Senator Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.) was critical of Democrats’ handling of the border crisis during a debate with his Republican opponent Blake Masters on Thursday.
“I’ve been strong on border security and I’ve stood up to Democrats when they’re wrong on this issue including the president,” Kelly said during the debate in Phoenix. “When the president decided he was going to do something dumb on this and change the rules, you know, that would create a bigger crisis.”
As one of his first acts in office, President Biden repealed the Trump administration’s Remain in Mexico policy, which required asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while their cases were being adjudicated.
He continued: “You know, I told him he was wrong. So I pushed back on this administration multiple times. And I’ve got more money on the ground to increase Border Patrol staffing technology and where it makes sense to build more barriers.”
Kelly added that Washington, D.C., “has failed on the border.”
“Washington, D.C., has failed on this issue of border security and immigration for decades. And it’s been crisis after crisis. I’ve been focused on this since day one, you know, and I brought more resources here to the state of Arizona to deal with it.”
Masters shot back, accusing Kelly of not doing enough to help protect Arizonans from the border crisis, including the danger of not properly vetting illegal immigrants entering the country.
Masters also drew attention to Kelly having voted an amendment that would have allowed U.S. Border Patrol to hire 18,000 more agents.
Customs and Border Protection recorded 203,597 migrant encounters at the U.S.–Mexico border in August alone, bringing the total number of encounters for the fiscal year to more than 2 million for the first time ever.
“If this is the result of Senator Kelly being focused on the border, my gosh, he’s the most ineffective and worst senator of all time,” Masters said. “The border is wide open. People are walking through by the hundreds of thousands.”
“Mark Kelly voted for more IRS agents not more Border Patrol agents,” he said.
The pair also clashed on abortion during their first and only debate, which also featured Libertarian nominee Marc Victor.
Masters said he would support an abortion limit of 15 weeks at the federal level, as proposed by Senator Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) last month. The Arizona Republican said Kelly believes in “no limits” on abortion.
Kelly responded: “Let me be perfectly clear. Arizona women have totally lost the right to make a decision about abortion. It’s devastating. It’s wrong. And it’s exactly what my opponent, Blake Masters, wants.”
Masters said Kelly, who has advocated for codifying a constitutional right for women to have an abortion, believes in “no limits” regarding abortions.
Kelly voted in favor of the Women’s Health Protection Act to “codify” Roe v. Wade in March, months before it was ultimately overturned.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America announced then that it would take out a $1 million ad campaign in Arizona against Kelly attacking his extreme stance on abortion.
“Senator Mark Kelly must be held accountable for voting in favor of abortion on-demand, up until birth, paid for by taxpayers. His extreme position on abortion is completely out of step with Arizona voters,” the group’s president Marjorie Dannenfelser said in a statement at the time.
Kelly was first elected in 2020 in a special election, in which he defeated incumbent Republican Martha McSally by less than 2.5 percent.
A RealClearPolitics polling average shows Kelly leading Masters by 4.1 percentage points.