‘Not Even Close’: Mark Kelly Pulls No Punches When Asked If National Democratic Party Understands Crisis on the Southern Border

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Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who won reelection two weeks ago, reflected on the state of the Democratic Party and offered some tough love in an interview with the Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty published Monday.

Tumulty, a columnist and the deputy editorial page editor at the Post, asked Kelly directly what he thinks are the “lessons for other Democrats going forward, especially when it comes to what it takes to win in hard places?”

Kelly, who many see as a leader of the Democratic Party and a possible future presidential contender, replied by telling Tumulty that he campaigned “everywhere” and didn’t ignore Republican strongholds in the state.

“When you’re running for the United States Senate or any statewide office, you’ve got to go and talk to everybody and talk to them about things they care about, whether it’s the cost of gasoline or, especially in Southern Arizona, about the border, which is a crisis,” Kelly said.

“You can’t ignore that in Arizona. It’s been chaos down there at times, for decades,” he added.

Tumulty seized on Kelly bringing up the southern border, which was a major issue during the midterm elections and a “crisis” that Republicans tried to hang around the necks of Democrats – Kelly in particular.

“Speaking of the border, do you think Democrats nationally have recognized the complexity of the issue and the frustrations that people have?” Tumulty asked.

“Absolutely not. Not even close,” Kelly replied, offering a frank analysis.

“When I first got to Washington, it didn’t take me long to realize that there are a lot of Democrats who don’t understand our southern border and a lot of Republicans who just want to talk about it, don’t necessarily want to do anything about it, just want to use it politically,” he continued, adding:

So my approach has been — to the extent that we could and can — to make progress on securing it, but also doing it in a way that’s in accordance with our ethics and our values, not to demonize people.
And I continue to talk to my Republican colleagues about how we have to do more. We have to do more in border security. We have to do more in comprehensive immigration reform, especially “dreamers,” but also these visa programs. If you’re a farmer, especially in Southern Arizona, despite having a ready supply of eager workers, you don’t have the visas available and it’s a problem for them.

But when I talk to my Republican colleagues who are not anywhere near a border — let’s say they’re in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee — they have the same problem. So there are solutions and we’re continuing to work on this. Our country would really benefit from stronger border security and comprehensive immigration reform.

Tumulty concluded the interview by asking if Kelly thought Arizona Republicans had learned anything from the drubbing they received in 2022, now that Democrats occupy both U.S. Senate seats and the governor’s mansion.

“This will probably surprise you to hear this from somebody who’s a United States senator who’s a Democrat, but we need a strong Republican Party in Arizona,” Kelly replied after noting he believes the extreme elements in the Arizona GOP are a small minority.

“I think the two-party system that we have, we’ve got a set of checks and balances against each other and I think that’s important to have that. And I would like to see that in Arizona again,” Kelly concluded.

Read the full interview here