Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona told CBS News on Wednesday that some Democratic senators are privately urging him to run against Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who announced last week that she would leave the Democratic Party and become an independent.
“There have been some senators that have encouraged me to run,” Gallego said in an interview. “There are some senators, some of Sen. Sinema’s colleagues, that are encouraging me to run.”
Gallego did not identify the senators who have prodded him to jump into the Senate race, but he believes those senators would “absolutely” support him if he decides to launch a Senate bid next year.
Gallego added that the private encouragement, while welcome, would not be a “decision factor” in whether he challenges Sinema. His decision, he said, would be driven by conversations with family members and with Arizona voters in the coming weeks.
Still, Gallego’s claim of private encouragement from some Democratic senators comes as most of them are publicly tight-lipped about how they will handle Sinema’s next Senate campaign, should she decide to seek reelection in 2024 and chooses to run as an independent.
And those private talks between Gallego and some Democratic senators suggest possible differences among national Democrats over whether Sinema’s party exit should yield an effort to rally behind a Democratic candidate instead, should Sinema run in 2024 as an independent rather than seeking the Democratic Senate nomination.
“I am focused right now on finishing the lame duck,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Tuesday, when asked if he would support a Democrat in Arizona in 2024.
Gallego said he is aware that of how some Democratic senators seem uneasy, for now, about weighing in on Sinema’s expected reelection campaign. But he said he would not let a scattering of muted or vague comments from her colleagues deter him from considering a run.
“Probably not,” Gallego said Wednesday when asked if he would speak with Schumer before he decides about whether he will run for Senate.
“[Schumer] will not determine my future,” Gallego said. “Again, it’s the people of Arizona and my family. He is not in a position even to make decisions. He has to balance the needs of the caucus first. And by the time they figure out what they, how they’re going to balance Sinema still being there and me running for office, it’s going to be too late. So, once I make my decision, I’ll go and then we’ll talk to him at some point if he wants to.”
If Sinema runs as an independent in 2024, the state could be home to a competitive and unusual three-way Senate race during the next presidential-election cycle, pitting a Republican nominee, a Democratic nominee, and an independent incumbent against each other.
Gallego, who recently traveled aboard Air Force One with President Biden, said he did not discuss a possible Senate run with the president during that flight since it was a non-political trip.
But Gallego, who said he hopes Mr. Biden runs for reelection in 2024, said Democrats should want to have a strong Democratic Senate candidate in Arizona during a presidential-election year.
“I will say this: If I was running for president in Arizona in 2024, I would want to be with someone that would be proud to be going on stage with him and going to every part of Arizona,” Gallego said. “More importantly, getting out the crucial Latino vote. Time will tell what the calculations are over there. I don’t need to pressure them. They’re certainly not pressuring me. But I know what a strong candidate I am and can be.”
