Jessica Yellin Instagram – Kristen Sinema Won’t Seek Re-Election Arizona’s Independent Senator @kyrstensinema announced today that she will retire at the end of her Senate term, leaving an open seat in Arizona to be filled in the November election. Sinema started her career as a Democrat but after regularly breaking with her party’s leadership she switched party affiliation in 2022. In announcing her retirement, Sinema blasted the lack of civility in politics and attributed her departure to the difficulty of working in a bipartisan way in Washington. It’s also the case that she had so alienated progressive Democrats who once supported her in Arizona, that her path to winning re-election was extremely narrow. It may seem logical that her departure benefit the Democrat in the race, political analysts assess that Sinema was drawing more from the Republican in the race, Kari Lake and her departure could actually be a boost to Lake’s candidacy. But it’s also early days and this race could be very close. With Sinema’s departure the Arizona senate race is likely to be a matchup between Democratic Rep @gallegoforaz and TV news anchor and one-time Republican Gubernatorial candidate @karilake. Among the ways Sinema has broken with the Democrats: she did not to support the original Biden Build Back Better package and has fought to protect the “carried interest” tax loophole that benefits private equity, hedge fund and other investment managers. She has also been a bridge to Republicans and helped craft the bipartisan border security bill that recently died in the Senate; President Biden is calling on President Trump to support that bill. The race for Sinema’s seat could determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate after the November election.