AZ Senate: Mark Kelly (D)
PROFILE
About Kelly:
Mark Kelly is a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate in Arizona.
Kelly, the son of two police officers, grew up attending public schools from elementary school until enrolling in the United States Merchant Marine Academy and U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.
When Kelly was a naval aviator, he made two deployments in the First Gulf War on an aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Midway, and flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm. After his military service, Kelly in 1996 was selected to be a member of NASA Astronaut Group 16 in the same class as his twin brother, Scott.
Kelly would fly his first of four missions into space in 2001, aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour. Kelly would later go on to command the Endeavour on its final flight in May 2011.
In January 2011, Kelly’s wife, then-U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, was seriously injured in an attempted assassination. During Giffords’ recovery, she and Kelly founded a political action committee and non-profit organization called “Americans for Responsible Solutions.” The PAC promotes gun-control legislation and provisions that limit the sale of certain magazines, limit the selling of assault weapons, and halting gun trafficking.
Transparency and oversight of hospital costs and prescription drug prices, as well as accountability for bad actors responsible for the opioid epidemic are tenets of his candidacy.
Kelly’s platform details his vision for a secure border aided by investments in personnel and technology. Kelly has pointed to programs like “E-Verify” that could be improved in order to prevent the exploitation of migrant laborers.
Additionally, Kelly has expressed support for protecting DREAMers brought to the country as children. Kelly is also refusing donations made to his campaign by corporate PACs.
Kelly is father to two daughters from his previous marriage – Claudia and Claire. He and Giffords currently reside in Tucson, Atiz.