Sen. Kyrsten Sinema registers as independent, says Democratic Party pulling to the 'extreme'
Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent, citing a "disconnect" between what Americans want and what political parties offer as both major parties have been "pulled further and further toward the extremes."
National parties' rigid partisanship and extreme views urged her to leave the Democratic Party, Sinema announced in an op-ed published by The Arizona Republic Friday.
"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," writes Sinema, who became the first openly bisexual member of Congress in 2013.
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"Americans are told that we have only two choices — Democrat or Republican — and that we must subscribe wholesale to policy views the parties hold, views that have been pulled further and further toward the extremes."
Sinema, 46, was elected to the Senate in 2018 after serving six years in the U.S. House of Representatives. Before that, she served in the Arizona legislature from 2005 to 2012. In the last couple of years, Sinema has drawn severe pushback from Democrats as she and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., opposed Democrats' efforts to repeal the filibuster rules in the Senate that require legislation to receive 60 votes before bills can receive a final vote.
Although Democrats had narrow control of the Senate and control of House during the first two years of President Joe Biden's term, the Senate filibuster rules prevented the party from advancing many of Biden's policy priorities.
In her op-ed, Sinema stated that most Americans believe that choosing between Democrats and Republicans is a "false choice."
"[W]hen I ran for the U.S. House and the Senate, I promised Arizonans something different. I pledged to be independent and work with anyone to achieve lasting results," she wrote. "I committed I would not demonize people I disagreed with, engage in name-calling, or get distracted by political drama."
She argues that America loses when "politicians are more focused on denying the opposition party a victory than they are on improving Americans' lives."
"That's why 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's announcement comes days after Democrats secured a 51-seat majority in the upper chamber following Sen. Raphael Warnock's runoff victory in Georgia this week. She told Politico that nothing will change about her voting pattern and will not caucus with Republicans.
Sinema's exit changes the prospects of the Democratic Party in the 2024 Arizona Senate race.
In January, the bipartisan group Defending American Democracy spent $1 million on a TV ad targeting Sinema, focusing on her resistance to changing Senate rules to advance the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act over unified GOP opposition, according to Axios.
Michael Slugocki, an outgoing vice chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, told NBC News that he is "not surprised" by the senator's decision.
"It does shake up this race," Slugocki said, accusing her of "deliberately trying to make it difficult for Democrats in Arizona." He said Biden's 2024 prospects in Arizona could be impacted if Sinema continues to criticize the Democratic Party.
A September bipartisan poll by Fabrizio Ward & Impact Research showed that her favorable rating among the state's Democratic likely voters was 37%, 36% among Republicans, and 41% among independents. Her overall favorable rating was 37%, with an unfavorable rating of 54%.
