The Democratic candidate in Arizona's Senate race, Ruben Gallego, is being forced to confront a "stain" on his family: his father's conviction for drug trafficking.
In a race dominated by concerns about the border, Gallego's Republican rival, Kari Lake, has highlighted Gallego's unsavory family history to tie him to Mexico's drug cartels.
“He will never confront the cartels; he is controlled by them. He has close family members who are drug traffickers," Lake said recently.
Gallego's Mexican immigrant father, Jose Marinelarena, was busted in 1995 with half a million dollars worth of cocaine and marijuana. He pled guilty to possession of 5 grams of cocaine with an estimated value of $943.65 and 80,000 grams of marijuana with an estimated value of $480,800.00.
“Jose let them into the kitchen area of the apartment, went to the kitchen cabinet and removed five large zip lock freezer bags; each containing approx: six other plastic bags of baseball size filled with a white rock substance,” a criminal complaint at the time said.
Gallego has never hidden his father's criminal past, but he has downplayed the role his father played in his life, even changing his last name from Marinelarena to Gallego, his mother's maiden name. The change led to a lawsuit in 2014 from his opponent in his run for Congress.
In his 2021 memoir, Ruben Gallego said he "didn’t want to be associated with my father, even symbolically.”
According to contemporary court records, Gallego's father was still married and employed as a union carpenter when he was busted for drugs, Just The News reported. His father's lawyer cited his role as a provider to push for a lower bail.
In his book, however, Gallego claimed his father was already divorced and his "business had gone bust."
"I found out later that he and one of his cousins had begun dabbling in the drug trade...Eventually my father was busted and found guilty of felony possession with intent to sell cocaine and marijuana,” he wrote.
Despite his apparent mischaracterization of his early life, Gallego blasted Lake as a "loser" last week for bringing up his father's crimes. Gallego accused Lake of dredging up a "stain" on his family to engage in a malicious attack.
"It’s a stain that our family has had to carry. This is why my mom, my sisters and myself have worked our entire life to really live the American Dream and to serve and honor this country despite what he has done," Gallego said.
