Mark Kelly, a former astronaut, is running as candidate for Senator of Arizona. He is at a potential power position at the moment, especially with such a close race between him and republican Martha McSally. If Kelly wins, the Senate would have enough democratic votes to prevent President Trump from nominating a new Supreme Court Justice: “'If Mark Kelly comes out on top, HE could block President Trump’s supreme court Nominee from being confirmed,'" quoted McSally (The Guardian).
However, the implications if Kelly wins aren't limited to the new replacement for Ginsberg. Firstly, Arizona has been voting republican for the past decade, and the switch in the vote towards Kelly, a democrat, could mark the shift in Arizona's political stance. Overall, in the United States, this means a larger representation for democrats. More states have Republican Senators than democratic, but less of the population votes republican. This is because there are a lot of relatively (compared to more populous states, such as California and New York) small republican states that have a lot of seats in the Senate, one of these being Arizona. Arizona's shift from voting for a republican senator to voting for a democratic one may mark the shift in other states that have close races between their own senators.
The second implication if Kelly is selected as senator is that abortion rights would not be as threatened, as there would be more time for the nomination of a Supreme Court Justice if Biden is nominated, rather than having Trump's republican nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. This directly connects to what we talked about previously in class in regards to the Constitution. Representation isn't entirely democratic, as Congress is split both into the House and Senate. Thus, we have conflicts like this one, where parties are fighting over control of the Senate. Although this is always happening, this is an especially crucial moment, as it determines which party gets to choose a Supreme Court Justice. If the Republican Party wins, that could spell the end to many abortion rights that the democrats, who take up the largest portion of the population, desire. Although this isn't entirely democratic, it does prevent majority factions from taking over. However, if Kelly becomes Senator, he will be able to help push against electing an anti-abortion Supreme Court Justice until the coming presidential election, allowing the larger democrat majority to have more control over abortion rights.
Source 1:Associated Press News
Source 2:CNBC
Source 3:The Guardian
1 comment:
RBG was a great woman who made a big difference for many Americans. I believe that if Mark Kelly gets elected, it could change the tide and help ensure that Americans keep abortion rights and make sure that Trump doesn't put someone into the supreme court immediately before the election. Even though he could make those changes, I do believe that his power will be limited, and that the Republicans still might be able to get some things through no matter what, since it also takes some time before a senator gets into office. In addition to that, Republicans would still dominate the senate with 52 seats, even if Kelly gets elected. Overall, it will take a lot of people to make a change, but a change can be made. Thank you for sharing!
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