凤凰城-当美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)周一抵达亚利桑那州大峡谷村(Grand Canyon Village)时，亚利桑那州众议员鲁本·加莱戈(Ruben Gallego)打算向他提出他在美国众议院提出的立法，以应对美国西南部今年夏天与破纪录气温斗争的极端高温。
“我要开车去停机坪见他，”周日，在亚利桑那州灼热的西太阳谷，加莱戈在仙人掌的背景下说。“那样的话，我可以和他进行一次简短的谈话，特别是关于我的供暖立法，你知道，我们现在都在谈论这个问题。我们需要确保这些城市有机会在我们遇到像你们这样的极端高温情况时动用联邦资金。”
据报道，拜登正在访问亚利桑那州，以指定大峡谷周围的一大片地区为国家保护区，努力保护该地区免受潜在的铀矿开采《华盛顿邮报》.
本周，他将在西部进行一次旅行，预计将在《通货膨胀削减法案》中宣传他的政府为应对气候变化所做的努力。当总统上个月宣布了保护极端高温下工人的新措施比如让饮用水更容易获得的措施——然后说，“我们要概述我们正在采取的步骤来帮助社区，现在...他们的城市正面临真正的危机”——Gallego认为这还不够。
“我确实认为他应该做得更多，”Gallego告诉ABC新闻。“这是一个非常非常大的问题，特别是在西南部，但也包括该国的其他地区，帮助我们通过这项立法，或使用任何类型的行政行动，允许联邦应急管理局和州宣布紧急状态是极其重要的，特别是对我们来说，获得我们需要的资金，以创建项目来拯救人们免受极端高温的影响。”
Gallego将推动他在6月份提出的立法，将极端高温添加到FEMA的主要灾难资格事件列表中。他会见拜登的前一天，拜登在菲尼克斯西部山谷的一个退休社区举行了市政厅会议，纪念亚利桑那州初选一周年。Gallego正在竞选亚利桑那州参议员Kyrsten Sinema目前拥有的参议院席位。
在他的市政厅，150多名亚利桑那州人从108度的高温中撤退，Gallego举了一个例子，如果他的两党法案成为法律，联邦政府将在今年夏天支付某些冷却中心的费用。
“凤凰城和其他城市一直在从总预算中拨款来做这件事。相反，我们应该能够做的是打电话给联邦应急管理局，联邦应急管理局能够补偿我们。顺便说一句，那是你们纳税人的钱，你们现在缴纳的联邦税应该能够资助这些项目。”
亚利桑那州太阳城西区的芭芭拉·雷是一名已退休的注册民主党人，她回应了加莱戈的担忧，并表示拜登“已经做了很多，但我认为他可以做得更多。”雷说，全球变暖及其对亚利桑那州的影响是她非常关心的问题，亚利桑那州今年夏天的气温打破了历史记录。
“我们现在必须开始做更多的事情，否则情况只会变得更糟。尽管当情况变得比现在更糟时，我们中的许多人可能已经不在了，但我们必须为我们的子孙后代留下一个好的生活环境，”雷说。
在装有空调的舞厅里，许多人还在想别的事情:西内玛会再次参选吗?
