Mark Kelly says he won't run for political office
July 1st, 2011
09:37 PM ET
9 years ago

Mark Kelly says he won't run for political office

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Washington (CNN)- Astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, put rumors to rest Friday that he may run for political office.

“Gabby is the politician in the family. I’m the space guy and I see no reason to change that,” Kelly said during a National Press Club event on NASA activities.

Giffords was shot in the head in January during a mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona.

Kelly, who recently announced his retirement to spend more time with his recovering wife, dismissed speculation that he may run for Arizona's open seat or Giffords' House seat if she chooses not to seek re-election.

It remains unclear whether Giffords, who is still healing, will return to Congress.

“I love her very much, but I have to say I also love the space shuttle very much," Kelly said.

–CNN Senior Producer Sally Holland contributed to this report


Filed under: Gabrielle Giffords • Mark Kelly
soundoff (4 Responses)
  1. Sgt Schultz

    That's a pity but considering how traumatic what happened to his wife...can't blame him for not wanting to get into politics.
    Especially with all the NUTS roaming around in Arizona.

    July 1, 2011 10:16 pm at 10:16 pm |
  2. ThinkAgain

    Godspeed to both of you, and thank you again for your service to your country!

    July 2, 2011 01:27 am at 1:27 am |
  3. Lanet Brown

    It makes sense for him to retire since the government is mothballing the space shuttles and not replacing it with anything similar. I just hope that we don't have a situation like in the movie Armageddon. With no shuttles to fly bombs to space we'd be screwed.

    July 2, 2011 05:05 am at 5:05 am |
  4. frank from Indiana

    Having worked on STS-2 through STS-7, I know how much he loves the Shuttle.

    July 2, 2011 05:57 am at 5:57 am |
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