Russ Mobley

Who is Russ Mobley?

Russell G. Mobley, known as Russ Mobley, is a Republican former member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from District 51 in the south central portion of the state.

Prior to his legislative service, which extended from 2001 to 2009, Mobley was an associate professor of theatre arts at Baptist-affiliated Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, the seat and largest community of Taylor County. During his teaching career there from 1971 until his retirement in 2005, Mobley directed more than one hundred student plays, the first being Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Another Mobley play was the 1987 adaptation of Fiddler on the Roof.

Mobley was not a candidate for a fifth two-year term in 2008. The Republican nominee, John "Bam" Carney, also an educator, was elected to succeed Mobley and still holds the seat.

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

Mobley was elected to the Kentucky House in 2000. He was unopposed in the Republican primary when the two-term incumbent, Ricky Lee Cox, a Campbellsville dentist, did not seek reelection. In the general election, Mobley defeated the Democrat Russell Montgomery 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.