Sen. Krysten Sinema (I-Ariz.) has announced that her career as a politician is officially over.
In a video posted on X, Sinema said, “In 2017, I warned we were approaching a crossroads. Our democracy was weakened by government dysfunction and the constant pull to the extremes by both political parties.”
She continued:
“I promised I would do my best to fix it, to protect and defend our Constitution, to listen to others without judging, to focus on what unites us, and to make Americans lives better. Through listening, understanding, and compromise, we delivered tangible results that make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous. Yet despite modernizing our infrastructure, ensuring clean water, delivering good jobs and safer communities, Americans still choose to retreat farther to their partisan corners.”
Watch:
A message for Arizonans from Senator Kyrsten Sinema pic.twitter.com/1XWFSWgGdh
— Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) March 5, 2024
She added, “These solutions are considered failures either because they’re too much or not nearly enough. It’s all or nothing — the outcome less important than beating the other guy. The only political victories that matter these days are symbolic. Attacking your opponents on cable news or social media. Compromise is a dirty word.”
Sinema also claimed, “We’ve arrived at that crossroad and we chose anger and division. I believe in my approach, but it’s not what America wants right now. I love Arizona, and I am so proud of what we’ve delivered.”
“Because I choose civility, understanding, listening, working together to get stuff done, I will leave the Senate at the end of this year,” she added.
During President Joe Biden’s initial years in office, Sinema played a contrasting role to progressives by supporting the filibuster in the Senate and obstructing attempts to modify the rules for legislation advancement with a simple majority.
In 2022, she made the decision to depart from the Democratic Party and officially became an independent. If she had chosen to seek re-election, it would have posed a challenging situation as she would have encountered a three-way competition.
Nothing to do with the fact that the firebrand Kari Lake would whoop her in any election then.