Ruben Gallego

U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego predicts a Supreme Court ruling on redistricting will lead to more competitive political districts in Arizona.

Gallego believes the ruling could result in Democrats gaining control of the state Legislature.

The senator also discussed his support for the Major Richard Star Act, a bill aimed at expanding veterans' benefits.

U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego predicted the Supreme Court’s recent decision rolling back redistricting based on race will eventually lead to more competitive congressional and legislative districts in Arizona.

Gallego, D-Arizona, said May 7 that a future edition of the state’s independent redistricting commission will be essentially left with two primary considerations: compactness and competitiveness.

“Would there be a Latino-majority district? Maybe, maybe not,” he said. “There probably would still be just because of where all the Latinos live.

“But it would also mean that districts like (Rep. David Schweikert’s, R-Arizona) district now become more competitive. You would see (Rep. Abe Hamadeh’s, R-Arizona) now become more competitive. You would probably see (Rep. Juan Ciscomani’s, R-Arizona) district become more Democratic because they’re not going to be able to pack all the Democrats in.

“And when it comes to state House and state Senate, I think the Republicans would probably lose the House and Senate in perpetuity at that point.”

It was an upbeat assessment of the 6-3 ruling on April 29 largely bemoaned by many Democrats, who say it will unleash new GOP friendly maps that use court-allowed partisan means to do away with majority-minority districts that have often gone to Democrats.

The court’s majority has held that redistricting based on partisan considerations is allowed, but because of “vast social change” race-based decisions are no longer permitted. The court’s dissenting justices said the latest ruling imperils political gains for minorities since the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Gallego represented a majority-Latino district for five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before joining the U.S. Senate last year.

After the high court’s ruling, Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, called for new political maps in the state.

“The redistricting commission should meet, and they should fix the maps. And if they don’t do it, then we’ll litigate,” said Petersen, who is running for Arizona attorney general.

Redistricting usually happens in the first year after the decennial census. Arizona is not scheduled to redraw its maps until 2031. Several states have redrawn their maps to create more Republican- or Democratic-friendly seats in Congress after Texas did so in 2025. The court’s latest ruling has sparked another round of interest in several more states.

Arizona has had two majority-Latino U.S. House districts that have always been held by Democrats since they were first drawn for the 2002 elections.

Gallego appeared at VFW Post 720 in Phoenix before about 50 veterans to discuss his support for the Major Richard Star Act, a relatively low-profile bill that its supporters say could offer significant health and financial benefits to about 50,000 veterans nationwide.

The bill would allow veterans to collect their full military benefits even if they have received significant medical aid. Currently, only veterans with 20 years of service and disability ratings higher than 50% are able to keep their full benefits after accounting for medical expenses.

For others, medical expenses can be deducted from their benefits.

The bill has 79 co-sponsors in the Senate but has faced procedural hurdles that have prevented it from receiving a vote in the past.

Gallego, an Iraq War veteran, told the veterans he plans to seek a vote on the matter during a flurry of expected votes ahead of an upcoming vote on a separate $72 billion budget bill for the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Star Act would cost about $1 billion annually, a total Gallego said is “a rounding error” in the federal budget but is significant to veterans.

“I’ve had many conversations with veterans here where they’re very quick to deploy us,” Gallego said. “They’re very quick to send us over there, but as soon as they got back, they weren’t as quick to give us the benefits that we needed.”

Last week, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he continues to support passage of the Richard Star Act.