Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) was passed over for vice president, but he’s still blitzing battleground states with Vice President Kamala Harris and vulnerable Democratic Senate incumbents.
Kelly is also a frequent surrogate on the airwaves for Harris, having done several Sunday shows over the past few weeks. That comes in addition to local media interviews in North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
After winning a competitive Senate race in a border state in 2022, Democrats see Kelly as a go-to surrogate for Harris and Senate Democrats alike, especially as they try to blunt an onslaught of GOP criticisms over the party’s handling of the crisis at the southern border.
In late September, Kelly accompanied Harris during a trip to the border. He also went to Raleigh, N.C., for several Harris campaign events. In the Atlanta area, Kelly campaigned with his wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.), and Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.). Giffords, who was shot and gravely wounded in 2011, is among the nation’s highest-profile gun control activists.
Kelly was a spin-room surrogate for Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, after the vice presidential debate in New York. Last week, he campaigned for Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Democrats’ Senate candidate in Michigan. And he was at former President Barack Obama’s rally in Pittsburgh, having just campaigned with Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who’s facing a difficult reelection bid.
We’re told that Kelly will spend the majority of the next few weeks in Arizona, where Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is running for the state’s other Senate seat against Republican Kari Lake.
