Peoria, Arizona — Phoenix-beRare State Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) kicked off the Town Hall last week with a quick warning to about 150 people gathered inside the Rio Vista Recreation Center.

“If you see me answering the phone or running away, there’s only one sound now, and that’s my wife,” Gallego said with a laugh, expecting her wife Sidney to go into labor any minute. explained that it is First child together. “That’s the only reason you see me running. I’m not a politician running away from voters.”

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The 43-year-old congressman, who served five terms, could have an unpredictable three-way race in battleground states in 2024, retaining the seat of newly independent Sen. Kirsten Cinema (I-Arizona). preparing to threaten the Since announcing his candidacy earlier this year, he’s gone all out to prove there’s a path to victory in states where Democrats are registered. Republicans and independents outnumber. Gallego continues to emphasize accessibility through in-person public events as a strategy to attract voters in Arizona, a touchy subject for a cinema that hasn’t hosted a similar event in years.

“We go across the state, to the red areas, and then to the really blue areas. We go to the areas where people feel forgotten,” Gallego told the crowd.

Gallego is bolstering Democratic support for a 2024 run and trying to corner Democrat voters.

“We’re going to get nearly 90% of the Democratic vote. Again, we’re happy to do this,” Gallego said in an interview. Washington Examiner, alluding to his town hall. “We’re going to do this not just with Democrats, but with independents. We’re going to go to Republican areas and talk to Republicans. This is how we win.”

Hosted by Democrats in the region, the event drew a mostly friendly crowd of voters who had already decided to support Gallego’s candidacy. Democratic Senate candidates haven’t faced the kind of heckling many have experienced in battleground states in the past. Many in attendance expressed their disappointment with cinema in her first term.

“We feel betrayed by her. ‘She sold her soul for a lot of money. It’s such a shame because I was so into her at first,'” said Gabriel Lawrencell, a registered voter in Scottsdale, Arizona. said. She’s still among the minority of Democrats who love cinema, but most people I know are very disappointed in her. ”

Melinda Kubak, a registered Democrat in Suncity West, Arizona, admitted she was worried about the potential for Democratic votes to be split between Cinema and Gallego.

“That’s definitely a concern,” said Kubak, who has already endorsed Gallego. “We can still get into trouble and we need a majority.”

The Arizona Democratic Party passed a resolution in January 2022 condemning Mr. Cinema for opposing the filibuster change. Cinema and Senator Joe Manchin (D, West Virginia) blocked the Senate Democrats’ push for a major voting rights bill by opposing the change. Voters like Kubak said the state’s Democrats won’t forget that.

“She turned her back on us. It’s not okay,” Kubak said.

Gallego, a Marine Corps combat veteran and a member of the House Armed Services Committee, believes his military background will resonate with voters. Gallego, who is running for Arizona’s first Latino senator, believes his career will win him a sizeable portion of independents, including many Latinx residents. His advisers also believe he could benefit from high turnout associated with presidential elections, which could hurt Cinema, who is running as an independent.

“Most of the spending and the efforts to get people to vote and all that stuff is usually on a party ticket basis,” said Roy Herrera, a prominent Arizona election attorney backing Gallego. “If you’re cinema, you’re not on either ticket. You don’t support Biden. You don’t support Trump. They don’t support you.” ”

“In order for cinema to win, in theory, it has to win a majority of the Republican Party. In Arizona, historically Trump has over 90% of the Republican vote, and I’m struggling.” The thing is to think about who will be the Trump Cinema voters, because those people have to be there in order for her to win,” Herrera said.

Gallego is trying to contrast Cinema, who has filed preliminary papers to seek re-election but has not said whether he will run for re-election or resign.

At City Hall, Mr. Gallego repeatedly lashed out at the same-term senators over his ties to corporate interests, saying Mr. Cinema had joined a group of House Democrats centrist and forced them to compromise on narrower provisions of the Inflation Control Act. pointed out the reports of The version of the law that was finally passed allows Medicare to: negotiation Lowering the maximum out-of-pocket insulin cost from the proposed $50 per month to the current limit of $35 in 2026, including lowering the cost of 10 drugs.

Many Democrats called for the federal government to have broader powers to negotiate prices with industry and do so sooner. Mr. Gallego said cinema hindered extensive negotiations by the government.

“Kirsten Cinema, I think this is one thing I can’t forgive. For you, instead of bargaining for our seniors, she bargained for the drug companies.” It’s very widely known in DC circles that without them, we would have had a stronger opportunity to negotiate these prices sooner and with more drugs,” he said.

While the majority of Democrats are out of the Arizona campaign so far, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) will headline a fundraiser in virtual Gallego later this week. . Pelosi doesn’t endorse Gallego and often doesn’t get involved in primaries. The only campaign Pelosi has ever been involved in is the California campaign where she endorsed Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) to replace Senator Diane Feinstein (D-California).

Former cinema aide John Labombard said it was hard to imagine an “unapologetic progressive agitator” winning across Arizona.

“As far as I know, in recent memory there is no track record like this across Arizona,” LaBomberd said. “Whether you love Kirsten Cinema or hate it, I think Democrats recognize that she knows how to win a pivotal battleground state in an extremely brutal Senate cycle for Democrats across the country. .”

“Ruben Gallego has never been put to the test. He’s never gotten more votes in the relatively safe blue district he represents. He’s never won Arizona or run statewide. And also, while he has a profile as a progressive partisan, in recent memory he’s never won a single victory, and he’s won all of Arizona,” La Bombard said.

The race for Cinema’s seat is still in its early stages, but it could be a historic battle with three high-profile candidates that could ultimately decide the Senate’s leadership. In April, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb became the first Republican to challenge cinema. Republican Kari Lake, who narrowly lost to Katie Hobbs (D-Arizona) in last year’s Arizona gubernatorial race, is perhaps the frontrunner for the GOP nomination and is considering running.

“Whether Kirsten is out or Kari Lake is out, we are going to win this race. It’s just us,” he said at the 90-minute Town Hall.

Gallego said he was working to appeal to a group of Republicans who would ultimately not be able to vote for a hardline conservative candidate like Kari Lake.

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“I think there are a lot of Republicans who value democracy and the rule of law. “We’re going to talk about her very irresponsible views on Ukraine and the military, for example.”

“I think I can use my experience in that regard, and I think I can get a lot of crossover support,” Gallego said.