WASHINGTON — The political action committee started by former Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords endorsed Republican Sens. Pat Toomey and Mark Kirk in their re-election efforts. Americans for Responsible Solutions, which supports candidates who support gun control, endorsed Toomey, who is running for re-election in Pennsylvania, over Democrat Katie McGinty. Toomey worked with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on legislation improving background checks.
The endorsement comes as Toomey also received support from former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s group Independence USA.
Kirk is in a tough re-election fight against Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth in Illinois. Giffords’ op-ed praised both senators for supporting the background check legislation.
She also wrote how difficult some of the endorsements were.
“With so many more candidates running on a gun violence prevention platform, in some places the changing politics of gun safety has made our endorsement decision difficult,” she wrote.
Giffords became an advocate for gun control after she was shot in 2011, which led to her resignation from Congress. In her op-ed for CNN with her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, Giffords also praised McGinty and Duckworth.
