Gabby Giffords is a Democratic Persuader, and represented Arizona’s 8th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. Her term lasted from January 3, 2007 to January 25, 2012. She holds the record for the third woman in Arizona history to be elected to the United States Congress.
Prior to her time as a congresswoman, Gabby was the CEO of her grandfather’s automotive chain and a regional economic development associate for Price Waterhouse, a multinational professional services network, in New York City. Gabby Giffords also served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2001-2003 and the Arizona Senate from 2003-2005. National issues close to the former congresswoman’s heart include health care reform health, illegal immigration and, very personally, gun control. Her passion for the latter stems from her own experience surviving an assassination attempt that ultimately forced her to resign from her congressional seat in 2012.
Who is Gabby Giffords? Here’s everything you need to know
Gabrielle Dee Giffords was born on June 8, 1970 and raised in Tucson, Arizona. She was born to a Christian mother, Gloria Kay Gifford and a Jewish father, Spencer J. Giffords. The former Girl Scout attended University High School in Tucson and moved to California to pursue sociology at Scripps College. In 1993, she obtained a BA in Sociology and Latin American History. She then spent twelve months in Chihuahua, Mexico as a Fulbright scholar. In 1996, she earned a master’s degree in regional planning with a focus on US-Mexico relations at Cornell University.
After working at Price Waterhouse and President and CEO of her grandfather’s company, which peaked in 2000, she entered politics full-time. From 2001 to 2005, she first served as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives and a member of the Arizona State Senate.
After launching her congressional campaign, Gabby Giffords finally won the race on November 7, 2006, winning 54% of the vote. She was re-elected in 2008 with 56.2% of the vote despite the strong Republican presence in the Chamber. During her tenure, Ms. Giffords notably voted in favor of an increase in federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and the minimum wage. She also introduced a bill to sabotage the sale of F-14 aircraft parts on the open market during the 2007 session of Congress.
Assassination attempt on Gabby Giffords. Who shot him?
The year 2011 started on a sour note for the parliamentarian. Holding her the first Congress at Your Corner event for the year near a Safeway grocery store in Arizona, she was the victim of a mass shooting. A man carrying a 9mm pistol approached the crowd and began firing. It killed 6 people and injured 19 others. A bullet caught Gabby Giffords in the head. She was quickly transported to Tucson University Medical Center in critical condition where doctors had to perform emergency surgery on her.
Fortunately, the bullet had passed through his head without making contact with the midline of his brain. Surgeons had to remove a small amount of necrotic tissue as well as some of his skull to prevent any further pressure on the brain. Giffords might have died at the scene were it not for her intern, Daniel Hernandez Jr., who immediately began providing rescue from the moment she was injured. He is credited with saving her life.
The congresswoman was placed in a restraint coma to allow her brain some rest. She recovered remarkably quickly when she started physical therapy in mid-January. She underwent cranioplasty in May 2011 and was discharged home for further care on June 15, 2011.
The shooter was apprehended, thanks to somebystanders, until he was arrested and taken away by the police. He has been identified as Jared Lee Loughner. The United States government considered this tragedy a federal crime, as it happened at a government event and federal employees were also attacked. He was eventually charged with over 50 counts of escaping capital punishment, he pleaded guilty to 19 of them. He was sentenced to life in prison and 140 years in federal prison in November 2012.
On January 24, 2012, Gabby Giffords attended President Obama’s State of the Union Address and formally tendered her resignation from Congress the following day. That day, the last bill she sponsored and introduced was voted on and passed unanimously.
Who is Gabby Giffords husband?
Gabby’s husband is Mark E. Kelly, a US Navy captain and NASA astronaut. Mark piloted the Space Shuttles for missions STS-108 and STS-121. He also commanded other space missions.
On November 15, 2011, the couple co-wrote a memoir titled Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope with author Jeffrey Zaslow. Mark and Gabby got married on November 10, 2007. Mark entered the relationship with two daughters, Claudia and Claire. They were never very close to their stepmother Gabby. However, everything changed drastically for the better after filming and the girls finally bonded with her.