Ruben Gallego is leaning hard on Latino voters in his uncontested campaign to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for Arizona’s open U.S. Senate seat.
By Jose Gonzalez, Arizona Republic
The efforts by Gallego, a House Democrat from Arizona, have prompted the 14-year-old Latino activist organization Living United for Change in Arizona to make its first Senate candidate endorsement. Gallego has already netted the endorsements of the United Farm Workers, the Latino Victory Fund, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and civil rights titan Dolores Huerta.
His winning of key Latino endorsements is essential during an election with issues facing the community in Arizona. The nonpartisan NALEO Education Fund estimates Hispanics will be nearly 25% of Arizona voters this year.
"I think he’s a hero," LUCHA endorsement committee member Arnold Montiel said.
Montiel is a 61-year-old former U.S. Army National Guard soldier and Tucson resident who cited Gallego’s service as a combat veteran as key to the organization’s support. Gallego’s campaign has amplified his bona fides as a retired U.S. Marine by running ads of him sharing his experience fighting in the Iraq War.
Montiel cited House Concurrent Resolution 2060 as contributing to what he said was a "dangerous" and "very divisive" political climate that spurred him to become involved in electoral politics. The ballot initiative would make unauthorized southern border crossings a state crime, allow for the deportation of migrants suspected of crossing the border unauthorized, and bolster employee immigration status verification.
LUCHA has warned such legislation would pressure Latino immigrants to flee the state. The organization is among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in early June against HCR 2060 on grounds it is unconstitutional.
"That's gonna negatively affect my gente (people)," Montiel said in an interview with The Republic. "All it's gonna do is just tear people apart."
The Arizona Republic reported in May that President Joe Biden lagged behind Gallego in Hispanic male voter support.
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On Sunday, LUCHA’s endorsement committee announced their support for Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic presidential nominee. LUCHA Executive Director Alejandra Gomez told The Republic the progressive organization expects the race to narrow with Harris at the top of the ticket.
"If Ruben Gallego wins, you can expect Kamala Harris to have a good election night," Gomez said.
The Gallego campaign started running ads in Spanish starting June 21. His likely Republican opponent, longtime Phoenix TV personality Kari Lake, has been less conspicuous in her Latino outreach. Lake is expected to win the GOP Senate nomination in Arizona against Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.
Lake, whose husband is of Colombian heritage through his mother, said in a video from May that "Latinos embody everything I’m fighting for: faith, family and freedom." On the Spanish-language network Univision, Lake said she did not believe children born to immigrants were natural-born citizens.
The Lake campaign on Saturday afternoon did not respond to a request for comment on its Latino voter outreach efforts.
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