Mark Edward Kelly is an American retired astronaut, U.S. Navy captain, businessman, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Arizona since 2020.
A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected in the special election following the death of Senator John McCain, defeating incumbent Republican Martha McSally.
Kelly flew combat missions during the Gulf War as a naval aviator before being selected as a NASA Space Shuttle pilot in 1996. Kelly announced his candidacy for Arizona’s Class 3 U.S. Senate seat in the 2020 special election on February 12, 2019.
He won the Democratic primary on August 4, 2020, and defeated incumbent Republican Martha McSally in the November 3, 2020, general election, becoming the first Democrat to win this seat since 1962. Kelly was sworn in on December 2, 2020.
Kelly is seeking reelection to a full term in the 2022 United States Senate election in Arizona against Republican Blake Masters.
Mark Kelly Age
He is 58 years. He was born on February 21, 1964, in Orange, New Jersey, and raised in West Orange, New Jersey. Kelly graduated from Mountain High School in 1982.
He received a Bachelor of Science in marine engineering and nautical science from the United States Merchant Marine Academy, graduating with highest honors in 1986.
Mark Kelly Height
Mark Kelly is five feet eight inches tall.
Mark Kelly Parents
Mark Edward Kelly and twin brother Scott Kelly are the sons of Richard and Patricia Kelly, two retired police officers. He is of Irish descent.
Mark Kelly Wife
Kelly married Amelia Victoria Babis on January 7, 1989. They divorced in 2004. They have two daughters, Claudia and Claire Kelly.
Kelly married U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords of Tucson, Arizona, on November 10, 2007, in a ceremony presided over by Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, and attended by his STS-124 shuttle crew and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich.
At the time of their marriage, Kelly lived in Houston, Texas, and said that the longest stretch of time the two had spent together was a couple of weeks.
He said that they did not plan to always live that way, but that it was what they were used to. He added, “It teaches you not to sweat the small stuff.
Mark Kelly Children
Kelly married Amelia Victoria Babis on January 7, 1989. They divorced in 2004. They have two daughters, Claudia and Claire Kelly. Claudia Kelly is the eldest child in the family.
Claudia Kelly lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and their infant daughter. She is married to Mark Sundman, a PhD candidate who is an expert in Cognition and Neural Systems.
On May 5, 2021, Claudia gave birth to her daughter, Sage Kelly Sundman. She was born at 1:48 pm and is seven months old this year. Mark, Claudia’s father, was quite happy when he got the news of his granddaughter.
Claudia Kelly has a younger sister. Her name is Claire Kelly, and she is 24 years old. Claire is on Instagram under the ID @clairekelly100 and has 4.2K followers. She writes, “Well-behaved women don’t make history in the bio section.”