Kyrsten Sinema leaves Democratic Party, registers as independent, cuts fragile margin in US Senate by Ronald J. Hansen
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said Friday she is leaving the Democratic Party and will formally become an independent in a move that more fully places her at the center of a narrowly divided chamber.
“I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington,” she wrote.
Sinema maintained she doesn’t plan to change her voting habits: often aligning with Democrats but backing Republicans on certain issues. And she won’t dispense with the legislative filibuster that has led many Democrats to call for her to face a primary challenge in 2024.
Sinema’s move will jar Democrats who had hoped Sen. Raphael Warnock’s runoff victory in Georgia on Tuesday would provide the party a measure of breathing room on difficult votes that often hinged on Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
“We’ve seen in recent years that the parties have pulled folks to the political edges,” Sinema said during a 45-minute interview with The Republic. “There’s an increasing demand that you kind of fit in with one political orthodoxy or the other. … I’ve never fit that.”
She plans to caucus with Democrats, giving the party an edge on committee seats, something that could prove especially important to moving quickly on judicial nominations. But Sinema will remain uninvolved in party leadership votes and advancing the party’s broader efforts.
She envisions a more detached role for herself than the Senate’s two other independents, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, both of whom are usually in sync with Democrats.
Her move underscores the fragile advantage Democrats will have in the Senate entering the next two-year cycle.
Sinema’s defection also creates the intriguing possibility of a three-way race in 2024 for Arizona’s U.S. Senate contest, which already figured to be among the nation’s most closely watched. Though she had steep disapproval ratings among Democrats in limited polling, Sinema said her prospects in a 2024 primary race had no bearing on her decision and would not even say she plans to run for a second term.
Her submission to The Republic, however, notes that “there are sure to be others vying for your support. I offer Arizonans something different.”
Sinema’s switch comes after months of deliberation and reflects her view that the two-party dynamic in Washington is an obstacle to policy progress, especially in a state with a vast swath of independent voters. The political loyalties of that bloc could face an unprecedented test in 2024.
“I don’t anticipate that this changes anything for me in terms of the way that I work,” she said. “But I will be happy going to work each day as an independent representing Arizona values, and I think Arizonans will be happy about it, too.”
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