PHOENIX — For veterans like Ricardo Reyes, Arizona’s senior senator is a Hollywood-worthy presidential candidate.
“What I remind people is ... how amazing it was in the movie ‘Independence Day,’” he said, referring the 1996 blockbuster in which Bill Pullan played a fighter-pilot-turned-president. “That president would be Mark Kelly if, on top of all his achievements, he was also an astronaut.”
Reyes isn’t alone. At a recent U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly town hall for veterans in Chandler, four different people pushed the Democratic senator to run for president in 2028.
One person asked about the war in Iran, ending with, “Will you run for president, and what the hell are we doing over there?”
The crowd laughed and clapped.
"Well, on the first question, I have not made a decision,” Kelly told him.
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When asked by another attendee what could be done about our divided nation, Kelly said the country needs people who can bring us together.
“You can change it when you become president,” the questioner told him.
Kelly chuckled, and the audience laughed.
Steven Smith, a politics professor at Arizona State University, said this kind of enthusiasm this early is a good sign for Kelly.
“It's inevitable that Democrats are going to be thinking about who offers the biggest contrast to President Trump,” he said.
And no one contrasts with President Donald Trump more sharply than Kelly, Smith said.
“Here's a Navy combat pilot who was a NASA commander,” he said. “This just oozes competence, precision, but also discipline and restraint.”
Reyes, who is the executive director of VetsForward, said veterans see themselves in Kelly.
“I think it's been very clear that he is willing to stick his neck out for all of us,” he said.
Reyes said he’s looking for a candidate who has courage in his convictions.
“Our veterans are supposed to stand up for our community, stand up for our country, and to us, that's what he's been doing,” he said. “He's been out there, he's been confronting the administration and things that we believe are wrong.”
Kelly vs. the Trump administration
The push from local veterans comes after a high-profile fight with the Pentagon has raised Kelly’s national profile. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has attempted to demote and censure the retired Navy captain over a social-media video he made with other lawmakers reminding troops they can refuse illegal orders.
“So Mark Kelly is living rent-free in Pete Hegseth's head,” said Stacy Pearson, a Democratic consultant.
The battle could appeal to Democrats and independents hungry for a candidate who is willing to fight the Trump administration.
“It's exciting to see him push back on the administration in a fearless way, in a very authentic, fearless way,” Pearson said.
But a strategist on the other side of the aisle predicts Kelly will have tough time securing the nomination.
“At some point, he's going to really have to come with hat in hand to the far left of the party and essentially beg for the nomination,” said Nathan Sproul, a Republican consultant.
And a White House run in 2028 would leave his Senate seat up for grabs.
“I think Mark Kelly's going to have a lot of pressure from national Democrats encouraging him to stay at least for this election and maybe look at it four years down the road or eight years down the road,” Sproul said.
Arizona's presidential dreams
If Kelly does enter the race, he would the latest Arizonan with presidential ambitions.
"There's been a long history of Arizonans that have attempted to gain the White House and just haven't been able to do it," Sproul said.
Sens. Barry Goldwater and John McCain and Gov. Bruce Babbitt all made unsuccessful bids,
"These are folks that have defined the Arizona political scene, and so for Arizona, it brings attention to issues that are bipartisan — that are omnipartisan — that really transcend what the two parties tend to be fighting over every day," Pearson said.
