Apparently, Not Quite Everyone is Sick of Sinema… Just Arizona Democrats – Independents, Too!

An interesting tidbit from some of Sinema’s Democratic colleagues inside the Beltway from Julia Ioffe…

The Sinema Lovefest: One of the more counterintuitive themes to emerge from my recent conversations with Senate Democratic sources is that Kyrsten Sinema, who officially left the party late last year, is surprisingly now being seen by many inside the party as an asset. Beyond functioning as a warm body who supports the Democrats’ hold on the majority, while also holding Democratic slots on four different committees, several Senate sources tell me that her habit of hanging out with Republicans actually works in Democrats’ favor when counting votes. 

In this worldview, Sinema is an aisle-hopping ambassador, effective at pulling Republican senators over to join Democrats on some legislation. A source pointed to her usefulness in helping the Senate consolidate behind a recent short-term spending measure. “As a creature of private equity interests, there is one thing she’s good at: making a case to prevent economic turbulence with certain G.O.P. leaders,” a Democratic Hill source tells me.

Sinema has yet to announce whether she will seek a second term, and plenty of sources on the Hill speculate that she will retire. But she is raising money as if she is serious about reelection. Should she run again, she risks playing a spoiler role in a battle royale that will likely feature Democrat Ruben Gallego and possibly Republican Kari Lake, who’s expected to launch her own Senate campaign in October. 

Despite this bit of Senate floor goodwill, the Arizona Senate race remains a complicated dance for the D.S.C.C. For now, the Senate Democratic campaign arm is in wait-and-see mode until she makes a decision, which could be a while from now—Arizona Senate filing is in April.

Julia Ioffe’s Puck 9/12/23 Newletter

Much as it is useful and practical to have someone who can convince a few GOP Senators to support common-sense legislation, a “creature of private equity interests” is perhaps not the best representative for the interests of Arizona’s citizens.

It remains unclear whether and when Sinema will make a decision whether to run again or chose to float away on her golden parachute, but I’m quite sure there is an intensely self-interested calculus in Sinema’s head that will determine those details, and the result will have nothing to do with the interests of Arizona – only those of Sinema.