Ruben Gallego. Photo Credit: NBC News
For perhaps the first time in modern memory, Arizona has produced not one but two sitting U.S. senators with plausible presidential ambitions. That is either a testament to the state’s rising political stature, or a demonstration that ambition and realism don’t always share a zip code. Let’s sort it out.
Gallego’s Window Has Likely Closed
Sen. Ruben Gallego was a rising Democratic star with a compelling story: Marine veteran, working-class background, won a Senate seat in a red-leaning state by defeating a notoriously weak opponent. Presidential chatter followed. Then came Eric Swalwell. As the Phoenix New Times reported, the Swalwell scandal has done serious damage to Gallego’s 2028 prospects. Gallego initially defended his closest friend in Congress against allegations of sexual misconduct toward multiple women, then reversed course when reporting confirmed the details. He held an emotional press conference, called Swalwell a liar, and insisted he had no knowledge of predatory behavior. Democratic strategists weren’t fully satisfied. One Capitol Hill veteran said that “folded arms and incomplete answers don’t shut down a story; they extend it.” A second strategist was more direct: “I think he is done.”
There is also a separate misconduct allegation against Gallego personally, which he flatly denies. But in presidential politics, denial is rarely the end of the conversation.
The smart play for Gallego is to step back, focus on his Senate seat, and let the smoke clear on its own timeline. It may never fully clear. That’s the nature of proximity to scandal.
Kelly Is a Different Story
As the same outlet recently reported, a Yale Youth Polling survey found Mark Kelly to be the second-most electable Democratic presidential candidate in the country, trailing only California Gov. Gavin Newsom. In theoretical head-to-head matchups, 70 percent of Democratic voters said Kelly was more likely to win the 2028 general election against a Republican. Kelly has since told the BBC he will “seriously consider” a run. His biography is essentially engineered for a national campaign: Navy combat pilot, NASA astronaut, husband of a gun-violence survivor turned activist, two-term senator from a purple state who demonstrated Democrats could hold the middle.
Mark Kelly. Photo Credit: ABC News
Arizona Has Been Here Before
Arizona has sent serious presidential candidates to the national stage and watched them fall short. Barry Goldwater lost in a 1964 landslide. Mo Udall came agonizingly close in 1976 before losing a grinding primary to Jimmy Carter. Bruce Babbitt’s 1988 campaign was admired and ignored. John McCain won the Republican nomination in 2008 and lost the general. Each was credible in his own way. None had Kelly’s particular combination: a military record that is hard to attack, a moderate profile that plays in the Midwest, and a fundraising trajectory already outpacing most of the field.
The Case for Stepping Aside
Gallego himself has said that if someone else can win the presidency, “there’s no reason for me to be egotistical about it.” That is, unexpectedly, the right instinct applied to the wrong timeline. The someone who can win this may be sitting one desk over. Arizona has waited a long time for this kind of candidate. It would be a shame to let intrastate competition muddy the opportunity.