U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego will make a stop through Iowa in August — a move that likely will generate presidential primary chatter for the Arizona Democrat as well as renewed buzz for Iowa, where some Democrats are eager to regain a foothold on the presidential nominating calendar.
Gallego will attend the Iowa State Fair Aug. 8 — a quintessential presidential campaign stop — and then travel to the Quad Cities Aug. 9 where he’ll attend a town hall in Scott County, his staff told the Des Moines Register. That event will be co-hosted by the Iowa Democratic Party and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
According to his staff, Gallego plans to speak directly to voters about the “disastrous budget bill” Republicans passed and President Donald Trump signed into law July 4.
“Like most Iowans, Ruben Gallego didn’t grow up having things handed to him — he had to work hard and pay his dues,” Gallego’s chief of staff, Raphael Chavez-Fernandez, said in a statement. “That’s why he’s headed to the Hawkeye State to call out those who backed Trump’s billionaire tax scam at the expense of Iowa’s good, hard working people. Ruben’s not afraid to say the quiet part out loud: that Iowa families are getting screwed, and Iowans deserve leaders who will fight for them every single day.”
Gallego defeated MAGA firebrand Kari Lake in 2024 to become Arizona’s first Latino U.S. senator, and he is seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party after winning a battleground state that Republican President Donald Trump also carried.
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Arizona Senate candidates Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and Kari Lake answer questions during the Arizona Clean Election Commission debate at BitFire Studios on Oct. 9, 2024.
That victory came in part by overperforming among Latino voters compared with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, a key constituency that Democrats struggled to court in 2024.
Gallego is one of several national Democrats who appear to be positioning themselves for a potential White House bid in 2028.
Without an incumbent on the ballot or an heir apparent waiting in the wings, the Democratic primary field is expected to be a wide open free-for-all.
Gallego stoked speculation about his future ambitions by traveling to Pennsylvania, a key presidential battleground, in May. He held a town hall with local Democrats to help draw attention to Republicans who were not holding public meetings with their constituents.
Gallego has also looked to raise his national profile on immigration-related issues, co-sponsoring the Laken Riley Act in the Senate and releasing a campaign-style immigration plan.
More: Sen. Ruben Gallego for president? New border security, immigration plan fuels speculation
Other would-be presidential contenders are also making the rounds to other key states as the 2028 shadow primary begins to unfold.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said July 6 he is considering a possible 2028 run. And on July 8, California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a two-day tour of South Carolina, the state that led off the 2024 primary calendar for Democrats.
Is Iowa back in the conversation as 2028 shadow primary unfolds?
Gallego’s trip to Iowa may help renew a conversation about whether Iowa belongs in the early state lineup as the 2028 presidential primary process gets underway.
It follows a May appearance by former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who held his first public in-person appearance since leaving his cabinet post in January. He drew a standing-room-only crowd and a throng of national reporters.
Although Iowa no longer officially leads off the presidential nominating calendar, Buttigieg’s visit to Iowa still generated national media attention and lots of questions about his future plans.
Buttigieg declined to weigh in when asked by reporters whether Iowa should reclaim its first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses. But he touted what the caucus experience did for his rise.
“People like me are takers and not makers of the rules on that,” he said. “What I will say is that Iowa showed me what can happen through a process where you have to be in backyards and do four town halls a day. It made it possible for somebody like me to emerge as a national figure, and it certainly made me better, not just as a candidate, but I think ultimately, as a public servant, when I did have the opportunity to serve in the Capitol.”
When Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart was reelected to another term as chair in January, she said she would hold listening sessions around the state to determine how the party’s grassroots wanted to move forward with the caucuses.
And when the Democratic National Committee removed longtime Rules and Bylaws Committee member Scott Brennan from the panel that sets the presidential nominating calendar, Brennan left the door open to holding a rogue event that goes against the DNC’s official calendar in 2028.
“I think that we are certainly not constrained in any way from doing what Iowa Democrats and our chair decide,” he said at the time.
Other Iowa Democrats have also suggested holding a first-in-the-nation nominating event, even if it goes against the DNC’s wishes.
Iowa House Minority Leader Brian Meyer, D-Des Moines, said on a June 27 episode of Iowa Press that he will push for Iowa Democrats to reclaim their spot at the front of the presidential nominating calendar.
“At the end of the day, we can get rid of the weird math that we do as Democrats and just adopt what the Republicans have done, which is more like a straw poll,” Meyer said. “Just have a straw poll, and just move forward with this.”
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ruben Gallego to visit Iowa State Fair amid 2028 presidential buzz