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Who Is Mark Kelly?
Mark Kelly is a Democratic Junior Senator from Arizona. He is the son of two police officers, his mom, Patricia Kelly, being one of the first female police officers in their town of West Orange, NJ.
This Arizonan senator went to West Orange Highschool in Massachusetts, then on to U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and after he graduated college he went to Naval Postgraduate School. In 1996, him and his twin brother, Scott Kelly, were selected to be Space Shuttle pilots by NASA.
In 2001, he piloted the Endeavour, then in 2006 he piloted the Discovery, and then a newer Discovery, in which he commanded for the first time.
The next launch, the STS-134, got delayed due eternal tank problems, then further due to the attempted assassination of his Wife in Tucson, Arizona. However, his wife was making such amazing recovery that NASA decided he will still command the STS-134. In total he spent over 50 hours in space and traveled more than 20 million miles.
After his wife, ex-representative Gabrielle Griffords, was shot in the Tucson shooting of 2011, he resigned from NASA. She resigned from senate in 2012, and he became a senator in a 2020 special election during the COVID-19 pandemic when John McCain died.
Back Ground
Primary Elections
In the 2022 Democratic Primaries for U.S. Senate Arizona, Mark Kelly ran against no other democrats, amassing a vote of about 589,400.
After winning the primaries, he then proceeded to defeat republican candidate Blake Masters later in 2022 with 51.6% of the ~2,500,000 votes.
General Elections
Supported Policies
Kelly seeks to:
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Upgrade Arizona's water systems
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Ban congress stock trading, taking on corrupt insider trading
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Fix the broken immigration system
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Lower costs for Arizona families
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Secure Arizona's border
Kelly has sponsored some passed bills such as:
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Bill SRes29 - Designating the week February 4, 2023 as "National Tribal Colleges and Universities Week."
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Bill SRes66 - Condemned the use of China's high-altitude surveillance balloon over the United States.
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Bill SRes69 - Designated Feb 18, 2023 - Feb 25,2023 as "National FFA Week."
Supported Legislations
Congressional Committees
As of 2023, Mark Kelly serves 5 different Senate committees:
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Armed Services Committee
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Strengthening national security and Arizona's part of it. ​
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Mark Kelly is also the chair of the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, trying to "maintain competitive edge over adversaries like China and Russia."​
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Energy and Natural Resources Committee
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"Combat western drought"​
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"Secure Arizona's water future"
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They work to prevent wildfires and be prepared when there is one.
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Partner with Tribal Nations and fully fund tribal water settlements, as well as protecting public land.
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Environment and Public Works Committee
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Fixes and strengthens Arizona's infrastructure​.
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Protects Arizona's environments.
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Aging Committee
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Lower prescription drug prices.
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Access to essential senior services.
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Joint Economic Committee
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Create high-paying jobs​
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Cut taxes.
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Lower working family costs.
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Address supply chain changes that increase gas prices.
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Grow Arizona as a microchip manufacturing hub.
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Recently,
Mark Kelly has been featured in the news due to his part in introducing the bill that will stop members of congress from making personal stock trades. Him, Democratic Senator of Colorado Michael Bennet, and Democratic Senator of Georgia John Ossoff, all introduced the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act. Their goal is to put a stop to profiting from insider information.
News
Re-election
Mark Kelly was elected during a special election in December 2020 after the death of John McCain. He served until that term ended in November 2022. He proceeded to win the general election and now his term ends in January 2029.
