Gallego says Democrats ignored warning signs with working-class Latinos because they listened to ‘Ivy League’ consultants

Building authentic connections with working-class voters can help Democrats find their way back to power in Washington, incoming Democratic Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego of Arizona said Friday. Taking stock of election results that showed him doing significantly better than other Arizona Democrats,

Democratic Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego says he won Arizona by appealing to Latinos, especially men, and taking seriously their economic concerns.

Exit polls show Vice President Kamala Harris lost Latino men to President-elect Donald Trump — a significant blow to a party that's long relied on them as part of a broad coalition. The results were openly feared most of the past year by Democratic Party leaders and operatives.

PHOENIX — Democratic Senator-elect Ruben Gallego of Phoenix declared victory late Monday night and made history: He will be the first Latino senator in Arizona's 112 years as a state. With 99.55% of all ballots counted statewide, Gallego leads Republican Kari Lake by 79,000 votes, 51.1% to 47.7%.

Republican Kari Lake seemed to acknowledge her U.S. Senate loss in a video message on social media Wednesday night that thanked her supporters but didn’t mention the outcome of the race or congratulate U.S. Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego.

"And for those who did not support me, or did not vote for me, please know I will always still fight for you," Ruben Gallego said.

The Associated Press declared Democrat Ruben Gallego the winner of Arizona’s U.S. Senate seat after vote updates on Monday and over the weekend increased his statewide lead and closed off any remaining paths to victory for Republican Kari Lake.

Ruben Gallego embodies the kind of voter that Democrats struggled to keep this election cycle. A Latino with working-class roots, he won his Senate race in a battleground state that Donald Trump flipped and will become the first Latino to represent Arizona in the upper chamber of Congress.

AP called the race Monday night. Lake posted a video on "X," formerly known as Twitter, after the race was called. She did not specifically concede.

Democratic Congressman Rubén Gallego has defeated anti-LGBTQ+ Republican and Trump ally Kari Lake for U.S. Senate in Arizona. Gallego replaces former Democrat and current Independent Krysten Sinema and will be the state’s first Latinx U.S. senator.