Rep. Ruben Gallego, the presumptive Democratic candidate for Senate in Arizona, has raised $7.5 million in the first three months of this year, his campaign announced Tuesday. This is a significant amount for a competitive general election in a battleground state.
Mr. Gallego, a former Marine and progressive lawmaker, has fueled a strong fundraising cycle so far with a big campaign haul, but his candidacy is clearly pushing back the center-left senator. It will test how motivated Arizonans are to elect him. Arizona has been a reliably Republican state for decades, but Democrats have been elected to statewide office in recent years.
Gallego, who does not have a major primary challenger, will likely face Kari Lake, a former television anchor and close ally of former President Donald J. Trump, in November. This election will determine the successor to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who is not seeking re-election. Lake is facing his primary challenger, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who has a wide lead in the polls.
So far, Mr. Gallego has raised more money than Mr. Lake, but Mr. Lake has not yet released his latest quarterly fundraising numbers. Lake entered the race more recently than Gallego, who announced his candidacy in January 2023. His campaign raised $3.3 million in the final quarter of 2023, and her campaign received $2.1 million.
Mr. Gallego's latest tally comes from Democratic incumbents such as Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio ($6.6 million in the last three months of 2023) and Sen. Jon Tester of Montana ($5.5 million in the last three months of 2023). However, it is difficult to compare the number of donations between states.
If his financial advantage continues, he could be able to flood the airwaves with ads in states with relatively expensive television markets. Mr. Gallego's campaign spent about $1 million on the cycle's first ads, which began running in March. Lake, who also ran for governor in 2022 and defeated him, aired his first ad in January.
The Gallego campaign announced a rosy fundraising picture two weeks before the April 15 deadline, with more than $9.6 million in cash on hand and more than 100,000 people donating in the last quarter, more than half of whom donated. said he was a donor. First time donor.
“Thanks to the support of hundreds of thousands of small donors who gave what they could to elect Ruben Gallego, we are building the infrastructure to win this November's election. “There are,” said Nicole Johnson, Gallego's campaign manager. statement.
Outside groups could help make up for the deficit Lake faces in raising funds. She has the backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, a group dedicated to electing Republicans to the Senate, and is raising money alongside top Senate Republicans like John Barrasso of Wyoming. She raised $330,000 at a fundraiser in Washington last month with nearly 20 Senate Republicans, and plans to raise even more this week at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. is.
Mr. Gallego will also receive support from outside groups. The Democratic group Senate Majority PAC last month announced $239 million in TV reservations in seven states, including $23 million in Arizona.