Democrat Mark Kelly Wins Arizona Senate Seat Once Held by McCain

(Bloomberg) -- Mark Kelly, a former astronaut and Navy veteran, defeated Republican Senator Martha McSally in Arizona’s special election for the U.S. Senate, the Associated Press projected.

Both senators in the once reliably Republican state will now be Democrats. Kelly, the husband of former Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords, will fill the seat that was held for over three decades by the late Senator John McCain. McSally was appointed to the seat shortly after she lost a 2018 open-seat Senate race to Kyrsten Sinema.

Democrats need a net gain of three seats to control the chamber if Joe Biden wins the presidency, or four if President Donald Trump is re-elected.

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