Russ Mobley

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Russell G. "Russ" Mobley
Russ Mobley
Kentucky State Representative from District 51 (Taylor and Adair counties)
In office 2001 – Term ends 2009

Born	November 18, 1933 (1933-11-18) (age 74)
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Carole M. Mobley (born 1938)
Children	Sons Gregory Mobley (born 1957), Joel B. Mobley (born 1966)
Occupation	Retired educator
Religion	Baptist

Russell G. "Russ" Mobley (born November 18, 1933) is a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from District 51 (Taylor and Adair counties) in the south central portion of the state. Prior to his legislative service, which began in 2001, Mobley was an associate professor of theatre arts at Baptist-affiliated Campbellsville University (formerly College) in Campbellsville, the seat and largest community of Taylor County. During his teaching career, from which he retired in 2005, Mobley directed many student plays, such as an acclaimed 1988 performance of Fiddler on the Roof.

Mobley is not a candidate for a fifth two-year term in 2008. At least three Republicans, Russell Montgomery, Asa James Swan, and John "Bam" Carney, have filed as a Republican candidate for his seat.

Mobley holds bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from the University of Kentucky in Lexington. He served in the United States Air Force from 1951-1955. He is a former member of Rotary International. He is a member of the Campbellsville Baptist Church.

Mobley was elected to the Kentucky House in 2000. He defeated the Democrat Russell Montgomery (since a Republican) by 1,305 votes. He won by an even larger margin in 2002, when he defeated the Democrat Henry "Butch" Wheatley by 2,417 ballots. He was reelected in his largely Republican district in 2004 and 2006 as well.

He serves on the House Labor and Industry, Transportation, and Education committees. One of Mobley's legislative priorities is the ongoing widening of Kentucky Highway 210 and Kentucky Highway 55, an $18.7 million project announced by Governor Ernie Fletcher. The widening project in Taylor County is part of the larger Heartland Parkway, which will ultimately connect the existing Cumberland Parkway and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Some consider Mobley to be one of the more conservative members of the Kentucky legislature. He supports the right to life and endorsed the anti-abortion legislator Stan Lee, the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Attorney General of Kentucky in the November 6, 2007, general election. Mobley was a strong supporter of former Governor Fletcher whom he described as "a man who keeps his promises." He backs English as the official language and opposes same-sex marriages.

In the middle 1970s, Mobley made an unsuccessful race for the United States House of Representatives from the Lexington-based Sixth Congressional District.

Mobley and his wife, Carole M. Mobley (born 1938), a pharmacist, are the parents of three sons and two daughters. Joel Mobley (born 1966), an assistant professor of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Mississippi in Oxford Mississippi; Jeffrey Mobley (born 1957), an attorney in Nashville, Tennessee; Gregory Mobley (born 1957), a professor of Old Testament at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, Massachusetts; Stephanie M. Woodie an instructor at Berea College and Suzanne M. Bennett, an educator in the Green County School District. Gregory Mobley is the coauthor of The Birth of Satan: Tracing the Devil's Biblical Roots.