Kyrsten Sinema: Donors threaten to cut her off for not supporting voting rights
(Updated Jan. 22, 2022) Kyrsten Sinema, Democratic Senator from Arizona and one of two thorns in the side of the Democratic Party, stands to lose a large chunk of financial support from several of her big money donors, donors who would preferred that she support changing Senate rules that would have helped pass voting rights legislation. Currently, Sinema enjoys millions of dollars to her campaign fund from approximately 70 donors who favor changing the filibuster rule to allow voting rights legislation to pass with a simple majority.
But last night, Democrats failed to pass voting rights legislation in the Senate. Sinema voted in unison with Republicans against changing the filibuster rule which would have been needed to pass elections and voting reform.
The rule change would have required 51 votes to pass but did not have the support of all Democrats, whose leader had pushed for it. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., joined all Republicans in opposing the change. ~ ABC News
It will be interesting to see if those donors who wanted Sinema to support changing the filibuster will stick to their guns and withdraw funding her campaign. Prior to last night’s vote by the Senate, Sinema had received a letter from 70 of her big money donors saying that, “they would support a primary challenge to Sinema and demanded that she refund their contributions to her 2018 campaign if she didn’t change her position.”
Per Politico: “We are terrified about our prospects as a democracy if we do not pass the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis VRA Act,” the donors wrote in the 1,400-word missive. “We appreciate your support of these bills, but they will die without your action on Senate rules. Bipartisanship works only if it is reciprocal. Republicans are gutting our electoral system in state capitals with no federal check on them. This is life and death important to us.”
According to Yahoo! News, Laphonza Butler, President of Emily’s List, released a statement prior to last night’s Senate vote and stated, “Right now, Sen. Sinema’s decision to reject the voices of allies, partners and constituents who believe the importance of voting rights outweighs that of an arcane process means she will find herself standing alone in the next election.”
Butler also took to Twitter in support of Voting Rights legislation:
In addition to the very strong possibility that Sinema might be losing some financial support from some of those donors, there’s even a better chance that she’ll be losing the support of her own party when it comes time to run for office again. Both Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders hinted at the possibility of supporting a primary challenger to Sinema’s Senate seat when she runs next for election.
Sanders also hinted at supporting a primary challenger running against the Democratic Senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, the other thorn in the side of the Democratic Party. Manchin’s recent legislative voting record shows that he votes primarily with Republicans.
Both Manchin and Sinema are up for reelection in 2024.
Updates:
Arizona Democratic Party board votes to censure Sinema after pro-filibuster vote (Jan. 22, 2022)
The centrist senator voted to preserve the 60-vote threshold, blocking Democrats’ path to passing two major voting rights bills.
Emily’s List says it will no longer endorse Sen. Sinema as she holds firm on filibuster (Jan. 18, 2022)
“… because she opposes changing Senate rules to pass voting rights legislation”
Sinema faces Democratic Party backlash after blocking voting rights legislation (Jan. 21, 2022)
Arizona Democrats could take a vote of ‘no confidence’ as early as this weekend
Arizona Democrats Have Turned On Kyrsten Sinema (Jan. 21, 2022)
Just 8 percent of her party’s voters view the senator favorably. What could she be thinking?
~ Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
