Arizona Congressman Ruben Gallego surprised his wife by filing for divorce days before she gave birth, according to court documents he fought to keep sealed.
The 44-year-old Democratic lawmaker, who is in the final stretch of a controversial Senate race, reportedly told his ex-wife, current Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, that their marriage had ended on December 15, 2016.
He has since taken up with a much younger second wife.
Gallego filed a motion to seal the case the same day and has fought with the Washington Free Beacon all year to keep it that way after the conservative outlet filed a lawsuit to access the records.
In the documents, Kate appeared to have been shocked by Gallego’s characterization of their marriage as “irretrievably broken,” and responded in court that she was “unaware” of his intentions.
In 2016, Congressman Ruben Gallego blindsided his heavily pregnant wife (current Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, photographed together in 2014) with divorce papers when she was “likely to give birth any day.”
Gallego, now in a contentious Senate race in Arizona, married lobbyist Sydney Warren, who was 14 years his junior, after their divorce was finalized.
The disclosure of Gallego’s divorce records comes three weeks before he faces MAGA firebrand Kari Lake in the Arizona Senate race, where surveys consistently show him with a healthy lead.
Lake, the Republican candidate, has spent recent weeks hinting that the divorce filings would change the race, frequently saying they would be a “massive story.”
“I hope everyone who says they’re going to vote for him waits until we get the details about why he left his wife when she was nine months pregnant,” he said in an appearance with KTAR-FM.
Lake added at the time: “We don’t know if it was spousal abuse.”
However, divorce records from 2016 directly refute any allegations of abuse, stating that “there was no domestic violence in the marriage” and “no significant domestic violence occurred.”
Gallego’s Senate opponent Kari Lake (pictured at a rally with Donald Trump on Sunday) extolled Gallego’s divorce records before they were released, saying “we don’t know if it was spousal abuse.” Records showed no allegations of abuse.
The Gallegos criticized Lake after the records were opened and demanded an apology, saying they fought to keep them private for the son they share.
After the records were revealed, the Gallegos issued a joint statement criticizing their Senate opponent, Lake, for suggesting that the filings would reveal some type of scandal or domestic abuse.
“We demand an apology from Kari Lake for lying about our family and the circumstances of our divorce,” the statement said.
“He will stop at nothing to score a cheap political point, even if it means endangering the privacy and well-being of our young son.”
Yavapai County Judge John Napper, who ordered the case unsealed, also downplayed the filings, saying “everyone is going to be pretty deflated” by the details, also calling it “one of the most varied divorce files I have ever seen.
When Gallego filed for divorce, he noted in his action that his wife, who was very pregnant, “had not yet been notified” and was “likely to give birth any day” when she found out.
Their reasoning for the divorce was that their “marriage was irretrievably broken” and “there are no reasonable prospects for reconciliation.”
While Kate said she “did not have sufficient knowledge to form a belief” about his claims, Gallego also argued that his wife should pay for the divorce proceedings.
Gallego asked the court that Kate should not be entitled to “long-term spousal support” and stated that “neither party needs or is entitled to an award of long-term spousal support.”
Gallego met his wife Sydney months after their divorce was finalized, and they later welcomed a daughter, Isla, in July 2023.
Kate was a member of the Phoenix City Council at the time of the divorce and was elected mayor of Phoenix in March 2019.
Kate initially asked to receive spousal support, but later acknowledged that they were both “financially independent and that financial assistance through spousal support is not required now or in the future.”
Divorce records in Arizona are typically public; However, Gallego requested that his records be sealed because “each party is a high-profile public official” and his case “would likely receive intense media scrutiny.”
Their divorce was finalized in April 2017. At the time, Kate was a member of the Phoenix City Council and was elected mayor of Phoenix in March 2019.
The couple welcomed a son shortly after finalizing their divorce. A little more than a year later, Gallego, then 39, says he met his current wife, 25-year-old lobbyist Sydney Barron. They later welcomed a daughter, Isla, in July 2023.
The two announced their marriage in early 2020, where Gallego declared to his followers that he was “the happiest man in the world.”
Both Ruben and Kate Gallego asked the courts to keep their divorce records sealed, citing concerns about their son’s privacy.