On 10/17/2024 an Arizona court made public the divorce records of Ruben Gallego‚ Democratic Senate candidate and Kate Gallego‚ Phoenix Mayor. The seven-year-old case file‚ unsealed against the couples wishes didnt reveal any shocking details
The records lack information about their high-profile marriage or its breakdown. There are no claims of abuse or cheating that could affect Arizonas closely-watched Senate race – one of few that will decide control of the upper chamber of Congress
Kari Lake‚ GOP nominee‚ had built up expectations about the records release as part of a wider attack on Ruben Gallegoʼs character. She suggested in interviews and social media posts that they would be a “massive story“ and that the Gallegos fight to keep them sealed indicated they had big secrets
We demand an apology from Kari Lake for lying about our family and the circumstances of our divorce
The divorce decree‚ signed by both Gallegos includes a statement that “the parties acknowledge and agree that there was no domestic violence during the marriage or that significant domestic violence did not occur“
The file details the shared parenting and custody plan for their son (born while the divorce was pending) and how the couples assets would be divided. However most of these details were redacted from the publicly released records
Judge John Napper who ordered the case unsealed‚ predicted that “everyones going to be rather deflated“. He called it “one of the most garden variety divorce files I have ever seen“
The Gallegos separation‚ announced in 2016 shortly before their first childs birth shocked Arizonaʼs political community. Ruben Gallego‚ a retired U.S. Marine has suggested post-traumatic stress disorder from an Iraq deployment contributed
Kate Gallego endorsed her ex-husbands Senate campaign last year. They often appear together in public‚ usually with their son. The couple went to great lengths to keep the records private – filing in Yavapai County‚ 100 miles from Phoenix and requesting the entire case file be sealed