Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer picked the dates in April and June for special elections to replace outgoing Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
The primary election will take place on April 17, while the general election will take place on June 12, reads a proclamation from Brewer’s office.
Giffords resigned last week and submitted her letter to House Speaker John Boehner on the floor last Wednesday, after saying she needed more time to focus on recuperating from a gunshot wound to the head that she suffered last January. Six people were killed in the attack, while another 12 were wounded.
Giffords, a three-term Democrat, represented District 8, which comprises parts of Tucson, all of Cochise County, and a portion of Santa Cruz County. It also lies near a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border.
According to the Arizona Republic newspaper, at least one Republican, state Sen. Frank Antenori, has announced he will run for Giffords’s seat. Giffords’s Republican opponent during the 2010 election, Jesse Kelly, said he also wants to run.
