Gallego raises $3.3M in 4th quarter, exceeding Lake in Arizona Senate race 

Progressive Rep. Ruben Gallego (D), who is running for independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat in Arizona, announced Monday that his campaign raised an impressive $3.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, collecting an average of $29 from more than 114,000 donations. 

Gallego’s fundraising haul exceeds the $2.1 million that former television news anchor and Senate Republican candidate Kari Lake raised between mid-October and the end of December. 

He announced that he has raised more than $13 million since announcing his Senate bid in January 2023, and he heads into the election year with $6.5 million in cash on hand.  

“Over the past year, our campaign has built the infrastructure to take on whatever comes our way in 2024 thanks to the support of hundreds of thousands of small-dollar donors who chipped in what they could to elect Ruben Gallego,” said Gallego’s campaign manager, Nichole Johnson. “Arizonans know it is time to elect a senator who will actually fight for them — which is why our campaign continues to dominate the competition as we prepare to win this senate race.” 

Gallego’s campaign war chest puts him on solid footing to challenge Sinema, if she decides to run for a second Senate term.  

Sinema has until April to decide whether to run for reelection and won’t say publicly which way she’s leaning.   

Asked last month if she’s more likely to run if she’s successful in hammering out a bipartisan deal on border security, Sinema dismissed it as a “dumb question.”  

Sinema reported $10.8 million in cash on hand at the end of September, according to campaign finance data published by the Federal Election Commission.  

If Sinema runs, it would likely set up a three-way race with Gallego and Lake, who are favored to win the Democratic and Republican Senate nominations, respectively.  

Sinema left the Democratic Party in December 2022 to register as an independent.  

A Noble Predictive Insights poll of 1,010 Arizonans in late October showed Gallego leading a three-way hypothetical match-up with Lake and Sinema.  

The survey showed him with 39 percent support. Lake garnered 33 percent while Sinema attracted 29 percent.