Gallego builds staff ahead of possible 2024 Senate bid

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) is making several major campaign hires amid swirling speculation that the congressman will mount a bid for the Senate in 2024.

Gallego’s campaign announced that he had hired several alumni of key 2022 Senate campaigns, including Danny Carroll and Tim Tagaris, who worked on Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D) successful Arizona bid, and New Deal Strategies’s Rebecca Katz, who worked on Sen. John Fetterman’s (D) win in Pennsylvania, as well as longtime Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha. 

Politico was the first to report the news of Gallego’s hires. They come amid speculation that he’ll run for the Senate in Arizona with Independent Sen. Krysten Sinema up for reelection.

“Winning in Arizona will require a team ready to go on day one,” Gallego said. “We now have a team of Democratic operatives behind the biggest wins of 2022.”

Though Sinema has filed for candidacy in the 2024 Arizona Senate race as an Independent, it remains unclear if she’ll ultimately enter the race and run for reelection. If she does, a Democrat like Gallego could have a pathway to run while avoiding an awkward primary challenge since Sinema changed her party registration to Independent. 

If Sinema runs, however, it’s unclear how Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) would handle her reelection bid or if Democrats would discourage a challenge to the Independent senator. Regardless, the seat will be seen as a major GOP pickup opportunity.