GOP runs ad boosting Sinema to give their nominee a better shot at the Arizona Senate seat

Eva Terry
·2 min read
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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., questions Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing to examine the national security supplemental request, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 31, 2023.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., questions Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing to examine the national security supplemental request, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 31, 2023. | Manuel Balce Ceneta, Associated Press
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Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona is up for reelection in 2024. While she hasn’t said whether she plans to run yet, the National Republican Senatorial Committee released an ad trying to give her a boost with Democratic voters, labeling the incumbent senator a “liberal Democrat.”

At the end of 2022, Sinema switched her party identification from Democrat to independent, and a recent poll by Noble Predictive Insights showed a quarter of her support comes from Arizona Republicans.

Politico described the ad as an attempt to boost Republican support for the Republican nominee and split Democrat voters between the other likely Democratic Senate candidate, Ruben Gallego, and Sinema. The poll showed over three quarters of Gallego’s support comes from registered Democrats, while Sinema’s was less than a third.

The national committee’s ad begins, “In Arizona, voters have a choice.” Ruben Gallego is listed as the first choice, and the ad labels him a proponent of a “crooked bank,” a bad father who “abandoned” his ex-wife and is currently married to “a D.C. lobbyist.”

“Or there’s Sen. Kyrsten Sinema,” the ad continues. Instead of making personal attacks against the current senator, the ad paints Sinema as a “liberal Democrat,” saying she aligns herself with President Biden “100% of the time.”

The ad alleges that Sinema votes with Biden consistently, while Project FiveThirtyEight reports she voted with him 94% of the time.

There are eight Democrat senators who vote with Biden 100% of the time, eight who vote with him 99% of the time, 12 who vote with him 98% of the time, 11 who vote with him 97% of the time and from there the numbers taper slightly.

“Casting Sinema as a ‘liberal Democrat,’ meanwhile, might generate chuckles here in Washington, where she’s seen as a centrist spoiler,” Politico said. “But it makes good political sense back in Arizona, where she has carefully built an aisle-crossing image.”

Making the Arizona Senate seat a race between two Democrats and one Republican may prove to be helpful to the Republican candidate. So far former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb are running for the Republican nomination, in addition to several lesser-known candidates.

The primary is set for Aug. 6, 2024, while the general election is Nov. 5, 2024.