The majority of the Republican Party in the current US Senate has shrunk from 53 to 52 seats. Democrat Mark Kelly, elected in Arizona on Nov. 3, took the oath today.
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The ex-astronaut succeeds Republican Martha McSally. He used to take the oath because it was actually a planned election for the seat of Republican John McCain, who died in 2018. McSally had landed on his seat after his death and had to present himself to the voter at the first major ballot. Kelly’s term will run until early 2023. The other newly elected Senators will take the oath early next year.
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Who will have the majority in the Senate depends on a double second round on Jan. 5 in the state of Georgia. Currently, the Republicans have 50 seats in the new Senate and the Democrats 48. If the Democrats win both second rounds, they have de facto a wafer-thin majority. Because in the event of a tie, the vice president can vote and that will be the Democrate Kamala Harris.
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Mark Kelly has completed four space flights, his brother Scott is also an ex-astronaut. The new Senator has been married to Democratic politician Gabrielle Giffords since 2007. Several months after she was seriously injured in a shooting in 2011, Mark Kelly decided to resign as a NASA astronaut in order to care for her.
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