Mark Kelly re-elected in Arizona, Democrats inch toward Senate control
Former astronaut and U.S. Navy captain Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) has won his bid for re-election in Arizona's Senate race, beating Republican challenger Blake Masters, CNN and The Associated Press projected Friday.
With 85 percent of precincts in Arizona reporting, Kelly had carried 51.8 percent of the vote compared to Masters' 46.1 percent, and was leading by more than 120,000 votes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Masters has not yet conceded, and his official Twitter account had not tweeted in more than 14 hours as of Saturday morning.
Kelly's re-election marks a significant victory for Democrats, who are now just a single seat away from maintaining power in the Senate. Control of the chamber will likely now come down to the upcoming runoff election in Georgia.
While Kelly was always ahead in the polls, his victory was not guaranteed, with Masters gaining support in recent days from Donald Trump-backed super PACS and Arizona Republicans vying to regain control of the state following the 2020 general election. FiveThirtyEight had projected Arizona as "leaning Democratic," but the race was still notably close. However, a push from former President Barack Obama may have helped put Kelly over the edge.
The liberal Kelly often sparred with Masters, a venture capitalist who, throughout his campaign, sought to present himself as a hardened ally of former President Trump.
-
Political cartoons for January 10Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a warning shot, a shakedown, and more
-
Courgette and leek ijeh (Arabic frittata) recipeThe Week Recommends Soft leeks, tender courgette, and fragrant spices make a crisp frittata
-
Trump’s power grab: the start of a new world order?Talking Point Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, the US president has shown that arguably power, not ‘international law’, is the ultimate guarantor of security
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
