Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Democrat turned Independent from Arizona, is reportedly preparing a reelection campaign as an Independent, which will create a highly competitive three-party election
Sinema, who left the Democrat Party last year to become an Independent, is preparing to run as an Independent in her upcoming reelection campaign, according to the Wall Street Journal, which would set up a three-way battle between Sinema and whoever the Democrat and Republican nominee ends up being.
According to the report, Sinema gathered with her team this week in Phoenix for a staff retreat, with one meeting including slides and a timeline for the rest of the year for a potential run and when to have polling and opposition research done by, people familiar with the meeting told the Journal.
The Journal further explained:
Ms. Sinema has already filed paperwork to run as an independent, a procedural step that allows her to raise money. To get on the ballot, she will need to gather an estimated 40,000-plus signatures from nonaffiliated voters, according to the Arizona secretary of state’s office. Gathering signatures, particularly of independents, can take time and the cost of such efforts works out to $5 to $25 per name, according to campaign consultants.
…
While running as an independent allows her to bypass what was expected to be a difficult Democratic primary, Ms. Sinema is seen as having a tricky path to re-election in a three-person race against the eventual Democratic and Republican nominees. Her support from Democratic voters has deteriorated, polls show, and it isn’t clear she could win enough independents and Republican votes to propel her to victory.
…
People close to Ms. Sinema said she saw a possible path to victory that includes keeping some Democratic voters, but her focus will be on bringing in a significant number of the state’s independent voters and soft Republicans turned off by their party’s rightward swing.
Running as an Independent in the state could ultimately have a significant effect on the outcome of the small Democrat majority in the Senate, in addition to testing the possibility of being a true Independent in the Senate, away from traditional party norms. It could also allow her to block legislation backed by President Joe Biden while also being in the middle of bipartisan deals, similar to the last Congress’s infrastructure bill.
Politico reported this past week that Sinema would have over $9.9 million cash on hand after the most recent fundraising quarter.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.