OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Kari Lake’s Senate campaign took an unexpected turn today following a bombshell court ruling that revealed sealed divorce records from her opponent’s past.
Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who filed for divorce from his then-wife, Kate Gallego, in 2016, lost a protracted legal battle to keep the case private. The Washington Free Beacon prevailed in a 10-month court fight, culminating in the Arizona Supreme Court’s rejection of Gallego’s final appeal to keep the documents sealed.
Gallego filed a memorandum to the court that year stating that Kate Gallego “had not yet been served” with divorce papers and “her attorney entered an appearance” hadn’t yet occurred in the case, noting that she was “likely to give birth any day,” according to The Washington Free Beacon. The divorce petition said that the “parties’ marriage is irretrievably broken” and saw “no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.”
That said, it appears that Kate Gallego was caught off-guard by the filing. In a February 2017 response to his divorce filing, she said she was “without knowledge of information sufficient to form a belief” that the marriage wasn’t fixable and thus refuted her then-husband’s claim.
In short, Ruben Gallego’s wife, then a Phoenix city councilwoman, was extremely pregnant when she was served with divorce papers she had no idea were coming, the Free Beacon noted.
According to the Free Beacon, the court documents also indicate that the congressman was attempting to saddle his wife with court costs under an Arizona law that allows courts to grant such fees. Kate Gallego, in her February 2017 filing, requested the court to “enter an order that husband contribute to wife’s attorney’s fees and costs.”
In his initial request to the court, Ruben Gallego aimed to block any claims to “long-term spousal maintenance” from Kate, urging the judge to rule that “neither party is in need of nor entitled to an award of long term spousal maintenance.” She initially claimed that she was “entitled to spousal maintenance,” but she later dropped it and agreed that both of them were financially independent and not in need of any assistance. The divorce was finalized in April 2017.
Although divorce records are public in Arizona, Ruben Gallego argued that this case should be treated differently because “each party is a high profile public official” and the “case will likely receive intense scrutiny from the media,” the filings said, according to the Beacon.
On Wednesday, the Arizona Supreme Court rejected the Gallegos’ request to keep redacted records confidential while they appealed earlier court decisions. The release of these records brings a level of personal scrutiny that Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, aimed to avoid during the crucial final phase of his Senate campaign against Republican Kari Lake. Gallego has consistently maintained that his post-traumatic stress disorder from serving in the Iraq War played a significant role in his divorce.
Lake noted on the “Broomhead Show” on Wednesday that the divorce records contain “some damning information” about her opponent, adding: “We don’t know the truth about Ruben.”
Just over a year later, according to his account, the 39-year-old Gallego met 25-year-old Sydney Barron at the congressional baseball game. His own narratives of what transpired next differ. In his book, They Called Us Lucky, Gallego states that he proposed to Sydney in February 2019, just eight months after their initial meeting: “In February 2019, I asked her to marry me,” he writes. The couple was legally married in December 2019 but announced their engagement on social media two months later, in February 2020.
Earlier this month, Lake got a massive boost in her campaign for the U.S. Senate this week that should help her pick up additional voters who may have been on the fence about her.
Former Arizona GOP Gov. Doug Ducey has endorsed Donald Trump, signaling a notable shift despite their previous disagreements, and has also endorsed Lake.
In a series of posts on X, Ducey stated, “I will be voting for Republicans up & down the ballot in November – and both Donald Trump and Kari Lake have my endorsement.” He emphasized that, despite any past differences, the stakes in this election are too high to do otherwise.
Having a Republican in the White House, along with a GOP majority in both the House and Senate, is essential, he added.
