Mark Kelly, retired astronaut and husband of Gabby Giffords, announces run for US Senate

[brooklynite]

Source: ABC 15

Mark Kelly, the retired astronaut and husband of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, is running for late John McCain's Senate seat.

A video was posted on Kelly's website Tuesday, showing that his run for Senate in Arizona is his "next mission."

In addition to being a NASA astronaut, Kelly was also a U.S. Navy Combat pilot and engineer.

Kelly is a top Democratic recruit to challenge Republican Sen. Martha McSally, who was appointed to the seat late last year. The race is widely expected to be one of the most closely contested Senate races of the 2020 election.

Read more: https://www.abc15.com/news/state/mark-kelly-announces-run-for-us-senate

[handmade34]

1. K&R

[Guilded Lilly]

33. K & R wholeheartedly!!

[Ohiogal]

2. GREAT news!

I'd vote for him in a heartbeat. I heard him speak last fall at Youngstown State and he had Gabby with him. He's very inspiring and I think he would make a fantastic Senator.

[rickmoen]

20. I live in AZ

and I will!

[Haggis for Breakfast]

48. Welcome to DU, rickmoen.

Good to hear that Mark has your support, too.

[oldsoftie]

3. He will win by a LOT

[vsrazdem]

4. I am thrilled beyond words

[beachbum bob]

5. a great candidate, an astronaut, a veteran and husband of a victim

of an assassination attempt....he can have draw votes from typical gop leaning voters AND is the GOP's worse nightmare to go up against as all they can do is attack Gabby


we need same level of candidate in Maine to rid our country of Susan Collins

[calimary]

21. Now THAT would be SWEET!

Finally getting rid of Susan Collins. That would be fantastic!

[NewJeffCT]

22. Supposedly

Susan Rice - yes, that Susan Rice - is considering challenging Collins.

[beachbum bob]

46. I don't know how that would play in Maine. Any astronauts from maine. LOL

[NewJeffCT]

47. That was my thought as well

Rice's family has a home in Maine and she has an honorary degree from Bowdoin in Maine, but she would need to move there very soon in order to semi-legitimately call herself a resident. Not sure how feasible that is for her?

[BootinUp]

6. k&r.

[zaj]

7. Amazing!

[DarthDem]

8. Enormous!!!

This is a huge get and so early in the cycle, too!!! I absolutely think he'll be favored to win. Great news!!!!!

[onetexan]

35. Second that!!

[Apollyonus]

9. Arizona is going to be blue ... yayyyyyyy!!! nt

[flygal]

10. This is great! He should have a good chance! nt

[Corgigal]

11. Wonderful.

A courageous man, who loves his wife.

The un-Trump.

[justie18]

12. Yes!

I am beyond thrilled with this announcement. We have been waiting for him to run for some years now. Could not be a better candidate to run for Senate here in Arizona.

[badhair77]

13. This gives me hope.

Please let there be others with some sense and leadership abilities.

[ZeroSomeBrains]

14. Run Mark Run

Having an astronaut become a US Senator would be better than a science-denying Republican Marthy McSally. I can't wait to see him run.

[Dopers_Greed]

15. Excellent choice

Hopefully another blue seat

[groundloop]

16. Fantastic !!!!!!

I think this is an excellent opportunity, both for the Democratic Party and the people of Arizona.

[Lonestarblue]

17. Excellent news!

We need to pick up at least four seats to retake control of the Senate. We will most likely lose the Doug Jones seat in Alabama because the next Republican candidate will not be as weak as Roy Moore. The 2020 Senate election is not a slam dunk for Democrats, but we really need to have a majority if we are to get anything done, including appointing another SC justice should the need arise. Of course, the presidency is also a must, along with keeping the House!

Control of the Senate is one reason I do not support Sherrod Brown. He would be a fine candidate, but he would be replaced by a Republican and we have an equally good midwestern candidate in Amy Klobuchar. Strong Democratic candidates might be able to win the seats held by Cory Gardner in Colorado and Susan Collins in Maine. Assuming Kelly wins, that’s three. But with the likely loss of Doug Jones, where do we get at least one more and preferably two? John Cornyn is up for re-election here in Texas, but even Beto would have a tough time defeating him and there’s no one else here who could. The major cities here are blue (except for Fort Worth), but rural Texas is still ruby red.

Here’s a chart from Fivethirtyeight that is pretty sobering, but I’ll support any candidte to ensure we win!

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-senate-will-be-competitive-again-in-2020-but-republicans-are-favored/

[DarthDem]

45. The Others -

Stacey Abrams in Georgia.

Many strong possible candidates in Iowa.

Many really good candidates in North Carolina.

Governor Bullock in Montana. (He will take some convincing.)

Whoever runs in Kansas for the open seat - because I think Kobach will run for the GOP and he's toxic.

Beto can beat Cornyn but I don't think he will run for the seat.

