (born September 3, 1963) is an American political consultant and freelance writer. She has worked as a consultant for The Strategy Group for Media, and she published a book titled True and Constant Friends in April 2015. Her husband is ophthalmologist and U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky. Paul is a graduate of Rhodes College. She is actively engaged in fundraising for veterans charities, in addition to her work for a political consulting firm. Early life and education Kelley Ashby was born in Russellville, Kentucky, the daughter of Lillian (Wessell) and Hilton Ray Ashby, a military family. Kelley has described her grandmother, an Irish immigrant who traveled the United States as a teenager, as one of her greatest life influences. Kelley spent much of her early life moving around the country, describing herself as an "Air Force brat". Her family lived for a few years in Turkey as well. She graduated from Russellville High School, where she was a member of the cheerleader squad. Following her graduation from high school, Kelley attended Rhodes College, where she focused on the fields of communication and English. In 1988, Kelley met Rand Paul at a backyard oyster roast in Atlanta. Rand Paul was completing a surgical rotation at Georgia Baptist Hospital while working on his medical degree at the Duke University School of Medicine. At first Kelley thought that Rand was a teenager, and unaware that he was actually a 26-year-old doctor. They began dating while Rand Paul completed his rotation program, and Rand asked Kelley to move back with him to North Carolina and try to find a job in the Durham area so that they could continue being together. On October 20, 1990, the couple married, and eventually moved to Kentucky in 1993 when an ophthalmologist position opened up in the city of Bowling Green.