A pretty wild story, if you have a minute

Back when I was that kid sleeping on the floor of our apartment, I never could’ve guessed this is how things would turn out. When I was a Marine in Iraq, I never could’ve guessed that I’d have to fight to defend our democracy at home. Hola, {NAME}. It’s Ruben. You might be wondering how this kid… [Ruben Gallego as a kid]( …ended up here, running for U.S. Senate, in one of the most competitive races in the entire country. [Gallego speaking]( Well, it started back in the apartment I shared with my mom and my sisters after our dad left. It was tough. I was sleeping on the floor because that’s all we could afford. [Gallego + his sisters]( 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. [Ruben Gallego]( Thanks to my family, my community, and a lot of hard work, I got into college. But before I graduated, I enlisted in the Marines to serve the country that gave me so much. [Gallego as a Marine]( 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 Marine hit unit of the entire Iraq war, and I lost some of my best friends over there. [Ruben Gallego in Iraq]( 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 running for Congress]( 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. [Gallego during January 6th insurrection]( 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. [Donald Trump / 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 split donation of $25 or anything you can to my campaign and Our Voice, Our Vote, it would mean the world. Our fundraising deadline is right around the corner, and we’ve got a ton of progress to make on our goals between now and then.]( [RUSH $5 >>]( [RUSH $25 >>]( [RUSH $50 >>]( [RUSH $100 >>]( [RUSH $250 >>]( [RUSH ANY AMOUNT >>]( Thank you. I couldn’t do this without you and the team we’ve built together. Semper Fi, Ruben Thank you for supporting Our Voice, Our Vote, {NAME}. Our massive team of Arizona organizers helped elect President Biden and flip the Senate BLUE in 2020 – and we just mobilized a record number of Democrats to reelect Senator Mark Kelly. Now, we're preparing to register thousands of new voters to STOP a Donald Trump comeback in 2024 and keep Arizona blue! [Donate now to elect Democrats]( [Donate now to elect Arizona Democrats →]( [Make a monthly donation to elect Arizona Democrats →]( Arizona has witnessed some of the worst far-right attacks since the 2020 election. From massive Republican disinformation campaigns to voter suppression laws that have ripped registration from tens of thousands of voters, Trump and his far-right allies like Kari Lake and Blake Masters have undermined our democracy again and again – but we won’t let them win. But we need help from strong Democrats like you to keep Arizona BLUE! If you really want to go, [click here to unsubscribe from our activist list](. If you’d like to donate to help us elect our endorsed Democratic candidates, [click here](. PAID FOR BY OUR VOICE, OUR VOTE [OURVOICEOURVOTE.US] AND NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE. [Donate now to elect Arizona Democrats →]( [Make a monthly donation to elect Arizona Democrats →](