Mark Kelly. Photo by Gage Skidmore | Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
The number one question posed by Arizona political reporters of late is whether a Bernie Sanders nomination spells doom for Mark Kelly, the presumptive Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.
The answer is a resounding no.
A number of pundits believe Sanders harms Kelly because Sanders is just too liberal for purple Arizona. They audibly gasped when Kelly said he’d support Sanders if he became the eventual Democratic nominee, and worried Kelly’s independent image would be tarnished by having Sanders at the top of the ticket.
Critics insist the only way Mark Kelly can defeat Republican Martha McSally is if he follows Senator Krysten Sinema’s campaign playbook to a tee, refusing to endorse anyone in the presidential contest and remaining as politically neutral as possible.