Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) warned an assortment of party elites earlier this week that Democrats will be “in trouble” if Secretary of State Marco Rubio secures the GOP’s 2028 presidential nomination.

Gallego “told a gathering of fellow lawmakers, beltway types, and activists a scary campfire story,” reported The Bulwark’s Adrian Carrasquillo.

“If Marco Rubio is the nominee for president, we are in trouble,” said Gallego.

From Carrasquillo’s story:

Gallego wasn’t definitively declaring that Secretary of State Rubio would win the Latino vote if he mounts a presidential bid in 2028. He was arguing something more nuanced: that the bilingual Cuban-American would blunt the growing strength Democrats have been showing in states like Arizona, Nevada, Texas, and Florida with voters who have recoiled at Trump’s policies and priorities.

Gallego was doing his best impression of Dr. Strange in Marvel’s Infinity War—looking ahead to see a dark hellscape of a future. But he also had a remedy to offer: If the Democratic party got its act together not just with Latino voters but with better messaging immigration ahead of the 2026 midterms, a presidential election letdown could be avoided in 2028. He had reason to believe that Democrats could do just that.

Rubio has emerged as one of two frontrunners for the Republican nomination alongside Vice President JD Vance. According to Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan’s new book, Regime Change, President Donald Trump once quipped that “Cubans love gold” after being asked if his successor might change his Oval Office makeover. in an apparent reference to Rubio.

“I don’t think Democrats need a Latino candidate. But they need to make sure there is a targeted campaign to Latinos if Marco Rubio runs,” said Gallego during his remarks this week. “We would be playing with a lot less territory, because of the voter out there excited about the first Latino candidate running for president on top of the ticket.”

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