According to NBC News, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly will keep his position in the U.S. Senate for Arizona, bringing Democrats one step closer to keeping control of the chamber.

As of Friday night, 85% of the ballots had been counted, and Kelly was ahead of Republican Blake Masters—the choice of former President Donald Trump—by nearly six percentage points in the crucial swing state. Democrats only need one of the two uncalled seats in Georgia or Nevada after Kelly’s victory.
As of Friday morning, 88% of the ballots had been counted in Nevada, where Republican candidate Adam Laxalt was leading by 1%. On December 6, Georgia’s Senate race will go to a runoff between Republican Herschel Walker and incumbent Sen.

Raphael Warnock was in the lead by a significant margin.
Through mid-October, Kelly raised and spent far more money than venture capitalist Masters, bringing in over $81.8 million and shelling out over $75.9 million. The Federal Election Commission’s data shows that throughout the same period, Masters raised $12.3 million while only spending $9.7 million.

Bipartisanship was a key component of the Arizona Democrat’s campaign, and he stressed his readiness to cooperate with Republicans. Sen. John McCain, a Republican, passed away in 2010 from an aggressive form of brain cancer, and he was elected to the Senate in 2020 to complete his term.

When Kelly recently spoke out against the decision to remove Title 42, he set himself apart from the Biden administration’s position on immigration. Due to Covid, the policy, which started under the Trump administration, stopped immigrants from entering the nation.
Border security has also received strong support from the Arizona Democrat. During a recent debate, he described the recent influx of migrants at the southern border as “a mess.”

“I told the president he was incorrect when he decided he was going to do something stupid on this and change the regulations, which would cause a worse catastrophe. Therefore, I repeatedly rebuffed this government,” Kelly stated in October.

But Kelly also played a vital role in the CHIPS and Science Act negotiations, which was a significant part of President Joe Biden’s economic plans and was passed into law in August.
Kelly, a former NASA astronaut and Navy pilot, is married to Gabrielle Giffords, a former U.S. representative who recovered from a head wound in 2011.