State Representative Matt Heinz announced Tuesday that he's running for the Congressional seat previously held by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Giffords, as you probably know, resigned from the seat last week so she can focus on her recovery after getting shot in the head during last year's shooting rampage in Tucson.
Heinz is in his second term in the Arizona Legislature. He's a doctor, he's openly gay, and seems like a pretty standup guy (when he was first elected, we had a chance to speak with him at length while we were working for another publication).
On the other hand, Heinz has only served two terms as a state legislator, and the only pieces of legislation he's sponsored that stick out in our memory are a bill that allows people in Arizona to buy booze at 6 a.m. on Sundays (not that we find anything wrong with that), and a bill that would allow members of the military to cancel memberships at health spas if they're deployed out of state.
Oh...we almost forgot -- he's also behind a 2009 resolution stating that the Arizona Legislature supports the people of Iran's right to "express their opinions and have access to news" regarding that country's presidential elections.
In other words, Matt Heinz thinks Iranians should have the freedom of speech -- take that, Ahmadinejad!
Be that as it may, we want to know what you think: is Heinz ready for Congress?
Cast your vote below.
