Progressive Dem Ruben Gallego to challenge Kyrsten Sinema for her Senate seat
Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona will challenge independent Grand Canyon State Sen. Kyrsten Sinema for her Senate seat in 2024.
Gallego is set to release a video announcing his campaign against Sinema, who left the Democratic Party last year, according to multiple sources briefed by the congressman’s campaign.
The video was shot in the congressman’s home district and will be released in both English and Spanish on Monday.
Newsweek first reported the congressman’s upcoming announcement.
Gallego has been a longtime critic of Sinema, even before the senator left the Democratic Party, and has been hinting at a run for months.
Last month, Gallego told CBS News that several members and even ‘some senators’ were encouraging him to challenge Sinema.
‘There have been some senators that have encouraged me to run,’ Gallego said. ‘There are some senators, some of Sen. Sinema’s colleagues, that are encouraging me to run.’
Gallego did not identify which of Sinema’s colleagues are telling him to run, but predicted they would ‘absolutely’ support him in a Senate race next year.
Sinema stunned political observers and infuriated progressives on Dec. 9 when she announced she was switching to an Independent, citing increasingly partisan interests and radicalization in both parties in an op-ed for the Arizona Republic.
‘Americans are told that we have only two choices – Democrat or Republican – and that we must subscribe wholesale to policy views the parties hold, views that have been pulled further and further toward the extremes,’ Sinema wrote in the op-ed.
‘Most Arizonans believe this is a false choice, and when I ran for the U.S. House and the Senate, I promised Arizonans something different,’ she continued. ‘I pledged to be independent and work with anyone to achieve lasting results. I committed I would not demonize people I disagreed with, engage in name-calling, or get distracted by political drama.’
Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo contributed reporting.