Arizona:
The Democrat: Astronaut Mark Kelly
Mark Kelly was one of the nation’s most prominent astronauts, and has taken four trips to the International Space Station and traveled over 16 million miles around the earth
His passion was science and space – the politics he left to his wife, Congresswomen Gabbi Giffords. However, everything changed when she was shot and almost killed in a horrific mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona.
Kelly instantly rose to national prominence – initially as the loving husband that gave up his career and stood by her side as she made the long road to recovery. As she started to regain her ability to speak, the pair traveled the country as a voice for moderate, common sense gun safety laws that could stem the tide of America’s mass shooting epidemic.
The Republican: Senator Martha McSally
Martha McSally was a trailblazer in the military. She’s the first women in American history to fly in combat for the Air Force.
She decided to run for Congresswomen Gifford’s seat in 2012. McSally lost, the first time she ran in 2012, but won two years later in 2014.
McSally hopes history will repeat itself, as she was unsuccessful in her first try for the Senate in 2018, losing by 2% to Kyrsten Sinema. Despite losing the election, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey surprisingly decided to nominate her to the Senate after John McCain passed away.
The State of the Race:
Chance of Winning: Kelly (D) 86%, McSally (R) 14%
In January, this race was extremely competitive, but Mark Kelly is now the clear frontrunner in the race.
Kelly smashed records in back to back quarters for the most money ever raised by a challenger in a Senate Race, and it has taken his campaign into the stratosphere. He started airing profile building ads in early 2020, and built up a brand based on decency, patriotism, science, and moderate no nonsense politics.
By March, Kelly had taken a 5% lead, and its only expanded since. Now he’s up by double digits, and it’s very much his race to lose.