Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) has emerged as a shocking working mate choice for Vice President Kamala Harris now that she’s turn into Democrats’ doubtless nominee for president.
Kelly is a comparatively lesser-known senator whose potential strengths as a VP candidate stem from his background — he’s a former fighter pilot, an astronaut, and husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords — and from the truth that he’s received statewide workplace in Arizona, a key swing state.
“Mark Kelly is extraordinary, and I think he should be on any short list, but I won’t comment beyond that,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) instructed HuffPost over the telephone on Monday.
“We’ve got a lot of great choices in front of us, and that’s the first presidential decision that VP Harris has, so it’s her call, but I think you’re obviously looking for someone who can be a ferocious and crisp communicator,” Schatz mentioned.
He added: “You may be looking for some geographic and demographic balance.”
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The standard knowledge amongst Democrats is that since Harris is a Black and Asian lady, choosing a white individual to hitch her on the ticket might assist her attraction to white voters. Different potential Harris VP candidates embody Govs. Gretchen Whitmer (Mich.), Josh Shapiro (Pa.), Roy Cooper (N.C.) and Andy Beshear (Ky.).
Calling Harris the fitting individual to beat Donald Trump, Kelly endorsed the vp on Sunday hours after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid.
“She has my support for the nomination, and Gabby and I will do everything we can to elect her President of the United States,” Kelly wrote on social media.
A spokesperson for Kelly declined to touch upon the likelihood he’d be tapped as a vice presidential candidate.
Kelly would additionally test one other field that would assist Democrats: He’s a veteran.
The senator grew to become a U.S. Navy pilot in 1987 and rose to the rank of captain. He flew 39 missions within the first Persian Gulf Battle whereas he was stationed aboard the plane provider U.S.S. Halfway.
“The next Commander in Chief would be well-served by having a post-9/11 generation veteran — or any military veteran — at their side in the perilous times that we’re living in,” mentioned Allison Jaslow, the chief govt workplace of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
There are a number of the explanation why Kelly may not be the fitting choose for Harris, nonetheless.
Each Kelly and Harris serve within the Senate (the vp, who beforehand represented California within the Senate, typically breaks ties within the narrowly divided chamber). Usually, presidential marketing campaign tickets have included extra number of expertise by pairing workplace holders from throughout authorities or from exterior of it fully.
The Arizona Democrat can also be comparatively inexperienced in politics in comparison with others rumored to be on the VP brief checklist. His first foray into politics was in November 2020, when he received a particular election to serve out the rest of Sen. John McCain’s time period after McCain died. Kelly went on to be elected to his present and full time period within the Senate in 2022.
Extra importantly, if Kelly grew to become vp, Democrats would wish to fill his seat, probably risking it flipping to the Republican column and imperiling the get together’s possibilities of Senate management. Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs would virtually actually appoint a Democrat to fill Kelly’s seat. However then that individual must run in a particular election in 2026 and once more in 2028 for a full time period.
Within the Senate, Kelly has been a dependable vote for Biden’s agenda, although there are points the place he has bucked the president. He has argued for a more durable border coverage and criticized the administration for ending Title 42, which enabled officers to show away asylum-seekers within the title of public well being. And he has been one of many solely Democratic holdouts who has avoided endorsing the PRO Act, organized labor’s prime legislative precedence.
Jonathan Nicholson and Jen Bendery contributed reporting.
