It’s October, but there was no surprise in the long-sought divorce records of U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego and his ex-wife Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. 

And that leaves Ruben’s foe in the U.S. Senate race, Republican Kari Lake, with nothing to smear him with after implying he was hiding instances of domestic violence, abuse or other misconduct in the sealed divorce records. 

“We think there’s something really, really bad in those records,” Lake said in an interview with NewsMax on Oct. 15. 

A months-long legal battle lodged by a conservative media outlet to unseal the record came to a head earlier this week, after the Arizona Court of Appeals ordered the release of the redacted record and the Arizona Supreme Court declined to issue a stay. 

But the 465 pages of records only revealed a standard dissolution of marriage, with no anticipated “October surprise” to speak of. 

“We demand an apology from Kari Lake for lying about our family and the circumstances of our divorce. She will stop at nothing to score a cheap political point — even if it means endangering the privacy and well-being of our young son,” Kate and Ruben Gallego said in a written joint statement Oct. 17. 

They continued, “We have long put our child before all else and will continue to do so. The judge in this case has recognized how standard the records are, and it is shameful that Lake, her allies, and those who amplify her cruelty refuse to respect two people who are just trying to raise a beautiful boy together.”

After the release, Caroline Wren, senior adviser for Kari Lake, said she thought the Gallegos’ demand for an apology to be “bizarre” and sought to distance the campaign from the bid to unseal the records, highlighting the timing of the divorce and a request for fees. 

“Everyone knows Kari Lake had nothing to do with this lawsuit, which was filed by an independent media outlet, however we do find the revelations from the divorce records to be shocking, especially considering Ruben Gallego is spending millions on advertising claiming to want to protect women, yet he served his unsuspecting wife with divorce papers when she was days away from giving birth, and even demanded she pay his attorney’s fees,” Wren said in a statement. 

But there appears to be no basis for the claim that Kate was blindsided.

In asking on Ruben’s behalf that the record be sealed, his attorney, Bonnie Booden, acknowledged that Kate had not yet been served with the papers. But Booden said the parties “have been engaged in informal discussions about some of the substantive issues in this matter.” And Ruben’s attorney said that Kate’s legal counsel has stated she would not oppose the motion to seal the files.

The fact that nothing significant has been revealed in the portion of the unsealed documents is not really a surprise.

Arizona is a no-fault divorce state.

The only grounds for dissolving a marriage is that is it “irretrievably broken.” Any allegations of cheating or abuse – and there are none stated here – are totally irrelevant.

The two filed for divorce in December 2016 in Yavapai County weeks before the birth of their son. Since their divorce, the two have remained amicable, with Kate Gallego endorsing and campaigning with Ruben Gallego in his Senate bid as chair of his Mayors for Gallego coalition. 

The unsealed record, dubbed a “garden variety” divorce file by Superior Court Judge John Napper in a video obtained by 12News, included redacted details of the couple’s parenting plan and financial obligations, motions to take a statutorily mandated parent education program online and a consent decree with a joint statement agreeing no domestic violence occurred during the marriage. 

In a Dec. 21, 2016 ruling, Yavapai County Superior Court Commissioner Joseph Goldstein agreed to seal the entirety of the record as he found “the privacy interests of the parties outweighs the general open records policy.” 

In January, the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative news site, filed to unseal the record, arguing for a First Amendment right of access to court records and a failure to meet the requirements for sealing a record.

In response, Jillian Andrews, attorney for the Gallegos, argued unsealing the record would “compromise the privacy and safety interests of the Gallegos.” 

“The information at risk of becoming public does not include allegations of abuse or misconduct as Rep. Gallego’s political opponents undoubtedly hope, but instead intensely personal and detailed agreements regarding (their child), down to the minutiae of where he is to spend each weekday, holiday, and school vacation,” Andrews wrote.

Napper, a Republican, agreed to unseal the record and allowed for the majority of redactions requested by the Gallegos.

The Gallegos then asked the appellate court to reconsider unsealing the record.

In a ruling, the Arizona Court of Appeals found the position failed to account for the requirement in family law procedure “that they, as the party opposing unsealing, show overriding current or continuing circumstances that justify maintaining sealed status.” 

Judge Brian Furuya wrote, “Past circumstances are not relevant to their present objection to The Free Beacon’s request to unseal. Therefore, the prior 2016 order did not impose a requirement on the court to make findings regarding a change in the status quo. The court did not err by not stating any findings in its order unsealing the record.” 

The appellate court found no error in the rejected redactions either, noting a similar standard. “The Gallegos had the burden to show continuing or new overriding circumstances to prohibit access to court documents or any portions thereof,” Furuya said. “They did not meet that burden.”

The Gallegos then sought a stay from the Arizona Supreme Court to put off the release of the records, set for Oct. 17. 

In an order, Justice Clint Bolick rejected the request for stay, finding the Gallegos had failed to provide the court portions of the record they argued should be redacted and instead argued for a wholesale seal of all records. 

“The Court concludes that the Gallegos have not established a strong likelihood of success on the merits, nor have they established irreparable harm with any degree of specificity if the stay is not granted,” Bolick wrote. 

The records went public Oct. 17.

Howard Fischer of Capitol Media Services contributed to this story.