Group promoting science urges Sen. Mark Kelly to run for president

A liberal group working to elect scientists to public office has a 2028 message for Arizona Sen. — and former astronaut — Mark Kelly: Run, Kelly, run.

Why it matters: 314 Action Fund has raised its profile this cycle, elevating candidates with STEM backgrounds who've pitched themselves as a bulwark against public health cuts and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

• The organization said it raised more than $100 million over the past decade — including $25 million during the 2026 midterms, more than half of which it spent on this year's Democratic primaries.

Zoom in: Joshua Morrow, president of the 314 Action Fund, told Axios, "I'd love Mark Kelly to run" for president. "If Mark Kelly ran, we'd be there day one."

• Kelly has done events with 314 Action, and the group urged former Vice President Kamala Harris to pick him as her running mate in 2024. She chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz instead.
• Morrow argued that scientist candidates are tapping into the electorate's hunger for "outsiders": "For so long the Democratic Party promoted the same type of candidate and the same type of person, and it's like, that doesn't work."
• As he put it, the cookie-cutter candidate is "white-guy lawyer."

Context: 314 Action Fund received funding from AIPAC's super PAC in 2024 that it used to help now-Rep. Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), but it says it hasn't taken any money since then from the group, which has come under fire from many Democrats.

• Dexter has since disavowed AIPAC, and 314 Action Fund has backed some candidates this year who are sharp critics of Israel — including Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official.

What they're saying: Kelly's team declined to comment. He has said that he's seriously considering a run for president in 2028.