Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) has emerged as a surprising running mate option for Vice President Kamala Harris now that she’s become Democrats’ likely nominee for president.
Kelly is a relatively lesser-known senator whose potential strengths as a VP candidate stem from his background — he’s a former fighter pilot, an astronaut, and husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords — and from the fact that he’s won statewide office in Arizona, a key swing state.
“Mark Kelly is extraordinary, and I think he should be on any short list, but I won’t comment beyond that,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) told HuffPost over the phone on Monday.
“We’ve got a lot of great choices in front of us, and that’s the first presidential decision that VP Harris has, so it’s her call, but I think you’re obviously looking for someone who can be a ferocious and crisp communicator,” Schatz said.
He added: “You may be looking for some geographic and demographic balance.”
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The conventional wisdom among Democrats is that since Harris is a Black and Asian woman, picking a white person to join her on the ticket could help her appeal to white voters. Other potential Harris VP candidates include Govs. Gretchen Whitmer (Mich.), Josh Shapiro (Pa.), Roy Cooper (N.C.) and Andy Beshear (Ky.).
Calling Harris the right person to beat Donald Trump, Kelly endorsed the vice president on Sunday hours after President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid.
“She has my support for the nomination, and Gabby and I will do everything we can to elect her President of the United States,” Kelly wrote on social media.
A spokesperson for Kelly declined to comment on the possibility he’d be tapped as a vice presidential candidate.
Kelly would also check another box that could help Democrats: He’s a veteran.
The senator became a U.S. Navy pilot in 1987 and rose to the rank of captain. He flew 39 missions in the first Persian Gulf War while he was stationed aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Midway.
“The next Commander in Chief would be well-served by having a post-9/11 generation veteran — or any military veteran — at their side in the perilous times that we’re living in,” said Allison Jaslow, the chief executive office of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
There are a few reasons why Kelly might not be the right pick for Harris, however.
Both Kelly and Harris serve in the Senate (the vice president, who previously represented California in the Senate, often breaks ties in the narrowly divided chamber). Typically, presidential campaign tickets have included more variety of experience by pairing office holders from across government or from outside of it entirely.
The Arizona Democrat is also relatively inexperienced in politics compared to others rumored to be on the VP short list. His first foray into politics was in November 2020, when he won a special election to serve out the remainder of Sen. John McCain’s term after McCain died. Kelly went on to be elected to his current and full term in the Senate in 2022.
More importantly, if Kelly became vice president, Democrats would need to fill his seat, potentially risking it flipping to the Republican column and imperiling the party’s chances of Senate control. Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs would almost certainly appoint a Democrat to fill Kelly’s seat. But then that person would have to run in a special election in 2026 and again in 2028 for a full term.
In the Senate, Kelly has been a reliable vote for Biden’s agenda, though there are issues where he has bucked the president. He has argued for a tougher border policy and criticized the administration for ending Title 42, which enabled officials to turn away asylum-seekers in the name of public health. And he has been one of the only Democratic holdouts who has refrained from endorsing the PRO Act, organized labor’s top legislative priority.
Jonathan Nicholson and Jen Bendery contributed reporting.