Mark Kelly Projected Winner Over Martha McSally In AZ Senate Race

ARIZONA — Mark Kelly, a veteran and former astronaut, has been projected the winner in the U.S. Senate race in Arizona, overcoming his Republican opponent and incumbent Martha McSally. The projection was made by The Associated Press at 12:51 a.m. local time.

Arizona's senate race has gained national attention this year, as it was one that was seen as key to tipping power in the U.S. Senate currently held by Republican lawmakers towards the Democratic Party. Kelly and former Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado are projected to have defeated their Republican opponents while Democratic Sen. Doug Jones lost his seat to Republican challenger Tommy Tuberville in Alabama. Democrats needed to gain four seats in the Senate with the expected loss of Jones to gain control.

The battle between Kelly and McSally has become the state's most expensive political race ever, with the two candidates pulling in over $133.7 million as of Sept. 30.

Republican McSally had raised $50.9 million, while Kelly reported raising $82.8 million by that point, according to FEC reports.

These are the results as of Monday at 8 a.m.:

Martha McSally: 1,603,716

Mark Kelly: 1,686,882

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Those numbers are according to the Arizona Secretary of State.

McSally has held the senate seat since she was appointed in 2019 by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey following the death of longtime Republican Sen. John McCain. McSally previously lost in the 2018 election to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Arizona. She previously served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives following an illustrious military career; McSally was the first American woman to fly in combat and the first to command a fighter plane.

McSally has earned the support of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on their campaign visits to the battleground state in recent months.

Kelly is a veteran himself, serving in the U.S. Navy before becoming an astronaut for NASA. He retired in 2011, shortly after his wife, former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was shot in the head while meeting with constituents in Tucson. The assassination attempt left Giffords with lifelong injuries and killed six people. In response, Giffords and Kelly, a former registered Independent, became gun control advocates and formed the Giffords foundation.

With Kelly's projected win, both of Arizona's representatives to the U.S. Senate will be Democrats.

The first round of results on Tuesday were released around 8 p.m., one hour after the polls closed, per Arizona law.

Election officials warned voters that due to an influx of early voting and a rule on the books that gives all voters five business days to fix issues with their ballot signatures, the final election tally won't be available until Nov. 10. If they're close, officials warned that Arizona races might not be called on Election Night.

That proved true Tuesday night as vote counts were slow to be reported throughout the state but The Associated Press ultimately made projections.

Kelly spoke to a small, masked crowd in Tucson around 10 p.m. before The AP made its projection. It was not a victory speech, but he said that he is "confident they will be successful when the votes are counted."

He promised to be a senator for all Arizonans, like the late Republican Sen. John McCain was during his time in office. With his projected win, Kelly will fill the seat McCain left when he died in 2018.