Arizona electing two Democrat U.S. Senators was arguably a fluke. Is the state trending blue? Maybe, but it’s still a red-leaning swing state, and Democrat activists haven’t quite figured that out yet. Even if you believe the official results of the 2020 election, Biden just barely won the state, and he’s now dangerously underwater there with only 40% approval. Arizona is ripe for flipping back red.
As my PJ Media colleague Cameron Arcand recently noted, Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) “has failed to publicly establish himself as a moderate on most issues. He has not been a vocal advocate against the border crisis and has supported the radical proposal to nuke the filibuster.” As such, Kelly has avoided censure by the Arizona Democratic Party (Sen. Kyrsten Sinema wasn’t so lucky) and he may stave off primary challengers and the ire of left-wing activists — but it might ultimately cost him his seat in the U.S. Senate. According to a recent poll, Kelly is running behind a generic Republican candidate, and his numbers are trending in the wrong direction.
Also for Our VIPs: Sen. Mark Kelly Faces an Uphill Battle to Keep His Seat
Unlike Kelly, who has an election in November, Sinema doesn’t face the voters of Arizona until 2024. Yet, despite siding overwhelmingly with the Democrat agenda, she’s become a target of the radical left in her state for not toeing the Biden line 100% of the time. It doesn’t matter that she’s supported all of his judicial nominees, even pro-child-sex-offender Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. Sinema has gotten in the way of Biden’s tax-and-spend agenda, election overhaul, and the confirmation of some of his controversial administration nominees. So, deep-pocket leftists are working hard to ensure she doesn’t survive her primary.
Several political action committees are raising money to help support an eventual primary challenger for Sinema, including one conspicuously named Primary Sinema PAC.
“We live in a democracy where we have the power to elect people who best represent us, and she’s not representing us well,” Primary Sinema PAC spokesman Luis Avila said. “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that we actually have somebody in office that listens to us and takes action on our behalf. I don’t think that’s her right now.”
The PAC has raised $415,000 from more than 14,000 donors since launching in September. At the same time, Sinema has lost support from liberal groups like Emily’s List, and other groups are also being urged to ditch her.
Sinema’s sporadic independent streak may have earned the scorn of the far left but has resulted in her approval jumping 20 points among Republicans since last year. She’d be a tough candidate to beat in the general election in 2024, but that could be a moot point if party activists succeed in getting a more consistently leftist candidate to defeat her in the primary. They may win the battle against Sinema but could lose the war by returning her seat to a Republican. If Kelly loses in November — a distinct possibility given the political climate this year, among other reasons — Arizona might go from two Republican Senators to two Democrat Senators and back to two Republican Senators in four years’ time.
I have no problem with that. Sure, I appreciate it when Sinema bucks the Democrats and Joe Biden, but she doesn’t do it enough. Heck, I’d take a moderate Republican over her, if for no other reason than to insulate the Republican majority in the Senate.
