Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Leaves Democratic Party to be an Independent

Freshman Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party to register as an independent. She explained the reasoning behind her decision in an opinion piece for The Arizona Republic.

In an interview, Sinema 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."

The move comes days after a Democratic Senate runoff win in Georgia which would have given the party an outright 51-49 majority in January. While Democrats will still hold the chamber, this move will likely complicate things for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Sinema will continue to caucus with Democrats. This would enable her to retain her committee assignments. 

In her op-ed, Sinema said that "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." She went on to say that "most Arizonans believe this is a false choice."

Progressives in the Party have generally not been happy with Sinema, and there was already a possibility of a primary challenge from the left in 2024, perhaps from Rep. Ruben Gallego. Gallego was quite vocal about Sinema's lack of support for other Democrats in the midterm elections.

Leaving the party eliminates the primary challenge. Whether it results in a three-way general election remains to be seen. As a narrowly-divided state, having both Sinema and a strong Democrat on the ballot could make a GOP flip of the seat more likely.