Democratic Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has been one of the few pleasant surprises in Washington, DC.
But Sinema has strayed too far away for her fellow Arizona Democrats. The Progressive Caucus of the Arizona Democratic Party wants to censure “Sinema for failing to support the tenets of the 2016 Democratic Party Platform.”
ABC15 in Phoenix has a copy of the resolution. The caucus wants a vote on the resolution at a meeting this weekend.
The caucus accused Sinema of these crimes against the party:
Progressive Caucus leader Dan O’Neal told ABC15 that they have concerns over her voting record. He insisted they love her, but “want her to vote like a Democrat rather than supporting Trump half the time.”
According to FiveThirtyEight, Sinema has voted with Trump 54.5% of the time:
The caucus seems to forget that while a politician belongs to a party, they are in office to represent a district or state. If Sinema chooses to vote based on the wishes of those in Arizona then the caucus needs to pipe down.
I reached out to Sinema’s office. I asked her press secretary if that is how the senator chooses to vote. If she responds I will update this post.
Here’s the thing. Sinema served in the US House of Representatives before she won the Senate seat in 2018. She voted more with Trump during her tenure in the House than she has so far in the Senate.
In other words, Arizonans knew exactly how Sinema votes in Congress. They still elected her.
President Donald Trump won Arizona in 2016, 48.1% to Hillary’s 44.6%. Yes, he barely won the state, but the state still elected him.
ABC15 reported the latest polls show Sinema with a 54% favorable rating while “favorability within her own party is at 85%.”
Plus, Sinema has never kept it a secret that she hates partisan politics:
In past interviews, Sinema has brushed aside calls that she is insufficiently partisan and that she should speak out against Trump’s more inflammatory comments or policies.“As everyone knows, I am 100% focused on the needs of everyday Arizonans, and I refuse to be distracted by the pettiness and the partisanship that has invaded Washington,” she said during a July interview. “… I promised Arizonans that I would never be a part of that typical Washington chaos and drama and I’m going to continue to stay focused, just like a laser, on the stuff that actually matters to the people in their everyday lives.”
This might come back to bite the progressive wing in the Arizona Democratic Party. Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Felecia Rotellini does not know if they will pass the resolution.
Rotellini said that the Arizona Democratic Party is “a very diverse group and that means diversity of thought, as well.” However, she also dismissed any suggestions that a censor proves a problem within the party. She described a censure resolution as “an indication of a group of people who think differently and have a different perspective on the same topic.”
Sinema Censure by Washington Examiner on Scribd
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