U.S. Congressman Ruben Gallego speaks at a rally for Vice President Kamala Harris at Desert Diamond Arena on Aug. 10, 2024 in Glendale, Arizona. Photo by Gage Skidmore Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
After a 10-month legal fight with an out-of-state conservative news outlet and promises from Republican Kari Lake of a “bombshell” contained within, Ruben and Kate Gallegos’ newly unsealed divorce records revealed no such thing.
Both Gallegos are Democrats running for office in the November election who have accused the Washington Free Beacon, which petitioned for the records, of political motivations.
U.S. Congressman Ruben Gallego is hoping to beat Lake, his Republican opponent, in the run for a U.S. Senate seat, which could determine which party controls the chamber. Kate Gallego is up for reelection as Phoenix Mayor.
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The Arizona Mirror reviewed the divorce documents, unsealed on Thursday, and found them to detail standard divorce proceedings, including the dividing of property and assets, as well as custody and child support arrangements. They included no details of any illegal activity and expressly stated — a standard disclosure in divorce proceedings — that no physical abuse had occurred.
Both Gallegos — who remain political allies — fought to keep their divorce records under seal.
“We demand an apology from Kari Lake for lying about our family and the circumstances of our divorce,” Ruben and Kate Gallego said in a written statement. “She will stop at nothing to score a cheap political point — even if it means endangering the privacy and well-being of our young son. We have long put our child before all else and will continue to do so. The judge in this case has recognized how standard the records are, and it is shameful that Lake, her allies, and those who amplify her cruelty refuse to respect two people who are just trying to raise a beautiful boy together.”
Lake has denied any involvement with the suit, but the details surrounding the Gallegos’ divorce is one of her frequent talking points when criticizing her opponent.
Ruben and Kate were married in 2010, and in 2014, Ruben was elected to represent the 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House. The two began divorce proceedings in December 2016 and their son was born in January 2017.
The Beacon in January filed a suit in Yavapai County Superior Court, where the divorce took place, to unseal the documents from the divorce, which was finalized in 2017. A legal battle followed until an Arizona appeals court on Oct. 10 ordered the records to be unsealed.
The Arizona Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the Gallegos’ request for an extended stay of the documents’ release, citing privacy concerns for their minor child.
Lake, who has been consistently trailing by around eight percentage points in recent polls, frequently mentions the details of the Gallegos’ divorce when verbally attacking her opponent.
“He’s hiding something bad,” Lake posted on X Wednesday, the day before the documents were unsealed.
In a written statement on Thursday, advisor to Lake’s campaign Caroline Wren wrote that the “revelations” from the divorce records were “shocking.” One of those revelations, Wren said, was that Ruben asked Kate to pay his attorney fees.
An attorney for the Washington Free Beacon wrote in a Thursday filing to the Arizona Supreme Court that the people of Arizona deserved to see the records before voting in the November election. Lake has echoed those comments on social media.
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