Gabrielle Giffords: amid somber tributes, questions about reelection grow

For the first time since being seriously wounded a year ago, US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) will appear at a large-scale public event in her Arizona hometown Sunday to commemorate the anniversary of the Jan. 8, 2011, mass shootings.

Her visit is about paying tribute to the 18 other shooting victims – six of whom died – and helping to rebuild a Tucson community shaken to its core. She and her husband, Mark Kelly, will attend a candlelight vigil at the University of Arizona Sunday evening to honor the victims. Mr. Kelly is expected to speak.

Though the event has no political overtones, the growing question on the minds of many here is whether Congresswoman Giffords is ready, and willing, to return to Washington.

Giffords, who was shot in the head at a meet-and-greet outside a Safeway supermarket in northwest Tucson, has been undergoing therapy in Houston. In November, her television appearance with ABC’s Diane Sawyer showed that Giffords had made great strides in her recovery but still struggled to speak and walk.

Until then, her constituents had been privy to virtually no information on her progress and speculation about her future has intensified with time. A three-term member of Congress, Giffords faces a May deadline to decide whether to run for reelection. 

The memorial event "does have implications for whether or not she’s going to run again,” said Bruce Merrill, a political analyst and professor emeritus at Arizona State University. “This is part of the process, as much as she’s beloved and respected there, people still need to be represented and they’re going to be looking in terms of how she appears in this setting.”

With the deadline to file candidacy papers approaching, potential candidates are starting to get nervous, says Bruce Ash, a Republican National Committee member from Arizona. “This is about the time that, if it were an open seat, people would start coming forward.”

But he says, on Jan. 8 at least, his focus will not be on politics. “I’m sure there will be lots of speculation on whether she’s running or not,” says Mr. Ash. “But the only thing that’s important is Gabrielle Giffords returning to full health.”

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