Arizona US Representative Ruben Gallego launched his widely expected bid for the Senate seat currently held by Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic party last month to become an independent.
(Bloomberg) — Arizona US Representative Ruben Gallego launched his widely expected bid for the Senate seat currently held by Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic party last month to become an independent.
Gallego released a campaign video highlighting his low-income origins, Harvard education and service in the US Marines in Iraq.
“Growing up poor, the only thing I really had was the American dream,” he said in the video. “An opportunity. It’s the one thing we give every American no matter where they are born in life.”
In December, Sinema, 46, announced she was leaving the party but would keep her committee seats as the Democrats kept control of the Senate after the November election, a move that allows her to avoid a primary fight.
Sinema’s centrist record and steadfast decision not to change Senate rules made her a ripe target for a challenge from a left-leaning candidate like Gallego, 43. Sinema has not said if she is running for reelection, but if she does, Gallego’s challenge sets up a potential for Republicans to flip the seat by splitting Democratic votes.
Gallego was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2014 after serving in the state legislature.
His announcement comes after another Democratic representative, Greg Stanton, announced he would not run for Sinema’s seat.
Sinema has faced a backlash for serial apostasies against Democratic Party efforts the last two years, including her opposition to raising tax rates on the wealthy, corporations and carried interest.
At a panel in Davos last week, she high-fived conservative Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a fellow thorn in the side of the party, over their joint refusal to nix the Senate filibuster to pass priorities like a sweeping voting rights package.
She argued that their bipartisan work had led to wins for the American people rather than what she considered short-term victories Democrats wanted on assorted issues. She helped broker a series of deals on infrastructure, guns and marriage equality, and is now working with Republicans to try and craft an immigration deal.
The filibuster rule means most legislation needs 60 votes, a hurdle that has helped stymie major Democratic initiatives on abortion, guns, immigration and the minimum wage, among other issues.
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