Meet Ruben Gallego
Ruben Gallego was elected to serve as the State Representative for Legislative District 16 in 2010, and lives in Central Phoenix. Ruben is on the board of Valley Citizens League, the Phoenix Children’s Museum, and South Mountain Community College Advisory Board.
In 2008, he was named by the Phoenix Business Journal as one of Phoenix’s 40 people under the age of 40 that are leading the way in Phoenix. Ruben was also recently named one of Chicanos Por La Causa’s 40 under 40 most influential Hispanic leaders, and is a graduate of Valley Leadership, Class 30. He has served on Blue Ribbon Commissions for Veteran Issues, including Governor Janet Napolitano’s Veterans Advisory Panel and Congressman Harry Mitchell’s Veterans Advisory Committee. Ruben also advises the White House on issues related to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Ruben was a delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention, where he proposed to his long-term girlfriend Kate Widland – they were married soon after. In 2009 Ruben was elected as the Vice Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party.
Ruben is the son of Hispanic immigrants. He was the first in his family to attend college when he was admitted to Harvard and majored in International Relations. Ruben graduated in 2004 and was the recipient of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American studies grant.
To fulfill his call to duty and country Ruben joined the Marine Corps. He served in Iraq with the well-known and highly decorated combat unit Lima 3/25. The company was involved in some of the hardest combat of the Iraq War. He still remains close to his fellow Marines. Ruben is a member of American Legion Post 41, and is involved in many veterans’ causes, including the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation. Much of Ruben’s work at the legislature has been focused on veterans’ issues, and he currently sits on the Military Affairs and Public Safety Committee.
Ruben is currently running for re-election in the new Legislative District 27, which includes a portion of Central Phoenix, South Phoenix, Laveen, Guadalupe, and Tempe.
