Daniel Gallegos

After law school, Gallegos joined the United States Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps.[3][4][6] After graduating from the Naval Justice School with honors in 2005, he reported to Naval Air Station Jacksonville as a military prosecutor.[1][3] In 2007, Gallegos deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he served as a legal advisor with Multi-National Force – Iraq, Task Force 134.[1][2][3][4] In 2008, Gallegos reported as deputy command judge advocate on board USS Nimitz (CVN-68).[2][3]

In 2010, Gallegos left active duty and joined the United States Navy Reserve.[1][3] As a reserve Navy JAG, he variously served as an operational law attorney with the United States Third Fleet, United States Pacific Fleet, and the United States Sixth Fleet reserve legal offices.[3] He also served as staff judge advocate for SEAL Team 17 and for the Navy reserve component of United States Special Operations Command.[3][7] From 2014-2015, Gallegos mobilized to Joint Task Force Guantanamo, where he served as liaison to the International Committee of the Red Cross.[2][3]

Judge Daniel Gallegos in 2019

In 2010, Gallegos became a prosecutor with the 13th Judicial District Attorney's Office in Sandoval County, New Mexico.[1][2][3] In 2011, he became a prosecutor with the 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office in Bernalillo County, New Mexico.[1][2][3] In 2013, he became a staff attorney at the New Mexico Court of Appeals in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[1][2][3] From 2015-2018, Gallegos served on the board of directors of the National Hispanic Cultural Center.[2][3] In 2021, Gallegos joined Harrison & Hart, LLC, as an attorney.[3][7]

In January 2018, Gallegos was appointed to the New Mexico Court of Appeals by Governor Susana Martinez.[8] He ran a statewide campaign to keep his seat on the court.[1][6][9] He was the subject of an attack ad paid for by New Mexico trial lawyers, portraying him as a puppet of Governor Martinez.[10] In response, Gallegos is quoted by The Santa Fe New Mexican as saying, “It is a disappointing turn of events, given that judicial elections in New Mexico, while nominally partisan, are supposed to be different“ and that "[t]his overt and rancorous appeal to partisanship is antithetical to the concept of judicial independence and the rule of law.”[10] Gallegos went on to lose to Democrat Megan Duffy, 54.5% to 45.5%, the closest statewide race in the 2018 New Mexico elections.[11][12]

In December 2018, Governor Martinez appointed Gallegos to the Second Judicial District Court in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, where he presided over felony criminal cases.[2][13] In November 2020, he lost a partisan countywide election to Democrat Courtney Weaks, 56.2% to 43.8%.[12][14] His 43.8% was the best performance of any Republican in Bernalillo County in the 2020 New Mexico elections.[15]