Arizona Democratic Senator Mark Kelly is flying high in a high-stakes race - quite literally.
“Just flew from Tucson, here to Prescott,” says Senator Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.
The former U.S. Navy pilot-turned-astronaut embarked on his political journey in 2020. He finished out late Senator John McCain's term.
"John McCain was a bipartisan senator working across the aisle. I've made it a point... I think our country is better when you have people willing to reach across the aisle," says Sen. Kelly.
ABC15 spoke with Kelly one-on-one in September at an event in Mesa with political action committee End Citizens United. They discussed accountability, transparency, and integrity. Kelly explained his efforts to ensure that's the standard all members of Congress are held to.
"I don't take a dime of corporate PAC money. I publish my official schedule so everybody can see who I'm meeting with... they can look and see those, if they're CEOs coming into my office, and they can see who those folks are. And on top of that, I put all of mine and Gabby's assets into a qualified blind trust, so I don't have control over it," says Sen. Kelly.
In his run for re-election, Kelly has made protecting abortion rights a central talking point. Although he has never fully specified his stance on abortion limits, he says he supports what's in Roe v. Wade.
“This is something that most Arizonans support, you know. They agree, as I do, that this decision should be between a woman and her doctor... not politicians in Washington, D.C., or politicians who want to be in Washington D.C," says Sen. Kelly.
When it comes to immigration, Kelly has shown he is not afraid to go against his party. He stood up to President Joe Biden about needing to have a plan in place before ending Title 42. The public health statute prohibits virtually all non-citizen residents arriving at U.S. borders. In response, Governor Doug Ducey took action by placing shipping containers to address the border crisis. Kelly says other plans are underway.
"The four major gaps that the border patrol talked to me about, that...the Yuma County sheriff talked to me about. We've got a plan for a permanent solution, not a temporary solution," says Sen. Kelly.
In tackling the water crisis, Kelly says Arizona has done its share and continues calling on other Colorado River Basin states to do the same.
"Reclamation is looking into the authorities that they have, and they are going to get back to me and they're going to, you know, figure out what they can legally do. And if they can't legally do it... well, we can change the laws," says Sen. Kelly.
Kelly has made it clear, that in order to solve all the hard problems we are facing, we need people in the United States Senate who are willing to work together. He says that's what he is doing on legislation like the CHIPS Act.
“The version that we passed is a version that I negotiated with Senators Cornyn and Young and Warner... and we got that across the finish line," says Sen. Kelly.
