Regardless of what is said on the campaign trail, the truth of a politician lies within their stocks.
Democratic congressional candidate Marlene Galan-Woods is no exception to this time-tested rule. Galan-Woods has joined the Democratic bandwagon criticizing Elon Musk for political gain, while secretly getting rich off of stocks owned in Musk’s lucrative Tesla company.
“[Trump] is a dictator wannabe with [Musk,] an unelected, out-of-touch billionaire tearing apart the country,” said Galan-Woods in an interview with Blog for Arizona last March.
Galan-Woods also referred to Musk as an “unelected jackass.” However, it appears she has retained her faith in Musk’s business acumen.
Galan-Wood’s most recent financial disclosure indicates that she owned between $180,000 and $450,000 in Tesla stock as of last summer. Galan-Woods filed a request to extend the deadline for her most recent financial disclosure to next week, though it was due last month.
Galan-Woods’ stock ownership experienced a significant growth sometime between 2024 and 2025. Her Tesla stock ownership went from the $67,000 to $180,000 range in 2024 to the higher range more recently reported.
Galan-Woods used the popularity among Democrats of negative rhetoric against Musk to help launch her campaign. She lambasted Musk as an “unelected billionaire” harming government in one of her initial campaign launch videos early last year. Galan-Woods, however, hasn’t touched on the impact on government to be had by electeds who make their wealth on those they claim to be against.
At the time of Galan-Woods’ targeting, Musk was the leader of President Donald Trump’s temporary initiative created to cut down on waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending: the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk exited the Trump administration last May.
Prior to DOGE’s launch on Inauguration Day, the Trump administration arranged to have Musk co-lead DOGE with Vivek Ramaswamy, now the Republican candidate for Ohio governor. Musk gave Ramaswamy the boot on day one over the latter’s controversial online commentary criticizing American culture in praise of H-1B visas.
DOGE was launched on Trump’s first day in office and has since gone through multiple restructuring iterations. Last November, the Office of Personnel Management advised that DOGE was no longer independent and had been absorbed into their agency, though the initiative’s standalone website remains active. The DOGE initiative is scheduled to end on July 4 of this year.
Galan-Woods also reported between $65,000 and $150,000 in Palantir stock, the company co-founded and chaired by Musk’s longtime business partner and GOP megadonor Peter Thiel.
The 1st Congressional District is a crowded race for the Democrats. Three other Democrats are running to replace Rep. David Schweikert, the Republican who currently holds the seat and is leaving to run for governor: Rick McCartney, Amish Shah, and Jonathan Treble.
A review of their financial disclosure records reflects no stock ownership in Tesla or Palantir.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has exerted their influence in the race. The DCCC endorsed Galan-Woods early last month and added her to their Red to Blue program: a special arrangement where the DCCC provides special resources like staff, campaign strategy, training, and fundraising help.
DCCC has two other Arizona Democrat candidates in their Red to Bllue program: former Navajo Nation president Jonathan Nez for the 2nd Congressional District, and retired Marine candidate JoAnna Mendoza for the 6th Congressional District.
Galan-Woods made an unsuccessful congressional run in 2024. She lost in the Democratic primary to Shah.
Galan-Woods has raised over $1.5 million, per Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.
Likewise, three Republicans are in the race: John Trobough, Joseph Chaplik, and Thomas “Jay” Feely. There is one Libertarian in the race, Monica Alponte.
Arizona Clean Elections’ primary debates are scheduled June 23 for the Democratic candidates and June 24 for the Republican candidates.
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