During his years as an astronaut, Mark Kelly logged more than 20 million miles in space en route to the International Space Station on four separate occasions.
“It was the greatest job ever,” he said of his missions aboard Space Shuttles Discovery and Endeavor. “Being the commander of a rocket ship, it’s almost hard to describe how great of a job it is. It’s also serving your country in a very unique way. I miss it.”
These days, he’s logging thousands of miles for a different cause — that of a first-time politician. Kelly, a Democrat, is running for U.S. Senate, a seat currently held by U.S. Sen. Martha McSally [R].
Kelly is married to former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords [D-District 8], who was the target of an assassination attempt during a rally in Tucson on Jan. 8, 2011. She was shot in the head and survived, but six others died that day. Not long after, she stepped down from her seat, and Kelly retired to help with his wife’s recovery.
Now, eight years later, Kelly said it’s the right time to try his hand at politics.
“I’ve been a public servant for 25 years and come from
a family of public servants — my parents were police officers and both my grandfathers served in World War II,” he said in an interview with the Sedona Red Rock News during a campaign stop in Sedona last week. “Gabby was injured in 2011 and that kind of ended that part of public service for both of us with Gabby in Congress and mine in the Navy and with NASA.”
Kelly said that in watching the direction of the country the last two years, he feels he can bring a uniting voice to the Senate thanks in part to his background in the military and as an astronaut.
“The U.S. Senate is a special place where people are supposed to come together as adults and work in a bipartisan way and not be so overtly political,” he said. “We need to make sure we keep our country moving in the right direction. It just made sense for me to do this at this time.”
Having never held a political office, Kelly said it was daunting and a big step when he decided to throw his hat into the ring. So far, it’s been what he has expected but he’s still in the campaign’s honeymoon stage as he has been out and about meeting potential voters.
“I’d say it’s been one of the more intimidating things I have done,” the 54-year-old said. “The only thing I can compare it to was when I walked up to the Space Shuttle for the first time. When you’re flying the Space Shuttle, you have to make sure you don’t leave out any little details because it can put you in a bad spot. Political campaigns are kind of the same thing.”
As the spouse of a former politician, Kelly got a front-row seat as to what the campaign trail is like. He said he realizes that things will be different having the political spotlight on him in the race. While it is early, if he was to win the Democrat nomination, he will likely face incumbent McSally, who was appointed in January to replace U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl [R]. A retired senator, Kyl had himself been appointed in September to fill the remaining two years of U.S. Sen. John McCain’s term following McCain’s death in August, but only served three months before retiring a second time.
The race to fill retiring U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake’s seat between McSally and eventual winner, Democrat Krysten Sinema, saw not only tens of millions of dollars pumped into the race but it often became very ugly.
“I have no intention of taking our campaign in that direction,” Kelly said. “I do think I am tough and have thick skin — after all, I was shot at a bunch of times over in Iraq. But I don’t know if anyone is ever ready for the public scrutiny. I have been through tough things before, but nobody knows how tough politics can be, like my wife knows.”
That said, he also realizes that as the primary and general elections gets closer, things may change.
“Being the candidate, it’s been fun getting to meet new people but it’s different than it was in the past when I would go to events to support Gabby,” he said. “People’s hopes are wrapped up in the person they hope is going to represent them. That’s a lot of pressure because this has a big impact on many lives.”
Kelly said over the years he’s been approached many times to run for office. He’s taken that vote of confidence very seriously, especially when coming from those who are concerned about important everyday issues. In fact, when asked what the top three issues facing Arizonans today are, he was quick to say, “Health care, health care, health care.”
“I say that because that’s what I hear,” he said. “Seniors who are worried about their prescription drug costs going up. You hear that theme over and over again. In addition, deductibles are going up with health plans. These are big problems. You combine the increases in healthcare costs, housing costs and college costs, and a lot of middle-classed families have really been squeezed to the point they’re having to make some really tough decisions in terms of which bills to pay. We need to figure this out and the only way to do so is to work on this together.”
As for any advice he’s received from Giffords, she told him to work hard, meet as many people as possible and don’t leave events early. The couple talked about this decision for months before moving forward, and he said she had no hesitations about his plan to run.
“I think my combined experience in the military, in that kind of structure, along with the mission focus of being a Space Shuttle commander — and having to work with individuals with different backgrounds — will translate to politics,” he said. “I’m ready for this new challenge.”
Ron Eland can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 122 or by email at reland@larsonnewspapers.com
