Ruben Gallego
It's closing in on primary day for
Daily Kos-endorsed Ruben Gallego, in Arizona's 7th, and things are looking good for the Fighting Dem, with polls showing him holding a good lead. The primary is August 26, and absentee ballots will be
hitting mailboxes this weekend.
As the voting starts, Gallego is leading the other top contender, Mary Rose Wilcox, by a good 10 points in this PPP poll for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Gallego brings in 41 percent of likely voters to Wilcox's 31 percent. Seventy percent of those voters say they are firmly committed, but there's a very large chunk of undecided voters out there—27 percent. As the Daily Kos Elections team has noted, "a Lake Research internal for Gallego last month had him leading by a similar 32-24 margin. Wilcox has yet to release any polling data of her own."
Gallego has also consistently led in fundraising, but he needs everything he can get. This is a tough district in which to reach voters, so it requires a pretty intensive effort.
Few residents of the 7th District follow politics closely, making it far more important for candidates here to sway voters with door-to-door contact than elsewhere in Arizona.
The district is one of the poorest in the state, with high numbers of Spanish-only speakers and undocumented immigrants. It has one of the lowest rates of voter participation in the country. […]
So volunteers for Gallego start their pitch by telling people that Pastor is retiring and that their choice matters, because the replacement could serve a long time, too.
Salvador Avila, 64, a Phoenix custodian, hadn't heard the news. After listening to Spanish-speaking volunteers describe Gallego's background, he was ready for a yard sign.
"I want somebody that's going to fight for the community," Avila said. "Someone who will help everybody in Arizona, not just Latinos."
That somebody is Gallego. Because this is such a field-heavy campaign,
$3 can go a long way toward this race, so give!