Politico is reporting that Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is switching her party affiliation from Democratic to “independent.”
As reported by Burgess Everett for Politico, Sinema has advised that despite her party change she will not caucus with the Republicans.
Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is changing her party affiliation to independent, delivering a jolt to Democrats’ narrow majority and Washington along with it.
In a 45-minute interview, the first-term senator told POLITICO that she will not caucus with Republicans and suggested that she intends to vote the same way she has for four years in the Senate. “Nothing will change about my values or my behavior,” she said.
Sinema would not say whether she intended to run for re-election in 2024.
“I don’t anticipate that anything will change about the Senate structure,” Sinema said, adding that some of the exact mechanics of how her switch affects the chamber is “a question for Chuck Schumer … I intend to show up to work, do the same work that I always do. I just intend to show up to work as an independent.”
She has advised Sen. majority leader Chuck Schumer of her decision, and, according to Politico, Democrats will still maintain majority control of Senate committees. She also expects to continue supporting President Biden’s nominees.
Even before her party switch, she faced rumblings of a primary challenge in 2024 from Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.). Becoming an independent will avoid a head-to-head primary against Gallego or another progressive, should she seek reelection. A theoretical general-election campaign could be chaotic if both Democrats and Republicans field candidates against her.
In a special op-ed for the Arizona Republic, Sinema explains the rationale for her decision. Frankly, it appears to be a textbook exercise in false equivalency.
Everyday Americans are increasingly left behind by national parties’ rigid partisanship, which has hardened in recent years. Pressures in both parties pull leaders to the edges, allowing the loudest, most extreme voices to determine their respective parties’ priorities and expecting the rest of us to fall in line.
In catering to the fringes, neither party has demonstrated much tolerance for diversity of thought. Bipartisan compromise is seen as a rarely acceptable last resort, rather than the best way to achieve lasting progress. Payback against the opposition party has replaced thoughtful legislating.
According to the Politico article, Sinema also advised that she would be going for a ‘hard run’ after her announcement goes public, because that’s what she normally does on Friday mornings.
