WASHINGTON — Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., is used to taking his message on the road in a swing state. But now Gallego, a first-term senator fresh off his hard-fought win last year, is heading far from home to speak to voters in Pennsylvania, the quintessential presidential battleground state.
Gallego is set to attend a town hall Saturday in Bucks County, a key swing area outside Philadelphia that Donald Trump flipped by a few hundred votes last year.
It’s the type of move that will fuel speculation about Gallego as a presidential contender as the Democratic Party desperately searches for its way forward. And while he said his message in Pennsylvania will focus on more immediate matters, like preserving Medicaid and pushing back against Trump’s tariffs, Gallego didn’t close the door on the possibility down the road.
“That’s a land mine,” Gallego said in an interview when he was asked whether running for president has ever crossed his mind. “Has it ever crossed my mind? F—ing of course, I’m an elected official, it crosses my mind. Am I thinking about it right now? Absolutely not.”
Gallego said he has received encouragement from members of his party to pursue a White House bid in 2028.
“Big donors, big organizations, well-known political big Democratic operatives that have encouraged me to run. I’m not denying that,” he said.
But he insisted the next presidential race was “not even near the radar of me thinking about doing it.” Gallego noted that his wife is expecting a baby next month and that he has been in his current role for only a few months.
“I just told you about my third kid coming. I’m just a brand-new senator,” he said. “I need to do both jobs well, and those are two very hard jobs. Being the father is the hardest one.”
Gallego’s profile rose during his competitive Senate race last year, when he outperformed Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in his victory against Republican Kari Lake. As Democrats lost ground among Latino voters nationally — men in particular — Gallego did far better than Harris.
Gallego, who previously represented a Phoenix-area congressional district, has a unique profile as a 45-year-old Latino Marine Corps veteran with a working-class background, which he thinks can help Democrats reach groups of Americans who have drifted away from the party in recent years.
“They want to hear that there is a message that Democrats can deliver that can bring the party back to a winning situation — bring back working-class people, because that’s where we’re really getting f—ed and losing votes,” he said of why Pennsylvanians want to hear from him. “I think I can bring it, I guess, also more on the personal level — like, I’m the person that has worked those hard jobs and has had to figure out how to make ends meet, how to string a couple paychecks together, to pay rent and everything else like that. And I think people want to hear from Democrats like me.”
Gallego is one of several potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidates who have stepped into the spotlight in recent weeks.
Last month, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker delivered a speech in New Hampshire, one of the first presidential primary states. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., joined forces with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to crisscross the country for a “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. Others, such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have showcased their willingness to cross the aisle by talking with Trump and his allies in meetings and on podcasts.
During his Senate campaign, Gallego emphasized the economy and broke with many Democrats by pushing for stricter border enforcement — an area he says the party still hasn’t improved enough in since the 2024 election.
“I think there’s still a lot of elements within our party that take a very knee-jerk reaction to border security and think that any type of border security is somehow acquiescing to the right, when, in fact, the base Democratic voter has a more both nuanced and mainstream position than the Republicans have,” he said.
Illegal border crossings have dropped during the start of the second Trump administration, a development that Gallego praised. Attempts to cross the southwest border in March stood at just over 11,000, down from a high of 302,000 in December 2023.
“I think it’s a good thing that we have border crossings at the lowest point possible,” he said. “What I think is bad is I don’t think it’s sustainable the way he’s doing it.”
Latino men in Arizona are moving back toward Democrats, Gallego argued, saying they are angry about the economy and deportations. But the next time voters who split their 2024 tickets between Trump and Gallego cast ballots, “they’re going to have to have the belief that Democrats are gonna be sane on border security, sane on immigration reform,” he said.
Saturday’s town hall, hosted by the state Democratic Party in GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick’s district, will focus on potential cuts to Medicaid that Republicans are considering as they craft a bill for Trump’s agenda. It’s part of the party’s broader push to hold town halls in what it views as vulnerable Republican-held districts.
Some Pennsylvania Democrats welcome Gallego’s visit.
“I think it’s great,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle, who represents a Philadelphia-area district neighboring the one Gallego is visiting. “Ruben is one of my closest friends in Congress. He’s a genuine person who connects with people.”