Reports: Kamala Harris considering Arizona’s Mark Kelly for VP

Speculation over who would be brought on as Kamala Harris’ running mate began to swirl before the dust settled on President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not seek reelection.

Biden’s decision came with an endorsement of Harris, who is now presumed to be the Democratic nominee for US President. The Democratic Party will make its formal nomination during their August convention, by which time Harris will need to select someone to run as her vice president.

As reported by Phoenix New Times’ Morgan Fischer, the analytics firm BlueLabs polled potential presidential candidates before Biden ended his campaign. It found that, among swing state voters, four candidates shone the brightest:

• Arizona US Sen. Mark Kelly
• Maryland Gov. Wes Moore
• Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
• Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro

All four have endorsed Harris’ presidential campaign, making a challenge unlikely. But their staying power in battleground states could be enough to tip the scales if one was selected as Harris’ vice president.

Politico and The Washington Post have confirmed with sources in the campaign and in the White House that Kelly, Shapiro, and Whitmer have been discussed, although Whitmer has since stated she’s not interested. Other names of interest to the campaign and Democratic political donors include Kentucky Gov. And Beshear and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

The Harris campaign did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

A Harris-Kelly Ticket

While Kelly’s foray into electoral politics is relatively recent, he has proven to be a formidable force. Kelly has won his US Senate seat twice over—once in a special election against former Sen. Martha McSally in 2020, and again in 2022. In 2020, Kelly received more votes than both Trump and Biden, and nearly doubled his margin of victory from 2020 to 2022.

His background prior to entering the US Senate is one of public service: Kelly is a retired astronaut, a 25-year veteran of the US Navy, where he served as a naval aviator during the Gulf War and flew 39 combat missions during the liberation of Kuwait in Operation Desert Storm.

Another compelling number in Kelly’s favor is fundraising. Kelly has received a historic number of contributions to his campaign, bringing in $100 million in 2020, another $89 million for his reelection, and has passively amassed more than $6 million already for a potential reelection campaign in 2028. Kelly’s fundraising dwarves that of Moore and Whitmer, and is right on par with the $73 million by Shapiro in his 2022 campaign.

Kelly’s ability to deliver Arizona could prove an enticing motivator for Harris, who narrowly won the state by roughly 10,000 votes as Biden’s vice president in 2020. His experience representing a border state could help appeal to voters concerned about immigration, and Kelly’s background as an advocate for gun reform has the potential to court younger voters.

The electoral prowess of Kelly has not gone unnoticed by his colleagues in the Senate. While relatively unknown on the national stage and not up for reelection for six years, Kelly has been active on the campaign trail this year. He’s campaigned for Sens. Bob Casey and Sherrod Brown, and has been a pivotal ally to US Rep. Ruben Gallego, who is running against Kari Lake for Arizona’s other senate seat.

Kelly’s resume

Kelly’s first turn in the national political spotlight came through tragedy. His wife, then-US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in the head while meeting with constituents outside a grocery store in Tucson. The shooting left six people dead and spawned an early reckoning with political violence and partisan rancor.

Giffords’ survival made her a national inspiration but snuffed out a promising political career of her own. She and Kelly went on to found a gun-safety advocacy group, and Giffords has been a powerful surrogate as Kelly has taken her place in politics.

In the Senate, Kelly has focused on national security and the military as well as the drought plaguing the West. He was instrumental in crafting the CHIPS and Science Act, a bill signed by Biden to boost US semiconductor manufacturing.

Unlike outgoing Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who was elected as a Democrat two years before Kelly but later left the party to become an independent, Kelly has managed to retain the support of the party’s grassroots base without alienating independent voters.

Arizona’s Senate seat

Should Kelly join Harris’ presidential ticket and win the White House, his successor in the US Senate would be selected by Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, who would serve until the next General Election in 2026. Voters would then be asked to choose which candidates would serve out the remainder of Kelly’s term.

A similar situation played out in 2018. After the death of US Sen. John McCain, then-Gov. Doug Ducey appointed Jon Kyl to fill his seat. Kyl resigned a year later, and Ducey tapped McSally to fill the seat. The special election to fill the seat was held in 2020, where Kelly bested McSally, making him the first Democrat to fill the seat since 1962.

Kelly has not responded to requests for comment on joining Harris’ bid for the White House.

The Associated Press’ Jonathan Cooper contributed to this report.