Long at odds with party leadership, US Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) has said she is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an Independent, making her the third non-aligned lawmaker in the Senate.
The junior senator from Arizona revealed her decision in a Friday op-ed in the Arizona Republic, casting the decision as motivated by frustration with Democratic “party doctrine.”
Describing Arizonans as people who “make our own decisions, using our own judgment and lived experiences to form our beliefs” and don’t “automatically subscribe to whatever positions the national political parties dictate or view every issue through labels that divide us,” Sinema said her constituents “expect our leaders to follow that example.”
“When politicians are more focused on denying the opposition party a victory than they are on improving Americans’ lives, the people who lose are everyday Americans,” she said. “That’s why I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington. I registered as an Arizona independent.”
In a separate interview that was also published on Friday, Sinema suggested that, unlike Sanders and King, she might not automatically side with the Democrats, although she said she didn’t plan to rock the boat, either.
“When I come to work each day, it’ll be the same,” Sinema said. “I’m going to still come to work and hopefully serve on the same committees I’ve been serving on and continue to work well with my colleagues at both political parties.”
With the victory of US Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) in a special runoff election earlier this week, the Democrats have 48 seats to the Republicans’ 49 seats, so at least two of the three independents choosing to side with the Democrats have given them a razor-thin majority. In the event of a tie vote, the tie-breaking ballot is cast by the President of the Senate, which is US Vice President Kamala Harris - a Democrat.
Sinema has long frustrated Democratic strategists with her moderate politics, often joining Republicans in casting aspersions at progressive bills on US President Joe Biden’s agenda and suggestions that the filibuster rule be suspended to get them past the GOP blockade. The rule allows a senator to refuse to yield the floor if they can talk continuously, enabling a party to block a bill’s progress. A 60-vote supermajority in the 100-person chamber can override a filibuster.
Another Democratic Party maverick, US Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has long been expected to abandon the party by liberals frustrated with his tendency to side with Republicans. However, Manchin has announced no such plans. His state governor, Jim Justice, did make such a move in 2017, switching from the Democrats to the Republicans at a rally attended by then-US President Donald Trump.