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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent from Arizona, announced Tuesday that she will leave the Senate at the end of her term this year, a move that will shake up the battle for control of the chamber in November and remove a key player who has been central to negotiations. important in Congress.
Sinema has been an influential but polarizing figure in the Senate and has often worked to broker compromises between Democrats and Republicans. In announcing her decision not to seek reelection, the Arizona senator said, “I believe in my approach, but it’s not what America wants right now.”
Sinema’s decision leaves her out of the fight for her seat in an extremely competitive state. Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake are among the most closely watched candidates in the Senate race.
The race in Arizona will be one of the most important in November to determine the majority in the Senate. The state voted for President Joe Biden by a narrow margin of less than one percentage point in 2020.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer endorsed Gallego in the race following Sinema’s announcement that she will retire. “We fully support his candidacy and look forward to winning this race with him in 2024 and defeating Kari Lake,” Schumer said of Gallego.
Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, who chairs the Senate GOP campaign arm, argued to CNN that Sinema’s decision not to run for re-election will help Lake’s candidacy.
“I wasn’t surprised by that announcement. And the polls show that they actually give Kari Lake some advantage, in all the polls that we’ve done,” Daines said. “So she gives us another great opportunity, another open seat on the Senate map.”
Sinema, a former representative of Arizona’s 9th district, was elected to the Senate in 2018 and formally left the Democratic Party in 2022 to register as a political independent. She he told CNN’s Jake Tapper at the time, “I’ve never fit neatly into any party box. I’ve never really tried it. I don’t want to”.
Most recently, Sinema served as a key negotiator, along with Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, for a major bipartisan border agreement that was to be combined with a foreign aid package with assistance for Ukraine and Israel.
Senate Republicans initially demanded that any foreign aid package be passed along with border measures, but ultimately turned against the border deal and blocked it amid harsh criticism of the package from former President Donald Trump. The Senate moved on to approve a foreign aid package with aid for Ukraine and Israel without border provisions, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has said he does not plan to bring the bill to the floor and many House Republicans They oppose more aid for Ukraine.
During her time in the Senate, Sinema frequently earned praise from Republicans and drew the ire of outside progressive groups who considered her too conservative.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said in a statement: “The Senate will greatly miss Senator Sinema’s strong bipartisan leadership.”
Tillis went on to say, “Elected officials like Senator Sinema are becoming a dying breed: true leaders who focus on doing what is best for our country and getting results for the people they serve rather than feeding partisans.” rabid from their base with empty platitudes. , false promises and excuses for doing nothing.”
When asked to react to Sinema’s decision shortly after it was announced, the White House called the independent senator from Arizona a “partner.”
“Look, we’ve had opportunities to work closely with the senator on some really important bills,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a news conference. “She was one of the lead negotiators of the border security bill that emerged from the Senate on a bipartisan basis. We appreciate her efforts on that.”
Jean-Pierre continued: “She has been our partner on many critical issues that matter to the American people.”
This story has been updated with additional news.
CNN’s Lauren Fox, Molly English and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
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