参议院竞选的状况
去年12月离开民主党成为无党派人士的Sinema尚未宣布她是否会竞选连任，但过去支持她的几位选民对ABC新闻表示怀疑她是否会获胜。
“我觉得被耍了，真的被耍了，”来自亚利桑那州惊喜市的注册民主党人黛安·布隆伯格说。“我觉得她成为民主党人只是为了当选。我再也不会给她投票了。”
“我们对凯尔斯滕·西内马非常失望，”亚利桑那州七叶树市的独立选民桑迪·修卡说。“她没有达到我们的期望，加莱戈已经成为我们的民主党参议员，我很乐意看到他当选。”
Sinema的办公室没有回应ABC新闻的置评请求，但告诉当地新闻媒体亚利桑那州的家人，她正在工作，“没有参与竞选政治。”
如果她真的参选，Sinema将确保与三名主要候选人(独立候选人、民主党候选人和共和党候选人)进行参议院竞选，同时避免在一个独立选民人数超过共和党人的州进行初选，这使得很难预测明年11月的获胜者。皮纳尔县警长马克·兰姆(Mark Lamb)已经在竞选共和党提名，而唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的盟友卡里·莱克(Kari Lake)预计将在秋季初发起竞选，这为MAGA之间的初选奠定了基础。莱克和兰姆都否认2020年总统大选的有效性。
无论谁参选，民主党在参议院的微弱多数都让他们在2024年面临共和党的接管。误差很小:参议院有49名共和党人，48名民主党人和3名无党派人士，所有无党派人士经常投票支持民主党。
加莱戈说，他相信他的背景使他成为赢得这场他称之为“我们有史以来最重要的选举”的候选人。
作为墨西哥和哥伦比亚移民的儿子，Gallego家境贫寒，但他从哈佛毕业并加入了美国海军陆战队。他被派往伊拉克，他的公司在那里损失了23名士兵。他继续寻求公职，在去年赢得美国众议院第五个任期之前，在亚利桑那州众议院服务。他说，除了做父亲，他所有的经历都塑造了他的人生。
2023年4月19日，众议员Ruben Gallego出现在国会大厦游客中心。
汤姆·威廉姆斯/CQ-点名公司
加莱戈在周日市政厅表示:“我们正处于一个非常可怕的境地，在选举发生时，有一位(候选人)可能会受到四种不同类型的犯罪指控。”。“与此同时，选举非常接近，因为这个世界是如此两极化。亚利桑那州能够并将成为确保我们是否能够成为一个安全的民主国家和拥有一些理智的政治的关键。”
Gallego说，呆在他的众议院席位上，在那里他将继续获得资历，是一条安全的路线，但不是他正在采取的路线。
“我来到华盛顿特区，确保为亚利桑那州的日常生活而战，这就是我竞选参议员的原因，”加莱戈告诉美国广播公司周日新闻。
这场比赛将会很昂贵。马克·凯利在2022年的连任竞选是那一轮竞选中第三昂贵的竞选活动，花费了近2.36亿美元。随着总统候选人名列榜首，这一数字预计只会上升。
“对这个国家的其他人来说，我们真的是一个象征性的国家，”Gallego说。“亚利桑那州如何发展才是这个国家真正的发展方向。我认为民主党为此在这里投资是很重要的。”
亚利桑那州曾经是共和党的大本营，但现在已经变成了美国政治的真正战场。特朗普支持的全州办公室共和党候选人名单中，许多人否认2020年选举的结果，去年秋天输掉了中期选举。拜登在2020年为民主党翻转了该州，这是七十多年来民主党人第二次在总统选举中赢得亚利桑那州。
加莱戈将自己标榜为“确定无疑的事情”
Gallego在亚利桑那州Buckeye镇的市政厅，这是亚利桑那州众议员Paul Gosar代表的地区，标志着他自上个月休陪产假以来的第一次竞选活动，以迎接他的新生女儿Isla。根据他的竞选活动，最近没有民主党参议员候选人在Buckeye或Gilbert主持过市政厅。他的竞选团队说，这是鲁本“去任何地方和每个人交谈”策略的一部分。
“去年的2022年大选极其重要。2020年的是存在主义。这是它，”加莱戈说。“我总是把它比作《星球大战》电影，对吗?这是最后一个。我们必须确保我们真的摧毁了那颗死星。”
在市政厅被一个选民提交的问题问到他将如何处理迎着湖水奔跑-前亚利桑那州共和党州长候选人-如果她参加竞选，Gallego说他将谈论未来，而她谈论过去。
“她想谈谈2020年和2022年。我想谈谈2024年、2026年、2030年以及未来。她想谈谈当时发生的事情，”他说。“她想谈谈组织。这是她唯一的幻想。我不是来分裂亚利桑那州的。我不是来分裂美国人的。我来这里是为了确保我们团结一致并取得成功。让她玩那个游戏。我们会玩我们的。”
与此同时，周日，在俄亥俄州的马里斯维尔，莱克在联合县共和党的夏季农场节上发表讲话，她继续在全国各地的保守派活动中露面。
当被问及她的参议员竞选时，莱克告诉ABC新闻，她正在“认真考虑”，并将在未来几个月内做出决定。
“我们不希望他们在下次选举中采取与2020年和2022年相同的策略。我们想保护那张选票。我们想保护亚利桑那州人民的声音和投票权，所以我正在为此努力。但我也在认真思考，”她说。
加莱戈称湖泊为“MAGA女王”，称自己是安全民主的“不二之选”。
“我说我是肯定的事情，因为我们将确保我们有理智的当选官员，为那里的日常生活而斗争，”他说。
'He should be doing more': Gallego pushes Biden on extreme heat response amid Arizona Senate campaign
PHOENIX --When President Joe Biden lands Monday in Grand Canyon Village, Arizona, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., intends to raise with him legislation he has introduced in the U.S. House to tackle extreme heat as the American Southwest struggles with record-breaking temperatures this summer.
