Partisan politics is too focused on harming the other side rather than doing work for American citizens, the 46-year-old wrote from her home state Friday in an op-ed in the Arizona Republic newspaper. “So I join the growing number of people in Arizona who reject partisan politics in declaring my independence from Washington’s broken party system.”
It was initially unclear to what extent the voting behavior of the center party Sinema, which had repeatedly blocked Democratic legislative projects in the past, could change. However, she told the “Politico” website: “Nothing will change about my values and my behavior”. With Bernie Sanders and Angus King, there are already two independent senators, who usually vote with the Democrats and are therefore attributed to them.
Just a few days ago, Georgia Democrat Rafael Warnock won a runoff election for the last open Senate seat after the US midterm elections. This gave the Democrats a 51-49 majority over the Republicans and more voting flexibility.
It remains unclear to what extent this dynamic might now change. Sinema is expected to maintain ties with the Democrats, including to retain committee seats. However, as an independent, it should be much easier for her to evade factional discipline from the Democrats.
(SDA)