The appeals court rules that Gallegos’ divorce documents should be unsealed

The Beacon filed a lawsuit to unseal the 2017 divorce records in Yavapai County Superior Court, where the divorce proceedings took place. Gallego had been campaigning for a year for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Kyrsten Sinema, who did not seek re-election.

It is not customary in Arizona to seal divorce records, but at the Gallegos’ request, the court sealed the entire record in 2016 after determining that “the privacy interests of the parties override the general public records policy.”

After Beacon’s lawsuit, the Gallegos – who remain political allies – suggested the court release a redacted version of their divorce documents to protect financial information as well as details about their minor child.

The court agreed with some, but not all, of these redactions, and the Gallegos appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeal confirmed the decision of the lower courtarguing that the Yavapai County Superior Court did not abuse its discretion in rejecting some of the Gallegos’ proposed redactions.

“The Gallegos had a burden to demonstrate ongoing or new compelling circumstances prohibiting access to court documents or portions thereof,” Presiding Judge Brian Furuya wrote in the decision. “You cannot cope with this burden.”

Ruben and Kate married in 2010. In 2014, Gallego was elected to represent the 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. In late 2016, when Kate was just months away from giving birth to her son, Ruben filed for divorce.

While Rubens’ Republican opponent in the Senate race, Kari Lake, has said she is not involved in the Beacon’s efforts to unseal the divorce documents, the circumstances of his divorce are one of their main topics of discussion.

“Ruben Gallego left his wife when she was nine months pregnant with his firstborn,” Lake continued Instagram on August 12th. “He served her divorce papers and ran off with a D.C. lobbyist… People have a right to know what Ruben did and who Ruben really is.”

The divorce was finalized in 2017 and Ruben married lobbyist Sydney Barron, who was then working for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, in 2021. They have a daughter together, born in 2023.

Kate Gallego has continued to support Ruben’s career and supported him in his run for Senate.

“Kari Lake will stop at nothing to score a cheap political point — even if it means jeopardizing the privacy and well-being of our young son,” Ruben and Kate Gallego wrote in a joint statement. “We have long placed our child first and we will continue to do so. It is shameful that Lake, her allies and those who reinforce their cruelty refuse to respect two people who are just trying to raise a beautiful boy together.”

Gallego told The Washington Post in March 2023 This post-traumatic stress disorder, caused by his time as a Marine in Iraq in 2005, was a contributing factor in his divorce. He told the Post that he drank and smoked too much and had “extreme outbursts” as he tried to deal with the deaths of the 22 Marines in his company who were killed during his deployment.

The appeals court ruling came just a day after the only scheduled debate between Lake and Gallego and on the second day of early voting in Arizona.

Lake consistently trails Gallego in polls, by one Emerson College Survey of 1,000 likely voters in Arizona from Oct. 5-8, giving him a seven-point lead. The Poll average from FiveThirtyEightwhich analyzes political polls shows Gallego with a nearly 8-point lead over Lake.

After Wednesday’s debate, Gallego briefly answered questions from the media, but Lake sent surrogates in her place, including Turning Point USA Chairman Charlie Kirk and her campaign senior adviser Caroline Wren.

“I find it despicable to leave a woman when she is nine months pregnant and I would like to know, and I think many Arizonans want to know, why Ruben Gallego is fighting tooth and nail and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to seal his divorce papers.” Wren told reporters. “What do these divorce papers say? I think the people of Arizona deserve to know that, and that’s why women should be very concerned.”