In time, the Veep stakes is in full swing for
the Harris campaign.
One of the many names being bandied about as a
running mate is Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.
He's been in the Senate for a couple of years
now.
He's a veteran of former astronauts and the husband of
former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.
New York Post reporter Cameron Arkan is out with new
reporting on Senator Kelly tonight.
He is live with me from Arizona right now on
the final five.
It's much easier, Cameron, to get people to come on
the show when it's 830 your time.
But it's good to see you again.
Welcome back.
Yeah, Thank you.
You you were out there with new reporting tonight on,
on Mark Kelly, who is obviously in a border state
right now.
He recently met with the president of Mexico, the incoming
president of Mexico.
But what's the buzz?
Is this legit?
Will Mark Kelly get some serious consideration here?
Yeah.
You know, to echo the sentiment of the vice president,
this speculation did not just fall out of the coconut
tree.
It existed in the context of a lot of years
of momentum for the senator.
It had to do with the fact that, you know,
he's a veteran, he's an astronaut.
He's also, this is very important to note, the husband
of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.
And so all of these things are going to play
a huge factor into the Veep stakes.
And if numbers are your thing, the big deal with
the Veep stakes right now is who could Kamala Harris
choose that would add to her numbers in the Electoral
College vote?
And the hope is that if she were to pick
someone like a Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania or Mark Kelly
of Arizona, that she could hopefully add to those numbers,
at least in her campaigns view, and get over that.
Mark, There have been a lot of dissertation so far
in political Twitter and elsewhere about the pluses and minuses.
When you look at Mark Kelly, it's a border state.
We know that Republicans plan to go hard after Vice
President Harris when it comes to her role in a
overseeing policy regarding the border.
Does does Mark Kelly sort of burnish those credentials a
little bit for a ticket that otherwise might be lacking?
Yeah.
What's very interesting about Mark Kelly's stance on the borders,
there have been moments where he's been critical of the
Biden administration, particularly you look back into the early days,
2021-2022, when he was running for reelection and he defeated
Republican Blake Masters at the time.
What's very interesting though is you know, he has taken
the note of wanting Congress to pass a border bill,
but he has been critical of Biden's record in the
past and maybe having someone from a border state in
this ticket could potentially shift the conversation in the Harris's
campaign's favor when it comes to the border discussion.
Still, there is a ton to overcome in that regard.
VP pick could have some pull with that issue, but
the momentum when it comes to the border issue has
so heavily trended and the Republicans favor on the issue
that that really could, you know, it could make a
small difference.
But I think overall, I think it really has more
to do with, you know, that dissent early on that
he had.
Cameron.
Just got a minute left here.
You've been covering politics on the ground in Arizona for
a couple of years now.
There's been a lot of attention paid because we've had
both of both Senate seats turn Democratic.
We've had special elections.
We've had a hotly contested governor's race in which Carrie
Lake became a national figure in.
There's a Senate race later this year.
Is there some concern that if, if it were to
be Kelly, if they were to win, that might, that
might throw the control of the Senate in a bit,
a little bit more flux than it is already?
Yeah.
We like to joke in Arizona that we're being sentenced
to never ending Senate races.
And we could potentially see 8 consecutive Senate races between
2016 and 2030 in the event that Mark Kelly does
become the VP nominee.
And if he were to go on to, you know,
serve in that role and when the vice presidency, that
it's just kind of this never ending slog.
And that is the big concern right now is, you
know, even though Governor Hobbs would appoint someone to fill
that spot in the interim, that would mean there would
be a special Senate election 2026 and a campaign for
a full term in 2028.
And then on the other seat mate side, there'd be
another election 2030 in a separate Senate race.
So there's a lot of confusion there as to how
we're going to navigate those 6 steps as a state
if he is chosen, at least from a political standpoint.
So that is a risk if you're a Democrat looking
at that.
But if you're a Republican, you're looking your chops at
this possibility of another pickup possibility in the Senate, particularly
if there is yet another term of a Democratic administration
keeping you busy, keeping our colleagues at FOX 10 down
there in Phoenix busy as well.
Cameron Arcan, good to see you again from the New
York Post Thank you.