Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced Tuesday she would not run for re-election, ending her one-term Senate run that was highlighted by her party switch from Democrat to Independent.
Sinema (I-AZ) won her Senate seat in 2017 after the retirement of Republican Sen. Jeff Flake. She served in the House of Representatives for three terms before she joined the Senate, where she switched parties from Democrat to Independent in 2022.
“Because I choose civility, understanding, listening, working together to get stuff done, I will leave the Senate at the end of the year,” Sinema announced in an X video on March 5.
A message for Arizonans from Senator Kyrsten Sinema pic.twitter.com/1XWFSWgGdh
— Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) March 5, 2024
Her party switch opened the highly-anticipated 2024 Arizona Senate race to three competitive candidates: Sinema, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, and unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. Sinema slightly trailed the two candidates in polls. Her dropout leaves the race to the two major parties.
Sinema told her donors last year she expected to gain more support from Republicans than Democrats, according to NBC.
As a Democrat in the Senate, Sinema had significant influence amid the 50-50 party split from the 2020 election. She played a major role in drafting, editing, and passing the president’s highly-touted Inflation Reduction Act. Other legislative efforts pushed by the senator included infrastructure, countering prescription drug prices, and gun control.
“Through listening, understanding, and compromise, we delivered tangible results that make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” Sinema said in her announcement.
“Yet despite modernizing our infrastructure, ensuring clean water, delivering good jobs and safer communities, Americans still choose to retreat farther to their partisan corners. These solutions are considered failures, either because they’re too much or not nearly enough. It’s all or nothing, the outcome less important than beating the other guy.”
