TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — State Rep. Randy Friese of Tucson announced Thursday he’s running for Congress, joining a fellow Democratic legislator in what could become a crowded race to replace retiring Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick.
Friese is a trauma surgeon who has served in the Arizona House since 2015. State Sen. Kirsten Engel, also from Tucson, announced her candidacy Friday.
Friese’s candidacy announcement cited his background as a U.S. Navy Medical Corps veteran and a retired University of Arizona College of Medicine professor and his treatment of then-U.S. Rep. Gabriel Giffords after she was critically wounded in the Jan. 8, 2011 mass shooting in Tucson.
