Ruben Gallego facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rubén Gallego
Official portrait, 2025
United States Senator from Arizona
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2025 Serving with Mark Kelly
Preceded by	Kyrsten Sinema
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona
In office January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2025
Preceded by	Ed Pastor
Succeeded by	Yassamin Ansari
Constituency	7th district (2015–2023) 3rd district (2023–2025)
Member of the Arizona House of Representatives
In office January 10, 2011 – March 14, 2014 Serving with Catherine Miranda
Preceded by	Cloves Campbell Jr.
Succeeded by	Norma Muñoz
Constituency	16th district (2011–2013) 27th district (2013–2014)
Personal details
Born	Ruben Marinelarena (1979-11-20) November 20, 1979 (age 45) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Kate Widland ​ ​ (m. 2010; div. 2017)​ Sydney Barron ​ (m. 2021)​
Children	2
Education	Harvard University (BA)
Military service
Branch/service	United States Marine Corps Marine Corps Reserve
Years of service	2002–2013
Rank	Lance Corporal
Unit	3rd Battalion, 25th Marines
Battles/wars	Iraq War

Rubén Marinelarena Gallego (/ˈruːbən ɡaɪˈɛɡoʊ/ ROO-bən-_-ghy-EH-goh; born November 20, 1979) is an American politician serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Arizona. A member of the Democratic Party, Gallego served from 2015 to 2025 as the U.S. representative for Arizona's 3rd congressional district. He was also a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, where he was assistant minority leader from 2012 until he resigned to run for Congress. Gallego was first elected to Congress in 2014. His district included most of southern, western, and downtown Phoenix and part of Glendale.

Gallego served as the national chair of Eric Swalwell's 2020 presidential campaign. A progressive politician, Gallego was critical of Senator Kyrsten Sinema for her opposition to abolishing the filibuster and votes against certain Democratic legislation. After launching his campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2024, he stopped using the term "progressive" to define himself. Democratic Party members and liberal organizations encouraged him to run against Sinema, and in January 2023, he announced his candidacy for the 2024 United States Senate election in Arizona. As Sinema did not seek reelection, Gallego won the Democratic nomination unopposed. In the general election he defeated the Republican nominee, Kari Lake. He is the first Latino to be elected to represent Arizona in the United States Senate. After taking office on January 3, 2025, he became one of the first two Colombian-American U.S. senators, along with Bernie Moreno of Ohio.

Early life and education

Gallego was born in Chicago, and is a second-generation American, with a Colombian mother and a Mexican father.

Along with his three sisters, he was raised by a single mother. The family eventually moved to Evergreen Park, Illinois, and he graduated from Evergreen Park Community High School.

Gallego attended Harvard University, where he became a member of Sigma Chi and earned a Bachelor of Arts in international relations.

Early career

Gallego in 2013

Gallego served in the Marines from 2002 to 2006. After completing training in the School of Infantry (SOI), he was deployed to Iraq with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines. Gallego served as a lance corporal. The 3/25 lost 46 marines and one Navy corpsman between January 2005 and January 2006. Gallego's best friend died during combat operations in Iraq.

In 2007, Gallego led District 7 Phoenix City Council candidate Michael Nowakowski's successful campaign before serving as Nowakowski's chief of staff. In 2009, he stepped down as chief of staff to focus on his campaign for the Arizona State House in District 16, which he won in 2010.

In 2011, The Arizona Republic named Gallego a distinguished freshman lawmaker. His first successful bill granted in-state tuition status to veterans residing in Arizona. Gallego supported the repeal of Arizona SB 1070. In 2012, Gallego was elected assistant minority leader.

Gallego founded the group Citizens for Professional Law Enforcement to recall Maricopa County sheriff Joe Arpaio, citing Arpaio's immigration policies and his use of taxpayer money to investigate Barack Obama's citizenship. The attempt failed; Arpaio remained in office until losing reelection in 2016. Gallego worked for Strategies 360 as Director of Latino and New Media operations. He also worked for RIESTER, one of Arizona's largest public relations firms.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2014

Gallego speaking at a rally for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016

On February 27, 2014, Gallego announced his candidacy for Congress in Arizona's 7th congressional district. Although not required to give up his seat under Arizona's resign-to-run laws (since he was in the final year of his state House term), Gallego resigned from the Arizona House in March 2014. Mayday PAC, a super PAC seeking to reduce the role of money in politics, endorsed Gallego in 2014.

Gallego won a five-way Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic, majority-Latino district—with 48.9% of the vote. He won the general election with 74% of the vote. He has been reelected three times, never dropping below 70% of the vote. He is the second Colombian American elected to the U.S. House, after Scott Perry.

2016

Gallego defeated Republican challenger Eve Nunez in 2016.

2018

Gallego defeated Green Party challenger Gary Swing in 2018.

2020

Gallego defeated Republican challenger Joshua Barnett in 2020.

2022

In 2022, Gallego ran in the newly redrawn Arizona District 3 and defeated Republican challenger Jeff Zink. Considered a progressive politician, Gallego, who has been very critical of Senator Kyrsten Sinema, was encouraged by several progressive organizations to run against her in the 2024 election. He announced his candidacy on January 23, 2023.

