Democrat in swing state race spends campaign cash at luxury hotels and restaurants

Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) shelled out thousands of dollars from his 2024 Senate campaign in the third quarter of this year at resort-style hotels and swanky restaurants across the United States, records show.

Between July and September, Gallego’s Senate campaign disclosed sprinkling cash at luxury establishments catering to the wealthy and well-connected in major cities, including Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, the Daily Caller reported. The congressman is notably looking to unseat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), who has earned the ire of liberals since leaving the Democratic Party last year. The seat is a “toss up,” according to the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan elections tracker.

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Republicans are likely to harp on the fine dining and hotel payments in the lead-up to the 2024 election as an apparent example of Gallego being out-of-touch while prices increase and Americans struggle to pay bills. Job growth slowed to 150,000 in October, and inflation hit 3.7% in September. The Arizona Democrat has come under the spotlight this year for taking more than $100,000 from corporate donors and lobbyists, despite calling out Sinema for being an “advocate” for the “rich and the powerful” and having ties to “deep-pocketed lobbyists.”

Gallego’s campaign made six payments in July for “lodging” totaling over $3,000 and reported a $738 refund in August to Puerto Rico’s Fairmont El San Juan, a four-star hotel featuring a spa with “nirvana stress relief” and “alpine arnica deep tissue” massages, records show.

The campaign spent $3,417 in July at Miami’s famous five-star Fontainebleau hotel, $137 in July at Washington, D.C.’s Waldorf Astoria, another five-star hotel, and $1,345 at the four-star Hyatt Centric Loop Chicago, filings show.

(J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Gallego’s campaign also spent over $2,600 at Hyatt hotels in Washington, D.C., Texas, Arizona, and other states, according to the Daily Caller. Meanwhile, it used up funds at Charlie Palmer Steak in the nation’s capital, which boasts a $158 prime dry-aged porterhouse for two and a $160 “Le Magnifique” seafood platter, as well as Nashville’s Southern Steak & Oysters, Calico’s Kingman in Arizona, and Shelly’s Back Room in Washington, D.C., records show.

Along with Ohio and West Virginia, the Arizona Senate seat is expected to be one of the most competitive in 2024. While Sinema hasn’t announced a bid yet, failed 2022 Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is also running. So is Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.

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A poll released on Oct. 10 found Lake and Gallego tied at 44% in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup, but Lake would win by 4% if Sinema runs as an independent, the Washington Examiner reported.

The Gallego campaign did not return a request for comment.