Former astronaut Mark Kelly was sworn into his seat in the Senate on Wednesday.
The Democrat, who defeated Republican incumbent Martha McSally 51.2% to 48.8% last month, was sworn in on the Senate floor, accompanied by Arizona’s other Democratic senator, Kyrsten Sinema, who held the Bible on which he swore his oath.
They used a Bible passed down from the grandmother of his wife, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, for Kelly’s swearing-in ceremony, according to Axios.
Kelly’s arrival in the Senate reduces the Republican majority to 50. There are 46 Democrats and two independent senators who caucus with the Democrats.
VP Pence swears in former astronaut Mark Kelly as Arizona’s newest senator.
GOP Senate majority narrows to 52-48. pic.twitter.com/4YHiB6WB6n
— The Recount (@therecount) December 2, 2020
The majority in the Senate in the next term will be determined with two runoff elections in Georgia on Jan. 5. If either GOP Sens. David Perdue or Kelly Loeffler are able to retain their seats, the GOP will maintain a small majority. However, if Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win the two elections, then there would be an even split, and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would act as a tie-breaker.
Arizona’s GOP governor, Doug Ducey, appointed McSally to the seat in January 2019 to replace Jon Kyl, a former Republican senator who agreed to fill a vacancy left by Sen. John McCain after he died of brain cancer in August 2018. McSally, a former House lawmaker and ex-fighter pilot, also lost a Senate race in 2018 to Sinema.
Kelly will not serve a normal six-year term like most senators. Instead, he will complete the remainder of McCain’s term, which ends in 2022.