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
  • Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries

Caucus memberships

• Blue Collar Caucus
• Congressional Arts Caucus
• Congressional Hispanic Caucus
• Congressional Equality Caucus
• Congressional Progressive Caucus (formerly)
• Rare Disease Caucus
• House Baltic Caucus
• Medicare for All Caucus
• Congressional Coalition on Adoption

U.S. Senate

Elections

2024

Gallego's Senate campaign logo

On January 22, 2023, Gallego announced his candidacy for the United States Senate in 2024. The seat was then held by Kyrsten Sinema, an independent who was first elected as a Democrat in 2018, and who angered some members of the party due to her opposition to filibuster reform and some Democratic legislation. After Gallego entered the race, and with Sinema not polling well, she chose not to run for reelection. Gallego had raised more money than Sinema in the first two quarters of 2023.

Gallego with Barack Obama

In 2022, Gallego bought a home near Capitol Hill using a special mortgage loan program for military veterans. He claimed the District of Columbia home as his primary residence although his campaign maintains that he resides in his Phoenix home. Gallego receives a homeowner rebate in Arizona that lowers the tax burdens for residents who primarily live in the state. Politico noted that Gallego "may have to explain why he declared he was primarily a resident of the nation's capital".

Gallego, who had previously embraced his progressive background as "a fierce liberal combatant", has sought to strike a moderate tone in his 2024 campaign in order to woo swing voters. He once called Donald Trump's border wall plans "stupid" and accused Trump of "scapegoating immigrants" but by 2024 was "delicately turning to the political center". The New York Times wrote, "Gallego has built a reputation as a blunt-spoken liberal who is politically in tune with young progressives and lacerates his opponents with profane social media posts." While Gallego seeks to move to the middle, Republicans in Arizona are highlighting his co-sponsorship of the Medicare for All Act, his support for ending the Senate filibuster, and his suggestion to "take a scalpel" to military spending. In 2018, Gallego rallied alongside Bernie Sanders, and in 2022 he called himself "a true progressive voice in Congress". By 2024, he no longer embraced the label "progressive". He let his membership in the Congressional Progressive Caucus lapse, which he claimed was a financial decision.

On November 9, 2024, Decision Desk HQ projected that Gallego had beaten Lake in the Senate election in Arizona. On November 12, the Associated Press also projected that he had defeated Lake. Gallego significantly outperformed Kamala Harris, winning by 2.4% while Harris lost the 2024 United States presidential election in Arizona by 5.5%.

Tenure

In 2025, Gallego was one of 12 Senate Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for the Laken Riley Act.

Committee assignments

Source:

• Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
• Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
• Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
• Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Political positions

Gallego during a Natural Resources Committee meeting in 2020

In November 2020, the House of Representatives passed Gallego's bill, the Proper and Reimbursed Care for Native Veterans Act, which requires the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense to reimburse healthcare provided for Native veterans, regardless of whether the healthcare was provided by, or referred by, the Indian Health Service or tribes.

In May 2021, the House passed Gallego's bill, the Native VetSuccess at Tribal Colleges and Universities Pilot Program Act, to provide more government funding for the Veteran Technology Education Course, increase veteran housing benefits, and allows the Department of Veterans Affairs to form partnerships with other organizations to reduce veteran homelessness.

In July 2021, it was reported that a corporate lobbying group called the U.S.-Qatar Business Council paid for a $22,000 trip to Qatar for Gallego and his wife, who is a lobbyist for the National Association of Realtors. Commentators noted that Gallego had previously criticized Senator Kyrsten Sinema for allegedly being too close to business lobbyists.

Gallego opposed the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, describing the decision as "rolling back women's rights".

In February 2022, Gallego called for expelling every Russian university student from the United States, prompting commentators to denounce these remarks as bigoted and xenophobic.

On February 9, 2023, Gallego voted against overturning the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022, which would allow noncitizens to vote in local elections in the District of Columbia.

Gallego speaking to a U.S. Army officer in 2017

Gallego during the
114th Congress

As of April 2023, Gallego had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.

In September 2023, the House passed Gallego's bill, the Native American Child Protection Act, which aims to set up the National Indian Child Resource and Family Services Center to assist and train tribes, tribal organizations and urban Indian organizations, and also aims to come up with state-tribe agreements to prevent, investigate and prosecute family violence.

Gallego voted to provide Israel with support following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Personal life

On August 7, 2008, Gallego changed his name from Ruben Marinelarena to Ruben Marinelarena Gallego to honor his mother, Elisa Gallego, who raised him and his three siblings on her own after his father abandoned the family in his childhood. In 2010, Gallego married Kate Widland Gallego, who was later elected mayor of Phoenix. They divorced in 2017 and have one child together.

Gallego married Sydney Barron in 2021. Barron is a lobbyist for the National Association of Realtors. Gallego and Barron also have a child together. In 2021, Gallego, with Jim DeFelice, wrote the book They Called Us "Lucky": The Life and Afterlife of the Iraq War's Hardest Hit Unit, a memoir of Gallego's service in the war as a member of the U.S. Marines Third Battalion, Twenty-Fifth Marine Regiment, Lima Company.

Electoral history

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

See also

In Spanish: Ruben Gallego para niños

• List of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States Congress