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Former astronaut Mark Kelly defeats Republican McSally for Arizona Senate seat

Kelly’s victory gives Democrats both Senate seats in Arizona. He will join Kyrsten Sinema in Washington.

By Associated Press

Democrat Mark Kelly has won the Arizona Senate seat once held by John McCain.

The former astronaut defeated Republican Sen. Martha McSally, who was appointed to the seat after McCain’s death in 2018.

Kelly led McSally 55% to 45%, with 75% of the expected votes counted as of Wednesday morning.

It’s the second election night contest in which a Democrat beat a GOP incumbent. The other was in Colorado.

The Arizona race was a a special election to finish McCain’s term, so Kelly could be sworn in as early as Nov. 30, when the results are officially certified.

Kelly flew combat missions for the Navy during Operation Desert Storm before becoming a test pilot and later an astronaut. He flew four missions to the International Space Station.

He is the husband of former Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head and wounded in an attempted assassination during a constituent event in Tucson in 2011.

McSally has not yet conceded.

“Every Arizonan deserves to have their voice heard and vote counted. We continue to monitor returns. The voters of Arizona decide this election, not media outlets,” McSally campaign spokeswoman Caroline Anderegg said in a statement.

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“Like Mark said, every vote should be counted. With one million votes to be counted and no Election Day results reported from Maricopa County, the decision to make a call at this point is irresponsible,” Anderegg said.

However, the Associated Press called the election for Kelly at 12:51 a.m. Wednesday. Fox News also declared Kelly the victor.

Kelly’s victory gives Democrats both Senate seats in Arizona. He will join Kyrsten Sinema in Washington.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is also projected to beat President Donald Trump in Arizona, a state which went for Trump in 2016.