Senator Sinema Quits Democrats To Sit As An Independent

Sinema’s leaving opens the door for a Democratic challenger to run against her in 2024

Today, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema announced she had left the U.S. Democratic Party to sit as an independent Senator as it is in the best interest of Arizonans. With Senator Warnock’s win in Georgia, however, she has lost her leverage in the party, giving the Democrats outright control of the Senate without fear of being held hostage by her or fellow Senator Joe Manchin.

In the two years of the Biden administration, both Sineman and Manchin voted in lockstep with Republicans. They have killed significant bills that would improve every American’s life and refused to vote to eliminate the Filibuster. An archaic rule that allows the U.S. Senate to stall any Bills on the floor without a supermajority.

Sinema’s leaving, however, does not change anything as the Democrats still have the majority, and if she abstains from a vote that ends in a tie, Vice President Harris is the tiebreaker.

Now that Sinema sits as an independent, she said she expects to remain chair of her committee and be given all the same privileges as if she was still a part of the Democratic Party, which unlines her level of hubris.

Simena’s departure now gives the Democratic Party the green light to find a star candidate to run against her in the 2024 primaries now that she is an independent. If she decides to run again, her path to re-election will be difficult as she has clipped her wings, and big donors will be less inclined to support a candidate with little power and influence within the party.