GIFFORDS' RESIGNATION SETS OFF SCRAMBLE

posted by Michael Chihak

The list is short at the moment, but a good number of politicians and would-be politicians in Southern Arizona are doing a check-in today to determine if they can win a seat in Congress.

Sunday's announcement by Gabrielle Giffords that she will resign this week has set off the political scramble.

Giffords' announcement overall wasn't a surprise. There had been hints about it from her and her husband, Mark Kelly, for a while. But the timing caught people off guard.

Why now? state Sen. Frank Antenori asked rhetorically. The Republican from Vail already has an exploratory committee at work on a fall candidacy for Congress, and now he is looking at the special election, too. He says he won't make a decision until Giffords' official resignation, expected in two or three days.

One other Republican was doing exploratory work, Dave Sitton, a radio sports announcer from Tucson.

No Democrats had gotten that far, deferring to Giffords. But now several are talking, or being talked about.

State Rep. Steve Farley of Tucson is says he would run if Giffords asked him to or suggested it. Other names mentioned have included state Sen. Paula Aboud, state Rep. Matt Heinz, lawyer and former Giffords campaign chairman Michael McNulty and his wife and lawyer Linda McNulty.

Stay tuned. The list of names is certain to grow as the week wears on.