A prominent Democrat eyeing a 2028 presidential bid used campaign funds to take his wife on lavish sunshine trips to St. Barts and Miami.
Senator Ruben Gallego and his wife, Sydney, traveled to St Barts for the birthday of her boss, who is also a major Gallego campaign donor.
The Gallegos also used donor money to celebrate her birthday in Miami last year.
Mrs. Gallego, 32, is an employee of a Texas-based health care consulting firm, Adelanto HealthCare Ventures, where she is Vice President of Political Strategy. She left her job at the National Association of Realtors in 2024, though her LinkedIn profile had not been updated.
The consulting company is led by Carlos Zaffirini, an attorney and registered lobbyist from Texas who is a political donor and has contributed thousands of dollars in support of Gallego and others.
Zaffirini celebrated his birthday in March in St. Barts, with both the senator and his wife in attendance for the festivities, which took place March 27 through 29, a source with knowledge of the arrangements who asked not to be identified told the Daily Beast.
The Caribbean island is known for its many white-sand beaches and crystal-clear waters that attract an international ultra-luxury crowd. At the time of their visit, the U.S. was still in a partial government shutdown, with federal workers, such as TSA agents, struggling to make ends meet after missing paychecks.
Mrs. Gallego is understood to have flown from Phoenix to the Caribbean island on Thursday, March 29, and returned on Monday, March 30. It was not clear how much the flight there cost, but her return flight from the getaway was $1,423 and paid for by the Juntos PAC, Gallego’s leadership PAC.
The senator flew out separately on a Spirit Airlines flight on Friday, March 27, before taking a flight with Tradewind, the private charter and semi-private service, for the final stretch. He then flew back to the U.S. on Sunday, March 29.
Gallego’s flights skipping town, which totaled about $1,100, were also paid for by his Juntos PAC and came after the Senate voted to end the government shutdown for most of the Department of Homeland Security, which had stretched on for more than two months.
While President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing DHS to resume paying TSA agents the same day the senators voted to fund most of DHS and Gallego jetted off to St. Barts, the full government shutdown did not end until the end of April, making it the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history.
A spokesperson for the senator said the Gallegos “traveled to St. Barts to meet with donors as part of a multi-stop political and fundraising swing,” noting that the senator, who was elected in 2024, also traveled to Puerto Rico and San Diego. While the leadership PAC paid for flights, it was unclear who covered the stay on St. Barts.
FEC filings show Zaffirini donated the maximum $6,600 allowed by an individual to Gallego’s 2024 Senate campaign. He also donated $100,000 to the group VoteVets, which supported the Democratic senator’s bid, and $5,000 last year to Gallego’s Juntos PAC.
The Gallegos have also been spotted dining with Zaffirini in New York and D.C. He was a guest when the senator appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last October, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Gallego’s spokesperson described Zaffirini as a “longtime friend and supporter who has contributed time and money to electing many Democratic candidates and causes” and insisted the senator’s office did not facilitate any official activities with him. The spokesperson said Mrs. Gallego got a job with AHCV due to her “experience and network.”
Multiple attempts to reach Zaffirini directly went unanswered, but a statement from AHCV spokesperson Chappell Oates, provided through the senator’s office, said, “Sydney was hired on the strength of over a decade of experience in non-profit leadership, campaigns and government affairs.”
In February 2025, the senator and Mrs. Gallego also took a trip to Miami to celebrate her birthday. The couple attended several political events and fundraisers, his office said, but according to a person familiar with the situation, the February 13 through 17 getaway was set up under the guise of fundraising and was actually for her birthday celebration.
However, as long as there was fundraising activity involved, it would not be a violation of election finance law. His office said that standard practice is for counsel to review all political travel in advance.
Expenses listed with the Juntos PAC linked to the birthday weekend show three charges to the luxury beachfront Loews hotel in Miami Beach totaling more than $9,161. The Gallegos’ au pair and kids also came for the weekend.
Among those in attendance for the Miami visit was disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who was one of the Arizona senator’s closest friends for years, though Gallego has denied any knowledge of the now ex-congressman’s alleged predatory behavior and abuse.
While using campaign and leadership PAC money to host donors and fundraise is often standard fare for members of Congress, using the money for a senator and their wife to fly to a donor and boss’s destination birthday with multiple layovers stands out, as does a birthday weekend, just months after a senator was elected for a six-year term.
“The rules are not robust enough to really prevent office holders from essentially using their campaign funds or funds in their leadership PAC to pay for a trip of this kind,” said Saurav Ghosh from the Campaign Legal Center. “At a common sense level, we can all agree that it probably looks unethical, probably a terrible look from an optics standpoint, but strictly as a legal matter, it’s very difficult to point to a situation like this and say that it’s a clear legal violation.”
He noted that there are extremely low standards for the use of campaign cash, and leadership PACs are not even subject to personal-use prohibitions. Ghosh said that it’s the “perfect example of why campaign finance reform is so urgently needed.”
FEC guidance reviewed by The Daily Beast also dictates that campaign funds may be used for a candidate’s spouse to travel when they are actively participating in campaign events, not just to show up.
The two trips are not the only use of campaign cash by the Gallegos that raises questions. The funds have repeatedly been used to pay childcare expenses, according to FEC filings. The Gallegos have a full-time au pair and have also used such services for campaign-related coverage. His office noted that any child care provided outside set hours related to campaign or fundraising activity are then paid out by the campaign to the providers.
In the past year, Gallego’s campaign has reimbursed the senator more than $8,200 directly for childcare-related payments, though several of the line items lumped the totals in with meals and travel reimbursements as well. There were also multiple separate payments directly to the au pair service by the campaign for childcare, referencing campaign activity.
It also shows that the senator paid a staffer in his own Arizona Senate office $600 in total for childcare. When asked about an aide being paid for childcare, Gallego’s office said the senator has complied with all guidelines. In the instance of the staffer being paid for babysitting, the office pushed back, arguing that the aide’s mother was actually the one providing the services. One document reviewed by The Daily Beast indicated as much.
FEC legal guidance does not preclude campaign money being used for childcare for minors when both parents are traveling for campaign events, but it should be clocked on an hourly basis with campaign-related activity paid for by the campaign and leadership PAC activity covered by PAC funds.
In at least one instance in 2022, the senator’s campaign also paid his mother-in-law $400 for “babysitting while at campaign fundraiser,” FEC records show.
