Wayne State University School of Medicine alum and Arizona House State Rep. Matt Heinz, M.D. of Tucson (Class of 2003) announced Tuesday he will run to fill the 8th Congressional District’s open seat vacated by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Dr. Heinz is the first Democrat to announce such intentions.

Giffords said Jan. 22 she would resign, stepping down to focus on her recovery from a gunshot to the head in a January 2011 assassination attempt in Tucson.

Dr. Heinz, one of the country’s few openly gay politicians, said he plans to run in both the special election and the November regular election. The special election primary is set for April 17, and the special election date is June 12.

He was born and raised in Midland, Mich., and moved to Tucson in 2003 to join the University of Arizona's Internal Medicine residency program. He practices at Tucson Medical Center as a hospital physician, and has served four years over two terms in the Arizona legislature.

According to the Arizona legislature website, Dr. Heinz attended public elementary and secondary schools in Midland, graduating from H.H. Dow High School, and his undergraduate degree at Albion College, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. In his time at WSU, Dr. Heinz was granted a fellowship in Vascular Surgery at Harvard Medical School and spent the summer of 2000 conducting stem cell research.

The School of Medicine has a handful of alumni serving in public office, include Joe Schwarz, M.D., (Class of 1964), who served in the U.S. House Representatives for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District from January 2005 to January 2007; current State Sen. Roger Kahn, M.D., (R-Saginaw Township) (Class of 1974), who recently received the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award and delivered the school’s Class of 2015 welcome address; and U.S. Rep. Dan Benishek, M.D. (MI-01) (Class of 1978), who was sworn into Congress on Jan. 5, 2011.