Cornyn says he 'would be surprised' if GOP tries to unseat Sinema in 2024
By: the Hill
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he "would be surprised if Republicans tried to unseat" Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) when she comes up for reelection in 2024, according to Politico .
Politico added that Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) has repeatedly asked Sinema to join the GOP.
An OH Predictive Insights poll conducted in September showed that 40 percent of Republicans had a favorable view of Sinema, in a marked contrast with her fellow Arizona senator, Mark Kelly (D), whom 20 percent of Republican respondents in the same poll viewed favorably.
That poll included a sample of 882 registered voters in Arizona and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.
Sinema, along with fellow moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.), has garnered attention for expressing concerns about the party's proposed $1.75 trillion social spending package .
As progressive and centrist Democrats have negotiated the content of the package, Manchin's and Sinema's arguments have played a significant role in bringing the price tag of the once $3.5 trillion package down. The moderate senators have yet to formally back the latest version of the package.
Their stance on the legislation — as well as other items on President Biden 's agenda — has evoked frustration from other Democrats in Congress and elicited pressure from activists .
As a result of Sinema's opposition to parts of the package, five members of her Veterans Advisory Council resigned last month.
“You have become one of the principal obstacles to progress, answering to big donors rather than your own people. We shouldn’t have to buy representation from you, and your failure to stand by your people and see their urgent needs is alarming,” the five members said in a letter at the time.
Despite her pushback against certain elements of her party's agenda, Sinema has regularly voted with other Democrats in Congress on both bills and nominations. With the Senate currently divided evenly between Republican and Democratic senators and the tie-breaking vote belonging to Vice President Harris, Sinema's seat in competitive Arizona could offer Republicans a valuable opportunity to reclaim a majority in the chamber.
GOP Senate candidates have continued to run against Manchin in West Virginia since he took office in 2010, in spite of his moderate politics.
Meanwhile, more left-leaning groups in Arizona are already organizing to recruit a primary challenger when Sinema faces reelection in 2024. Progressives are specifically considering Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) to oppose her, as the state has become more of a battleground since Sinema was elected in 2018.
The Hill has reached out to Sinema for comment.
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Let's just say that the Sinema Senate contest would be the last one that the RNC might worry abouit, but they still have to run someone.
Sinema is a moderate, but she is still a democrat.
Sinema is a republican in democrat's clothing. They won't try to replace her as long as they can use her to try to block everything the democrats try to do.
Did you read the seed?
"Despite her pushback against certain elements of her party's agenda, Sinema has regularly voted with other Democrats in Congress on both bills and nominations."
So what? Have you read where she stands on the issues? Just because she doesn't throw out a token down vote every time a vote is brought up, doesn't mean she is not exactly what I said she is. She is basically an undercover republican.
Who votes with the democrats over 90% of the time…
I think it's likely that the Democrats will try to unseat Sinema by primary. They have a pretty good chance too.
You may be right on one thing - Sinema will face her biggest challenge from her own party.
Of course they won’t, she is basically a GOP vote right now. Why waste resources attacking her in AZ when she is already carrying your water, but will also likely be out i the next primaries?