Kelly Is Married To Former Rep Gabby Giffords Who Was Wounded During A 2011 Mass Shooting
Arizona Democrat and former astronaut Mark Kelly was sworn into the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, narrowing Republican control of the chamber and underscoring his state’s shift from red to blue.
Kelly, 56, defeated Republican Sen. Martha McSally in last month’s election, making her one of only three incumbents to lose. By taking office, he has reduced the Republican edge in the chamber to 52-48.
That will have scant impact on Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s control over the chamber for the final month of this congressional session. But it sets the stage for two pivotal Senate run-off elections in Georgia on Jan. 5.
If Democrats win both, they will command the 50-50 chamber for the new Congress that begins in early January because vice-president-elect Kamala Harris would cast tie-breaking votes.
Kelly was sworn into office by Vice-President Mike Pence, and both men wore masks and bumped arms in congratulations when the oath was over. He was joined by his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, and Scott Kelly, his twin brother and fellow retired astronaut.
Kelly’s Senate arrival marks a political milestone for Arizona, which has two Democratic senators for the first time since January 1953. That’s when Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater took office, barely a decade before he became his party’s unsuccessful 1964 presidential candidate.
Arizonas Political Odd Couple Reveals Two Distinct Paths For Democrats
Despite being from the same party and same state, Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly give differing answers as to how party might keep power
When Democrat Mark Kelly was sworn in to office late last year it marked the end of a nearly 70-year drought of Arizona being represented by two Democrats.
But since then Kelly, a former astronaut, and his counterpart senator, Kyrsten Sinema, have plotted decidedly different paths in the Senate. Despite being from the same party and the same state and representing the same electorate, the pair of Arizona Democrats have become a sort of political odd couple.
The twists and turns that each Arizona Democrat took to get into office and the moves they are making to retain their seats reveal two distinct paths Democrats can take to win and retain tough Senate seats. But they can also give differing answers as to how Democrats might keep power, or even extend it.
Sinema, a longtime Arizona lawmaker and former Democratic member of the House of Representatives, has carved out a reputation as one of the most conservative members of the Democratic caucus in the chamber. Her name is almost synonymous with Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and bucking the Democratic party on key sticking points.
Sinema has split with her fellow Democrats on a minimum wage hike to $15 and support for an overhaul to the legislativefilibuster. Among the press corps she is also notorious for avoiding virtually all interviews.
Tenure And Political Positions
Kelly is regarded as a moderate Democrat.
Budget and economic issues
Kelly was critical of the Kansas experiment, the experimental Kansas budget of her predecessor Sam Brownback that led to cuts in schools, roads, and public safety. She would like to reverse those changes and pointed out that after there were major budget shortages she led a bipartisan effort to successfully balance the budget without increasing taxes.
In 2019, Kelly vetoed two Republican bills that would have cut state income taxes in Kansas. She said that the state could not afford the cuts, and that the Republican bill, which would have cut revenues by an estimated $245 million over a three-year period, would have precipitated a “senseless fiscal crisis” and created a budget deficit. Kelly’s decision, as well as higher-than-expected state revenue intakes, led to the state beginning its 2020 budget year with $1.1 billion in cash reserves. She sought to use some of the reserves to pay down debt and make payments to the state pension system.
On November 16, 2020, Kelly renewed her call for the legislature to join her in the issuance of masking orders.
Executive order on religious gatherings
Healthcare
Kelly has also supported reforming KanCare so that more citizens have access to health insurance.
Human services
School funding
Social issues
Don’t Miss: Patriot Getaways Pigeon Forge
North And South Pull Apart
The crisis for the Democratic Party came in the late 1850s as Democrats increasingly rejected national policies demanded by the Southern Democrats. The demands were to support slavery outside the South. Southerners insisted that full equality for their region required the government to acknowledge the legitimacy of slavery outside the South. The Southern demands included a fugitive slave law to recapture runaway slaves opening Kansas to slavery forcing a pro-slavery constitution on Kansas acquire Cuba accepting the Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court and adopting a federal slave code to protect slavery in the territories. President Buchanan went along with these demands, but Douglas refused and proved a much better politician than Buchanan, though the bitter battle lasted for years and permanently alienated the Northern and Southern wings.
Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States. Douglas campaigned across the country calling for unity and came in second in the popular vote, but carried only Missouri and New Jersey. Breckinridge carried 11 slave states, coming in second in the Electoral vote, but third in the popular vote.
Arizonas Mark Kelly Is Sworn Into Senate Narrowing Gop Edge
Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., with his wife former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., participates in a re-enactment of his swearing-in Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2020, by Vice President Mike Pence in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington.
WASHINGTON Arizona Democrat and former astronaut Mark Kelly was sworn into the Senate on Wednesday, narrowing Republican control of the chamber and underscoring his stateâs shift from red to blue.
Kelly, 56, defeated GOP Sen. Martha McSally in last monthâs election, making her one of only three incumbents to lose. By taking office, he has reduced the Republican edge in the chamber to 52-48.
That will have scant impact on Majority Leader Mitch McConnellâs control over the chamber for the final month of this congressional session. But it sets the stage for two pivotal Jan. 5 Senate runoff elections in Georgia.
If Democrats win both, they will command the 50-50 chamber for the new Congress that begins in early January because Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would cast tie-breaking votes.
Kelly cast himself as a problem-solving centrist during his campaign, and his slender 2 percentage point victory over McSally suggests heâll want to be part of Democratsâ moderate wing. In a written statement after taking office, he invoked the âindependenceâ of the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who sometimes crossed party lines and whose seat he now holds.
âGreat day, excellent day,â Giffords told reporters afterward.
Read Also: 116th Congress Party Breakdown
Data And Science Have Driven My Life’s Work
I bring a different set of experiences as a combat pilot, engineer and astronaut. I have spent my life using data and science to solve problems and accomplish difficult missions. Thats the experience I can bring to the Senate to work for Arizona.
So many Arizonans are losing sleep because they cant afford their health care, because they arent working during this pandemic, because their kids are struggling with virtual learning. But looking at the response from Washington, you wouldnt know it.
Its been six months since the Senate passed the last COVID-19 relief package, and since then, they have gone on vacation four times.
Presidency Of Andrew Jackson
The spirit of Jacksonian democracy animated the party from the early 1830s to the 1850s, shaping the Second Party System, with the Whig Party as the main opposition. After the disappearance of the Federalists after 1815 and the Era of Good Feelings , there was a hiatus of weakly organized personal factions until about 18281832, when the modern Democratic Party emerged along with its rival, the Whigs. The new Democratic Party became a coalition of farmers, city-dwelling laborers and Irish Catholics. Both parties worked hard to build grassroots organizations and maximize the turnout of voters, which often reached 80 percent or 90 percent of eligible voters. Both parties used patronage extensively to finance their operations, which included emerging big city political machines as well as national networks of newspapers.
Behind the party platforms, acceptance speeches of candidates, editorials, pamphlets and stump speeches, there was a widespread consensus of political values among Democrats. As Mary Beth Norton explains:
The party was weakest in New England, but strong everywhere else and won most national elections thanks to strength in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the American frontier. Democrats opposed elites and aristocrats, the Bank of the United States and the whiggish modernizing programs that would build up industry at the expense of the yeoman or independent small farmer.
Also Check: What Republicans Voted For Obamacare
Presidency Of Lyndon B Johnson
Then-vice president Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the new president. Johnson, heir to the New Deal ideals, broke the conservative coalition in Congress and passed a remarkable number of laws, known as the Great Society. Johnson succeeded in passing major civil rights laws that restarted racial integration in the South. At the same time, Johnson escalated the Vietnam War, leading to an inner conflict inside the Democratic Party that shattered the party in the elections of 1968.
