Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said that he is considering running for the Democrat nomination for president in 2028.
"Obviously, like any other elected official, especially ones that won red states in 2024, we have to look at it," Gallego told NBC News.
"No matter who runs, even if it's not me, the candidate that wins in 2028 is going to have to get the Latino vote back to at least 62%," Gallego added.
"That is the 'pass go' line, collect $200 on the Monopoly board. We didn't hit that in 2024 and that's why we find ourselves in this situation," Gallego said.
The first-term Arizona senator, who was elected in 2024 even though President Donald Trump carried his swing state, said he would need approval from his family before jumping in.
"I have three kids, for now. We're a young family. We might want to have more," Gallego told NBC News.
"I have to look at it to make sure that I'm actually going to be good at it," Gallego added. "If someone else can win this, then there's no reason for me to be egotistical about this.
"Lastly, I feel like it has to be an extension of my service to the country," Gallego continued. "Because it's not easy. It's not easy to be away from your family. It's not easy having to sacrifice normal everyday stuff like not being able to be with your kids."
Gallego said Democrats need to bring Latino voters back into the fold. In 2024, Kamala Harris won the Latino vote 51% to 46%, while Joe Biden won Latino voters 65% to 32% in 2020, according to the NBC News Exit Poll.
"If you want this country to do better and be best, and you want to be the best in the world, then you need to invest in Latinos," Gallego said in a recent speech. "We are the future, we are the population, we are the market, we are the workers, we are the consumer."
In contrast to many Democrats, Gallego said he does not support abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
"If you talk to working-class Latinos, we're very, unfortunately, we have too much experience with immigration," Gallego said.
"We know there needs to be an immigration force that deports bad people. We want bad people out," Gallego added. "We want bad people stopped from getting in illegally."
But Gallego said he believes ICE needs to be reformed.
"We need to right-size it. We need to pen it in to make sure that it's not being abusive," Gallego said. "But this idea that there's not going to be an immigration enforcement mechanism this country is ridiculous, because that's never going to happen."
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.