Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, is expected to endorse her former congressional staffer Ron Barber for an upcoming special election to fill the remainder of her term, Tucson Weekly reports.
Ms. Giffords resigned from her seat in the House in late January to focus on recovering from the gun shot wound to her head that she suffered during a shooting incident in Arizona last year. Mr. Barber was also wounded during that incident, the 66 year old has been serving as Ms. Giffords’ district director since 2006.
There have not been many rumors of who Mr. Barber would be facing in the special election, which is being held by Arizona Republican Governor Jan Brewer to replace Ms. Giffords.
“He’s the ideal person for this job. He knows her policies, he’s lived almost his whole life here in Southern Arizona,” said Pima County Democratic Chairman Jeff Rogers, in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’m very optimistic. I spoke with him last week, he hadn’t made the decision yet. I tried to reach him today, but I heard through the grapevine that he’s pretty serious about it so we’re very optimistic that he’ll do it.”
The Arizona Democrat’s congressional district has been redrawn during her recovery period, but the remainder of her term would be served representing her current congressional district in Arizona. The new congressional district will become effective in 2013.
The Arizona Democratic and Republican parties are planning to start their respective primary elections to select a nominee for the special election in April.
Governor Brewer has scheduled the special election to replace Ms. Giffords for June 12th.
The endorsement from Ms. Giffords would likely give Mr. Barber an advantage in the special election, if he is able to secure the Democratic nomination in April.
Mr. Barber has not commented on whether or not he will run, however Tucson Weekly reports that he may announce his candidacy this week.
