Mark Kelly, a potential candidate for Harris’ VP, has a Jewish wife with a remarkable story: Gabby Giffords

WASHINGTON — Gabrielle Giffords is known for breaking down barriers. But the former congresswoman may soon continue a tradition: being the Jewish wife of a vice president.

That’s because Giffords, who is openly Jewish, is married to Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, a leading contender to become Kamala Harris’ running mate. If Kelly gets the nomination and wins, Giffords would succeed Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, as the second consecutive Jewish spouse in the vice presidential residence. Kelly’s selection would also be the first major party ticket in history where both candidates are married to Jews.

Another leading VP candidate, according to reports, is Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who would become the first Jewish vice president if the ticket wins. Shapiro’s wife, Lori, is also Jewish.

Be that as it may, it seems increasingly likely that if Harris wins in November, the mezuzahs Emhoff had installed at the vice president’s residence could remain.

Giffords and Kelly, a retired astronaut, were among the first to endorse Harris after Biden gave his vice president his blessing. For more than a decade, Giffords has been best known for surviving an assassination attempt while meeting with voters in 2011. Afterward, she and Kelly founded a gun control advocacy group that bears her name.

Before the attack, Giffords was a youthful, gregarious presence in Congress who stood out for her relatively conservative credentials — a must for a Democrat from the swing state of Arizona.

She was also known for openly expressing her Jewish identity.

Giffords, the daughter of a Jewish father and a Christian Scientist mother attributed her unique embrace of Judaism about a trip she made to Israel in 2002.

“It just confirmed the fact that I wanted to spend more time on my own personal, spiritual growth. I felt very committed to Judaism,” Giffords told The Arizona Star in 2007 about the trip, which was organized by the American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange, an initiative that trains promising aspiring politicians. (Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is also a former student.)

“Religion means different things to different people,” Giffords said then. “It gives me something to hold on to, a better understanding of where I come from.”

It was clear from the essay she wrote for Project Interchange that she fell completely in love with the country and its contrasts. “It is a country where Orthodox Jews, dressed in clothes that were fashionable 300 years ago, pose for digital photographs taken by tourists wearing the latest fashions,” she wrote.

Speaking to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency shortly after her election in 2006, during congressional orientation, she said the women on her father’s side were an example she wanted to emulate.

“In my family, if you want something done, you go to the Jewish female relatives,” she said then“Jewish women generally know how to get things done.”

She didn’t stop at words: prior to the 2006 congressional elections, she reached out to Jewish Democratic congresswomen to raise money for her, including Shelley Berkley of Nevada and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida.

In Congress, Giffords almost immediately established himself as a pro-Israel hawk, sponsoring legislation to close loopholes that allowed Iran to buy fighter jet parts.

Her relationship with Wasserman Schultz, which dated back to when they both served in their respective state legislatures, developed into the deepest of friendships. Wasserman Schultz and another member of the 2006 freshman class of Congress, current New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, flew to Giffords’ bedside after the 2011 shooting (which, incidentally, was linked in Israel helped save her lifeThe first people Giffords saw when she opened her eyes in the hospital were Kelly, whom she married in 2007, Wasserman Schultz and Gillibrand.

Aquarius Schultz told CNN after the shooting that her plea for Giffords to get better so they could hang out together at Wasserman Schultz’s summer house in New Hampshire was one of the things that prompted Giffords to open her eyes.

“The only way I could describe the feeling that we had, that I had, was, other than the birth of my children, this was the most incredible feeling, to literally watch your – one of your best friends struggle to get back to you, to get back to her family, to get back to her friends,” Wasserman Schultz told reporters.

Giffords was initially determined to continue her service as a congresswoman, returning in August, just months after she was shot. vote on a debt ceiling billand the House resonated with cheers. But it was too much, and a year after she was shot, she announced – using the hesitant speech she had relearned after her injury — that she would resign.

“I don’t remember much of that horrible day, but I do remember how much trust you placed in me to be your voice,” she said. “I have more work to do in my recovery, but in order to do what’s best for Arizona, I will be stepping down this week.”

The trauma lingers. Giffords was one of the first to speak out after the attempted assassination earlier this month of Donald Trump, the former Republican president who is running against Harris.

“Political violence is scary. I know,” Giffords said. “I hold former President Trump and all those affected by today’s indefensible act of violence in my heart. Political violence is un-American and is never acceptable — ever.”

She remained determined to make an impact after leaving office, founding the advocacy group that became Giffords a year after her resignation in 2013. She appeared at the christening of a Navy ship named after her in 2015, campaigned for her husband in 2020 and spoke at the virtual Democratic convention that same year.

In 2021 she celebrated her bat mitzvah after 20 years of study at Congregation Chaverim of Tucson, with Kelly in attendance. Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, who married the couple under a chuppah, or Jewish wedding canopy, officiated.

“My Torah portion comes from Genesis, from the story of Joseph,” Giffords told the Forward. “If you know Vayeshev, you know it starts with ‘And he lived.’ Any story that starts with ‘and he lived’ is good for me. I lived. Everything after that is a gift.”