On debate day, Harris nabs endorsement from prominent Latino congressman
HOUSTON — Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., has won the endorsement of Rep. Ruben Gallego, a rising star in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and a Marine Corps veteran, Gallego said in an exclusive interview with NBC News.
“Kamala, number one, does have the best chance of beating Donald Trump,” Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, said over the telephone Wednesday as he listed his reasons for endorsing Harris. “She’s going to be able to appeal to all angles of our Democratic voting base.”
He will serve as national security chair for the campaign, Harris's team said.
The boost comes at an auspicious moment for Harris: just hours before she and her rivals take the stage in Houston for the third debate of the primary season and at a time when her poll numbers have stagnated in the single digits. Harris currently ranks fourth in the Real Clear Politics average of national polls at 6.9 percent.
While Gallego may not be a household name for most Americans, his endorsement was sought by other contenders for the nomination.
“We did get approached by basically every other campaign,” he said.
"Ruben has been a champion for immigrants, veterans, and Arizonans for his entire career, and I'm honored to earn his endorsement," Harris said in a statement provided to NBC.
"From his service to our nation in Iraq to his work expanding Medicaid in Arizona to his leadership on immigration and veterans affairs in Congress, Ruben embodies the best of who we are as a nation," she said. "I look forward to working with him on the issues that are waking working people up in the middle of the night -- as well as turning Arizona blue in 2020."
Prior to endorsing Harris, Gallego had been chairman of another campaign — that of close personal friend, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., who dropped out of the race.
Just 39, a Harvard graduate who left school to serve in the infantry in Iraq, Gallego was viewed as a potential Senate candidate in Arizona this cycle before deferring to astronaut Mark Kelly.
Both Gallego and Harris pointed to her plan to provide access to housing and health care for half a million more veterans as an area of agreement between them. He said in the interview with NBC that Harris's version of a universal health care plan was the best among the candidates and he praised her work on immigration and other issues of importance to the Latino community.