TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Ruben Gallego has been a Congressman for the Phoenix area since 2015. He’s currently running for U.S. Senate against former Phoenix news anchor Kari Lake.
“I’m running for the Senate because there’s someone that needs to be in the Senate that understands Arizona,” Gallego said.
Gallego said his experiences as a Marine Corps veteran and growing up in a low economic status helps him relate to Arizonans.
“Having someone in the Senate that understands the real struggles of everyday Arizonans is going to be an added benefit to everybody,” he said.
On the issue of the border, Galllego said there needs to be more border patrol officers, staff, and laws to actually deter people from coming into the US illegally.
“We need more customs and police officers to check every vehicle that’s coming through, as well as the technology on it,” Gallego said.
He also feels like Arizona needs more asylum judges so people hoping to come into the United States don’t abuse the legal system.
“So people know that if they come here and try to abuse the system, they’ll most likely get rejected and they won’t actually try to come up here,” he said.
Gallego also said increasing trade with Mexico would be beneficial to the economy.
“We can make a lot of good business arrangements, and be helpful to our economy by doing that,” he said.
Gallego is also passionate about abortion rights and supports codifying Roe v. Wade, which allowed for abortion rights nationwide before it was overturned in 2022.
“To also make sure that we have secure abortion rights and codify Roe for the women of Arizona. These are the things that I will be doing as soon as I get there,” he said.
If elected, Gallego said he would try to stop major grocery stores from merging to fight price gouging.
“I can tell when things aren’t going as well when people are putting stuff off the shopping cart,” he said to a crowd in Oro Valley.
To keep rent under control, Gallego said he’s asking the Federal Trade Commission and attorney general to go after companies colluding to raise rent.
He’s also proud, he said, of voting to cap insulin costs at $35 a month, as well as voting to lower prescription drug prices.
“Im a Marine. I love to fight and I will gladly fight a corporation to bring down the cost for all of us here,” Gallego said.
To help social security, Gallego said he introduced the Social Security Act of 2100. If passed, people making more than $400,000 a year would pay an additional tax towards social security.
“The fact that we have something called the Cost of Living Adjustment that doesn’t really factor in the cost of living is kind of dumb,” he said.
The Cost of Living Adjustment, he said, should reflect medical and housing costs.
All of these are issues he said he’s hoping will appeal to Arizonans. He’s hoping that will win not just votes for him, but for all Democrats.
“They know if you don’t fight, then no one fights them, and we need people to be fighting for us,” Gallego said.
You can find KGUN9’s election profile on Gallego’s opponent, Kari Lake, here.
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For more KGUN 9 Elections Coverage:
- Arizona local and state elections
- US political news
- Scripps News: The Race
