U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, and Iowa Democratic Chair Rita Hart, right, spoke with Iowa State Fair attendees at the Iowa Democratic Party booth in the Varied Industries Building Aug. 8, 2025. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, faced criticisms for his 2020 social media post about the Iowa caucuses Friday while he toured with state Democratic leaders and met with Iowans at the Iowa State Fair.
Though the Democratic nominating process no longer begins in Iowa, the state fair is traditionally a stop for presidential hopefuls as they consider a campaign. Gallego said a run for president is currently “out of the question,” saying his focus was on his family and supporting Democrats in the 2026 midterms.
Gallego still fielded questions on his previous statements about the process for nominating a Democrat to run for president during his State Fair visit. Gallego, 45, made social media posts in 2020 and 2021 that criticized the Iowa caucuses, the state’s contests that formerly kicked off the nation’s presidential nominating cycle for both parties. While the Iowa Republican caucuses still lead the calendar, Iowa Democrats were booted from their first-in-the-nation position following the 2020 election cycle, after delays reporting 2020 caucus results heightened existing criticism from Democrats that the in-person caucus system was inaccessible.
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In a post on Feb. 3, 2020 — the night of the Iowa Democratic caucus — Gallego wrote “F*** caucuses. Iowa failed time to move on.”
Speaking with reporters at the fair, Gallego said he has a different approach to the Iowa caucuses than he did in 2020 in part “because I’m a mature adult now” — but declined to weigh in on the future of the Democratic nominating calendar moving forward.
“What I said was, you know, dumb of me,” Gallego said. “No, look: really, in 2020, a lot of us were just very frustrated with the results. And … whatever happens in the future, it’s going to be left up to the DNC. But the Democrats do need to compete in rural America. And you know, Iowa needs to be part of that key no matter what.”
As the Arizona Democrat toured the fairgrounds with Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart and state Sen. Matt Blake, D-Urbandale, members of Turning Point USA, a conservative political action committee, followed them, holding up signs of his tweets.
Though he spoke about the caucuses, Gallego said his visit to Iowa was a part of an effort to “reinvigorate the Democratic Party,” saying the party needs to return to a focus on working-class issues and families in order to win back Congress and the White House.
Gallego wrote an opinion piece Wednesday in the Des Moines Register, criticizing Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Sen. Joni Ernst for their votes in support of the budget reconciliation bill that included cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. He highlighted Ernst’s statement, “well, we all are going to die,” made at a May town hall and a video where Miller-Meeks did not respond to questions from Alex Lawson, executive director of the organization Social Security Works, on her decision to support the measure.
“Ernst and Miller-Meeks gave up on Iowa,” Gallego wrote. “I won’t.”
Gallego said Democrats faltered in the 2024 election because their messaging did not reflect the struggles American families were facing with inflation and issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But he said the budget reconciliation bill gives Democrats an opportunity to correct course.
“The really bad bill that just passed gives Democrats an opening, because we could finally really show (what) Democrats are here for,” Gallego said. “We’re here to help those that are, you know, barely making it. That bill is going to push tens of thousands of Iowans off Medicaid. It’s going to really hurt rural hospitals … and they did it for a small group of people that are going to be able to have the benefits of a tax cut — many which aren’t in Iowa. And so this is the opportunity where we need to lean in.”
Republicans criticized Gallego, with National Republican Campaign Committee Spokeswoman Emily Tuttle saying Gallego “isn’t here to fight for Iowans, he’s fighting for his own political ambitions.”
“From mocking Iowa values to pushing policies that would destroy Iowa’s economy, it’s clear he doesn’t understand or care about what matters to Iowans,” Tuttle said in a statement. “While he plays politics, Mariannette Miller-Meeks is delivering real results for working families.”
In addition to visiting the state fair, Gallego said he had visited the JBS meatpacking factory in Marshalltown earlier Friday. He is also scheduled to hold a town hall Saturday with the state Democratic Party in Davenport.
As he visits Iowa, the Institute for Middle East Understanding, a nonprofit organization, announced a TV and digital ad buy in Iowa during Gallego’s visit, criticizing the senator for skipping a vote where a majority of Democrats voted to block the sale of U.S. weapons to Israel.
IMEU Policy Project Executive Director Margaret DeReus said in a statement Gallego failed a “critical test” by skipping the vote, saying the Democratic Party “cannot risk the 2028 election by nominating any candidate who refuses to stand with Democratic voters who overwhelmingly say Israel is committing genocide and support restricting weapons to Israel.”
“We hope Sen. Gallego and any other Democrats with aspirations to be president will understand: The old status quo is over,” DeReus said in a statement. “If you refuse to join Democratic voters in calling for weapons to be cut off to Israel, you’re out of touch with the party and not a credible option to be its presidential nominee.”
Gallego said many of the votes he has missed recently are because he is on paternity leave for his son, born June 13. But he said he believed the U.S. needed to focus on two things — “bring the hostages home, end this war” in resolving the Israel-Hamas conflict. He also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government for starvation and the lack of aid entering Gaza.
“Netanyahu and Israeli government has a responsibility, an absolute responsibility, to actually be feeding and caring for Gaza while they are occupying the country,” Gallego said. “It’s not something that I’m saying. It’s part of the rule of war. When I was in Iraq, I was responsible for taking care of myself and taking care of Iraqi civilians. And, you know, they need to step up.”
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