Rep. Ruben Gallego’s (D-AZ) campaign announced it raised $7.5 million in the first three months of the year, more than doubling his prior quarterly filings after Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) decided against running for reelection last month.
Gallego’s fundraising haul far exceeds the $3.3 million he raised last quarter. He also reported that he has $9.6 million in cash on hand. His new fundraising numbers come a month after Sinema bowed out of a race that could ultimately decide which party controls the upper chamber in November.
The Arizona Democratic congressman is likely to face Kari Lake, the front-running Republican candidate, in a race now considered a toss-up by the Cook Political Report. Gallego is among the first Senate candidates to unveil his first-quarter fundraising total; Lake has yet to announce hers.
“Thanks to the support of hundreds of thousands of small-dollar donors who have chipped in what they could to help elect Ruben Gallego, we are building the infrastructure to win this November,” Nichole Johnson, Gallego’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “Arizonans are ready to elect a Senator who will defend abortion rights, cut costs for families, and take care of our veterans — and that’s exactly what Ruben will do.”
Gallego’s fundraising is more robust than that of incumbent Sen. Sinema during the same time period during her 2018 campaign. At the time, she raised $2.5 million during the first quarter.
The campaign said the majority of support came from those who contributed less than $200 and that the average contribution was less than $50. It also said that more than half of the donors were first-time contributors who gave less than the maximum, which means they could give more to the campaign if they want in the future.
Lake raised $2.1 million in the fourth fundraising quarter of 2023, but she could see a boost in the months to come after the Republican Senate campaign arm endorsed her in the race in mid-February. The former local news anchor raised $330,000 at a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., in the hours after Sinema announced her retirement hosted by National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), according to sources familiar with the matter.
Gallego announced he raised $1 million in the 24 hours after Sinema’s announcement.
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The Arizona congressman released his first TV ad last month as a way to introduce himself to a statewide audience. His campaign confirmed it spent seven figures and plans to spend millions over the next few months.
New voter registration numbers released recently show the electorate is 35% Republican, 34% independent, and 29% Democratic. Since Sinema’s victory in 2018, Arizona has transformed from a solid red state to one of the country’s most competitive battlegrounds.
