Good news for the Democrats in Arizona
Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona is one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats up this year – in a state that only recently swung from deep red to blue. Although he was expected to win the 2020 special election last year by nearly all of the pundits, he did so by a smaller margin than many had expected – in part due to a large swing of undecided voters towards the former guy.
While Arizona is trending blue, it’s still a fairly conservative state which means that candidates running there will need the support of some independents and even some small Republican support in order to win. Right now, Kelly is up for re-election to a full term and needs all the help and donations he can get.
The Republican primary field is a heavily crowded one – with no especially sane members among them, which could work to Kelly’s advantage in shoring up moderate support. One of the leading candidates, however, Blake Masters, just did something that will write Kelly’s next few television ads, by openly speculating that the GOP needs to abolish social security.
This is an overwhelmingly unpopular idea that helped cost them the House in 2006 and 2018, yet Republicans have only gotten bolder about trying it and making little secret of it being about their agenda. While Kelly will and should capitalize on Masters’ words, they’re something that Democrats across the country can ride on – as the GOP is once again coming for your social security.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making