US Senator Kyrsten Sinema leaves Democrats to go independent in surprise move
- Her decision comes right after Joe Biden’s party secured a 51-49 majority in the Senate with Raphael Warnock’s win in Georgia
- Democrats will retain control of the chamber, but Sinema’s move may increase her influence and that of fellow centrist lawmaker Joe Manchin
Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema announced on Friday that she was leaving the Democratic Party to become an independent in a surprise move just days after President Joe Biden’s Democrats increased their slim majority in the chamber.
Sinema’s decision is not expected to significantly shift the balance of power in the Senate but it could increase her influence and that of another centrist Democratic senator, Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
“Like a lot of Arizonans, I have never fit perfectly in either national party,” the 46-year-old Sinema said in an opinion piece published in the Arizona Republic.
“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,” she said.
Democrats secured a 51-49 majority in the Senate with Raphael Warnock’s win this week in the Georgia run-off election and they will retain their hold on the chamber even with Sinema’s departure.
