Democratic Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego has used campaign funds for luxury outings with his family since launching his bid for the Senate in 2023, Politico first reported Sunday.
Gallego tapped his political action committee (PAC), the “JUNTOS PAC,” to fund trips to Disney World, Chicago and Miami, according to Politico. He also used a joint campaign account to travel to attend the Super Bowl in 2023 with disgraced former Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell.
The Arizona Democrat also used the PAC for $18,000 in reimbursements for child care since 2019, including $400 to his wife’s mother for babysitting his children.
After being sworn into the Senate, Gallego separately established the “JUNTOS PAC,” a leadership PAC used to raise and spend money separate from his official campaign committee. The committee raked in nearly $1.5 million as of May 31, according to Federal Elections Commission (FEC) records. These funds, which also covered his family’s travel, were used for campaign and fundraising-related travel.
The Gallegos also used the PAC to travel for Miami Beach to celebrate his wife, Sydney’s, birthday and to St. Barts for her boss’ birthday, Politico reported. The family stayed in a vacation rental in Chicago which cost nearly $1,500. A spokesperson for Gallego said the travel was “a multi-stop political and fundraising swing,” though the individual did not address the birthday celebrations, Politico reported.
The couple stayed at a Loew’s hotel on Miami Beach that cost more than $9,000.
Gallego’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Lawmakers can use these funds legally for travel, food, child care and more as long as they are not used for “personal use,” meaning they do not cover activities irrespective to the campaign, according to the FEC. Leadership PACs are not beholden to the “personal use” rule, meaning lawmakers can use the funds for a broad range of activities as long as it has some fundraising function.
Gallego said he complied with FEC rules while struggling to afford the high costs of child care. “This is not breaking news,” Gallego said, according to POLITICO. “With the rising costs of child care and the burden it has on the budgets of American families, Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the White House alike regularly travel with their wives and children, as is permitted by the FEC.”
Gallego’s annual salary in the Senate is $174,000, and he has an estimated net worth of $122,00, according to Quiver Quantitative. The average American’s median weekly earnings amounted to $1,235 in the first quarter of 2026, totaling approximately $64,000 a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Arizona Democrat used a joint campaign account with Swalwell to attend the 2023 Super Bowl in Arizona with his wife, according to Politico. Swalwell resigned from Congress in April after several women accused him of sexual misconduct.
Following the resignation, Gallego claimed that Swalwell “lied” to him about his personal past. Gallego served as chairman for Swalwell’s failed 2020 presidential bid and has repeatedly been described as Swalwell’s “best friend.”
Twenty days after Gallego launched his Senate bid, Gallego, Swalwell, Swalwell’s chief of staff Yardena Wolf and several donors traveled to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, to watch the Super Bowl, Politico reported. The gathering was billed as a fundraiser for the “Swallego Victory Fund,” the joint committee established by Gallego and Swalwell in October 2022. The committee raised a total of $56,505.
Former Democratic Michigan Rep. John Conyers hosted a fundraiser at the Super Bowl in 2010 and charged $5,000 a ticket. A non-profit also covered Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s attendance at the 2023 Super Bowl, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Gallego has not ruled out launching a presidential bid in 2028.
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