her defeat in the 2022 race for governor. Gallego is the first entrant in a contest that’s almost two years away, but he could well be running against Lake, and also Sinema — the corporate Democrat turned independent who spent much of the past two years stymying her former party’s legislative agenda.To stand out, Gallego has spent a lot of time talking about progressive politics — with hopes of raising the minimum wage and lowering the cost of prescription drugs.
But, Gallego has made the bet that voters have a better and more nuanced understanding about mental health struggles than they may have had in the past — due in small part to public figures, like Sen. John Fetterman whose office recently announced he’d entered inpatient care for depression at the Walter Reed Medical Center, and Jason Kander, a former rising-star in the Democratic Party, who abandoned a potential run for president to deal with his own PTSD after serving in Afghanistan.
Gallego had a habit of beating everyone on base in Trivial Pursuit, but he was not “the stereotype of someone who went to Harvard,” said Andy Britten, the unit’s fireteam leader. He was down for the grunt work, always up to carry “another 100 rounds or 200 rounds” of ammo when asked, “and he would never complain.”
After the firefight ended, they collected a handful of the shells, which Britten said he still has today.The shells were souvenirs Britten kept from a time he survived, but he said he carries plenty from the deaths he witnessed too. Their battalion — which included Gallego’s company and two others — lost 48 men, the highest number of casualties by a single Marine battalion since the Beirut bombing of 1983.Gallego returned home and did his best to continue his life where it left off.
A few hands went up, including freshman Rep. Anna Paulina Luna who was wearing a lapel pin that resembled a semiautomatic rifle, and Rep. Lauren Boebert who once owned a gun-themed restaurant called Shooters Grill.“And would those be loaded weapons, presumably?” Huffman asked.“Do you think we’re going to hurt you?” Luna chimed in later. “We would never hurt you. I would use my firearm to defend you. Just to be clear.