Via the NYT: Kyrsten Sinema Bows Out of Arizona Senate Race.
Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, the Democrat turned independent who cut bipartisan deals that cemented parts of President Biden’s agenda but also stymied some of her former party’s highest priorities, said on Tuesday that she would not seek re-election.
Her announcement ended a year of speculation about her future in a politically competitive state. It cleared the field for a traditional matchup in the high-stakes battle for control of the Senate, between a more conventional Democrat, Representative Ruben Gallego, and the eventual Republican nominee.
This would likely increase the odds that the Democrats will win the seat.
And, you don’t say?
Ms. Sinema took pride in her relationships with centrist Republicans. She played a critical role in brokering a breakthrough bipartisan package earlier this year to clamp down on migration across the United States border with Mexico while providing fresh aid to Ukraine and other U.S. allies — a bill that Republicans demanded and then quickly tanked.
In the wake of its demise, Ms. Sinema appeared disillusioned and angry, having watched some of the Republicans she had worked closely with in cutting the deal swiftly turn against it.
“Turns out they want all talk and no action,” she said of Republicans in a scathing speech on the Senate floor just before the package failed. “It turns out border security is not actually a risk to our national security; it is just a talking point for the election.”
