Retired astronaut Mark Kelly announces bid for U.S. Senate in Arizona

Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Retired astronaut and Navy pilot Mark Kelly, husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, announced he will run for one of Arizona's seats in the U.S. Senate.

Kelly made the announcement Tuesday in a video posted to his Twitter account. He said he learned from Giffords, a former House Democrat who survived a 2011 assassination attempt, how policy can improve people's lives. Kelly will be running as a Democrat, the Arizona Republic reported.

"I care about people. I care about the state of Arizona. I care about this nation. Because of that, I'm launching a campaign for the United States Senate," Kelly said. "We're going to need to bring people together from all parts of the state and all walks of life."

My next mission... #FullSpeedAhead #ForArizona pic.twitter.com/5E36z7aztH

- Mark Kelly (@ShuttleCDRKelly) February 12, 2019

Giffords and 17 others were attacked in a mass shooting at a grocery store in Tucson, Ariz., on Jan. 8, 2011. The target of the attack, Giffords was struck by a bullet that went straight through her head.

"I thought I had the risky job. Turned out, that you were the one with the risky job," Kelly said sitting next to Giffords in the video. In the aftermath of the attack, Giffords stepped down from Congress but became an advocate for gun control.

"Solving some of the hardest problems requires one thing -- teamwork," Kelly said.

Kelly flew three space missions totaling 54 days in space and also flew 39 combat missions in Iraq and Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm. Seeing Earth from space gave him a new perspective on life, he said in the video.

"It's pretty obvious pretty early on when you get into space that we're all in this together," Kelly said.

Kelly said his campaign's central issues will be access to healthcare, stagnation of wages, job growth and the economy. Climate change is also on the minds of many Arizona residents, he added.

"As the climate warms, we're going to have more drought here in the desert," Kelly said.

Kelly will face former pilot Republican Sen. Martha McSally, who was appointed to fill the seat last year after Sen. John Kyl stepped down. Kyl was appointed to the seat after Sen. John McCain died.