CHICAGO — Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., gazed at the Chicago Hilton Hotel's vaulted ceilings and reflected on its grandeur. When he was a kid growing up with a single mother on Chicago's South Side, he said, he couldn't dream of being in a place like this.
Once he entered an expansive ballroom packed with 900 people — a mostly Latino audience attending the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association's annual dinner — Gallego, who can move in and out of speaking Spanish, shook hands and stopped for photos and then took the stage to deliver an address riddled with notes of national devotion.
"Let's be clear about one thing, and let's not let anybody forget, especially in this environment right now: Latinos are patriots," Gallego said to applause. "We have loved this country, even if this country does not fully love us."
In an interview before the dinner last week, the Marine Corps veteran and Harvard University graduate held up his appeal to Latinos as among the reasons he would consider a run 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 said. "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%. 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."
Just one year into his Senate tenure after a bitter 2024 campaign against Republican Kari Lake, Gallego, 46, a father of three, said there are several considerations he must still make as he weighs a potential presidential bid. Chief among them was getting approval from his family and determining whether he could take on a national campaign and still be a present father.
"I have three kids — for now. We're a young family. We might want to have more," Gallego said. "I have to look at it to make sure that I'm actually going to be good at it."
He said he also has to consider that "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 spoke of how his father, who is Mexican, was abusive and eventually left the family. His mother, who is Colombian, raised him and his sisters. He said it was important for him to not be an absent dad after growing up without a dad in the house.
Gallego spent his early years on Chicago's South Side, in the Gage Park neighborhood, then moved to the village of Evergreen Park when he was in 7th grade.
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While in town on Thursday, Gallego met with some political donors as well as with local supporters and community leaders who are active in Latino civic political engagement.
He then talked about growing up in the Chicago area, where he worked at construction sites, learning how to hang drywall as a teen and pumping a keg when he was in 6th grade.
For now, Gallego said he would continue talking to Democrats about winning back the Latino electorate that abandoned the party in the 2024 presidential contest. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris only narrowly carried Latinos, 51%-46%,according to the NBC News Exit Poll, after Democrats won them 65%-32%in 2020.
Gallego said that for politicians to connect with Latinos, they had to talk about achieving the American Dream, about getting ahead and not wanting handouts. He said as much while talking to the HACIA crowd.
"We built this country during Covid, we helped this country survive, and we should take pride in that. It was Latino hands that kept going to those fields and picking the food of this country when everyone else had the option of staying home," Gallego told the group.
"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," he said. "We are the future, we are the population, we are the market, we are the workers, we are the consumer."
On the latest major issues, Gallego said he rejected the"abolish ICE" messagethat many Democrats are now espousing.
"If you talk to working-class Latinos, we're very, unfortunately, we have too much experience with immigration. We know there needs to be an immigration force that deports bad people. We want bad people out. We want bad people stopped from getting in illegally," Gallego said.
"We do need to reform it," he continued. "We need to right-size it. We need to pen it in to make sure that it's not being abusive. 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."
On Israel, Gallego said he disagreed with those who have said they'd oppose defensive money for the country, including for the Iron Dome missile defense system.
Gallego said he does not support offering Israel money for offensive capabilities because he disagrees with many aspects of their military operations, including the war in Iran and the nation's treatment of Lebanon. But money for defense was different.
"Like any other ally in this in this world, I can't imagine stopping defensive weapons going to any of our friends, because in that situation, if they're raining down bombs, you're hitting people that are, especially in Israel, they're Arabs, Christians, Jews, people that are pro-war, against war. It's indiscriminatory," said Gallego, whodeployed to Iraq in 2005and whose unit suffered heavy casualties. "I know that's not a popular thing. I'm sure everyone wants to be on the other side, but I've seen civilians get hurt in war by both sides, and it's not, it's not something you want to be responsible for."