Sinema’s switch: Betraying voters, or mirroring them?

The Arizona senator’s decision to become an independent didn’t please Democrats. But she may be in step with voters, who are increasingly unhappy with the two-party system.

In explaining her political trajectory, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema once described her younger progressive self as “the patron saint of lost causes,” saying she’d learned the hard way about the need to build diverse coalitions to get things done.

Time will tell whether her latest shift – leaving the Democratic Party to chart her own path as an independent – will be another “lost cause” or a shrewd move in today’s political environment.

The first Democrat in decades to win a Senate race in Arizona in 2018, the bisexual former anti-war activist had long ago left behind her progressive crusading, carving out a niche in Washington as a bipartisan negotiator. She spearheaded bills on everything from infrastructure to same-sex marriage, which often required compromising on liberal priorities. She also held up key aspects of President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda, including his $3.5 trillion “Build Back Better” bill.

Her iconoclasm infuriated colleagues in Washington and former supporters back home, some of whom famously chased her into a bathroom last year. “People worked very hard to get her elected and they feel betrayed,” says Sacha Haworth, Ms. Sinema’s 2018 campaign communications director, who is now senior adviser to a super PAC focused on ousting her in 2024.