NH Bulletin: Arizona senator backtracks on previous rebukes of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation status
During a visit to New Hampshire Friday, U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego said New Hampshire “definitely has to be in the mix” to be the first primary election in the 2028 U.S. presidential cycle despite telling the state to “move on” a few years back.
In 2021, as Democrats debated whether to move the beginning of the presidential primary election season to South Carolina, the Arizona Democrat posted to social media: “Love my friends in Iowa and New Hampshire but time to move on. South Carolina and Nevada should start the primaries.”
However, his view seems to have changed.
“I won’t tell the DNC what to do,” he told reporters before a town hall in Nashua. “I will say that, the Democrats, as you notice, we’re hemorrhaging independent voters. We’re going to have to figure out how to win independent voters. This is a state that will probably be one of those really pivotal states where Democrats figure that out. But it definitely has to be, in my opinion, definitely has to be in the mix, especially considering how politics has changed.”
Asked about his previous statements, Gallego said: “Certainly, that was a response to what was happening on the ground back in the day.”
During his visit, Gallego — who also visited Iowa the same month and Pennsylvania in May — stoked rumors he was considering a 2028 presidential run. Friday, he also visited union workers alongside New Hampshire U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, answered questions from voters at a Nashua townhall with U.S. Rep. Maggie Goodlander, and participated in the New Hampshire Institute of Politics’ “Politics and Eggs” event, a common stop for New Hampshire primary candidates. However, the Arizona Democrat denied the speculation.
“I don’t know where my future goes,” he said at the Institute of Politics. “I don’t see it happening. Largely because I have three kids and a new one.”
He said his trip was meant to simply support Democrats like Pappas and Goodlander.