Por la familia, todo: Ruben Gallego on Running to be Arizona’s First Latino Senator

My name is Ruben Gallego, and I am running to be Arizona’s next United States Senator. I’m a proud husband and father of two, the son of a single mother, brother to three sisters, a Marine combat veteran, and an immensely proud Latino.

I’m proud to be running to represent Arizona as our first Latino Senator – a fact that’s top of mind for me as Hispanic Heritage Month gets underway.

I’m running for the U.S. Senate because Arizona, and our nation, are at a crossroads. More families than ever are holding their breath when rent’s due. Women are watching states like ours ban abortion and rip away the right to make their own incredibly personal healthcare decisions. Extremists are “normalizing” election-denialism and attacking our democracy.

I’ve been a fighter since I was born. I’ve had to be, just like so many Arizonans have had to be. I grew up in a working-class immigrant family from Mexico and Colombia. I slept on the floor of our living room until I went off to college.

After my dad left, my mom did the best she could to support me and my three sisters on a secretary’s pay—alone. She made sacrifice after sacrifice to put food on the table and all four of us through college. And when we were done, she went back to school herself and got her own college degree. She raised a doctor, a teacher, a businesswoman, and a Marine who became a Congressman — my family has lived the American Dream.

As my mom worked and parented, all in one breath, she instilled in us the values that I carry with me today: “por la familia, todo.”

For family, everything.

This is a saying not just in my home, but in homes across Arizona. When it comes to our families, we’re tough and we never back down. We all want our kids to have it better than we did — more opportunity, a good education, safe communities. And we work tirelessly to make that possible.

Growing up, I took whatever job I could get to help my family. I worked minimum wage jobs since I was 14 –– on a construction site, as a line cook, in a meatpacking factory. You name it, I’ve done it. And I did it por la familia.

We can do better. We have to do better — por la familia. And we can do it if we’re all working together.

At 14, I looked around at my family and my community and said: there is a brighter future out there — we can move up and things can get better. Everything I do and who I am is rooted in being Latino, and it humbles me to be running to represent our community in the Senate. It’s a duty that I will proudly take on with great honor.

As a dad, I want to give my kids the world. And that’s what every parent in Arizona wants, too. As I go around the state, I speak with parents who share this feeling that no matter how hard they work or how many shifts they pick up, they are still struggling. I know these challenges from the years I spent sleeping on the floor and picking up odd jobs. That unyielding squeeze that Arizona’s hardworking families are dealing with — my family faced it too. That’s why I’m fighting to lower grocery bills, housing costs, gas prices, and prescription drug costs for Arizona families. Piece by piece, I’m working to make life more affordable.

I’ve also fought so that veterans in Arizona — like myself — had access to cheaper college tuition and the resources they deserve after sacrificing so much for our country. I’ve used my seat on the Armed Services Committee to strengthen our national security, invest in those who serve, and keep this great nation safe and secure.

Extremism is un-American. It is anti-democratic. It is unacceptable. And it is a distraction from the real problems at hand. I’m focused on solutions that will benefit all Arizonans — Republican, Democrat, and Independent alike. Meanwhile, my opponent Kari Lake is focused on promoting division, election lies, culture wars, and spectacle — whatever it takes to accumulate power for herself.

We need serious leaders who fight for solutions. Who will work with anyone to get the job done. Who care about the ins and outs of policy, not just how to land a political attack. Who know what it’s like to work a minimum wage, not being able to make ends meet.

Leaders who have lived the reality that hardworking families experience every single day, just trying to work hard, put food on the table, and a roof over their heads – all of it por la familia.

I’m Ruben Gallego. I’m running to be your next Senator because I know the problems we all face, and I know that we can only solve them together.

Only in America could a poor Latino boy who slept on the floor as a kid grow up and run for Senate. But I'm ready to get the job done. Por mis hijos, Isla y Michael. Por la familia. Por Arizona. Por los Estados Unidos.

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