Kyrsten Sinema Approval Ratings Are Plummeting Fast

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According to a new set of data, just eight percent of Arizona Democrats have a favorable view of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). That’s right — just eight percent. In the same data, a full 80 percent of Democratic respondents indicated that they have an unfavorable opinion of the Senator, while 11 percent did not commit themselves to either option. These numbers — drawn from the polling organization Civiqs — suggest that, as of this January, Sinema could easily lose a primary race for her seat, although she’s not up for re-election until 2024. In the meantime, potential primary challenger Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has pointedly declined to rule out making a run for the seat.

In the survey, Sinema was slightly buoyed by a somewhat positive reaction to her from independents — 27 percent of whom viewed her favorably — and Republicans — 44 percent of whom viewed her favorably. While being viewed favorably by close to half of the voters aligning themselves with the other major political party might seem like an impressive feat, it’s not going to help Sinema win a Democratic primary race. And a favorable view from certain voters of the other party brought her overall favorability level to just 27 percent, dragged down by the profound distrust of her that Democrats in Arizona seem to harbor. Besides, what’s more constructive in the long-run? Getting a group of Republicans, who still might not even vote for you, to like you, or helping with the enactment of new voting rights protections, economic supports for Americans, and more?

Sinema, of course, continues to stand in the way of progress on key issues. Most recently, it was voting rights, with the Arizona Senator joining just one other Senate Democrat — Joe Manchin of West Virginia — to vote against changing the Senate’s filibuster rules to allow for the passage of key voting rights initiatives. The proposed change would have made it so that members of the chamber’s minority would’ve needed to continuously talk to keep up their opposition to the measures; when they stopped talking, the process would move forward to a final vote. (Ordinarily, members of the minority can simply make a one-time expression of their opposition and be done with it, keeping the chamber from getting to the 60-vote threshold required for action on most bills.)

The Arizona Democratic Party itself sounds fed up with Sinema. In a statement issued after her vote this week against changing the rules — which amounted to a vote against taking the necessary steps to pass voting rights proposals, the state party said that they “were counting on Senator Sinema to fight for Arizona, find a path forward, and protect our democracy, but on this issue she has fallen short,” adding: “Right now, Arizona is ground-zero for the modern-day fight for voting rights, and we don’t have any time to waste.”

Featured Image (edited) via Gage Skidmore on Flickr and available under a Creative Commons License