by Robin Opsahl
Arizona U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego will visit Iowa during the Iowa State Fair and hold other events in the state to talk about the impacts of the budget reconciliation bill, he announced Wednesday.
Gallego, a Democrat, was elected to the U.S. Senate in the 2024 general election, defeating Republican Kari Lake. He was previously a member of the U.S. House representing Arizona, serving from 2015 to 2025 when he took the Senate seat. He has gained some national attention for saying there is room for Democrats to work with the Trump administration on issues related to immigration and border security. Gallego, alongside Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, backed the Laken Riley Act, the immigration law moved forward earlier this year.
While Gallego has found some areas to work with Republicans, his trip to Iowa will be focused on the “big, beautiful bill” signed by President Donald Trump earlier in July. The bill makes cuts to programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, in addition to making 2017 tax cuts permanent and increasing immigration enforcement funding.
In a news release announcing the trip, Gallego’s staff said the Arizona Democrat plans to talk with voters about how the law will impact Iowans and how “leaders like Joni Ernst and Mariannette Miller-Meeks turned their back on Iowans to give billionaires yet another tax cut.”
“Like most Iowans, Ruben Gallego didn’t grow up having things handed to him — he had to work hard and pay his dues,” Raphael Chavez-Fernandez, Gallego’s chief of staff 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 plans to speak with voters at the Iowa State Fair in a visit on Friday, Aug. 8. He also plans to hold a town hall in Scott County Aug. 9, cohosted by the Iowa Democratic Party and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Though Iowa is no longer first in the Democratic presidential nominating cycle, a politician visiting the Iowa State Fair historically indicates their interest in a presidential run. Gallego also made a visit in May to Bucks County in Pennsylvania, a swing area that Trump won in 2024. Gallego told reporters there he has received encouragement from Democrats to campaign for the presidency, but a 2028 run was not at the top of his mind.
“Has it ever crossed my mind?” Gallego said in an interview, according to NBC News. “… Of course, I’m an elected official, it crosses my mind. Am I thinking about it right now? Absolutely not.”
Gallego also headlined a virtual emergency town hall with the Alaska Democratic Party earlier in July to discuss the budget reconciliation bill.
Other Democrats who are considered potential constants for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination have also made recent Iowa visits to discuss Trump and Republicans’ policies. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election, held a Des Moines event in March, and former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg spoke in Cedar Rapids in May.
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