Ruben Gallego

After completing training in the School of Infantry (SOI), he deployed to Iraq with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines.

Rubén Marinelarena Gallego (born November 20, 1979) is an American politician and former U.S. Marine serving as the U.S. representative for Arizona's 3rd congressional district.

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.

Gallego's desire to help fellow combat veterans motivated him to get involved in politics.

In 2009, he served as the Chief of Staff for District 7 City Phoenix City Councilman Michael Nowakowski before he was elected vice chair of the Arizona Democratic Party.

The next year, he was elected to the Arizona State House, representing Arizona District 16.

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.

For the 118th Congress:

A Democrat, he previously served as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, where he was assistant minority leader from 2012 until he resigned to run for Congress.

In 2012, Gallego was elected assistant minority leader.

Gallego founded the group Citizens for Professional Law Enforcement with the goal of recalling Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, citing Arpaio's immigration policies and his use of taxpayer money to investigate Barack Obama's citizenship.

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.

On February 28, 2013, Gallego voted against an amendment that sought to raise campaign finance limits for federal candidates and abolish all limits for state candidates, HB 2523.

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.

Gallego was first elected to Congress in 2014.

His district includes most of southern, western, and downtown Phoenix, and part of Glendale.

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, announced its endorsement of Gallego because of his evolution on the issue of campaign finance reform.

He faced only a Green candidate in 2018, and defeated Republican challengers in 2016, 2020, and 2022.

He is the second Colombian American elected to the U.S. House after Republican Scott Perry.

Considered a progressive politician, Gallego, who has been very critical of U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, was encouraged by several left-wing organizations to run against her in the 2024 election.

He announced his candidacy on January 23, 2023.

He served as the national chair of Eric Swalwell's 2020 presidential campaign.

Gallego served and deployed as a USMCR Corporal during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Gallego is a candidate for the United States Senate seat currently held by Democrat-turned-independent Kyrsten Sinema in 2024.

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.

After college, Gallego joined the Marines.

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.