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High-profile liberals wanted to know how Gallego as a Democrat won his race in Arizona at the same time Donald Trump handily won the state.

The biggest factor, I believe, was , whose extremism and election denialism turned off enough voters to help Gallego win. 

In interviews, though, Gallego's answer was different. If you were to summarize it in one word, his explanation would be "troquitas." Latino men, he explained, weren't attracted to national Democrats' arguments about equity or democracy. They just wanted the chance to become wealthy enough to buy a troquita, a nice-sized pickup truck.

"The troquita is symbolic. It really is a status symbol that you have succeeded in this country," editorial page editor, David Leonhardt, in October. "It means you can afford a brand new nice truck. You take that truck to work, and that work brings dignity to your family."

In the telling of Gallego, a Marine veteran of the Iraq war, his campaign addressed the key desires of working-class men, which allowed him to earn enough of their votes to win the election, 50.1% to 47.7%. 

There's another way of looking at it though, that isn't as edifying and helps us analyze the current situation Gallego is in: That he's a man who likes to indulge the base tastes of the bros — big trucks, hot women, and even crypto. So no wonder Rep. Eric Swalwell, and misconduct, was his close friend.

Lake: Gallego 'true scumbag'

"I had the dubious honor of running against @RubenGallego — a true scumbag," the ever-outspoken . "I don’t say that lightly. Most candidates have a few skeletons. Gallego’s opposition file was a massive three-ring binder so heavy I couldn’t lift it."

Many of his opponents are waiting for the next shoe to drop on Gallego in the Swalwell scandal. They're relying on a claim by expelled former and by current that a former employee is going to allege Gallego fired her for refusing his sexual advances. 

No accusation like that has happened as of this writing.

The Republican-favoring in a story headlined "Animal House: Swalwell's Congress pals joined in his 'Dem-bauchery'". It alleged drinking and carousing involving Swalwell, fellow California Rep. Jimmy Gomez and Gallego.

But here's the key line for Arizona's purposes: "While Gal­lego, Swal­well’s closest friend in Con­gress, faced ques­tions about what he knew after at least five women accused Swal­well of sexual assault and har­ass­ment, people involved in Demo­cratic polit­ics told The Post that the lower-pro­file Gomez war­rants more scru­tiny."

What's really happened in the last week, since the allegations against Swalwell emerged, leading to his resignation, is a campaign of innuendo against Gallego, who is considered a longshot candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028. The argument his opponents are putting forward: He must have done something wrong, since he socialized with Swalwell.

But Gallego is not directly accused of wrongdoing, so the most important questions to emerge is what he knew about Swalwell's activity, and whether he helped cover them up in any way. 

“Look, we socialized. We went out," . "But I never saw him engage in any of the predatory behavior, harassment, sexual assault or even anything like that."

Gallego's skeletons

But Gallego does have skeletons, as Lake noted. In 2013, , then in the Arizona House of Representatives, of making an inappropriate comment with sexual connotations. He denied it, nobody heard the comment, and the complaint was dropped. 

He divorced his first wife, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, in 2017 when she was nine months pregnant, although the divorce file unsealed in 2024 .

, in Washington D.C., although those mortgages are usually reserved for primary homes and he already had got a v.A. mortgage for his house in Phoenix.

Most telling in the current context, I think, was a mini-scandal that erupted last year, long after he'd won the Senate seat. In text messages with a friend who was encouraging Gallego to take a stronger role in the Democratic Party, .

"We look like the not fun party. Always telling and correcting people. Not allowing men to be men. Women to be hot. We used to be the party of sec [sic] drugs and rock and roll."

He went on, "Now Dem women look like Dem men and Dem men look like women."

That's kind of strange coming from the party where traditional good-lookers Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a leading member in Congress, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom is a leading contender for president. 

But it also goes back to the gender norms that Gallego embraced with his politics of the "troquita" — that of the men who want to indulge their manly tastes. The truth is, owning a big new pickup may just as likely be a sign that as that he has made it financially, but it is a sign of being a real man in much of American culture. Just watch the ads during NFL games to confirm this.

Gallego also embraced the get-rich-quick, male culture of cryptocurrency — what one critic called  — after the crypto industry invested $10 million in his election. He supported legislation, the GENIUS Act, favored by the crypto industry and justified his closeness with the industry by are especially into crypto. 

When you put these pieces together, what you get is not necessarily the picture of a political savant who figured out how to attract Latino voters, nor of anything like a sexual predator. You see instead a guy who indulges stereotypical male tastes — trucks, hot women, crypto — and would therefore not be the type to notice anything wrong with his friend Swalwell.