Mark Kelly, Arizona’s Democratic senator-elect, paid a visit to the late Arizona Sen. John McCain’s (R) grave ahead of his swearing in.
Kelly, along with his wife, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), and his daughter Claire, placed a wreath on McCain’s grave, located at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Maryland, according to the Arizona Republic.
The politician, former astronaut and retired U.S. Navy captain is set to have his Senate swearing-in ceremony tomorrow.
Republican Sen. Martha McSally filled the vacant Senate seat that resulted from McCain’s death from brain cancer in 2018. Kelly beat her in last month’s election, taking over for the remaining two years of the late senator’s term. McCain was last elected to the Senate in 2016.
His election to McCain’s seat has special significance for Kelly, who referred to McCain as someone he looked up to growing up, despite the two representing opposing political parties. Kelly said he’s looking forward to using McCain’s desk when he takes office.
“He was a hero of mine when I was young, and we often don’t get to meet our heroes,” Kelly said. “It’s also much less often that you eventually get to call them a friend and to be elected to his United States Senate seat, that — that’s a very big deal for me.”