Rubén Marinelarena Gallego (/ˈruːbən ɡaɪˈɛɡoʊ/ ROO-bən ghy-EH-goh; born November 20, 1979) is an American politician serving since 2025 as the junior United States senator from Arizona.

Democratic Party members and liberal organizations encouraged him to run against Sinema, and in January 2023, he announced his candidacy for the 2024 United States Senate election in Arizona.

[6] Gallego attended Harvard College, where he became a member of Sigma Chi fraternity[7] and graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in international relations.

[9] After completing training in the School of Infantry (SOI), he was deployed to Iraq with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines.

Gallego won a five-way Democratic primary with 48.9% of the vote, defeating retiring congressman Ed Pastor's choice to succeed him with the backing of a number of progressive groups.

[36] In 2022, Gallego bought a home near Capitol Hill using a special mortgage loan program for military veterans.

Gallego receives a homeowner rebate in Arizona that lowers the tax burdens for residents who primarily live in the state.

[37][38] Gallego, who had previously embraced his progressive background as "a fierce liberal combatant", sought to strike a moderate tone in his 2024 campaign in order to woo swing voters.

The New York Times wrote, "Gallego has built a reputation as a blunt-spoken liberal who is politically in tune with young progressives and lacerates his opponents with profane social media posts."

While Gallego seeks to move to the middle, Republicans in Arizona are highlighting his co-sponsorship of the Medicare for All Act, his support for ending the Senate filibuster, and his suggestion to "take a scalpel" to military spending.

[40] On November 9, 2024, Decision Desk HQ projected that Gallego had beaten Lake in the Senate election in Arizona.

[45] In May 2021, Gallego sponsored a bill that would have provided more government funding for Native American veterans at tribal colleges and universities.

[46] In July 2021, it was reported that a corporate lobbying group called the U.S.–Qatar Business Council paid for a $22,000 trip to Qatar for Gallego and his wife, who is a lobbyist for the National Association of Realtors.

[48] Gallego opposed the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that upheld state abortion bans.

[50] In February 2022, Gallego called for expelling Russian university students from the U.S., prompting criticism of these remarks as bigoted and xenophobic.

[51] In May 2022, after the Uvalde, Texas school shooting, Gallego criticized Senator Ted Cruz for suggesting that calls for gun control were an attempt to politicize the tragedy, tweeting, "Fuck you @tedcruz you care about a fetus but you will let our children get slaughtered.

[55] In September 2023, the House passed Gallego's bill, the Native American Child Protection Act, which aims to set up a National Indian Child Resource and Family Services Center to assist and train tribes, tribal organizations and urban Indian organizations, and to forge state-tribe agreements to prevent, investigate, and prosecute family violence.