Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, silent on reelection, presses forward with vets, fentanyl work

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema listened and took notes as those in drug treatment circles talked about fentanyl in Arizona.

Later, she urged veterans to contact her office for help on homelessness or military services at funerals.

Then she offered a long-distance hello to an admirer in Florida whose daughter sat in on a meeting in Tempe about getting Arizonans into technology jobs.

Officially, it was all business for Sinema, I-Ariz., who hasn’t said whether she will seek another six-year term next year and deflected questions about her future, as she has routinely done since she left the Democratic Party in December to become an independent.

But back-to-back-to-back meetings Monday with a few dozen stakeholders in each case and a telephone town hall Tuesday had the unmistakable feel of a candidate trying to make her case.

“The reality is I’m doing my job,” Sinema told a reporter Monday. “As you know, over the last two-and-a-half years, every major piece of legislation that has passed the United States Congress I negotiated, drafted, wrote, passed. So I have a whole lot of work to do.”

It was the kind of buttoned-up, nonpartisan-style Sinema has projected for years. It is unclear if that is enough to secure a second term.

Last week, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., reported outraising her campaign for the second straight quarter, renewing doubts about her elective viability in a potential three-way race. Her campaign spent more than $800,000 between April and June even as she remains undeclared for 2024.

Many of her former Democratic supporters now hound her on social media for not holding the kind of in-person public meetings in which they could vent their complaints with her. Last month Gallego held an in-person event in Peoria in which he predicted victory “because we’re the only people actually having these conversations.”

Instead, on Monday Sinema heard from people in and around various issues in the meetings, some of whom specifically praised her for her work. She talked about whether federal legislation was appropriate and took group photos with photographers who traveled with her.

The discussions were polite with dashes of humor. They also were intended to provide substance.

Chuck Byers, a member of Sinema’s veterans service advisory commission for the past three years, told her in her Phoenix office about efforts to build 35 lower-cost “individual dwelling casitas” to help alleviate housing problems for vets.

The 400- and 600-square-foot homes, to be made of Styrofoam injected with concrete, will break ground in Phoenix next month and are intended to make use of housing vouchers for veterans that often go unused, he said.

Falling behind: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema again lagged Rep. Ruben Gallego in fundraising, kept overall cash edge

Sinema “has been extremely supportive making sure we have enough (Housing and Urban Development) vouchers,” Byers said. “She feels we do have a problem with homeless veterans here in Arizona. We’re kind of thinking outside the box here and she likes that.”

Five veterans who were on her advisory commission were less enamored with Sinema and quit in 2021 in a move previewed by the New York Times.

"We feel as if we are being used as window dressing for your own image, and not to provide counsel on what’s best for Arizonans,” the group said in an advertisement about their views in 2021.

On Monday, Sinema praised the members who quit for their service and said it was “unfortunate that sometimes partisan politics can get in the way of the work of a government office.”

Byers called it political grandstanding.

Byers, who worked with former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, on veterans’ issues and now works with Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, as well, said Sinema helps cut through issues affecting the veterans he’s trying to help.

At a roundtable event earlier in the day, Sinema talked with law enforcement, drug treatment and social workers about their efforts to manage the opioid problem in Arizona, which is a key entry point for illegal drugs.

She talked about a pair of bipartisan-backed bills intended to make it harder for drug cartels to recruit people using social media and to target their money-laundering activities.

Sinema mentioned her proposed legislation while hosting a tele-town hall on Tuesday that included Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, a Republican.

A national poll earlier this year found that 37% of Republicans viewed fentanyl and opioids as the nation’s top public health issue, compared to 17% of Democrats who viewed the issue that way. Democrats viewed gun violence as the top health issue, the poll found.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mum on running, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema touts efforts on fentanyl, vets