It was only a matter of hours after he announced his decision to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Kyrsten Sinema, for less than flattering reports to fill social media about Democratic Rep Ruben Gallego.
https://twitter.com/joannamrod/status/1617562424793772033
“Once I was staffing @carloslcurbelo,” tweeted Joanna Rodriguez, Deputy Communications Director for the Republican Governor’s Association, referring to former U.S. Congressman Carlos Curbelo, “for a TV hit & @RubenGallego, who’d been on before him & I’d never met, made a lame joke about leaving wax on the ear piece, stuck his pinky in his ear & rubbed it across the front of my sweater. His policies suck, he’s gross & AZ can do better.”
During his tenure in the Arizona State Legislature, fellow Democrat lawmakers Catherine Miranda and Lydia Hernandez filed a harassment complaint against Gallego. The complaint by the two devout liberals focused on Gallego’s alleged comments that included an implication that Miranda was promiscuous.
Gallego, a short stout man, had earned the nickname “The Troll” while serving in the Arizona Legislature. According to one Capitol insider, Gallego “would pop up at the weirdest times always demanding something.”
The last time he popped up, to the embarrassment of Arizona voters, was when a photo of he and Rep. Eric Swalwell riding topless on a camel during a lobbyist-funded junket to Qatar made headlines and fueled endless social media memes.
The images from that trip won’t hurt him as much as his current advisor say experts.
According to The Washington Free Beacon, “Chuck Rocha will advise Gallego as he considers running to unseat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I., Ariz.), Politico reports. Rocha, who will lead Gallego’s Latino outreach efforts, was sentenced to 24 months probation and fined $2,000 in 2013 after he pleaded guilty to embezzling funds from the United Steelworkers International Union, where he served as political director. Rocha admitted to misusing a union credit card in 2008 and 2009 to pay for golf outings and Stanley Cup tickets.”