First Female Air Force Combat Pilot Runs For Gabby Giffords’ Congressional Seat As A Republican (Video)
The first woman in U.S. history to fly fighter combat for the Air Force, and first to command a fighter squadron in combat, is entering the special election to fill U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ vacated congressional seat.
Martha McSally confirmed her intentions to join the Republican primary on Wednesday. She made her decision after analyzing three key factors: was it feasible, was she electable and did she feel called to run.
McSally said said she’s sure she is the right person for the job “I believe my leadership and my demonstrated moral courage and experience is what this community and this nation needs right now.”
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She is the fifth Republican to declare for the GOP primary, following state Sen. Frank Antenori; sports broadcaster and businessman Dave Sitton; Jesse Kelly, who narrowly lost to Giffords in 2010; and John Lervold of Sierra Vista.
Giffords’ resignation set up the upcoming special election, with a primary on April 17, and the special general election on June 12. Giffords stepped down to focus on her recovery from being shot in the head in an assassination attempt on Jan. 8, 2011.
In the Democratic primary, state Rep. Matt Heinz of Tucson is the only candidate to officially announce, but Giffords’ longtime district director, Ron Barber, is likely to make his candidacy official sometime this week.
McSally said she is also committed to run in the regular election in what will be Congressional District 2. Many of the voters in what is now CD8 will see two rounds of primary and general elections this year.
The special election will be in the existing CD8, in which Republicans have an advantage in registered voters. In the regular election in the new district of CD2, the gap between Democrats and Republicans is minimal.
McSally said what sets her apart from the other candidates in the Republican primary are three traits: her experience at the national and international level; her demonstrated leadership; and her moral courage under fire.
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“I’ve got a record of standing up for constitutional rights, of doing the right thing regardless of the personal cost,” McSally said.
In 2001, McSally sued the Pentagon over its requirement that military women serving in Saudi Arabia wear abayas, or traditional black Muslim cloaks, off base. She said the practice was offensive to her as a Christian.
After the Supreme Court agreed, McSally said the military retaliated against her by giving her poor performance reviews and deeming her unfit for leadership positions. She vowed to continue a legal battle against the Air Force until her career prospects were restored.
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Then in 2004, she was named commander of Davis Monthan Air Force Base’s 354th Fighter Squadron, a position she held until 2006. She dropped her legal suit at the time.
After that, she was sent to the Air War College in Alabama where she finished first in a class of 225 people being groomed as senior leaders. She spent her final three years in the Air Force in Stuttgart, Germany.
Since retiring from the Air Force in 2010, she’s been a professor of National Security Studies at the George C. Marshall Center in Germany where she taught government officials from around the world about national and international security issues.
Before all that, in 1994, McSally was the Air Force’s first female to fly in combat. Her experience in being in the spotlight and dealing with public scrutiny have helped prepare her for this campaign.
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McSally has been a registered Republican since June 2006, according to records from the Pima County Recorder’s Office. When asked if she considers herself moderate or conservative, she said, “I consider myself a leader.”
Originally from Rhode Island, McSally is a graduate of the Air Force Academy and has master’s in public policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
In 1995, she was chosen as one of seven active-duty Air Force officers selected for the Legislative Fellowship Program, working on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. as a national security advisor to Sen. Jon Kyl.
She came to Tucson in 1994, and has lived here for about 10 years, between assignments elsewhere.
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