A U.S. senator from Arizona is considering a run for president in 2028 largely based on his popularity among Latino voters.
“Obviously, like any other elected official, especially ones that won red states in 2024, we have to look at it,” Gallego said.
The Iraq War veteran served as a Congressman for five terms before defeating Republican Kari Lake for a seat in the U.S. Senate and becoming the first Hispanic to represent Arizona in the state’s history.
Certified election results show that Gallego won 50.06 percent of the vote in 2024 compared to Lake’s 47.65 percent, while President Donald Trump won 52.2 percent of the vote compared to 46.7 percent for Kamala Harris.
Other Senate Democrats who won their seat despite President Trump winning at the presidential level were Sen. Jacky Rosen in Nevada, Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, and Elissa Slotkin in Michigan.
“No matter who runs, even if it’s not me, the candidate that wins in 2028 is going to have to get the Latino vote back to at least 62 percent,” Gallego said of the 2028 presidential elections. “That is the ‘Pass Go’ line, collect $200 on the Monopoly board. We didn’t hit that in 2024 and that’s why we find ourselves in this situation.”
“We’re a young family," he said. "We might want to have more. I have to look at it to make sure that I’m actually going to be good at it. It’s not easy to be away from your family."
In his 2021 book published by a HarperCollins Publishers imprint, “They Called Us 'Lucky': The Life and Afterlife of the Iraq War's Hardest Hit Unit,” Gallego describes his absent father, José Ángel Marinelarena, as an example not to follow.
Gallego changed his last name from Marinelarena to Gallego to honor his single mother Elisa Gallego.
"I didn’t want to be associated with my father, even symbolically,” Gallego wrote in his memoir. “I was ashamed of his crimes, and angry at him for abandoning us."