"I'm going to drive up and meet him on the tarmac," Gallego said Sunday with a cacti backdrop in scorching West Sun Valley, Arizona. "That way, I can have a quick conversation with him especially about my heat legislation, which, you know, we are all talking about right now. We need to make sure that these cities have the opportunity to draw down federal funds when we have such drastic heat situations that you have."
Biden is visiting Arizona to designate a large area around the Grand Canyon as a national monument in an effort to protect the area from potential uranium mining, according toThe Washington Post.
Making a tour across the West this week, he's expected to tout his administration's efforts to combat climate change in the Inflation Reduction Act. And while the presidentannounced new steps last month to protect workers in extreme heat, such as measures to make drinking water more accessible -- saying then, "We're gonna outline steps we're taking to help communities who, right this minute ... are facing a real crisis in their cities" -- Gallego argues it's not enough.
"I do think he should be doing more," Gallego told ABC News. "It is a very, very big problem, especially in the Southwest, but also other parts of the country, and helping us pass this legislation, or using any type of executive action to allow FEMA and states to declare emergencies is extremely important, especially for us to get the funds that we need to create the programs to save people from extreme heat."
Gallego will push legislation he introduced in June to add extreme heat to FEMA's list of major disaster-qualifying events. He meets with Biden one day after he held a town hall inside a retirement community tucked away in the West Valley of Phoenix to mark one year until Arizona's primary election. Gallego is running for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.
During his town hall, where more than 150 Arizonans retreated from the 108-degree temperatures, Gallego gave the example of the federal government covering the cost of certain cooling centers this summer if his bipartisan bill were to become law.
"The City of Phoenix and other cities have been pulling their money out of their general budget to do that. Instead, what we should be able to do is call FEMA and FEMA be able to reimburse us. That is your taxpayer money, by the way, the federal taxes you pay right now should be able to fund these kinds of programs."
Barbara Ray of Sun City West, Arizona, retired and a registered Democrat, echoed Gallego's concerns and said Biden "has done quite a bit, but I think he could do more." Ray said global warming and its impacts in Arizona, which saw record-breaking heat this summer, is a big concern for her.
"We have to start doing more right now, or it's just going to get worse. And whereas many of us might not be here when things get worse than this, we have to leave a good place for our children to live and our grandchildren," Ray said.
There was something else on many minds inside the air-conditioned ballroom: Will Sinema run again?
State of the Senate race
Sinema, who left the Democratic Party last December to become an independent, has not announced whether she'll run for reelection, but several voters who supported her in the past expressed doubts to ABC News that she could win.
"I feel tricked, really tricked," said Dianne Blumberg, a registered Democrat from Surprise, Arizona. "I feel like she became a Democrat just to get elected. And I would never vote for her again."
"We are very disappointed in Kyrsten Sinema," said Sandy Shocker, an independent voter from Buckeye, Arizona. "She has not lived up to what we were hoping, and Gallego has stepped in to be our Democratic senator and I would love to see him get elected."
Sinema's office did not respond to a request for comment by ABC News but told local news outlet Arizona's Family she is working and "not engaging in campaign politics."
