Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and husband of former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, announced Tuesday that he is moving forward with a U.S. Senate bid, a move that could create a marquee race next year in Arizona.
Kelly, a Democrat, is challenging Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), who was appointed late last year by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) to the seat long held by former senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), who died last year after a battle with brain cancer.
Kelly, 54, who has been heavily recruited by Democrats, announced his intentions with a video in which he calls the campaign “my next mission.”
Giffords retired from Congress after surviving a 2011 assassination attempt by a gunman. She and Kelly have since become well-known gun-control advocates.
Giffords is prominently featured in her husband’s video, which also includes biographical information about him and a pledge to bring people together.
“What I learned from my wife is how you use policy to improve people’s lives,” Kelly says. “Solving some of the hardest problems requires one thing, and that’s teamwork. Partisanship and polarization and gerrymandering and corporate money have ruined our politics, and it’s divided us.”
It’s unclear whether Kelly will have a clear path to the Democratic nomination.
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has also been considering a 2020 Senate run. After Kelly unveiled his video, Gallego went on Twitter.
“I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m looking seriously at running for the U.S. Senate in 2020, and that hasn’t changed,” he wrote. “I’ll be making a final decision and announcement soon.“
McSally is a former congresswoman whose appointment to McCain’s seat came after she narrowly lost a Senate race last year to Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.
Next year’s election will determine who finishes the last two years of McCain’s term. The seat will be on the ballot again in 2022 for a full six-year term.