Democrat Mark Kelly to be sworn in as US Senator, changing Arizona’s seat from red to blue

by



[ad_1]

While other elected senators will have to wait until January to be sworn in for the new Congress, Kelly has been able to take the oath of office since winning a special election. The swearing-in is scheduled to take place on Wednesday afternoon.

Kelly will be sworn in with his wife, former Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords, and two daughters by her side, an assistant to Kelly told CNN. Her twin brother, Scott Kelly, and family friends will also be in attendance.

As usual, Kelly will first be sworn in on the Senate floor and will be escorted to the ground by her compatriot Kyrsten Sinema, senator from Arizona, also a Democrat. Kelly’s family will watch from the gallery overlooking the Senate. Afterwards, he will attend a swearing-in ceremony, in the old Senate chamber, where his family will surround him.

Party control over the Senate has yet to be determined and now relies on two rounds in Georgia scheduled for January. Getting the Arizona seat is nonetheless a major victory for Democrats, who had viewed it as one of their first pickup opportunities in 2020.

The special election victory marks a moment of triumph for Kelly, a retired naval captain and NASA astronaut, who comes in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Kelly was placed in the national spotlight in 2011 when his wife, then United States Representative for Arizona Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head and nearly killed, an event that sent shockwaves throughout the world. country.

He went on to become a political activist, launching a group called Americans for Responsible Solutions alongside his wife and fighting for gun control policies such as universal background checks and the so-called red flag laws. .

“I learned a lot as an astronaut. I learned a lot as a pilot in the Navy,” Kelly said in her campaign announcement video. “But what I learned from my wife is how you use politics to improve people’s lives.”

His entry into politics marked the start of a new chapter in an already esteemed career.

Kelly has flown in space four times, twice as the commander of a space shuttle. He and his identical twin, Scott Kelly, who is also an astronaut, took part in a one-of-a-kind “twin study” to see what spaceflight does to the human body.

Mark Kelly is also a retired naval captain and pilot who flew 39 combat missions in the First Gulf War.

After defeating McSally in the special election, he will serve the last two years of the late Senator John McCain’s term. He will be eligible for re-election for a full term in 2022.

McSally, the first female Air Force pilot to fly in combat, was nominated to take the seat after narrowly losing a race to Sinema for the other Arizona Senate seat in 2018.

Sending two Democrats to Washington will mark a first in nearly 70 years for Arizona.

Democrats have made inroads into the state long seen as a conservative stronghold but has increasingly become a hotly contested battleground. President-elect Joe Biden won the state last month in another major Democratic Party victory.

Mark Kelly, who will be sworn in as United States Senator on Wednesday, and his wife, former Representative Gabby Giffords, visit the grave of the late Senator John McCain in Annapolis, Maryland on Tuesday.

Kelly said serving the rest of McCain’s term was deeply important to him, describing the late senator as someone he admired as a 22-year-old pilot in flight school.

On Tuesday, Kelly and Giffords visited McCain’s grave in Annapolis to pay their respects ahead of his swearing-in today.

“Senator McCain has been one of my heroes since I was a young pilot,” Kelly tweeted. “He left a legacy of service to Arizona and the country that cannot be matched, but that we all should be aiming for.”

Kelly recently spoke to Cindy McCain and expressed her desire to use McCain’s desk in her Senate office.

This story was updated with additional developments on Wednesday.

CNN’s Ali Zaslav contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link