The Democratic Party platform of the 1960s was largely formed by the ideals of President Johnson’s “Great Society” The New Deal coalition began to fracture as more Democratic leaders voiced support for civil rights, upsetting the party’s traditional base of Southern Democrats and Catholics in Northern cities. Segregationist George Wallace capitalized on Catholic unrest in Democratic primaries in 1964 and 1972.
The degree to which the Southern Democrats had abandoned the party became evident in the 1968 presidential election when the electoral votes of every former Confederate state except Texas went to either Republican Richard Nixon or independent Wallace. Humphrey’s electoral votes came mainly from the Northern states, marking a dramatic reversal from the 1948 election 20 years earlier, when the losing Republican electoral votes were concentrated in the same states.
Presidency Of George W Bush
In the aftermath of the , the nation’s focus was changed to issues of national security. All but one Democrat voted with their Republican counterparts to authorize President Bush’s 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. House leader Richard Gephardt and Senate leader Thomas Daschle pushed Democrats to vote for the USA PATRIOT Act and the invasion of Iraq. The Democrats were split over invading Iraq in 2003 and increasingly expressed concerns about both the justification and progress of the War on Terrorism as well as the domestic effects from the Patriot Act.
Also Check: Patriot Getaway Gatlinburg
Cursing Like A Trained Parrot Mcsally Loses Debate To Mark Kelly
McSally thought she was being oh so clever or cute in last nights debate by calling Mark Kelly counterfeit Kelly repeatedly seriously, thats all you got left in the tank, Martha? To quote a recently revived game show, You are the biggest loser. Goodbye.
McSally has an even bigger problem with Republican base voters. Like the apostle Peter disowned Jesus, Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times, when Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona was pressed over and over again, she would not say whether she was proud of her support of President Donald Trump in her debate against Democratic opponent Mark Kelly.
CNN reports, Arizona Senate debate turns on Trump:
When pressed over and over again, Republican Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona would not say on Tuesday whether she was proud of her support of President Donald Trump in her debate against Democratic opponent Mark Kelly.
Im proud that Im fighting for Arizonans on things like cutting your taxes, McSally said. Im proud to be fighting for Arizona every single day, she later added.
The response was simpler for Kelly, who called the Presidents overall behavior and actions in office not acceptable.
McSallys response underscored her perilous position just four weeks before Election Day, as she tries to woo Trump supporters and independents in a state that appears to have turned on the President.
Here is Five Thirty-Eight on Arizona Senate Polls in October:
Former Astronaut Mark Kelly Increases Lead Over Republican Martha Mcsally To Finish John Mccains Senate Term New Poll Shows
Democratic candidate Mark Kelly has widened his lead over his Republican rival, Arizona Senator Martha McSally, according to new polling.
Kelly, a former NASA astronaut, is now 7 points ahead of McSally, who was appointed to her Senate seat after the death of Republican John McCain in 2018. McSally, an Air Force veteran, previously ran an unsuccessful campaign against Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema in 2018. Whoever wins in November, Kelly or McSally, will serve out the remainder of McCainâs six-year term, which began in 2017.
The new poll, which was conducted by Phoenix-based OH Predictive Insights, found that Kellyâs lead over the GOP senator had grown significantly since December. Kelly scored 49 percent, compared with McSallyâs 42 percent, in the latest survey. This past December, the difference was only 3 points, with Kelly at 47 percent and McSally at 44 percent.
Newsweek has reached out to McSallyâs campaign for comment but did not hear back before publication.
âThe race between Republican Senator Martha McSally and Democratic challenger Mark Kelly could attract upwards of $200 million, including outside spending,â Mike Noble, chief of research and managing partner at OH Predictive Insights, predicted in a press release.
