A pretty wild story, if you have a minute

‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Hola, my friend. It’s Ruben. You might be wondering how this kid… [Baby Ruben Gallego]( …ended up here, running for U.S. Senate, in one of the most competitive races in the entire country. [Ruben Gallego at rally in Arizona]( Well, it started back in the apartment I shared with my mom and my sisters. It was tough. I was sleeping on the floor because that’s all we could afford. [Photo of young Ruben Gallego]( I knew I had to do whatever it took to build a better life for us. I worked a bunch of jobs all through school to help make ends meet. [Young Ruben Gallego working]( Thanks to my family, my community, and a lot of hard work, I got into Harvard. But before I graduated, I enlisted in the Marines to serve the country that gave me so much. [Ruben Gallego in the military]( I deployed to al Anbar, Iraq with my brothers in arms. They called us “Lucky Lima”, but our luck turned eventually. We ended up the hardest hit Marine unit of the entire Iraq war, and I lost some of my best friends over there. [Ruben in the Marines]( You’re never the same person after something like that. And I knew I had to do something to improve things for the guys I served with, for people who grew up like me. So, I ended up running for Congress — and I won. [Ruben Gallego speaking]( Then, on January 6th, everything changed. It became clear to me that public service wasn’t just about improving the lives of the people in my community anymore — it was about defending our democracy, too. [Ruben Galleo in Congress]( So now, I’m running for U.S. Senate. My opponent Kari Lake continues to spread the same lies and conspiracies that caused January 6th in the first place, and she’s one of the greatest threats to our democracy — after Trump himself. [Trump and Kari Lake]( Back when I was that kid sleeping on the floor of our apartment, I never would’ve guessed this is how things would turn out. When I was a Marine in Iraq, I never would’ve thought I’d have to fight to defend our democracy at home. When I launched my first campaign, I never would’ve imagined that hundreds of thousands of people would back me up and donate to support me, either. And I never, ever would’ve thought I’d need to ask supporters like you, people who have already done so much, to do a bit more. But to defeat Kari Lake and win in Arizona, that’s what I have to do. I need you to do a bit more. [Please — if you can afford to make a donation of $5 or anything you can to my campaign, it would mean the world to me. The Democratic National Convention is right around the corner, and we’ve got a ton of progress to make on our goals between now and then.]( If you've stored your info with ActBlue, we'll process your contribution instantly. [Donate $5]( [Donate $25]( [Donate $50]( [Donate $100]( [Donate $250]( [Other Amount]( Thank you. I couldn’t do this without you and the team we’ve built together. Semper Fi, Ruben  Paid For By Gallego for Arizona Use of military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform do not imply endorsement by the Department of the Navy or the Department of Defense. This email was sent to [{EMAIL}](#). Emails like this are a critical tool for our campaign's fundraising and organizing efforts. If you'd like to receive only the most important emails going forward, [tell us at this link](. Or, if you need to, you can [unsubscribe here](. If you would like to support Ruben's campaign for Senate, please consider [making a donation today.](