PHOENIX — Editor's note: This story has been updated here after the release of the documents.
The Arizona Supreme Court denied a motion Wednesday to prevent the public release of documents related to the divorce between Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and U.S. Senate candidate Ruben Gallego.
The divorce was finalized in 2017. The Washington Free Beacon filed a lawsuit in 2024 in Yavapai Superior Court asking for the records to be unsealed. Attorneys for Ruben Gallego and Kate Gallego claim the Free Beacon asked for the documents to be published due to "political motivations," court documents said.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Corte Suprema rechaza moción para mantener privados los documentos de divorcio de Rubén Gallego y Kate Gallego
Kate Gallego and Ruben Gallego were asked to provide redactions to the Superior Court, which were rejected, according to court records. The court then ordered a version without the redactions to be released publicly.
An appeal was filed by Kate Gallego and Ruben Gallego and the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled the redacted documents should be public but issued a stay until Oct. 17.
"The Gallegos appealed to protect their minor child, who is referenced extensively in the divorce record," attorneys for Ruben Gallego and Kate Gallego said in court records. "The record includes intimate details of how the Gallegos planned to raise and co-parent their child."
On Oct. 15, Ruben Gallego and Kate Gallego filed a motion in the Arizona Supreme Court to continue to prevent the release of the documents. On Oct. 16, the Arizona Supreme Court ordered the records to be released, saying Ruben Gallego and Kate Gallego "had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits, nor had they identified specific additional portions of the record whose disclosure would cause irreparable harm."
Yavapai County Judge John Napper said at a status hearing in June he does not believe there is anything out of the ordinary in the divorce records.
"I've reviewed this entire file multiple times now, I think everyone is going to be rather deflated with the results of it. This is a... well, I'm not a politician and maybe this will be very, very important information but this looks to me like one of the most garden-variety divorce files I have ever seen," Napper said. "It's as run of the mine as it gets."
The records are expected to be made public on Thursday, Oct. 17.
