Ex-Giffords challenger to run for her seat

[ellisonz]

By Josh Lederman - 01/24/12 04:35 PM ET

The Republican who almost unseated Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) in 2010 will run again for the seat left open by her impending resignation.

Jesse Kelly, a former Marine sergeant and businessman, filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday. A Republican source in Arizona confirmed that Kelly is planning to run for the seat.

Kelly spokesman Jon Ellinwood declined to comment on whether he had made a decision, but said Kelly would be making an announcement shortly. Kelly had left his campaign committee open since losing to Giffords in 2010.

Kelly won the GOP nomination in 2010 with the support of the Tea Party movement, painting Giffords as too liberal for the district and criticizing her opposition to Arizona's tough immigration law and her support for President Obama's healthcare legislation. Giffords defeated him in the general election by about 4,000 votes — or less than 2 percentage points.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/206217-former-giffords-challenger-files-to-run-for-her-open-seat

[Justice wanted]

1. Please correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it his campaign that followed Palin's lead and used the

gun sites to "Target" Giffords district. The district he was running for?

[ellisonz]

2. Giffords Shooting Spotlights Palin Crosshairs Map, Kelly's Planned Gun Event

Violent Political Metaphors Under Scrutiny
Carol Bengle Gilbert, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Jan 8, 2011

While Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D.-Ariz.) lies in a hospital recovering from gunshot wounds to her head, Sarah Palin's website apparently has been scrubbed of a troubling map with crosshairs over Gifford's 8th Congressional District, among others. Multiple websites, including Firedoglake and the Maddow blog, captured screenshots before the apparent scrubbing. While the map with Giffords district and others in the crosshairs may have been intended as a metaphor, its use is under media scrutiny in light of Giffords shooting.

Giffords herself had challenged the crosshairs imagery in March, according to a posting left Saturday by reader Andrea Kolich on Sarah Palin's Facebook page. According to the Kolich posting, Giffords said on Mar. 25: "Sarah Palin has the crosshairs of a gun sight over our district and when people do that, they've gotta realize there are consequences to that action."

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And it wasn't only Palin who demonstrated such callousness in analogizing political success with death to opponents. Giffords' opponent in the 2010 Arizona 8th Dist. Congressional Race Jesse Kelly scheduled then cancelled a shooting event during his campaign. Advertising for the $50 per person event read:

"Get on Target for Victory in November. Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office. Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly."

http://voices.yahoo.com/giffords-shooting-spotlights-palin-crosshairs-map-7566008.html