US Rep. Ruben Gallego ‘very interested’ in running for Senate in 2020

PHOENIX — U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego is “very interested” in running for Senate next year as a potential challenger to Republican U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, according to a source close to the lawmaker.

Gallego met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York this week, the Democratic congressman’s adviser told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday.

The Hill reported that Gallego, Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairwoman Catherine Cortez Masto met at the committee’s headquarters Wednesday evening. 

“I’m basically making the final decision (to run for Senate) and we’ll have that in the next couple weeks,” Gallego told the publication.

But Gallego may not be the only Democrat in the running for the seat: CNN’s David Wright reported that Schumer and Cortez Masto also met with former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords’ husband Mark Kelly and former Arizona attorney general Grant Woods.

The publication also reported that 314 Action, a political action committee that seeks to elect scientists, was launching a campaign to get Kelly to run for federal office.

Schumer previously threw his support behind Kyrsten Sinema, who was elected as Arizona’s first female U.S. senator in November. She is serving alongside McSally, who was appointed to the seat in December to succeed Jon Kyl.

Gallego was elected to his third House term in November. If he is elected to the Senate seat in 2020, he would be the third Arizonan and first Democrat to serve in the seat held by John McCain until his August death from brain cancer.

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