Gallego's past drinking comes under new scrutiny
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Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego wrote in a 2021 book about "drinking a lot" and "taking nonprescription painkillers like candy" as he was coping with post-traumatic stress disorder and injuries after serving in combat in the Iraq war.
Why it matters: The passages shed light on Gallego's history of heavy drinking and partying — a rough-and-tumble past that top Democrats now think could be a liability as he moves toward a 2028 presidential bid.
- Democratic operatives are giving Gallego's past a second look because of his longtime friendship with California Rep. Eric Swalwell, who recently resigned from Congress after being accused of sexual harassment and heavy alcohol use. Swalwell denies doing anything illegal.
- Gallego has been scrambling to distance himself from Swalwell. He's said he never saw Swalwell behave inappropriately with women, while acknowledging that "we socialized, we went out."
Zoom in: GOP operatives have long believed that Gallego's memoir, "They Called Us 'Lucky,'" includes passages that could be turned against him. But efforts to do so were unsuccessful in Gallego's 2024 Senate race.
- In the book, written with Jim DeFelice, Gallego opened up about the tough realities of serving in Iraq.
- He wrote about his best friend dying, serving in a unit that had some of the heaviest casualties in the war, and suffering from PTSD afterward.
Gallego also was upfront about the crude jokes and hard partying that took place in the Marines.
- At one point, he wrote, he traveled to Camp Lejeune, a Marine Corps base in North Carolina, to "deal with paperwork."
- "That gave us a lot of time to train … on drinking," he recalled. "We hit the strip clubs, pizza parlors, and bars."
- After a previous knee injury that was exacerbated by deployment, he said, "Marines would ask to see it, wondering how I could still hump. I was taking nonprescription painkillers like candy."
When he returned home, Gallego said, "I was drinking a lot. When I was busy, I was fine. After work, I would always go out and have a drink." He described it as "possibly self-medicating for PTSD."
- "Moving to Arizona gave me a fresh start," Gallego wrote, "… but I still drank more than I should have, a lot of times. I smoked like crazy. And ultimately, I didn't escape the effects of war, or PTSD."
- Eventually, he had a knee operation and therapy. He wrote then that he hadn't taken any medication for his mental health struggles. "I try to stay away from pharmaceuticals in general."
What they're saying: Gallego's spokesperson declined to make the senator available for an interview.
- "Sen. Gallego has always been candid and transparent about the toll the Iraq war had on him," the spokesperson said. "His PTSD leading into drinking is not something he hides from, and he has been clear about his journey."
- "He has truly grown, and has put in the hours of effort to be judged on the person he is today: a happily married father of three."
- NOTUS reported this week that Gallego partied late into the night while on an official trip to Bogotá, Colombia, in 2025, despite warnings from embassy staff about a credible threat to his life. A Gallego spokesperson said the senator "followed all security guidance."
Zoom out: Ambitious politicians often write about their own vulnerabilities as a way to define their weaknesses before their opponents do.
- After Gallego released his book in 2021 and then ran for Senate in 2024, he was celebrated for openly discussing his war trauma.
- Now, amid Swalwell's collapse, Gallego is facing a less magnanimous environment — and Democratic strategists and donors are watching closely to see how he handles the fallout ahead of 2028.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to remove a reference to Gallego and Swalwell being roommates.
