Rep. Gallego: Sinema is 'deeply disappointing' - POLITICO - Politico

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Some 80 miles away, voting rights activists will demonstrate, increasing pressure on Arizona’s Democratic Sen.

Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), a Marine Corps vet who served in Iraq, called out Sinema by name in his own speech Thursday, setting up a likely primary challenge between the two … in 2024.

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“We won’t shrink from protecting our democracy and the voting rights of all Americans,” Gallego, the son of immigrants, a Colombian mother and a Mexican father, said on the House floor.

We chop it up with the four-term congressman about federal voting rights legislation — and why he thinks the head coach of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals needs to be fired, stat.

THE RECAST: The House passed voting rights legislation to kick-start this showdown in the Senate.

GALLEGO: Well, I certainly think that it is the best approach, because you're not dealing with opposition from the public.

I think it's important that we talk in that manner.

Now, there’s this push on voting rights, which many advocates say is too little, too late.

I don't think this is one where we're somehow going to fail on the Voting Rights Act and therefore the Building Back Better also fails — that's not at all what I think is gonna happen.

But it doesn't help obviously, if [voting rights] fails, either.

Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) attends a House Natural Resources Committee in June 2020.

THE RECAST: Well, let's talk about the two Democratic senators from Arizona: Kyrsten Sinema who certainly gets a lot of headlines because of her position on not wanting to change the filibuster rule?

What do you make of Arizona having this sort of outsize power with the president's future agenda plans.

GALLEGO: I think having Sen.

And he has given some indication that, given the choice between getting this done or [not] letting voting rights pass, then he would probably side with, obviously, getting voting rights passed.

I think it's more deeply disappointing that Sen.

THE RECAST: Former President Trump is coming to Arizona, right outside your district.

Why do you think some Arizona residents and elected officials are receptive to that kind of message.

GALLEGO: The way that we play [is] as if we have fair voting laws.

THE RECAST: On the flip side of that rally, there's also going to be demonstrations by liberal activists calling for a change to the filibuster rule6

and the leaders of the Arizona civil rights movement, than be in the company of the former president and his anti-Democratic allies.

Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., stands on a chair as lawmakers prepare to evacuate the floor as rioters try to break into the House Chamber on Jan.

THE RECAST: Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I feel like you have certainly found your voice within the last couple of years or so.

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And I think it's been really helpful for me to kind of grow into this office.

Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a first generation American whose mother is Colombian, in February 2019?

THE RECAST: Merrick Garland, the attorney general, last week gave this forceful defense of where things stood with the Jan.

He says it's ongoing, reminding the public more than 700 people have been charged and roughly 300 of them with felonies.

GALLEGO: Well, it's great that [DOJ is] getting all the foot soldiers.

Ruben Gallego, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, responds to questions at the Capitol in January 2020.

THE RECAST: The attorney general said the investigation is a systematic process, right.

Ruben Gallego, left, and his wife Kate Gallego celebrate his win in the Democratic primary in the 7th Congressional District in August 2014.

THE RECAST: On Monday, there's an NFL playoff game with the Arizona Cardinals taking on the Los Angeles Rams.

THE RECAST: Whoa.

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