Three years ago.

I was ready to fight to protect our democracy on January 6th ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Friends - Three years ago, emboldened by President Trump and people like Kari Lake, our democracy was pushed to the limit by the treasonous actions of violent insurrectionists. I was there. [Ruben Gallego at the Jan 6 insurrection, assisting his collegues]( As a Marine Corps veteran, I never imagined having to use my training to protect myself and my colleagues on the House floor. I never imagined teaching my House colleagues how to put on a gas mask and regulate their breathing. I never imagined I’d stay behind after the Capitol security came in to do one more sweep for colleagues who might have frozen and gone to cocoon somewhere hard to find. I never imagined I would ever have to teach my staff how to knock on the door of our office a certain way to signal it was them and not some attacker — something we did in the Marine Corps when surrounded by insurgents and you didn’t know who was good and who was bad. And I never imagined I’d have to text members of the House and urge them not to get on buses ready to evacuate us from the Capitol because if we left we’d lose the building to the coup. The truth is, I was ready to fight to protect our democracy on January 6th. I’m proud that Democrats returned to the floor and certified the election, and I’m proud of the work we’ve done to strengthen our elections and our democracy since then. But the threat has not gone away. It might even be greater now with election deniers like Kari Lake running for Senate, spreading the same lies and conspiracies that caused January 6th in the first place. Nothing less than our democracy itself is at stake this year. This anniversary is a gut check moment — are we going to step up and fight for it, or are we going to let it slip away? Marines are the first to the fight, and I’m not backing down. You can count on me to be on the frontlines, fighting as hard as I can to keep election deniers out of the Senate. But I can’t do it without you. [So please, can you contribute $3 today to my campaign for U.S. Senate in Arizona? Everything is going to come down to Arizona this year, and with Kari Lake running against me, we can’t let up. Not one bit.]( If you've stored your info with ActBlue, we'll process your contribution instantly. [Donate $3]( [Donate $25]( [Donate $50]( [Donate $100]( [Donate $250]( [Other Amount]( These are difficult times. But this country is our home. And there is nowhere I would rather be than here, fighting for our future. With you. Semper Fi, Ruben Gallego  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.](