Sinema among top takers of private prison company CoreCivic's political donations

U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party last year to become an independent, is among the top recipients in recent years of political donations from private prison operator CoreCivic Inc., a departure from the norms of her former party.

Arizona Democrats largely are critical of the private prison industry and have challenged the assertions of Republican governors and lawmakers who have supported them as a necessary cost-saving tool.

Sinema herself, when she was serving in the state Legislature as a Democrat, was critical of private prisons on social media in 2010 and 2011, once calling them a "disaster."

In June, CoreCivic's political action committee donated $5,000 to Sinema, according to Federal Election Commission records, hitting the maximum contribution of that kind allowed.

Only four other congressional candidates — all Republicans — have received that amount this year from the company, records show.

No other members of Congress from Arizona have received a donation from the CoreCivic PAC this year, according to FEC data.

The money from CoreCivic is a tiny fraction of Sinema's overall fundraising, with her campaign committee reporting nearly $11 million cash on hand. A $5,000 donation this year doesn't particularly stand out. The CoreCivic donation is notable because Sinema's former party, in its current platform, supports ending the use of private prisons and immigration detention centers.

The majority of the CoreCivic PAC donations go to Republicans.

"The CoreCivic PAC supports candidates and elected officials who understand the limited but important solutions our company provides to assist government in meeting their mission-critical needs," CoreCivic public affairs director Ryan Gustin said Monday.

"Our company does not, under longstanding policy, lobby for or against policies or legislation that would determine the basis for or duration of an individual’s incarceration or detention," he said.

Sinema's office did not respond to a request for comment about the CoreCivic donations.

Sinema, in 2022 cycle, among Democrats who took CoreCivic money

In the 2022 election cycle, when Sinema was not on the ballot, she received $8,000 from CoreCivic employees and the company PAC, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks money in politics.

That was before Sinema switched her party affiliation to independent, and it was the most the company gave to any Democrat in that cycle.

Sinema was the eighth-highest recipient of funds from the CoreCivic PAC and company workers that cycle, with the only higher donations going to three political parties/committees and four candidates. The top recipient of CoreCivic money that cycle was the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association, which received $50,000 from the PAC, according to OpenSecrets. The top recipients between the association and Sinema were all Republicans or Republican groups.

The candidate receiving the most from CoreCivic in the 2022 cycle was Mark Brnovich. The former Arizona Attorney General, a Republican who lost a primary bid for the U.S. Senate, got $14,900 from CoreCivic employees, according to OpenSecrets.

Sinema was not the only Arizona Democrat to get funding tied to the company during the 2022 cycle.

CoreCivic employees donated $775 to U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly and $400 to U.S. House candidate Kirsten Engel during that time, according to OpenSecrets. Both Kelly and Engel were on the 2022 ballot.

Other contract-prison companies that operate in Arizona have not been as prolific in their political contributions in the past few years, though they have targeted state lawmakers previously, sparking protests from prison reform advocates who accused them of influencing a decision over payments made to such companies.

GEO Group Inc. gave $2,500 to Walt Blackman, a failed GOP candidate for the U.S. House, in the 2022 cycle and has not reported any contributions to federal candidates this year, according to FEC and OpenSecrets data.

LaSalle Corrections does not appear to have a PAC.

Management and Training Corp. has a PAC but does not appear to have donated to any Arizona candidates from 2021 to the present.

Democrats attack Sinema for corporate contributions

Immediately after Sinema changed her party affiliation last year, the state Democratic Party criticized her, saying "she answers to corporations and billionaires, not Arizonans." The CoreCivic donations are likely to fuel that critique.

Sinema hasn't yet announced if she'll run for re-election next year.

U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz, who is running to replace Sinema next year, declined to comment on the CoreCivic donations.

Chris Herstam, a Democratic political analyst with decades of experience in Arizona, said that while Sinema’s contributions from CoreCivic will hurt her reputation among Democrats, so few members of that party still support her that it likely won’t matter.

"She’s only getting about 8% of the Democratic vote,” Herstam said, citing recent polls. “I’m not surprised that an aggressive, private prison company that has lots of contracts in Arizona would be supporting her. She has truly become a candidate of special interests, which is one of the reasons why Democratic voters have lost confidence in her.”

Herstam said that while Sinema is an effective campaign fundraiser, he expects her to finish third in a three-way race if she runs for reelection because she’s not pulling enough support from independent voters, who also generally dislike candidates who get strong corporate support.

“Her only base is corporate entities and fundraising,” he said. “She will continue to raise a ton of money, but the hedge funds and the equity funds and the financial institutions and the pharmaceutical companies and the private prisons, they really don’t generate that many grassroots workers or base support.”

Democratic appointee says private prisons needed

CoreCivic is based in Tennessee and has five facilities and about 2,300 workers in Arizona.

In January 2022, Arizona entered into a new five-year contract to hold people at CoreCivic's La Palma Correctional Center in Eloy.

The facility had been used to detain inmates under a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and CoreCivic moved those inmates to other facilities in the region, according to an investor presentation the company produced earlier this year.

ICE contracts have benefited the company this year with the May ending of Title 42, a policy that allowed U.S. officials for three years to expel asylum-seekers and others crossing the border without proper documentation because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CoreCivic reports that since Title 42 ended, the number of individuals in ICE custody has increased 43%, with a corresponding increase in ICE detainees housed in CoreCivic facilities.

The company PAC has spent about $104,000 in political donations this year through July. It spent about $260,000 in the 2021-22 cycle.

While CoreCivic and private prisons in general have drawn scorn from Democrats, the state's new prison director said they are necessary.

At a June confirmation hearing for Ryan Thornell, who is Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs' new appointee to run state prisons, Phoenix Democratic Sen. Lela Alston said contract prisons were one of her "pet peeves."

Thornell said he supported the facilities.

“If we were to close private prisons today it would drastically, significantly impact the department’s ability to safely and securely house our inmate population," he said at the hearing.

He explained that portions of the state prisons are in disrepair and without private prisons, the state would have to move prisoners to those facilities that need upgrades, and that would not be safe. Also, the state doesn’t have the staff to immediately end the use of private prisons, he said.

“It would put us in a position I would not want to imagine,” he said.

CoreCivic was listed as a donor to Hobbs' inauguration, but the company said it made no such contribution.

Jimmy Jenkins and Stacey Barchenger contributed reporting.

Reach reporter Ryan Randazzo at ryan.randazzo@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4331. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @UtilityReporter.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema among top takers of CoreCivic donations