Planned Parenthood Action Fund backs Gallego in Arizona Senate race

Abortion rights group Planned Parenthood Action Fund is endorsing Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) in the Arizona Senate race against Republican Kari Lake. 

“Abortion rights are front and center this year, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the Arizona U.S. Senate race. Arizona voters have a stark choice between Ruben Gallego — a longtime defender of reproductive freedom — and Kari Lake, who has made her anti-abortion positions crystal clear,” Planned Parenthood Action Fund President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement that was first shared with The Hill.  

“That’s why Planned Parenthood Action Fund is proud to endorse Ruben 
Gallego for the U.S. Senate,” she continued. “For decades, Ruben has defended the right for Arizonans to access abortion, and we know he’ll keep up that fight in the U.S. Senate.” 

Last year, Gallego notably received an endorsement from abortion rights group Reproductive Freedom for All.  

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) had won that group’s support last cycle, and its endorsement came before Sinema announced she would not seek reelection.  

Gallego, who’s co-sponsored bills including the Women’s Health Protection Act, said in a Wednesday statement he is “honored” to have Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s endorsement and said he would do “whatever it takes” to fight for reproductive freedom.  

“Since day one, I have been committed to ensuring that Arizona women have the freedom to make their own health care decisions — free from the opinions of politicians like Kari Lake who have no business telling them what they can and cannot do with their bodies,” Gallego said.  

The Arizona Senate race represents one of the best pickup opportunities for Republicans after Sinema announced she would be leaving Congress after her term ends.  

An Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey released Wednesday found Gallego leading Lake 44 percent to 40 percent. When undecided voters are factored in, Gallego receives 51 percent support while 49 percent back Lake. Those results are within the poll’s margin of error.  

Democrats have leaned into the issue of abortion, which has remained a motivating issue since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Abortion rights advocates in Arizona are looking to put an abortion measure on the ballot later this year to enshrine protections into the state Constitution. 

The party has sought to go on offense against Lake, pointing to her comments calling the procedure “the ultimate sin” and praise of Texas’s six-week ban.  

During the Arizona Senate race, Lake has said she’s against a federal ban on abortion, and her campaign has said she supports paid family leave and tax credits for women. 

“I want to make sure that women, when they find themselves pregnant, aren’t afraid and think that’s the only choice they have. Regardless of how many weeks is the law, regardless of all of that, I want to make sure that women have — know there are choices out there,” Lake told The Hill last year.