If she does run, Sinema would ensure a Senate race with three major candidates -- an independent, Democrat and Republican -- while avoiding a primary race in a state where independent voters now outnumber Republicans, making it difficult to predict a winner come next November. Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is already running for the Republican nomination, while Donald Trump ally Kari Lake is expected to launch a bid early fall, setting up the potential for an inter-MAGA primary battle. Both Lake and Lamb deny the validity of the 2020 presidential election.
Regardless of who's running, Democrats' slim-majority in the Senate leave them exposed to a Republican takeover in 2024. The margin for error is thin: The Senate has 49 Republicans, 48 Democrats and three independents -- with all independents often voting with the Democrats.
Gallego said he believes his background makes him a winning candidate in what he called "the most important election that we've ever had."
The son of Mexican and Colombian immigrants, Gallego grew up poor but went on to graduate from Harvard and enlist in the United State Marine Corps. He deployed to Iraq, where his company lost 23 men. He went on to seek public office, serving in the Arizona State House before winning his fifth term to the U.S. House last year. He says all of his experiences have shaped his life, in addition to fatherhood.
"We are in a very dire situation where there is a [candidate] who is probably going to be under four different types of criminal counts by the time the election happens," Gallego said at the Sunday town hall. "At the same time, the elections are very close, because this world is that polarized. And Arizona can and will be the linchpin in terms of making sure whether we're going to be able to be a safe democracy and have some sane politics."
Gallego said staying in his House seat, where he'd continue picking up seniority, is the safe route -- but not the one he's taking.
"I came to Washington D.C., to make sure to fight for everyday Arizonans and that's why I'm running for the Senate," Gallego told ABC News Sunday.
The race will be expensive. Sen. Mark Kelly's reelection in 2022 was the third-most expensive campaign of that cycle with almost $236 million spent in the contest. That number is only expected to rise this time with presidential candidates topping the ticket.
"We're really a symbolic state for the rest of the country," Gallego said. "How Arizona goes is really where the country is going. And I think it's important that Democrats invest here for that."
Arizona was once a Republican stronghold but has shifted to become a true battleground in American politics. Trump's slate of endorsed Republican candidates for statewide office, many who denied the results of the 2020 election, lost their midterm races last fall. Biden flipped the state for Democrats in 2020, marking just the second time in more than seven decades that a Democrat carried Arizona in a presidential election.
Gallego pitches himself as 'the sure thing'
Gallego's town hall in Buckeye, Arizona, a town in the district represented by Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., marked his first campaign event since taking paternity leave last month to welcome his newborn daughter, Isla. No Democratic Senate candidate has hosted a town hall in Buckeye or Gilbert in the recent past, according to his campaign. It's part of Ruben's "go everywhere and talk to everyone" strategy, his campaign said.
"Last year's election, 2022, was extremely important. The one in 2020 was existential. This one is it," Gallego said. "I always liken it to the Star Wars movies, right? This is the last one. We have to make sure that we destroyed that death star for real."
Asked by a voter-submitted question at his town hall how he'll handlerunning against Lake-- the former Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate -- should she enter the race, Gallego said he'll talk about the future while she talks about the past.
"She wants to talk about 2020 and 2022. I want to talk about 2024, 2026, 2030, and going on to the future. She wants to talk about what happened back then," he said. "She wants to talk about division. That's the only vision she has. I'm not here to divide Arizonans. I'm not here to divide Americans. I'm here to make sure we all come together and succeed. Let her play that game. And we'll play ours."
Meanwhile on Sunday, in Marysville, Ohio, Lake spoke at the Union County GOP's Summer Farm Fest as she continues to make appearances at conservative events across the country.
Asked about her Senate bid, Lake told ABC News she's giving it "serious consideration" and will make a decision in the next couple of months.
"We don't want them pulling the same tactics they did in 2020 and 2022 in this next election. We want to protect that vote. We want to protect the voice and vote of the people of Arizona, so I'm working on that. But I'm also giving it some serious thought," she said.
Gallego, who has called Lake "MAGA's queen," calls himself "the sure thing" to a safe democracy.
"I say I'm the sure thing because we'll make sure that we have sane elected officials that are fighting for everyday Arizonans there," he said.
