Politics and Pageants
"This is a platform for my life in politics," Lightbourn says of her drive to become the next Miss USA. "Every great leader from Gandhi to Martin Luther King spent time in jail and law school is my jail. I want to put the first first man in the White House," she says, tugging gently on the arm of Exarhos, a Vienna resident, who first met Lightbourn in Bristol during the Miss Virginia pageant this October.
"She is one of the prettiest people with the most giving heart and best work ethic I have ever met," Exarhos says of Lightbourn. "When she was given her Miss Virginia crown, Kellie was standing next to the reigning Miss USA, [Shawnia Jebbia], and frankly she overshadowed her," he says, giving a slight hint at the competitiveness of pageantry.
Promised Land
"I'm just giving her a little direction," says Exarhos, a marketing sales manager taking time off from his work with a company called Cluster Technology Corporation to lead Lightbourn to the beauty queen promised land. He says they are looking for $4,000 to pay for the 50 outfits she is buying for the pageant. He arranged for Lightbourn to undergo two days of intense training, Dec. 28 - 29, with Mike Porterfield, a pageant Ph.D. based in Atlanta.
During her holiday homecoming, Lightbourn also wanted to spend some time on Capitol Hill to lobby against the Urban Housing Act, section 227, "senior citizens who live in public housing are not allowed to have animals after they turn 67," she recites, but due to the impeachment crisis, she has had to scale back her political activities. Lightbourn, a Republican animal-rights activist, is co-founder of a Vienna-based group called Tender Loving Canines. She has two Maltese dogs, Chelsea and Ally, named after two previous Miss USAs.
Home Sweet Home
Lightbourn discovered Vienna while she worked as a field producer for the cable news channel CNBC in Washington two years ago. She chose to live here because "it is so quiet, the people are so nice and it's the closest thing to Tysons corner." As an aspiring politician, she also likes to be near Washington. A broadcasting major from the University of Florida, she tried journalism but felt frustrated at the lack of impact she was having. "At a news station, you can't be your own boss. I think I can have more influence as a politician," she said. She points to a former Miss Universe who ran for president in Venezuela as an example.
She refers to Nicole Johnson, the current Miss America from Richmond who is campaigning for diabetes awareness, as "a sharp girl". Other than allowing the elderly to keep their pets, Lightbourn's other political concerns include child welfare and work programs for homeless people. "My mom says I'm always rooting and caring for the underdog, which I guess is true," she says smiling.
In politics, she says her looks get her "in the door". "But then it's up to me to prove I have something to back it up," she said. So far, her looks have gotten her to the Mar Largo estate of Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Fla. for a recent Beach Magazine cover shoot, fitting since Trump is sponsoring the Miss USA pageant on CBS television.
