Deft touch or blow torch? Mark Kelly and Kris Mayes could not be more different

They are both part of the blue tide that rolled across red-state Arizona in the last five years.

Both are highly intelligent people.

Mark Kelly is a former combat fighter pilot, astronaut and, as he reminded us on Thursday, one of a handful of U.S. senators with an engineering degree.

Kris Mayes has been a journalist, attorney, corporation commissioner and was the protégé of another whip-smart Democrat — former Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano.

While today’s Arizona Republicans imbibe the Kool-Aid of national populism and make themselves even more unpopular in a state in which they still outnumber Democrats, Mark Kelly and Kris Mayes have taken over the control panel.

Sen. Mark Kelly shows he has finesse

Mark Kelly will be a United States senator until at least 2029, when his first six-year term ends, so he doesn’t really need to begin retail politicking again until at least 2026-27.

But he is demonstrating the human qualities and finesse needed to hold that office for years to come. He’s starting to look like a leader who could be in this for the long haul — for decades — like a John McCain or Barry Goldwater.

Kelly was making the rounds this week with Arizona constituents, including Arizona seniors and the people who care for them. He donned a Naval aviator ball cap and met with students and educators at the Academies of South Mountain.

Within his hectic schedule, he took a moment to meet with The Arizona Republic editorial board.

When Editorial Page Editor Elvia Diáz quipped that she’d start him out with an easy question, he laughed enthusiastically and said, “No. Start with the hardest.”

She soon obliged with the tough questions. The union questions.

It's a delicate balance with TSMC, labor

Mark Kelly’s dilemma is that he helped champion and voted for the Chips and Science Act that helped lead to a $40 billion investment in Arizona by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).

TSMC is building a vast Arizona complex to manufacture some of the most advance microchips in the world — the kinds of chips that power cellphones and computers and fighter jets.

But early construction on the north Phoenix complex has run into a number of snags. Local union leadership that speaks for many of the 2,000 construction people are unhappy with the corporate managers.

Organized labor, a major constituent of the Democratic Party, accuses TSMC of mismanaging the construction site, ignoring U.S. safety standards and creating a dangerous workplace. They also say TSMC is actively recruiting Taiwanese workers to replace American workers.

Kelly spoke at great length about the union complaints and said he had taken labor's concerns to TSMC. But he balanced that with a clear understanding of the stakes of the project.

“You know who doesn’t want (the Arizona plant) to be a success?” asked Kelly.

“China.”

Kelly also sees the larger issues at play

The COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine opened eyes across the Western world to our over-reliance on Chinese manufacturing.

The Chinese have grown more belligerent by the year, as President Xi Xinping declares himself ruler for life and flexes his muscle across the Asian Pacific. Today, Taiwan, which is at great risk of Chinese Communist invasion, produces 50% of the world supply of semiconductors.

Western leaders know that if China invades Taiwan and stokes a hot war or cold war with the West, China will dominate the production of semiconductors that power the modern world.

Thus, Kelly and a bipartisan group of senators passed the CHIPS and Science Act — a massive investment in domestic chip production, including a new Arizona plant.

Understand that Arizona is a buyer here and this is a seller’s market. Virtually every nation in Western Europe and every state in America would kill to get a TSMC plant.

The company’s multi-billion play in Arizona represents the largest foreign investment in our state’s history and one of the largest in American history, The (U.K.) Guardian reports.

While the union and project managers clash, there are strategic global initiatives that demand they all work responsibly and in good faith to settle their differences and move forward.

Kelly was sounding that note, as he tried to lower the temperature. He pointed out that massive endeavors inevitably lead to differences of opinion. “It's a big program. People are going to complain.”

Kris Mayes prefers scorched-earth politics

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is Democrat with an entirely different approach to problem-solving.

She likes to take a blow torch to rivals she believes are standing in the way of progress. She has accused Republican leaders who moved on after the last election of ineptitude and sometimes malfeasance. She has done this on such issues as election integrity, ACCCHS-related fraud and water management.

While she often makes valid points, she delivers them with such fire that it sometimes sounds like her targets need to lawyer up.

That’s an abuse of her authority.

Another view: How Mayes became AG — Already Governor

This week she staged a very public and political attack on Arizona Department of Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke.

The New York Times had just published an investigation on the shrinking supply of U.S. groundwater, and Mayes lashed out at Buschatzke in a series of nasty tweets:

“This is why I demanded that ADWR Director Buschatzke do his job and conduct hydrological studies pursuant to current law.” 

“Haven’t heard back from ADWR on my call for hydrological studies — their statutory duty.” 

“Water is life in Arizona. We need to know how fast we’re depleting our life source. Once our (aquifers) are empty, they can’t be refilled.” 

Mayes is screaming at the wrong person

Mayes is not wrong that groundwater is an urgent challenge in Arizona, but Tom Buschatzke does not answer to Kris Mayes.

He is Gov. Katie Hobbs’ ADWR director. He serves at her pleasure. If Mayes has a problem with water management in this state, she needs to take it up the chain to her fellow Democrat, Hobbs.

Further, this is an afront to Hobbs.

Buschatzke was the ADWR director under Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. He is widely respected among Arizona water stakeholders and across the Colorado River Basin states for his work on negotiating the river’s future.

He agreed to stay on with the Hobbs administration to continue negotiating how the Colorado River will be apportioned to western states as its supply grows more scarce.

He does not deserve the abuse he’s taking from Mayes. Water politics and water law are intricate knots that have confounded both Republican and Democratic administrations on West Washington for generations. Every move made to untangle the knots are met with counter moves that make them tighter.

A lot of Democrats who love Mayes and especially love it when she brings the heat, are not likely to understand that.

But if they think that’s how to win at politics, they might want to ask Arizona Republicans what happens when you put your faith in a pyromaniac.

Phil Boas is an editorial columnist for The Arizona Republic. Email him at phil.boas@arizonarepublic.com.  

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mark Kelly and Kris Mayes are Democrats, but they're polar opposites