A prominent abortion rights group has backed Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) in Arizona's 2024 Senate race and revoked its support for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ).
Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America, endorsed Gallego on Wednesday, saying that his vote in the near-evenly divided Senate could mean the difference when weighing issues connected to federal abortion rights.
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Proud to endorse @RubenGallego for the U.S. Senate, marking our 1st endorsement as Reproductive Freedom for All!
— Reproductive Freedom for All (@reproforall) October 4, 2023
Electing him could mean the difference between protecting abortion & voting rights or allowing extremist Republicans to continue to attack our rights. Let's go, AZ!✨ pic.twitter.com/ra6zBowVeo
Gallego announced his candidacy in January after Sinema left the Democratic Party and became an independent late last year.
In Sinema's 2018 Senate run, the Reproductive Freedom for All super PAC, Women's Choice, spent over $1.3 million on her campaign. Sinema has voted in favor of abortion rights, even after leaving the Democrats.
Various abortion rights groups grew frustrated with Sinema, however, after she voted with Republicans against changing Senate rules that would have allowed Democrats to pass voting rights legislation with a simple majority. The then-NARAL even changed its endorsement criteria to only support candidates who supported the simple majority vote change, making Sinema ineligible for funding.
When asked by NBC about the decision to back Gallego over Sinema, Reproductive Freedom for All's vice president of political and government relations, Ryan Stilzen, said that Sinema has not publicly announced her intentions to run in 2024.
"[F]rom our minds right now, the only candidate in this race and the only candidate that’s been talked about in this race that we can trust and we know will support working to get the legal right to abortion codified in this country is Gallego," Stilzen said.
The Washington Examiner contacted Reproductive Freedom for All with a request for comment.
Arizona is currently a swing state in the abortion debate, with a 15-week ban on the controversial procedure currently in place.
Gallego wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he would "fight like hell" against abortion bans as a senator.
Arizona, here’s my promise to you: As your Senator, I’ll fight like hell to block any abortion ban that comes our way.
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) October 2, 2023
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Republican candidate for Senate and failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake supports a ban on abortions after six weeks gestation, when fetal cardiac activity can be detected on ultrasound.
Neither Gallego nor Sinema's offices responded to the Washington Examiner's request for comment.