Kyrsten Sinema’s escalating betrayal of whatever progressive values she claimed to hold when she was first elected to Congress achieved full bloom last year when she decided to literally leave the Democratic Party. There is simply no future in which she can ever be trusted to play her part in bringing about the change this country so desperately needs.
Fortunately, we have an infinitely better choice in next year’s Senate race in Arizona, which is why Daily Kos is extremely proud to endorse Rep. Ruben Gallego for the job.
Daily Kos knows Gallego very well. We backed him in his first campaign for the House nine years ago and have followed his career closely ever since. We know we can always rely on him when it counts. The list of things to like about him is long, so here are just a few:
- He’s worked tirelessly to improve access to affordable health care and lower the cost of prescription drugs.
- He’s cosponsored legislation to codify Roe v. Wade into law.
- He’s introduced a bill to specifically outlaw voter suppression targeting voters of color.
- He’s a vigorous advocate for combating climate change, which, as an Marine veteran who served in Iraq, he knows is a threat to our national security.
- And, as a first-generation American, he’s fought for the rights of immigrants, cosponsoring a measure to ensure that Dreamers can access higher education.
But our affinity for Gallego runs much deeper. He doesn’t just believe in progressive priorities, he’s outspoken in advocating for them—completely unafraid to speak his mind and tell the truth. It’s a commodity all too rare among politicians.
Oh, and there’s another thing: He wants to get rid of the filibuster. Period. His exact words: “Abolish the filibuster.” No weaseling. That’s Gallego.
Sinema, of course, is the ultimate weasel. She claims to support codifying Roe but refused to curtail the filibuster to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act. She claims to support protecting the right to vote but refused to curtail the filibuster to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. She claims—one would assume—to support not defaulting on our debt obligations but refused to curtail the filibuster to raise the debt ceiling. That’s Sinema.
And let’s not forget just how enormous the stakes are here. The Senate map that Democrats face in 2024 is tough—very tough. If we’re to have any shot at holding our slim majority, making sure Arizona doesn’t fall into Republican hands is mission-critical. What’s more, the candidate the GOP is likeliest to nominate is as horrifying as they come: election denying MAGA maniac Kari Lake, who still refuses to accept that she lost her bid for governor last year and just the other day threatened a violent nationwide uprising to prevent Donald Trump from being brought to justice.
We don’t even know if Sinema will run again, but we do know that she can’t win. All the polling has her taking a distant third, usually with scores in just the teens. Gallego is our only alternative, and an awesome one at that. Those same surveys show that he can most definitely win, but Republicans are extremely bitter about their many losses in Arizona over the past few years, and they will spend massive sums to sling massive heaps of mud to avenge those failures in 2024.
That’s why we need to do what we did a decade ago and dig deep for Gallego. He’s someone you’ll be very glad to help.
