WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – Democratic Party donors are planning a primary battle against Senator Kyrsten Sinema in 2024, as she fights for major Democratic Party agenda items.
According to sources familiar with the situation, several of the donors who are now looking to fund a campaign opposing the centrist Democrat from Arizona donated to her initial Senate campaign in 2018. Certain donors who want to remove Sinema signed a statement to her recently suggesting that if the senator jeopardizes the voting rights bill, her campaign should simply return their funds.
Sinema, who is not up for reelection before 2024, has contributed to the failure of many of her party’s policies. Last week, she angered Democrats by voting against modifying the Senate’s filibuster regulations in order to approve voting rights reform.
She also opposes raising the corporate tax bracket and boosting the federal minimum pay to $15 per hour.
Sinema’s record has prompted at least one member of her state’s congressional delegation to consider challenging her. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, said he recently spoke with party contributors, including some who backed Sinema in the past. They promised him that if he ran against Arizona Senator John McCain in a primary, they would support him.
Despite opposition from her own political party, Sinema has had a successful fundraising campaign for the 2022 electoral cycle. She has received moreover $2 million, thanks to donations from Horizon Therapeutics, Amazon, AT&T and Airbus Group corporate PACs.
While Sinema’s resistance has made her a powerful vote in a House divided 50-50 between the two parties, donors who care about Democratic ideals are considering funding campaigns to get her out of the Senate. According to CNBC, her opposition to key party principles has prompted the formation of at least 3 parliamentary action committees aimed at deposing her.
Despite her support for voting rights legislation in the Senate, Sinema and conservative Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va, recently voted against a modification in the filibuster rules that would have allowed the elections measures to pass without Republican backing. Those votes virtually eliminated any possibility for Democrats to pass legislation that they claim will increase voter participation. Since then, Arizona Democratic Party leaders have voted to reprimand Sinema.
Democratic donors began planning how they would donate to a primary battle against Sinema well before the filibuster vote.
