Mark Kelly is reporting for duty once again, this time in a new role for the national figure: Arizona senator.
Sen. Kelly, a Democrat from Tucson, was elected in the November general election to fulfill the remaining two years of former Sen. John McCain’s 2016 term, beating Republican Martha McSally, who had been appointed to fill the vacancy.
His first time serving in office, Sen. Kelly was a Navy pilot before being selected as a NASA astronaut in 1996 where he completed four trips into space.
With his boots now firmly on Earth, Sen. Kelly says he seeks to get Arizona through this pandemic. From local calls with mayors to working with Congress in Washington, D.C., bipartisan action appears to be top of mind for the new senator.
If you weren’t familiar with Sen. Kelly from his days as an astronaut, you most likely were introduced to him when he was thrust into the national spotlight in January 2011 when his wife, then Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, nearly died in an attempted assassination during which 19 people were shot and six died.
Now, Sen. Kelly has stepped into one of the nation’s highest elected offices to represent the Arizona residents, winning with 51.16% of the vote in a historically Republican state.
The last time two Democrat senators were elected to represent Arizona was in 1953. Mr. Kelly’s colleague, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was elected in 2018.
“Our politics have become too partisan, too polarized. The point where we got to a pretty dangerous place a couple weeks ago. We’ve got to do better, and I think we will,” said Sen. Kelly, who was in the Senate Chambers during the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
Because the Tucson senator is completing the rest of Sen. McCain’s term, he will be up for reelection in November 2022 — one-third the time of a typical six year term.
Sen. Kelly says he’s not concerned with the time in office, however — and wants to get to work.
Boots on the ground
Sen. Kelly was sworn in shortly after election and didn’t skip a beat meeting with his new constituents. For the past six or so weeks, he has met with a handful of state leaders and many mayors.
COVID-19, small business and getting federal dollars allocated to local communities are among the topics he says local leaders are talking to him about.
Those he’s met with include:
Gilbert Mayor-Elect Brigette Peterson
Mesa Mayor John Giles
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego
Greater Phoenix Partnership
Chris Camacho, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council
Luke Air Force Base West Valley Partners
“It’s not a surprise, right, that mayors and local leaders are dealing with the fallout of the pandemic. The public health part of this, the economic crisis,” Sen. Kelly said.
“When I’m on the phone, whether it’s Mayor Kate Gallego or John Giles in Mesa — we talk a lot about COVID; about the infection rates; about which hospitals do the members of their community go to; how many remaining ICU beds are there.”
Other topics include the vaccine, testing and contact tracing, Sen. Kelly says.
“Beyond that, we talk a lot about small businesses. What are small businesses going to need to stay open and recover from this economic crisis that they’ve been handed through no fault of their own,” Sen. Kelly said.
“And then we often get to the connection between what they’re trying to accomplish in their community and the role of the federal government in providing funding — could be appropriation or grants to work on infrastructure.”
Sen. Kelly says he recently spoke with a West Valley group about transportation for the future.
“State Road 30, as an example — this is a highway that would relieve some of the pressure that’s on I-10. Or the revitalization of the Tres Rios waterway.
This is a project that was very important to John McCain, but it’s also really important to Maricopa County, and it needs some federal help,” Sen. Kelly said.
“I want to make sure that my office has a constant communication with mayors and City Council members to address their issues, but how can we help at the federal level?”
An Arizona crisis
The Tres Rios Environmental Restoration project Sen. Kelly speaks of involves the rehabilitation of nearly 700 acres in and around the Salt River, restoring a wetland and riparian habitat, according to the city of Phoenix.
Water was an aspect of a bipartisan omnibus spending bill passed by Congress in December, which Mr. Kelly is proud of. A press release issued by Sen. Kelly’s office touts solar energy, water infrastructure, defense and research at Arizona universities as key investment areas.
According to Kelly’s office, the water infrastructure funding provides tens of millions of dollars in funding for projects including Central Arizona Project, the San Carlos Apache Tribe Water Settlement Act Projects, Alamo Lake, Ak Chin Indian Water Rights Settlement and projects in the Yuma area.
Specifically, the Arizona water priorities highlighted include:
$150 million for water and wastewater infrastructure projects;
$54.2 million to begin construction on the Little Colorado River Flood Control project in Winslow; and
Directs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expedite completion of the Rio de Flag flood control project.
“It’s our future,” Sen. Kelly said about Arizona water.
“Without a supply of water that we can count on, and that’s sufficient enough, we can’t grow our population — and we want to grow our population.”
Sen. Kelly pointed to Maricopa County’s rapid growth, saying we want to continue the upward trajectory for the benefit of Arizona’s economy.
“But we’ve got to secure our water future,” Sen. Kelly said.
Arizona is in the first phase of a Congress-approved drought contingency plan. But, Mr. Kelly says it’s not sufficient enough.
“Our water rights are subservient to other states — the deal was made in the 1960s to fund the Central Arizona Project. We’ve made this deal, but at the same time water isn’t always equitably distributed,” Sen. Kelly explained.
“When we have to make cutbacks — right now we have an agreement for how this is going to work, but we have to find ways to conserve better.”
Sen. Kelly points to Yuma as an example of conserving municipal and agricultural water.
“Yuma now grows more crops, and considerably more crops with considerably less water than they did in the 1980s. That’s a positive story that we can learn a lot from,” he said.
Getting through the pandemic
Arizona senators have gone on to become national figures, notably Sens. Barry Goldwater and McCain — both of whom garnered the Republic nomination for president.
Sen. Kelly said he isn’t blind to the aura that surrounds the legacy of Sen. McCain — a longtime political figure Arizonans hold high regards for. Sen. Kelly works at McCain’s desk in Washington, saying he views his seat as belonging to the career politician.
“Whether Arizona is a blue state... the great thing about Arizona is that it’s very unique,” Sen. Kelly said.
“It has a history of people that are willing to work across the aisle to solve some problems, like John McCain, a history of independents — that’s what I like about Arizona — not a particular label with a color associated to it.”
As Sen. Kelly embarks on his newest challenge, he is carrying with skills and experiences he’s acquired along the way.
“As I’ve done my whole career — work hard, try to make good decisions and try to just do the job,” Mr. Kelly said.
“I’m not so worried about an election that is two years away. I was just sworn in six weeks ago; my concern is getting our state through this pandemic and then the economic fall out from it.”
As for reelection, Mr. Kelly says he will worry about that in 2022.
Melissa Rosequist Managing Editor | East Valley @mrosequist_
I first started my journalism portfolio at the age of 15 while in high school before going on to study at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Being in the journalism field is the only professional avenue I was ever interested in, and have worked hard covering topics from school boards to hard news while working for the Independent, where I have been awarded for my reporting.
By 
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here