Kyrsten Sinema

Democrats maintain control of the Senate, despite the Arizona senator's move to sit as an independent.

Decision to register as an independent deals blow to Joe Biden's party after success in midterm elections.

She says she will not caucus with Republicans. Sinema, who faces reelection in 2024, has been a vibrant yet often unpredictable force in the Senate, tending ...

Sinema is a staunch defender of the filibuster, a Senate rule effectively requiring 60 votes to pass most legislation in the 100-member Senate. The move also previewed the persistent opposition that Sinema was likely face within her own party in 2024. Sinema has not said whether she will seek reelection in 2024, but her move scrambles the landscape as Democrats already face a tough path to maintaining Senate control. A weak GOP field contributed to Democratic Sen. John McCain of Arizona, will join a small but influential group of independent senators aligned with the Democrats — Sen. While unusual for a sitting senator to switch party affiliation, Sinema's decision may well have more impact on her own political livelihood than the operations of the Senate. I committed I would not demonize people I disagreed with, engage in name-calling, or get distracted by political drama. I promised I would never bend to party pressure.” ... Nothing’s going to change for me.’’ Sinema, who has modeled her political approach on the maverick style of the late Republican Sen. “Kyrsten is independent; that’s how she’s always been," Schumer said. In a video explaining her decision, she said: “Registering as an independent and showing up to work with the title of independent is a reflection of who I’ve always been.

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as a political independent, she told CNN's Jake Tapper in an exclusive TV ...

The Arizona senator is registering as an independent, noting that she “never fit perfectly in either national party.”

Sinema told Politico in an interview that she will not caucus with Republicans and that she plans to keep voting as she has since winning election to the Senate ...

Sinema says she still plans to caucus with the Democrats, but her announcement has already set off political tremors in her home state.

Arizona Sen. Sen.

Remember when Georgia's runoff gave Democrats 51 seats in the U.S. Senate? Well, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said not so fast, my friend: This morning, ...

[according to the U.S. of Virginia might make the most interesting comparison to Sinema: A conservative Democrat, Of this group, Sinema is the sixth to become an independent at some point, but only three prior to her actually stuck with identifying that way. Sinema is just the 10th senator since 1951 to formally switch parties while in office, Party switch So getting voters to eschew the major-party candidates won’t be easy, especially if Sinema isn’t overwhelmingly popular (the Suffolk poll put her overall favorability at 36 percent favorable, 38 percent unfavorable). Having upset Democrats, Sinema might lose most of their support to the Democratic pick, and there’s no guarantee that many Republicans back her over their party’s nominee, even if that candidate is highly problematic. Yoshinaka’s study found party switchers suffer an electoral penalty in their first general election after switching, with an average decline of 4 to 9 percentage points in vote share. He found that ideological disagreement usually had to occur alongside a desire to run for higher office or to gain a more valuable committee post to produce a greater likelihood of changing parties. [intends to mostly align](https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2022/12/09/sen-kyrsten-sinema-leaves-democratic-party-to-become-an-independent/69710762007/) with the Democrats and keep her committee assignments from that party (which Majority Leader Chuck Schumer [confirmed he had agreed to honor](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/12/09/krysten-sinema-independent-white-house-00073243)). Since joining the Senate, she’s taken public stances against Democratic efforts [to abolish the filibuster](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/13/how-kyrsten-sinema-defended-filibuster-bipartisanship/) and, along with Manchin, pushed her party [to sharply reduce](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/23/sinema-35t-spending-bill-506583) the outlays in budgetary legislation. On paper, then, the next Senate’s makeup will be 49 Republicans, 48 Democrats and three independents.

Sinema made clear she won't caucus with Republicans, maintaining Democrats' newly expanded control of the chamber.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced she will no longer be a member of the Democratic Party, raising questions about how independent politicians can really be.

It's very likely her candidacy would pull more from the Democratic nominee and open up a path for a Republican to win with a mere plurality. Sanders, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Jon Tester of Montana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia all have voted with the party to a lesser degree, albeit slightly, according to a What's true in politics is that you have to start with a base of support. There's a real danger here for both the party and for Sinema. She voted with the party 93% of the time, which is not even the lowest of other Democrats (or those who caucus with them). "Last month, the voters of Arizona made their voices heard loud and clear – they want leaders who put the people of Arizona first," said Rep. there's been no overlap at all between the least liberal Democrats and the least conservative Republicans in the House. When he visited Arizona in 2003, for example, right as the Iraq war was starting – a war he voted for and defended – he was greeted by anti-war protests. Ever since, the gaps between the least conservative Republicans and least liberal Democrats in both the House and Senate have widened – making it ever less likely that there's any common ground to find." The writing was on the wall for a while with Lieberman and Democrats. Raphael Warnock won his runoff election in Georgia, Democrats still have firm control of the chamber, 50-49. (Democrat Al Franken's victory in Minnesota then gave Democrats a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority that helped pass the Affordable Care Act.)

A win for Democrats in Georgia followed by a defection from the party, as Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema announces that she's now an Independent.

He needs virtually every Republican to vote for him in order to reach the majority of the whole House. The Republican nominee for speaker, Kevin McCarthy, still lacks the votes he needs to win a majority of the whole House. So it looks like it's going to be a nasty start to the new year. And Sinema was already a hard vote for the Democrats to get on many issues, including the filibuster and Biden's spending bills. ELVING: He did a number of things right - a number of things that ought to be lessons for his party. But while he kept his focus on his core supporters, he was also reaching out to the more moderate voters among the Republicans, making it harder for opponents to demonize him. He focused on turnout in his base in the metro areas of the state, especially the megametro around Atlanta. And it's far from clear just who would be able to pick up the pieces. SIMON: Let's get to the Georgia runoff. ELVING: At this point, the Democrats don't think it needs to change that calculation much. So the AARP in Arizona ran a poll this fall showing Sinema was viewed unfavorably by more Democrats than Republicans or independents. Sinema still appears ready to organize with the Democrats.

The recent history of party-switching senators includes stories of moderates feeling abandoned, longtime politicians unwilling to face primary voters or ...

Charlie Crist, a moderate who felt out of place in the GOP, went from being a Republican governor in Florida to Democratic congressman. Sanders’ previous decision to run for president as a Democrat is evidence of how hard it is to be in national politics without a party. Angus King of Maine, a former Democrat, and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a democratic socialist, as lawmakers who aren’t technically Democrats but give Democrats their majority. McCain tried to fashion himself as a “maverick” who could buck the party system. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who is the last Democrat standing in a state that during his lifetime was full of them. Sinema will be the first independent senator who isn’t from New England in more than a generation. Joe Lieberman, the moderate Democrat and former longtime senator, lost a Democratic primary in Connecticut in 2006, largely over his support for the Iraq war. Specter’s switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party briefly gave Democrats a filibuster-proof majority and allowed them to pass the Affordable Care Act. Specter left the GOP after realizing he wasn’t going to be able to win a primary. She’s simply exerting independence, as she told CNN’s Jake Tapper in announcing her departure from the Democrats. Bob Smith of New Hampshire left the GOP only to Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania across the aisle](https://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/28/specter.party.switch/) in 2009.