West Orange’s Hero Astronaut Re-Elected To Senate In Arizona: Reports

WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange native Mark Kelly has defeated his Republican opponent and won re-election to the U.S. Senate in Arizona, reports say.

Kelly – a former astronaut who grew up in New Jersey – has been projected as the winner in the 2022 U.S. Senate race in Arizona, overcoming venture capitalist Blake Masters, according to the Associated Press.

With 95 percent of the votes tallied, Kelly, a Democratic Party member, has captured 51.4 percent of the ballot versus Masters’ 46.5 percent, according to the latest count from The New York Times.

Kelly, a local hero in West Orange who has a school named in his honor, recently entered the history books alongside his identical twin, Scott Kelly, as the only such pair to travel to space.

After growing up in New Jersey, Kelly moved to Tucson, Arizona with his wife, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011. Together, the pair have since become strong advocates for "commonsense" gun control laws, which he made a pillar of his political platform.

Kelly first ran for office in 2020, unseating incumbent Sen. Martha McSally in a special election following the 2018 death of Sen. John McCain.

• See related article: West Orange School Gets Visit From Mark Kelly, Gabby Giffords
• See related article: West Orange School Renamed After NJ Astronaut Brothers

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