2016 Presidential Primary Information

(Everything You Wanted to Know About How We Pick Presidential Candidates, But Were Afraid To Ask)

Personal History:

I was born on November 5^th, in Birmingham, Alabama.  I lived there with my parents, Buster and Gail Kilpatrick, until I was 16.  I grew up in Southern Baptist churches.  I attended college for one year at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, and then finished my undergraduate degree at Florida State University in Tallahassee.  My final semester I took an internship as a student lobbyist and was bitten by the Legislative Bug.  I spent ten years working as a budget and policy analyst in and around the legislative process.  During that time I also earned a Masters in Public Administration from Florida State.

During the summer of 1985 I met Kevin Klein, who was home on break from Harding University.  I began to attend a local church of Christ.  We dated long distance for a year, and when he graduated he came back to Tallahassee to pursue a Ph.D. in History.  We married in the summer of 1988. 

In the summer of 1994 we moved to Searcy, Arkansas in order for Kevin to accept a professor’s position at his alma mater, Harding.  I was pregnant with our first child, and Sam was born in October of 1994.  Our second child, Seth, was born 21 months later in July of 1996. I am very grateful to be able to be Mom to two bright, energetic boys.  Sam is a ninth grader, and Seth is in seventh grade at Harding Academy.  In addition to my mothering duties, I am an Assistant Professor at Harding University.  In 1997, I began to teach one class per semester at Harding, and I began teaching full time in the fall of 2005.  I teach American National Government, State and Local Government, Public Policy and Public Administration.  I enjoy the contact with the students, and the chance to pass along my belief that being a Christian public servant is a high calling.

I have taught bible classes in many formats, including children’s bible classes, vacation bible school, Tuesday Ladies’ Bible class, small group Bible classes, and conference break-out groups.  We are extremely blessed to have a large (35+!) group of Harding students who meet in our home for a Wednesday night bible study.

Like my mother and my grandmothers, I love to garden.  I grow mostly flowers, and a few tomatoes for my husband.  I have a varied collection of heirloom plants, hand me down plants, store-bought plants and wildflowers.  I travel with a shovel in the back of my car…