Dem
54
Ties
2
GOP
44
The 2028 Presidential race started months ago, and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is definitely interested in the job. He has been out on the campaign trail for months now, getting to know the voters and having them get to know him.
The Democratic primary will be crowded and reporters will be asking all the candidates a simple question: Why you? Candidates will need to differentiate themselves from the herd, and Gallego is already working on that. Latinos moved sharply to Trump in 2024 and so did macho young men. Democrats badly need to fix that in 2028. Gallego thinks he is the solution. He is a Latino who often holds town halls entirely in Spanish and he is a Marine Corps combat veteran, which certainly checks the "macho" box for young men. He was raised by a single mom and grew up in poverty (which will help with voters who have experienced poverty first hand), but later got a degree from Harvard (good for the college-educated suburban vote). He also looks good on television. Is short, he has a lot going for him.
This year, Gallego was been stumping all over the country, especially for Latino candidates, in New Mexico, in Nevada, in Texas, and even in Florida. While he talks about prices and affordability, his real pitch is bigger than that. He says that Democrats want to restore the American Dream—that if you work hard and play by the rules, you can make it and have a good life. Last month, he released his economic plan to achieve that. It includes a $20/hr minimum wage (and $40 for overtime), mandating that companies offer sick leave and paid vacations, and more. It would be financed by higher taxes on millionaires and billionaires, a higher capital gains tax, and taxes on data centers and AI. Imagine a much-younger, Spanish-speaking Bernie who fought in Iraq.
Gallego also has a few problems. He was good friends with the disgraced Eric Swalwell. He is going to be asked: "What did you know and when did you know it?" He claims Swalwell never talked about the women he abused. Gallego has also been accused of sexual misconduct himself and also of campaign finance violations. The House Ethics Committee investigated and dismissed the complaint. That doesn't mean this won't come up again, however. Nevertheless, he is clearly serious about running and has some characteristics that do set him apart from the crowd. (V)