WASHINGTON — Freshman Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona whose name has surfaced in early 2028 presidential speculation, has drawn scrutiny over campaign spending on high-end outings, family travel, Super Bowl tickets and other expenses.
Federal Election Commission filings show Gallego used money from his campaign accounts and political action committees to pay for trips that included Disney World, Disneyland, Miami, Chicago and other destinations, with family members accompanying him on some travel.
“He just spends his campaign account like it’s his personal slush fund,” a person familiar with Gallego’s spending patterns told Politico, which first reported the expenditures. “He’s using campaign cash to live a luxury lifestyle.”
Gallego’s office, however, has said the expenses were tied to political events and fundraising activity, including instances in which campaign funds covered travel and lodging for relatives.
In 2023, Gallego drew from a joint fundraising account he had established with former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) to attend Super Bowl LVII in Arizona with his wife.
The committee, called the “Swallego Victory Fund,” was created by Gallego and Swalwell in October 2022 and hosted a fundraiser around the championship game, spending more than $37,000 on tickets and meals at The Henry, a Phoenix restaurant.
Admission to the event was priced at $5,000, and the two Democrats brought in more than $56,000, leaving each with roughly $8,000 after expenses.
A spokesperson said the Super Bowl tickets were bought at “fair market value” and argued that holding fundraisers and donor events at sporting events is a routine campaign practice.
Notably, the Swallego Victory Fund stopped raising funds soon thereafter.
Gallego, a father of three, had launched his Senate campaign roughly three weeks prior.
Other pols have similarly benefited from campaign cash for major outings. President Trump, for instance, has had the Republican National Committee foot the bill for his attendance at a World Series game. Fellow Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly (D) attended Super Bowl LVII as well, but paid for it himself, according to Politico.
Gallego also spent $18,000 from his PAC and campaign coffers on child care since 2019. That included a $400 payment to his mother-in-law for babysitting.
“The FEC has stated that childcare may be reimbursed,” Gallego said in response to the revelations. “There is a simple reason: we want Congress to look like America. Not just people without children, those with grown children, or those from wealthy backgrounds.”
“I’m one of the few members of Congress with young children,” he added. “Because I’m not a millionaire (I’m one of the least wealthy members of Congress), every month is a game of childcare, travel, and scheduling balancing.”
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“[T]hese pieces swirling around are accusing me of this: fundraising as all politicians do, but doing it as the father of children under 10. That’s it.”
Technically, FEC rules permit lawmakers to use campaign committee cash for child care, travel, and more if they’re not being deployed for “personal use.”
For leadership PACs like his JUNTOS PAC, the rules are even more flexible and don’t have a “personal use” provision.
Gallego also took his family on trips to Disney World and Disneyland, where he participated in PAC retreats. His office insisted they were all related to political activities, including Rep. Lou Correa’s PAC retreat.
Records show the Disneyland jaunt cost close to $1,500 for accommodations, not including flights.
At one point, he traveled to St. Barts for his wife, Sydney’s St. Barts boss’ birthday, and then went to Miami for his wife’s own birthday, which included a hotel stay that cost his PAC over $9,000, per FEC records.
Gallego’s team contends the Miami jaunt was for fundraising purposes on President’s Day weekend, and that the senator partook in nine different political events where he raised over $50,000.
Last year, Gallego went to Chicago’s Little Village, where he railed against federal immigration enforcement activity there. During that time, the senator’s and his family’s accommodations cost his PAC close to $1,500.
The Arizona senator was just in South Carolina last week, which was the kickoff state on the Democrats’ 2024 presidential calendar amid buzz about his potential 2028 aspirations.
