• Slug: BC-CNS-Kelly VP Assess. About 1,400 words.
• File photo available (below).

By Grey Gartin, Benjamin Adelberg and Aoife Kane
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON – Of the contenders Vice President Kamala Harris is vetting as a possible running mate, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly is the only one who’s been to space, traveling over 20 million miles for NASA.

But does he have the right stuff to join the Democratic ticket?

“This is not about me,” he told reporters at the Capitol on Wednesday. “This is about the future of this country.”

Kelly is a newcomer to politics, elected less than four years ago. He lacks the executive experience of the governors on Harris’ short list. But he has a far more moderate image than Harris, and other attributes that also could balance the ticket.

Harris would be the first woman and only the second person of color to become president.
Most of the options on her list are white men.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix, who is running for U.S. Senate to replace Independent Kyrsten Sinema, told CNN that Kelly would represent exactly the sort of “jolt” Harris needs.

Kelly endorsed Harris on Sunday, roughly two hours after President Joe Biden announced he was dropping his reelection bid and endorsing his vice president. Kelly called her the “right person to defeat Donald Trump.”

It’s a delicate subject politically, and Kelly – unlike Harris – is not seen as a gun-grabber by conservatives.

He’s a gun owner but also an outspoken advocate of curbs on access to certain firearms.

Unions

Harris received numerous union endorsements in the brief time since Biden passed the torch.

Kelly isn’t entirely popular with unions. In the veepstakes, that would weigh against him in a party where organized labor is a major constituency.

Unions have criticized the senator for resisting the Protecting the Right to Organize Act. He cited concerns about a loophole that could be used to target independent contractors.

Kelly defended his record on unions on Wednesday at the Capitol.

“I see the value of unions, and I come from a union family… I’ve always supported the PRO Act,” he said.

Israel Torres, who manages a Tempe consulting and law firm that specializes in union matters, said Kelly worked closely with UA Local 469 – a union for plumbers, pipefitters and HVAC technicians – with regard to the implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

He’s been especially supportive of ensuring parental leave, Torres said.

“He understands the middle class and how workforce development is super important to them,” Torres said. “To not only have these jobs, but to provide for their families.”

Israel-Palestine Conflict

The Israel-Hamas conflict has caused some rifts within the Democratic Party.

Kelly has supported aid for Israel. But as the conflict has gone on and the death toll in Gaza has escalated, he has shifted left – adding his voice to calls for conditioning aid on more restraint by Israeli forces.

“We never want to see innocent women, children, old people getting killed. That has happened at a pretty high rate here,” Kelly said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in early May.

Kelly, unlike Harris and some other Democrats, attended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress on Wednesday.

According to Track AIPAC, a website that keeps track of donations to politicians from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Kelly has received nearly $500,000 from the group since he began his career in politics.

What happens in Arizona if he becomes vice president?

If Harris picks Kelly and they win, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs would name his replacement until 2026 when a special election would take place to fill the remaining two years of his term.

That scenario has sparked fear among Democrats.

“If we take Sen. Kelly, there’s a high chance a Republican could replace him,” said Markus Ceniceros of Avondale, one of the Arizona Democratic delegates who’ll ratify the nominations.

But others in the veepstakes also come from swing states where a vacancy would cause complications.

“There has to be a very cautioned approach to picking a high profile senator or governor,” Ceniceros said.

For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.