Giffords To Resign From Congress This Week

Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-Arizona) has announced that she will be resigning her congressional seat later this week. She will attend President Obama's State of the Union speech on Tuesday, and she will complete the "Congress on Your Corner" event she was holding when she and a dozen others were shot and six people killed last year. Her campaign said she would meet with some of those who attended that event in private. Then she will officially leave Congress by resigning.

With the Arizona primary coming up fairly soon, Giffords had to make a decision. Was she sufficiently recuperated to run a tough campaign against a Republican opponent, or did she need to step aside to give another Democrat time to set up a campaign organization and get in the race. She finally decided that for the sake of her own health and recovery (and the Democratic Party) she should resign and concentrate on achieving a full recovery. In a YouTube video, Giffords said:

"Arizona is my home, always will be. A lot has happened over the past year. We cannot change that. But I know on the issues we fought for we can change things for the better. Jobs, border security, veterans. We can do so much more by working together."


"Thank you for your prayers and for giving me time to recover. I have more work to do on my recovery, so to do what is best for Arizona I will step down this week. I'm getting better. Every day, my spirit is high. I will return and we will work together for Arizona and this great country. Thank you very much."

I am sorry to see Rep. Giffords leave Congress, and I hope she recovers completely and returns to public service as soon as possible. She was not as progressive as I like, but she was not a hard core "blue dog" who voted Republican most of the time either. Giffords was a moderate who liked to search for consensus and a workable bipartisan compromise (much like the president). While I did not always agree with her politically, I do admire the courage she has displayed in the face of extreme adversity.

There will probably now have to be a special election, and the winner of that will have to face another election next November. If you would like to follow what is happening in regards to that House district seat, I suggest you check out the Arizona blog called Random Musings. That blog does an excellent job of covering Arizona politics.