Rep. Gallego Announces Bid for Cinema’s Senate Seat from Arizona | NASCAR Racing News
PHOENIX (AP) – Democratic Rep. Robin GallegoHe announced Monday that he will challenge independent US Senator Kirsten Sinema in 2024, becoming the first candidate to run and set up a potential three-way contest.
Gallego said he would fight for ordinary people who are struggling to make ends meet and losing faith in politicians. He said he and Sinema were of “humble to poor means” but had taken different paths in Congress.
“I’m better at this job than Kirsten Sinema because I haven’t forgotten where I came from,” Gallego told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. “I think she clearly forgot where she came from. Instead of meeting people who need help, she meets them Really strong people. “
Get more from the Citrus County Chronicle
Gallego, a 43-year-old veteran who was first elected to Congress in 2014, has made no secret of his interest in challenging Sinema, a longtime rival in Arizona politics who has been A barrier and an irritant to Democrats During the presidency of Joe Biden. she Leave the Democratic Party in December, Register as a freelancer and saying it “didn’t fit well into the traditional party system”. She has not said whether she plans to run for a second term.
Although no Republicans entered the race, potential contenders include former gubernatorial nominee Carrie Lake, former US Senate candidate Blake Masters, and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb — all closely aligned with former President Donald Trump. Karen Taylor Robson, the housing developer who lost to Lake in the primary last year, and former Gov. Doug Ducey are also possible contenders.
A three-way race, coupled with the risk that Sinema and the eventual Democratic nominee will split the vote, would complicate the party’s already uphill battle to keep her. Take control of the Senate in 2024. Democrats will have to defend 23 seats, including the Cinema seat and two others held by independents, compared to just 10 for Republicans.
“I assume they’ll be with us because we’ll be running the winning campaign and because at the end of the day, if you look at where Arizonans are going to be, they’ll be with us and not with her,” Gallego told the Associated Press.
Gallego, a snappy social media presence Quick to eliminate competitors From both parties, he floated the idea of the Sinema Challenge to raise money last year, and weeks ago publicly assembled a team of advisers, recruiting Democratic veterans with experience running tough Senate races in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
He announced his campaign with an online video that showed him speaking to veterans at an American Legion outpost in Guadalupe, a Latino and Native community outside of Phoenix.
Gallego is the son of immigrants from Mexico and Colombia, and was raised in Chicago by a single mother, after his father was jailed for drug use. He joined the US Marine Reserves while on an involuntary break from Harvard University. Books in 2021 book, “Let’s get lucky,” that he was asked to leave Harvard during his sophomore year, when he participated too much, his grades slipped and he broke unspecified rules. He was later allowed to return.
He fought in Iraq in 2005 in a unit that took heavy casualties, and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after his return. He moved to Arizona to join his Harvard girlfriend, who became active in Democratic politics in the state. The couple married in 2010 and divorced in 2017, a month before the birth of their son. His ex-wife, Kate Gallego, is now the mayor of Phoenix.
Gallego was elected in 2010 to the state legislature, with Sinema also serving one of his two terms. In 2014, he won a bitter congressional primary, deposing a dynastic figure in the Phoenix Latino community. It represents an overwhelmingly Democratic district that includes the Black and Latino neighborhoods of South and West Phoenix.
In Congress, he focused on veterans and military issues.
Sinema modeled its political approach on the maverick style of the late Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who alienated his party’s grassroots by crossing the aisle to work with Democrats on occasion. I became A fierce supporter of bipartisan compromise In an age when extreme partisanship made it more difficult.
It has been at the center of many of the biggest congressional deals of a Biden presidency, from a major bipartisan infrastructure package to a landmark bill to legally protect same-sex marriage. But she has also become estranged from many Democrats, who blame her for voting against progressive priorities like raising the minimum wage and easing others, such as Biden’s big social spending initiatives.
Support for maintenance DisabledA Senate ruling that requires 60 out of 100 votes to pass most legislation made her a pariah on the left.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.