Recommended Reading: People Magazine Quote Donald Trump
Presidency Of Martin Van Buren
The Presidency of Martin Van Buren was hobbled by a long economic depression called the Panic of 1837. The presidency promoted hard money based on gold and silver, an independent federal treasury, a reduced role for the government in the economy, and a liberal policy for the sale of public lands to encourage settlement they opposed high tariffs to encourage industry. The Jackson policies were kept, such as Indian removal and the Trail of Tears. Van Buren personally disliked slavery but he kept the slaveholder’s rights intact. Nevertheless, he was distrusted across the South.
The 1840 Democratic convention was the first at which the party adopted a platform. Delegates reaffirmed their belief that the Constitution was the primary guide for each state’s political affairs. To them, this meant that all roles of the federal government not specifically defined fell to each respective state government, including such responsibilities as debt created by local projects. Decentralized power and states’ rights pervaded each and every resolution adopted at the convention, including those on slavery, taxes, and the possibility of a central bank. Regarding slavery, the Convention adopted the following resolution:
Ballot Processing Pima County
An election worker scans a ballot while doing the first check of the signature while processing ballots at the Pima County Elections Office located at 6550 S Country Club Rd, on Nov. 4, 2020. If the signature matches what the office has on file the ballot will move on to be counted. If the signature does not match it will be moved to a special desk where workers investigate the signature by following up with the voter.
Recommended Reading: 1998 Donald Trump Quote About Republicans
Also Check: Patriot Power Solar Generator
Republicans Rip Democrat Mark Kelly For Disappearing From Public View
Arizona Republican Party chair Kelli Ward, Rep. Paul Gosar , and the National Republican Senatorial Committee decried freshman Sen. Mark Kelly as missing in action in the Senate and slammed his lack of leadership.
Kelly narrowly defeated incumbent Sen. Martha McSally during the 2020 Senate elections. He promised to be a leader and independent from the Democrat or Republican parties during his Senate campaign.
We need leadership in Washington thats willing to put Arizonans first. Thats why Im running to be an independent voice for Arizona, Kelly wrote in September:
We need leadership in Washington thats willing to put Arizonans first. Thats why Im running to be an independent voice for Arizona.
Captain Mark Kelly
The Arizona Democrat also promised last October, if elected, to serve neither as a Republican or a Democrat senator.
If elected, Im not going to be a Democratic senator or a Republican senator. Ill be Ofelias senator. Ill be your senator. Ill be a senator for Arizona, he wrote in an op-ed for the Arizona Republic.
However, despite Kellys claims, Ward, Gosar, and the NRSC cast Kelly as deeply partisan, a reliable voter for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer .
Gosar said that Kelly has faced to stand up to President Joe Bidens handling of the migrant crisis at the border.
The NRSC has also attacked Kellys dodging questions from local Arizona reporters on Democrat calls to end the filibuster.
Former Astronaut Mark Kelly Sworn In As Newest Us Senator
Democrat Kelly flipped the Arizona seat from Republican control to fill the remainder of the late John McCains term.
Arizona Democrat and former astronaut Mark Kelly was sworn into the United States Senate on Wednesday, narrowing Republican control of the chamber and underscoring his states shift from red to blue.
Kelly, 56, defeated Senator Martha McSally in last months election, making her one of only three incumbents to lose. By taking office, he has reduced the Republican edge in the chamber to 52-48.
That will have scant impact on Majority Leader Mitch McConnells control over the chamber for the final month of this congressional session. But it sets the stage for two pivotal January 5 Senate runoff elections in Georgia.
If Democrats win both runoffs, they will command the 50-50 chamber for the new Congress that begins in early January because Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, a Democrat, would cast tie-breaking votes.
Kelly was sworn into office by Vice President Mike Pence, and both men wore masks and bumped arms in congratulations when the oath was over. Among those watching from the visitors gallery were Kellys wife, former Democratic Representative Gabby Giffords, and Scott Kelly, his twin brother and also a retired astronaut.
Democrat Kyrsten Sinema is Arizonas other senator.
Don’t Miss: Republican Are Stupid
