U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona toured the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Aug. 8, speaking to Democrats about winning back seats in the 2026 midterms and drawing a crowd of national reporters curious about his 2028 presidential prospects.
Gallego's message for Iowa Democrats, in between visits to the butter cow and flipping pork burgers at the Iowa Pork Producers Tent, was to focus on working-class issues, "stop going for the easy votes" and reach out to Republicans.
"We have to get out to these rural areas or suburban areas, wherever it is where we’re maybe not winning Republicans, and we have to actually start having conversations with them," he said in an interview with the Des Moines Register. "And focus on what they want to talk about. Not what makes us comfortable to talk about."
Gallego defeated Republican Kari Lake in 2024 to win his seat in the U.S. Senate, becoming the first Latino senator to represent Arizona. Before that, he served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.
"The reason we got Trump-Gallego voters in Arizona is because we talked about border security," he said. "And we talked about the cost of living and how things were going bad and we needed to work on it instead of being in denial and hoping that we would win."
'Too early' to talk about running for president, Gallego says
Gallego's visit to Iowa comes amid a string of his visits around the country that have sparked speculation about a potential bid for president in 2028.
More: Why Arizona's Sen. Ruben Gallego is 2028 presidential longshot as he heads to Iowa
Gallego will travel to New Hampshire, the traditional leadoff presidential primary state, on Aug. 22. His stops will include the Politics & Eggs breakfast, a staple for presidential candidates, as well as a town hall and a fundraiser, according to WMUR.
In May, he held a town hall in Pennsylvania, a key swing state.
In his interview with the Register, Gallego acknowledged that, "yes, I've been prepped" to be asked about whether he'll run for president in 2028.
"Too early," he said. "Right now, the most important thing is, I need some help in the House and in the Senate. I know how to help Democrats win in really hard states. That's what we're here to do."
Gallego also noted that he has a 7-week-old son, his third child, and "that's going to be the focus for the next couple of years."
Asked if that meant he was ruling out a presidential bid in 2028, Gallego deflected the question with a joke about U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst's viral town hall comments about Medicaid.
"I mean, like, who knows what the hell is going to happen in the next couple of years, right?" he said. "As Joni Ernst said, we could all be dead, too."
Past tweet disparaging Iowa Caucuses 'not my finest moment,' Gallego says
But his visit to the fair was also dogged by conservative activists from Turning Point USA seeking to draw attention to past social media posts Gallego made disparaging the Iowa Caucuses.
"F--- caucuses," he posted on Feb. 4, 2020. "Iowa failed time to move on. #IowaCaucuses."
"Love my friends in Iowa and New Hampshire, but time to move on," he wrote in another post on Feb. 14, 2021. "South Carolina and Nevada should start the primaries."
Gallego said he made the post because he was frustrated by the fact that the results of the caucuses were not known for weeks after the app failed that the Iowa Democratic Party was using to report precinct results.
"The tweet was definitely not my finest moment," he said. "However, you know, it was mostly focusing on the results of that day."
National Democrats stripped Iowa of its first-in-the-nation status following the 2020 election, although the party may revisit the presidential nominating calendar before the 2028 election.
More: Iowa House Democratic Leader Brian Meyer calls for his party to hold caucuses first in 2028
Gallego said Democrats' presidential nominating calendar will be determined by the Democratic National Committee.
"Look, the DNC's got to figure out the calendar. If Iowa is back in front, then it's Iowa," he said.
"But overall, fighting for people like here in Iowa or Arizona or anywhere else, you know, we have shared needs, and we have some shared threats," he added. "Like, right now, what's the threat? People are getting kicked off of Medicaid. People are going to get kicked off food stamps."
Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart said voters will decide whether Gallego's past comments about the caucuses are a dealbreaker if he decides to run for higher office.
"It's up to the voters," she said. "But I would tell you that I talked to him about that. And, you know, I think he recognizes that he was running his mouth, right? And that's one reason why it's really great that he's here in Iowa, because maybe this will give him a different attitude going forward."
She said she's "thrilled" candidates such as Gallego are interested in coming to Iowa.
"We've had a lot of conversation about Iowa's place in the big picture of first-in-the-nation, etc.," she said. "And candidates get it. They know that Iowa is the place to come. We have a such a strong reputation of being the place where you come to be vetted by honest to goodness ordinary citizens who are smart and savvy and are paying attention, and it gives you an idea of what the pulse of the nation is."
Republican Party of Iowa Chair Jeff Kaufmann issued a statement calling Iowa Democrats "out of touch" for welcoming Gallego and saying Iowans "don't need lectures" from him.
"Ruben Gallego trashed the Iowa Caucuses, mocked our farmers, and then voted against tax cuts on tips, bigger paychecks and financial relief for seniors," Kaufmann said. "Now he wants a photo‑op at the State Fair? Iowans know better, he’s out of touch and out of his depth."
Gallego rounds out Iowa State Fair with butter cow visit, pork burger flipping
Despite his deflections, Gallego's day at the fair had all the hallmarks of a presidential condender's visit.
Des Moines Mayor Connie Boesen took Gallego to try an apple eggroll at her Applishus stand before he kicked off his official schedule by answering questions from reporters.
Gallego walked around the fairgrounds with Hart and state Sen. Matt Blake, D-Urbandale.
As he strolled, he and Blake chatted about their kids and their military service, and Gallego got some advice about the "science" behind where to stand to get the best picture with the butter cow.
"There's a science?" he asked.
After seeing the butter cow, Gallego tried an egg on a stick — another Iowa State Fair staple.
"Needs a little salsa," he said, before dipping it in some Cookies BBQ seasoning that a volunteer offered him.
He stopped to take selfies with several Democratic volunteers at the party's booth in the Varied Industries Building.
And he completed his fair tour with a visit to the Iowa Pork Producers Tent to flip pork burgers.
At the end of the day, he hinted that it might not be his last visit to Iowa.
"You're going to have competitive races no matter what," he said. "I think you're going to have competitive Senate candidates and House candidates and governors. And if they ask me to come back again, yeah, I'll come back again."
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at @sgrubermiller.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Ruben Gallego visits the Iowa State Fair, raising questions about 2028
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