Arizona Democrat Senate nominee Ruben Gallego has built his political career around his support for “progressive” values and far-left policy positions. Now that he’s running statewide, however, he has re-invented himself as a centrist moderate – a ploy that some early polls show could work unless Republicans can expose voters to his real views and record.
Gallego’s entry into politics came in 2010 when he won election to the Arizona House of Representatives. He immediately began cultivating a reputation as a left-wing radical, in particular when it came to border security. Gallego was a leading proponent of the movement to repeal Arizona SB 1070, a law which created broad new authorities for local law enforcement to enforce immigration laws. He also formed the group Citizens for Professional Law Enforcement to recall Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, known as “America’s Toughest Sheriff” for his staunch opposition to illegal immigration.
But Gallego’s true far-left coming-out party came in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he has served since 2015. His district, comprised of downtown Phoenix, is rated as D+24 by Cook PVI, making it one of the most solidly Democrat districts in the country.
Picking up where he left off in the Copper State, Gallego’s outspoken opposition to border security continued in Washington. During the Trump administration he variously called building a border wall “stupid” and “useless.” In 2017 he co-sponsored the “Safeguarding Sanctuary Cities Act,” and in 2019 he said sending troops to secure the border was a “misuse of funds and manpower.” Throughout the past four years, he has repeatedly dismissed the severity of the border crisis.
Unsurprisingly given his record in the Arizona statehouse, Gallego also quickly joined the Congressional Progressive Congress, subsequently throwing his support behind all of that group’s most radical positions. He has voted in favor of a bill granting statehood to Washington D.C., co-sponsored a bill to establish Medicare-for-all, and backed all of Democrats’ big-spending bills in 2021 and 2022 that sent inflation skyrocketing and funneled trillions of dollars to left-wing causes.
Gallego has also notably staked out his opposition to the Senate filibuster. Shortly after announcing his Senate bid last year, Gallego blasted incumbent Democrat-turned-Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema – whose seat he now hopes to fill – for opposing a Democrat effort to abolish the rule which requires a 60-vote threshold for most legislation.
Gallego specifically noted that Sinema’s refusal to abolish the filibuster killed Democrat efforts to establish a nationwide right to abortion-on-demand and pass H.R. 1, a bill which would have, among other dangerous provisions, federalized elections, outlawed Voter ID, mandated universal mail-in voting and ballot harvesting, and politicized the Federal Elections Commission. Voters can accordingly assume that a Senator Gallego would be a chief proponent of abolishing the filibuster to pave the way for similarly radical legislation.
During his 2018 primary contest, Gallego campaigned as a “real progressive,” touting his voting record and liberal bona fides.
In addition to his extremist policy positions, Gallego has also frequently made headlines for shockingly vulgar and unhinged public statements toward Republicans and conservatives – a group from which he will need at least some support in order to win this November.
In 2022, for instance, following the tragic mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Gallego tweeted at Texas Senator Ted Cruz, “F*** you @tedcruz you care about a fetus but you will let our children get slaughtered. Just get your ass to Cancun. You are useless.” Gallego followed that tweet a few minutes later with another: “Just to be clear f*** you @tedcruz you f*** baby killer.”
As the Associated Press noted at the time, Gallego “has directed variations of the f*** you phrase at Russian President Vladimir Putin, Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward and former Fox News host Geraldo Rivera.” Gallego’s emotional outbursts and apparent lack of composure at times could be a major cause for concern for Arizona voters given the Senate’s role in negotiating with foreign leaders and considering nominees for judgeships and top government posts.
Now, however, Gallego is attempting to pull off one of the most audacious 180s in modern political history, rebranding himself from a fiery progressive into a level-headed moderate – an about-face so preposterous that even The Washington Post called it out earlier this year.
“The liberal congressman has raced to the political middle in a key battleground where moderates have a huge influence,” the paper reported. “Unlike Sinema and Sen. Mark Kelly, who won recent elections by running as centrist alternatives to Republicans aligned with Donald Trump, Gallego has a more recent left-leaning past that has complicated his pitch.”
The word “progressive” has now been scrubbed from Gallego’s website and public profiles.” Once a leading proponent of mass amnesty and “demilitarizing” the border, Gallego is now calling for more resources for border patrol. The expletive-laden tirades against conservatives have now been replaced by a professed desire to work across the aisle and “build consensus.”
In light of Gallego’s actual voting record throughout more than decade in public office, his newfound moderation seems disingenuous at best. But he has nonetheless held a steady polling lead over Republican Kari Lake, who is currently trailing by just over six points in the latest RealClearPolitics average. Lake is still well within striking distance with just over two months to go until Election Day, but she urgently needs to close that gap.
Part of the reason for Gallego’s relatively strong numbers could be his campaign’s so far successful effort to emphasize his personal story in order to overshadow his policy positions. Raised in poverty in Chicago by a single mother, Gallego earned admission to Harvard before joining the Marines and deploying to Iraq in 2005.
This is indeed a compelling tale of overcoming adversity and service to the country. But Republicans must remind voters that the most important details of Gallego’s past are his votes and stated policy positions, as those provide the best indication of what kind of senator he would be.
Shane Harris is a writer and political consultant from Southwest Ohio. You can follow him on X @shaneharris513.
