Mark Kelly endorses Rep. Ruben Gallego for 2024 Arizona Senate race

PHOENIX — U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly has officially thrown his support behind Rep. Ruben Gallego, who will compete in the 2024 Arizona Senate race.

“I’ve known Ruben for years and he’s the type of leader who can bring people together in the Senate to solve real problems, like creating good-paying jobs for Arizonans and supporting veterans,” Kelly said in a Wednesday statement.

His endorsement came one day after Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced she wouldn’t run for reelection, which narrowed the race down to Gallego, a Democrat, and Kari Lake, a Republican.

“Kari Lake can’t do that,” Kelly continued. “She uses politics to divide people and is more focused on denying the results of elections years in the past than she is on real challenges facing Arizonans today, like the freedom for Arizona women to make their own decisions about abortion.”

Reproductive rights group also supports Gallego in the 2024 Arizona Senate race

Reproductive Freedom for All, which has been advocating for reproductive rights for over 50 years, endorsed Gallego in October 2023.

The organization is part of Arizona for Abortion Access, a coalition that wants to collect 400,000 petition signatures. If it meets that goal, Arizonans will vote on whether or not to codify abortion access in the state’s constitution during the November elections.

Proud to endorse @RubenGallego for the U.S. Senate, marking our 1st endorsement as Reproductive Freedom for All!

Electing him could mean the difference between protecting abortion & voting rights or allowing extremist Republicans to continue to attack our rights. Let’s go, AZ!✨ pic.twitter.com/ra6zBowVeo

— Reproductive Freedom for All (@reproforall) October 4, 2023

There’s a lot at stake in the 2024 general election, Gallego said.

“We share an unwavering commitment to protecting abortion access for Arizona families and doing everything we can to bring down everyday costs,” he said. “I have a lot of respect for Mark and look forward to working alongside him to deliver for Arizonans in the Senate.”