Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) has been readying a political team to take on Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), who recently became an independent, for her seat in the U.S. Senate during the 2024 election cycle.
Gallego has been taking the crucial steps necessary for taking on the incumbent Arizona independent senator this cycle, including hiring a pollster, hiring a digital firm, interviewing paid media firms, and securing veteran senate campaign staff from successful 2022 campaigns, Politico reports.
The Democrat congressman has been looking for staffers from Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), and he hired Danny Carroll as a finance director as well as Sens. John Fetterman (D-PA), and Raphael Warnock (D-GA), the report noted. He has also reportedly enlisted a former aide to Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, Chuck Rocha, to oversee the “Latino outreach effort,” which will play a big part in Arizona.
Gallego’s move towards making a Senate bid against Sinema has grown over the recent months, especially after the now-independent switched political parties late last year. However, running against Sinema has been considered risky if she decides to run as an independent and not in the Democrat primary as it could ultimately split the vote and help a Republican win the seat.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee hearing to examine social media’s impact on homeland security, Sept. 14, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Politico also acknowledged that Gallego is looking to build a sizable war chest to compete with Sinema, who reportedly received over 25,000 individual campaign donations after reports came out that she filed paperwork to run as an independent, even though she has yet to make an official announcement.
Comparatively, the latest campaign finance reports showed Gallego only had $1.1 million, while Sinema has $7.9 million in the bank.
A spokesperson for the senator, Hannah Hurley, did not provide a comment to Politico for the story but pointed to Sinema’s remarks stating that she is not currently focused on politics. For Gallego, Politico reported that one of his top consultants, Rebecca Katz, would not say when an official announcement would be but said “soon.”
Evidentially, this all comes as Breitbart News reported on Thursday that the 118 Congress started with the Senate Democrats appearing to have not yet named anyone to lead the campaign committee charged with keeping — and expanding — the party’s majority in the upper chamber as members start to announce retirement and a 2024 map favoring Republicans looms.
WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 16: Alongside Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a news conference about DACA outside the U.S. Capitol on November 16, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) will have to try to keep, if not expand, the 51-seat majority in a year favored for Republicans. That includes potentially spending millions on protecting Sinema if the chair chief chooses, in addition to some Democrat senators running in states that have turned redder over the years and open seats from retiring members.
In 2024, 23 of the 33 Senate seats up for reelection are currently held by Democrats or left-leaning independents. Former President Donald Trump won six of the states by double digits in at least one of his presidential elections.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
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