The Democratic Party of Arizona has voted to formally censure Senator Kyrsten Sinema because she didn’t go along with their plan to suspend the filibuster and push through their ‘voter reform’ package.
Democrats love Republican ‘mavericks’ from Arizona. Democrat mavericks, not so much.
Maeve Sheehey reports at Politico:
Arizona Democratic Party censures Sinema over voting rights stanceKyrsten Sinema was censured by the Arizona Democratic Party on Saturday morning, after the senator’s longstanding opposition to modifying Senate rules to pass voting rights bills culminated in the legislation stalling in Congress.The Arizona Democrat has received substantial criticism for her position against creating a carveout in the filibuster for voting rights, along with fellow centrist Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.). A number of top donors threatened last week to stop funding Sinema if she didn’t reevaluate her stance, saying voting rights passage was “life or death important.”Intra-party opposition to Sinema’s position reached a tipping point this month when she delivered a speech in which she firmly stated that she would not support the filibuster reforms for voting legislation, claiming it would make worse the “disease of division infecting our country.” The criticism within the Democratic party was widespread and immediate, with Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) calling Sinema out by name in a speech on the House floor directly after.The Arizona Democratic Party’s Executive Board held a meeting on Saturday morning to discuss action against the senator, and ultimately the board formally censured Sinema “as a result of her failure to do whatever it takes to ensure the health of our democracy.”
You may recall that back in 2019, Democrats couldn’t bring themselves to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar over anti-Semitic remarks, opting instead to pass a watered down resolution against “hate.”
For the Arizona Democrats, standing in the way as the party tries to take over elections at the federal level is a much bigger deal.
It’s funny how narratives shift.
Some media outlets are hyping a report that donors are deserting Sinema, but only one of them appears to live in Arizona.
Joseph Simonson reports at the Washington Free Beacon:
Only 1 Donor Threatening To Cut Off Sinema Over Filibuster Lives in ArizonaOnly one out of a group of 70 Democratic donors who signed a letter threatening to cut off Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.) over her refusal to kill the filibuster lives in Arizona, according to a Washington Free Beacon investigation.Politico reported on Thursday that a group of 70 Democratic donors wrote to Sinema saying it would end all spending for Sinema unless she went along with President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D., N.Y.) scheme to end the filibuster so that their party can pass federal election reform bills.The problem: Only 19 of the individuals who signed the letter to Sinema have itemized donations to her campaign, according to the Federal Election Commission. Of the 19 signatories who donated to Sinema, only 6 gave the maximum $5,400 allowed by federal law. None of those max donors lived in Arizona. The single Arizona signatory who donated gave just $250.
Democrats don’t seem to realize that they need Sinema more than she needs them.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY