A fundraising email from Arizona senatorial candidate Ruben Gallego has triggered a group to request an investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics.
The conservative-associated organization, known as the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, alleges in a letter to the office that Gallego, who currently represents Arizona's third congressional district, broke conduct by sending an email directly referencing legislation.
"In this case, Gallego sent a campaign fundraising email that identified specific legislation he introduced and asked for readers to 'support this critical legislation' by clicking a link," the letter states. "The link leads to a webpage with the title 'Support the Extreme Heat Emergency Act.'"
FACT regularly files ethics complaints targeting Democrats, such as California Rep. Eric Swalwell and former Iowa Rep. Cindy Axne.
Despite the complaint, Gallego's campaign dismissed the complaint as a political move.
"Right now Arizonans are dying because of this extreme heat. Congressman Gallego is focused on the real work of doing something about it. Baseless attacks from right-wing, dark money organizations are not going to distract from helping Arizonans during this crisis," Gallego spokeswoman Hannah Goss said in a statement to The Center Square.
The Extreme Heat Emergency Act is legislation introduced by Gallego in June that would "include extreme heat in the definition of a major disaster," according to the bill's text, which could open the door to federal assistance. The bill is cosponsored by three Democrats and one Republican, Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada. The complaint regarding the bill's mention comes as Phoenix faced a major heat wave, with a month of high temperatures over 110 degrees.
Gallego is the only declared major candidate in the Democratic primary for the competitive Arizona senate seat, currently held by Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who left the party in December. Sinema has not said whether or not she'll run for re-election, and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is the only declared major candidate in the Republican primary. Former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has repeatedly said that she's considering a bid for the seat.