Meanwhile, you'll hear a lot of downbeat predictions that Jeanne Shaheen will be in trouble in NH, but she won't be. Democrats' only problem is the Alabama seat. If they lose that, it will be 54-46 and they need to win AZ, CO, ME and one of the others above, plus the vice presidency. It's actually far from a heavy lift.

And because the Democrats will be on offense, they won't have to spend much money on defense, and they'll be in excellent shape in that regard.

[lark]

18. Woohoo for gun sanity and a great candidate - IMO.

Go Mark Kelly go!!

[Honeycombe8]

19. Great news! I hope he wins. I suspect he'll have some good donors, too. nt

[DrToast]

23. Oh man...that's a strong candidate!

I love it!

[hibbing]

24. Great..his brother is awesome too n/t

[LittleGirl]

25. As a voter from AZ

I am thrilled. I just wished I could campaign with him but living abroad makes that difficult!
yay

[bearsfootball516]

26. He's a fantastic candidate. McSally is in major trouble against him.

[LongtimeAZDem]

27. As long as he doesn't run on gun control, we should have a winner

if he does, he'll lose.

He needs to make it about health care and education; that's what killed McSalley.

[ChazII]

28. As a fellow Arizonan,

I think you are correct.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

49. I understand what both of you are saying, but really,

WHO has more right to run on gun control ?

[DFW]

31. He and Gabby, both gun owners, were always for sensible gun laws

They never said they were for seizure, just sensible restrictions, just like car ownership.

Gabby got re-elected in AZ when she ran, so I don't think a Republican can try to blast them on this issue. What is a Republican going to do, tell Gabby that she is exaggerating the danger of guns in the hands of crazy people? I don't think that one will fly, even in Arizona.

I'm definitely liking this candidacy. I'm not unbiased or anything, you understand........

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[Cha]

38. Wonderful picture! And, thank you for

clearing that up about the guns.

[DFW]

40. Gabby and I were friends before she was shot.

We had rung in the New Year of 2011 together with some friends at a large gathering in South Carolina, and had planned to have dinner together in Washington two weeks later. On January 8th that year, a Saturday, I took a morning plane from New York City to Dallas, where i had some routine stuff to do before heading on up to D.C. In the taxi to the house, I booted up the laptop for the latest news, and was just dumbstruck. I didn't think it was a mistake, but didn't want to believe it, either. Confirmation was, alas, not long in coming.

When I next saw her, it was just after Christmas, 2013, and I had no idea if she would even remember who I was. That was no minor brain injury she had sustained. I needen't have worried. When she saw me coming from across the room, she let out a squeal of delight and reached out for me with her one good arm. She may be imprisoned inside her gunshot-caused disability, but inside there, it's still her. Just an amazing woman.

[Cha]

50. That is an incredible

Gabby story! We're all so grateful she pulled through, and has this incredible, activist life with her husband, Mark.. and her friends.

[LongtimeAZDem]

42. He'd get buried on the issue. He might be able to soft-peddle support for background checks

but if he actually comes out and advocates banning semi-automatics, he'll lose by 5 points, maybe 10.

Gabby won in a pretty liberal district, and she's well liked, but you're underestimating her political strength on this issue. Gun control is the third rail of Arizona politics, and she's the poster child for the "coming to get your guns" crowd.

Kelly is a good candidate; he can beat McSally on the veteran angle, and he can really promote a positive message. But, he has to find a way to distance himself from the gun issue.

[DFW]

43. I'm confident he'll get some competent local advice

There will be people who know the political lay of the land well enough to advise him on what to emphasize and what to soft-peddle. Where Gabby may be a symbol to the anti-gun-control crowd, Mark symbolizes "the right stuff" as a U.S. Navy Captain and astronaut. He can certainly put up a "you got a problem with that?" in-your-face defense to anyone trying to put his credentials down.

He also happens to be a hell of a personable guy, and though in the past, he let Gabby take the limelight, he can certainly hold his own when the camera is on him.

[LongtimeAZDem]

44. Don't get me wrong; I love them both, and I hope he can win it for us, but the reality

of Arizona politics is what it is. If he runs on gun control, he'll massively boost Republican turnout, lose most independents, and alienate a good number of Democrats.

On a positive note, here's my favorite picture of them, watching the shuttle fly over:



It was my Facebook banner for a while

[grantcart]

29. News we gave been hoping for

[AlexSFCA]

30. we have a great shot at this!

McSally already lost once to Sinema and this fella seems even more competitive.

[pandr32]

32. Wonderful news!

[The Wizard]

34. A good choice

to take a seat from the radical, rabid, right wing, reactionary, Repubic Party.

[healthnut7]

36. Awww

Good for him, I'm sure he will be fantastic!!

[BumRushDaShow]

37. Excellent!

[CTyankee]

39. I wonder what Megan has to say about that on "The view" today...

I pick it up on youtube...

[redstateblues]

41. Strong candidate!!

[MFGsunny]

51. K & R ... + 1,000,000