Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced Tuesday that she won’t seek reelection, avoiding a possible three-way battle for her hotly contested seat.
Sinema, who first won her seat as a Democrat in 2018 before switching her affiliation to Independent in late 2022, vented her frustrations with the state of partisan politics.
“The only political victories that matter these days are symbolic — attacking your opponents on cable news or social media. Compromise is a dirty word,” she bemoaned.
“We’ve arrived at that crossroad and we chose anger and division. I believe in my approach, but it’s not what Americans want right now.”
Sinema had been facing an April deadline to decide whether or not to vie for her seat again. Given her anemic fundraising numbers, there had been rampant speculation that she wouldn’t seek a second term.
With Sinema out of the race, progressive Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Republican firebrand Kari Lake are now their respective party’s frontrunners to square off in the general election.
