(PHOENIX) — Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego, a liberal agitator and prominent Latino congressman, announced Monday that he will challenge the independent US Senate. Kirsten Cinema In 2024, he will be the first contender to jump into the race, setting up a potential three-way contest.

Gallego said he would fight for ordinary people who struggle to make ends meet and lose faith in politicians. rice field.

“I’m better suited for this job than Kirsten Cinema because I haven’t forgotten where I’m from,” Gallego told the Associated Press. “I think she’s clearly forgotten where she came from. Instead of meeting people who need help, she meets people who already have her powers.”

A 43-year-old veteran who was first elected to Congress in 2014, Gallego has made no secret of his interest in challenging his longtime rival in Arizona politics, cinema. Obstacle and Inspiring for Democrats The presidency of Joe Biden. She left the Democratic Party in her December and registered as an independent, saying she “doesn’t fit well into the traditional party system.” She has not disclosed whether she plans to run for her second term.

None of the Republicans are in the race, but potential candidates include former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, former U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters, and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb. increase. Karin Taylor-Robson, a home developer who lost to Lake in last year’s primary, and former governor Doug Ducey are also strong candidates.

The three-way race, combined with the risk of cinema and eventual Democratic candidates splitting the vote, will complicate the party’s already uphill battle to maintain control of the Senate in 2024. Her other two seats are occupied by independents, and Republicans have only 10 of her seats.

read more: Kirsten Cinema’s party change may not matter much in Congress, but it could help her win in Arizona

With a grueling and costly election campaign on the horizon, the Democratic establishment and key donors have pushed most Democratic legislation into the fold even as it gets in the way of key White House priorities. It remains unclear how firmly they will stand up to voted cinema leaders and progressive movements.

“I think they’re with us because we run a winning campaign. After all, when you look at where the people of Arizona are going, they’re not with us. , she’ll be with us,” Gallego told the Associated Press.

Cinema spokeswoman Hannah Hurley did not immediately comment on Gallego’s announcement.

Gallego has been an acrimonious presence on social media, quick to beat rivals in both parties, hatched the idea last year to ask cinema for funding, publicly assembled a team of advisors for weeks, and led the Democratic Party’s election campaign. Hiring movement veterans, battleground state Senate elections in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania.

He announced the campaign with an online video showing him talking to veterans at the American Legion’s Post in Guadalupe, a Latino and Indigenous community just outside of Phoenix.

The son of immigrants from Mexico and Colombia, Gallego was raised in Chicago by a single mother after his father was imprisoned for drug dealing. While on leave from Harvard University, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He wrote in his 2021 book, They Called Us Lucky, that he was asked to leave Harvard during his sophomore year. He was later allowed to return home.

He fought in Iraq in 2005 with a unit that suffered heavy casualties and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder upon his return. He moved to Arizona to join his Harvard University girlfriend, who was becoming active in Democratic politics in Arizona. The couple married in 2010 and divorced in 2017, a month before their son was born. His ex-wife, Kate Gallego, is now mayor of Phoenix.

Gallego was elected to the state legislature in 2010 and also served one of two terms with Cinema. In 2014, he won a bitter congressional primary, overthrowing a dynasty figure in the Phoenix Latino community. He represents overwhelmingly Democratic constituencies, including black and Latinx neighborhoods south and west of Phoenix.

Congress has focused on veterans and military issues.

Cinema modeled her political approach on the maverick style of the late Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. She became an avid supporter of bipartisan compromise at a time when her extreme partisanship made compromise much more difficult.

She has been at the center of many of President Biden’s biggest congressional deals, from massive bipartisan infrastructure packages to groundbreaking legislation to legally protect same-sex marriage. It also alienates many Democrats who accuse her of voting down progressive priorities like raising the minimum wage and dampening other priorities like Biden’s big social spending initiative. became.

Her support for maintaining the filibuster, a Senate rule that requires 60 out of 100 votes to pass most bills, has made her a pariah on the left.

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