Gabby Giffords, a Democrat, represented Arizona's 8th Congressional District from 2007 to 2012. For years, one of my favorite things about serving in Congress was getting the opportunity to interact with my constituents. I loved chatting with them about our beloved state of Arizona and the policies I was fighting for. Even when we disagreed, we did so respectfully. We found common ground without vilifying each other. This, I thought, was what representative democracy should look like. That's why one of my first priorities after being elected for a third term was to host a "Congress on Your Corner" event outside a grocery store in the Tucson area. A long line of people waited there to meet me that day in January 2011. Six of them would never return home; 13 of us had our lives forever changed by a bullet from a gun. When I heard that Conservative member of Parliament David Amess was stabbed to death in Britain this month while meeting with constituents, I was horrified and heartbroken. Amess was doing exactly what I was doing on that day near Tucson — listening, connecting. But he paid for his public service with his life. After I was shot 10 years ago, that act of hateful violence was decried as a low point in civil discourse. Unfortunately, polarization and extremism have only gotten worse over the past decade. Harassment and threats against government officials are no longer the exception but more the norm. As I write this, five men are awaiting trial for plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) last fall. These men, reportedly upset by actions Whitmer had taken to curb the coronavirus, are accused of going so far as to scout the governor's second home. In her victim impact statement, the governor wrote, "Threats continue. I have looked out my windows and seen large groups of heavily armed people within 30 yards of my home. I have seen myself hung in effigy. Days ago at a demonstration, there was a sign that called for 'burning the witch.' For me, things will never be the same." This is not what representative democracy should look like. There should not be a "before" and "after" for elected officials, like there is for Whitmer and like there is for me. Putting your name on the ballot should not mean a comment you make or a vote you take may lead someone to threaten your life — or, even worse, act on that threat.