US Senator Sinema leaves Democratic Party, registers as independent

WASHINGTON: Arizona United States Senator Kyrsten Sinema said on Friday (Dec 9) that she had switched her political party affiliation to independent, leaving the Democratic Party just days after it won a Senate race in Georgia to secure 51 seats in the chamber.

She does not plan to caucus with Republicans, however, ensuring that Democrats will retain their narrow majority in the Senate.

Sinema, who has modelled her political approach on the renegade style of the late Arizona Republican senator John McCain, and has frustrated Democratic colleagues at times with her overtures to Republicans and opposition to Democratic priorities, said that she was "declaring (her) independence from the broken partisan system in Washington".

The first-term senator wrote in the Arizona Republic that she came into office pledging "to be independent and work with anyone to achieve lasting results".

"I committed I would not demonise people I disagreed with, engage in name-calling, or get distracted by political drama. I promised I would never bend to party pressure," she wrote, adding that her approach is "rare in Washington and has upset partisans in both parties" but "has delivered lasting results for Arizona".

Democrats were set to hold a 51-49 edge in the Senate come January after the victory on Tuesday by Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock in Georgia's run-off election. The Senate is now split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris the tie-breaking vote for Democrats.

Two other current senators - Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine - are registered independents, but they generally caucus with Democrats.

Sinema told Politico in an interview that she will not caucus with Republicans and that she plans to keep voting as she has since winning election to the Senate in 2018 after three House terms. "Nothing will change about my values or my behaviour," she said.

She is facing re-election in 2024 and is likely to be matched up with a well-funded primary challenger after angering much of the Democratic base by blocking or watering down progressive priorities such as a minimum wage increase or President Joe Biden's big social spending initiatives. She has not said whether she plans to seek another term.

Sinema's most prominent potential primary challenger is Representative Ruben Gallego, who has a long history of feuding with Sinema.

"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," Sinema wrote.

"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."