Firebrand senator Kyrsten Sinema has sent shockwaves through Capitol Hill by switching her party affiliation to independent in a blow to Joe Biden and just days after the Democrats secured a 51-seat majority in the upper chamber.

The former Democrat claims she will continue to vote in the same way she has for her first four years as senator of Arizona without being constrained by party politics.

But it creates a storm for Biden who has been celebrating a rare midterm gain for a sitting president as Democrats gained a seat to go from a 50-50 split to a 51-49 majority following Raphael Warnock’s Georgia runoff win.

The senator known for her bold outfits and for being one of the two Democrat swing votes said on Friday morning she ‘never really fit into a box of any political party’ and is close with allies on both sides of the aisle.

– Read more at the Daily Mail

———————————–

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema leaves Democratic Party, registers as independent

Kyrsten Sinema won’t say whether she will caucus with Democrats

Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent.

Sinema made the announcement Friday by publishing an op-ed in the Arizona Republic.

The senator cited increasingly partisan interests and radicalization of both political parties as the reason for her departure.

“Americans are told that we have only two choices – Democrat or Republican – and that we must subscribe wholesale to policy views the parties hold, views that have been pulled further and further toward the extremes,” Synema wrote in the op-ed.

“Most Arizonans believe this is a false choice, and when I ran for the U.S. House and the Senate, I promised Arizonans something different,” she continued. “I pledged to be independent and work with anyone to achieve lasting results. I committed I would not demonize people I disagreed with, engage in name-calling, or get distracted by political drama.”

— Read more at Fox News

Rating: 4.6/5. From 29 votes.
Please wait...