Earlier this month, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, announced that she was leaving the Democratic party and becoming an independent.
The dust has mostly settled from this shocking announcement but nonetheless, there still may be questions about this, like who is Kyrsten Sinema? Why did she leave the Democratic party, and what does she hope this will achieve for her?
That and more in today’s article, so let’s get into it!
Who is Kyrsten Sinema?
Kyrsten Lea Sinema is an American politician from Arizona and is the incumbent senior Senator for Arizona.
Prior to her current office, she served as a state representative for three terms and then one term as a state senator. She then served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Where is Kyrsten Sinema from?
Kyrsten Sinema was born in Tucson, Arizona on July 12, 1976. She is 46 years old. After her birth, her family would move to Florida. She would return to Arizona in 1995 after having graduated with her B.A. from Brigham Young University.
Is Kyrsten Sinema an LDS?
Kyrsten Sinema was raised within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS for short. She left the church shortly after having graduated from BYU.
When was Kyrsten Sinema elected to the U.S. Senate?
Kyrsten Sinema was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018 on the Democratic ticket. In that election, she defeated the Republican nominee, Martha McSally.
How long is Kyrsten Sinema’s Term?
Kyrsten Sinema’s term is six years. Her term will be up on January 3, 2025.
When is Kyrsten Sinema up for reelection?
If she decides to run, she would be up for reelection on November 5, 2024.
What area or district of Arizona does Kyrsten Sinema represent?
Kyrsten Sinema represents the 9th district of Arizona. It’s a rather large district within the state, that includes Maricopa county. A county that has been heavily scrutinized over the last few election cycles.
The biggest cities or at least the most recognizable cities would be Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, and Chandler Arizona. There are plenty of smaller cities within her district as well.
To see if Kyrsten is your Senator or to find your congressional member, you can head on over to Congress.gov and enter your address and the site will direct you to your Representative or Senator!
What is Kyrsten Sinema known for?
The easiest way to answer this question is to say that Kyrsten Sinema made a mark for herself by being very progressive in her early political career, however, she quickly started veering to the right as her career progressed.
So much so, that calling her a “centrist” is laughable.
She was a Ralph Nader supporter in her early years, she fought for same-sex issues, like marriage equality. She railed against issues like the death penalty.
She adamantly opposed the war on terror and participated in protests against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
She was also the first openly bi-sexual member of congress. Everything you would expect of a progressive Democrat and it’s those ideals and practices that got her elected.
However, shortly after joining congress, her voting and support for progressive issues would seemingly come to a stop.
She opposed the raising of the minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour, she voted against climate action, and she was against eliminating the filibuster in the Senate.
She went from a progressive hero to a corporate stooge in a new york minute.
According to NPR, she received nearly one million dollars for wall street investors as she voted against her party to prevent tax hikes on rich investors.
Finally, she doesn’t seem to care about her constituency, avoiding talking to Arizonans whenever possible, unless that constituent can offer some obscene amount of money.
Why did Kyrsten Sinema leave the Democratic party?
If you want to hear why she left the party, in her own words, you can watch a portion of her CNN interview here.
However, if you don’t feel like throwing your laptop or phone out of the window and you might if you watch, we’ll tell you why she really left; it’s a self-absorbed move and an attempt to save her political career.
It’s no secret that she’s not polling well in Arizona, it’s my belief that if the Senate elections were held today, she’d lose in a heartbeat.
However, by leaving the party, she’s protected herself from going through a primary and could possibly split the vote in 2024.
Let me explain, typically on a political ticket, you’ll have two candidates running against each other representing either the Democrats or Republicans.
One party candidate or the other will win that race. It’s very rare that an independent or other third-party candidate wins, like say, a Green Party candidate.
So, by her running as an independent, it will split the vote and quite possibly make it harder for another Democrat to win her seat.
As a result, she could hand the seat over to the Republican party…maybe that’s her master plan.
Will her leaving the party affect the Democratic majority?
No. She’s said herself that she will caucus with the Democrats, which is a fancy way of saying that she plans to vote along Democrat party lines. At least that’s what she’s said, that will have to wait to be seen.
Typically, though, she has voted along democratic lines, so her becoming independent should not affect the majority.
Rounding this out
Kyrsten Sinema’s leaving the Democratic party, while slightly shocking, wasn’t all too surprising if you look back at her voting record and listen to her past interviews.
It’s easy to see, that she’s never put herself into a neat political box but to believe her when she says that this is some altruistic move, is utter garbage.
This move on her part is exactly the opposite, it’s completely for her own self-preservation in hopes of staying in power and hopefully getting as many corporate payouts as she can for the next few years until the election.
I’m sure if she loses, her anger and sadness will be assuaged while she’s wiping away tears with wall street hundred-dollar bills.