Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is facing a groundswell of opposition in her home state amid her blockade of key components of the Biden agenda. Democratic leaders have been pushing a spending plan known as the “Build Back Better” agenda, which includes financial support for initiatives from child care to the fight against climate change. With the current party breakdown in place across the House and Senate, Democrats could pass and enact this plan — if Sinema supports it. In the Senate, Democrats can not afford to lose a single vote. In a new survey from Data for Progress, Sinema lost — by large margins — to five potential Democratic Senatorial primary challengers, showing the broad discontent with her antics.
🚨🚨🚨 NEW POLL: Sinema would lose a primary if held today — by A LOT. https://t.co/su2RQy4hOl
— PrimarySinema (@PrimarySinemaAZ) October 14, 2021
In the new poll, a full 70 percent of prospective 2024 Democratic Senatorial primary voters indicated that they have a negative opinion of Sinema. 70 percent! Merely 24 percent expressed a favorable opinion of the Senator. Sinema is not up for re-election until 2024, so the new survey is more of a thought experiment than something that substantively reflects the precise outcome to be expected for the election. Still, the takeaway is clear: Sinema is not representing the interests of many voters. As Sean McElwee, who’s one of the co-founders of Data for Progress, put it, Sinema’s “opposition to President Biden’s agenda is setting her up for an incredibly tough Democratic primary.” A political action committee called the Primary Sinema PAC has sprung up to provide a united front for opposition from Democrats to the controversial Senator.
The Data for Progress poll pitted Sinema against potential challengers including Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, and Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, and the candidates were presented to respondents in a five-way race and one-on-one against Sinema. In the five-way match-up, Rep. Gallego won 23 percent of the support, compared to just 19 percent for Sinema, but, HuffPost explains, “head-to-head matchups drive home how dire Sinema’s position could be. All four potential challengers have massive leads: Ruben Gallego leads Sinema 62% to 23%; Kate Gallego has a 60% to 25% edge; Stanton leads 59% to 24%; and Romero leads 55% to 26%.”
Besides her opposition to the initially proposed price tag of the so-called Build Back Better plan, Sinema has also garnered opposition for her continued support of the Senate’s filibuster rules, which essentially hobble the chamber’s operations. The rules demand the agreement of at least 60 Senators in the 100-member chamber before moving forward with most bills, meaning that most successful legislation must be at least somewhat bipartisan — but Mitch McConnell is not known for bipartisanship!
