She is a book lover and motorcycle rider; pro-choice and pro-gun; a former registered Republican-turned-Blue Dog Democrat.
Those are among the features that help make Gabrielle Giffords a one-of-a-kind congresswoman.
Born in Tucson, Giffords, 40, is a third-generation Southern Arizonan whose grandfather owned a tire business — she worked there during the summers.
The slim beauty earned a bachelor’s degree in Latin American history and sociology from Scripps College, and a master’s in regional planning from Cornell University. She was a Fulbright scholar in Mexico.
In 1996, the then 26-year-old returned home to take over her father’s tire business, and was its CEO for the next four years.
But politics called, and she was elected as a Democrat to the Arizona House in 2000. She entered the state Senate in 2002, becoming its youngest female member ever.
In 2006, after two terms, Giffords was elected to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. She was re-elected two years later, and last November squeaked by in a hot race against Tea Party candidate and Iraq veteran Jesse Kelly.
Kelly hosted a controversial fundraiser where he urged his supporters to remove Gifford from Congress by watching him fire a fully loaded M-16 rifle.
But his campaign spokesman told the Associated Press that there’s no “connection” between the campaign event and yesterday’s carnage.
Giffords was criticized for supporting President Obama’s health-care law last year. And in March, her Arizona office was vandalized in the wake of the bill’s passage.
The congresswoman started this term as one of only 18 Democrats to vote against Rep. Nancy Pelosi for minority leader of the House.
Giffords is the only member of Congress who is married to an active-duty serviceman.
Her husband, Mark Kelly, a New Jersey native who has two children from a previous marriage, is a NASA astronaut, Navy captain and Desert Storm veteran.
Giffords, Arizona’s first Jewish congresswoman, is also a gun and truck owner and chairs the Congressional Motorcycle Caucus.