Marty Kemp

Kemp was born to state representative Bob Argo.[2] Her hometown is Athens, Georgia.[3] Her childhood best friend was Julie Kemp, the sister of her future husband, Brian Kemp.[3] She graduated from Clarke Central High School.[3] Kemp earned a bachelor's degree in consumer economics at the University of Georgia in 1989.[3] She was a cheerleader in college.[3]

After college, Kemp managed her parents travel agency and worked as the bookkeeper for her husband's construction company.[3] She was also a pre-kindergarten teacher and substitute.[3] Kemp became a full-time parent when her children were young.[3]

During the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election, she campaigned on her husband's behalf. She used a softer tone than her husband.[3]

Kemp had legislative experience as the daughter of state representative.[4] She began a public initiative to raise awareness and combat human trafficking after her husband took office in 2019.[5] In 2019, she co-chairs the Georgians for Refuge, Action, Compassion, and Education (GRACE) commission that her husband established.[6][4]

In January 2020, Kemp collaborated with filmmaker Tyler Perry to create a public service announcement about human trafficking awareness in partnership with the Georgia Department of Administrative Services.[7] In 2020, she expedited the plans for the establishment of the Receiving Hope Center, a youth sex trafficking victims recovery center, in northwest Georgia.[8] Kemp worked with lawmakers to write and promote human trafficking legislation.[9] By February 2022, the state had unanimously passed six pieces of related legislation.[5]

In 2021, Kemp advocated for pet adoption.[10] In April 2022, former football player Malcolm Mitchell published a children's book, Hey Georgia, in collaboration with Kemp.[11]

Kemp is Episcopalian.[3] She began dating Brian Kemp after college.[3] They have three daughters.[3] The family resides on a 41-acre lot in Athens and Clarke counties purchased by her father the day she was born.[2]