Tag: senate
Kyrsten Sinema

Announcing Senate Retirement, Sinema Praises Her Own 'Civility'

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) will not be seeking another six-year term in 2024, after posting a video to her official X/Twitter account announcing her retirement from the US Senate.

Sinema bemoaned the partisan climate in Washington in the video, stating that "despite modernizing our infrastructure, delivering clean water, delivering good jobs and safer communities, Americans still choose to retreat farther to their partisan corners."

"These solutions are considered failures, either because they're too much, or not nearly enough. It's all or nothing," she said. "The only political victories that matter these days are symbolic, attacking your opponents on cable news or social media. Compromise is a dirty word."

"I believe in my approach, but it's not what America wants right now," she continued. "Because I choose civility, understanding, listening, working together to get stuff done, I will leave the Senate at the end of this year.

Though she was initially elected as a Democrat, Sinema left the Democratic Party at the end of 2022 and has been a consistent thorn in the side of Democratic majority in the Senate since President Joe Biden took office. She and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) — who is also retiring at the end of the year — were the two deciding votes that killed Biden's signature "Build Back Better" legislative package, which would have guaranteed universal pre-K and child care to parents, paid family leave and additional funding for environmental programs, partially funding by an additional tax on the wealthiest Americans.

In March of 2021, Sinema angered Democrats as the deciding vote to kill legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. After stepping onto the Senate floor, Sinema gave the clerk a thumbs-down, with an additional curtsy, before turning around and leaving the chamber. She also rebuffed Democrats' efforts to get rid of the filibuster, allowing Republicans to maintain a blockade over any legislation that failed to garner the 60 votes needed to advance a bill to the full floor for debate after a cloture motion was invoked.

Later that year, immigration activists from the group Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA) confronted Sinema in a public restroom over her refusal to back a pathway to citizenship for so-called "Dreamers," or children of undocumented immigrants who were brought across the border at a young age. LUCHA defended the bathroom confrontation, saying Sinema "denied our requests, ignored our phone calls, and closed her office to her constituents," and that she "hasn’t had a public event or town hall in years."

That confrontation happened at the Phoenix campus of Arizona State University, where Sinema taught a graduate-level course on campaign fundraising. The Intercept's Ken Klippenstein likened Sinema's course to "getting rich people to give you money." He reported that Sinema racked up nearly $1 million in campaign donations from groups opposed to the Build Back Better bill she helped defeat, and that she "has received tens of thousands of dollars in maxed-out contributions from private equity partners and investment firm CEOs who stand to lose in the event of a tax hike on corporations or the rich."

In January, Sinema made headlines after a Daily Beast investigation found that she had spent more than $200,000 in taxpayer money on private jet flights since 2020. Sinema reportedly spent roughly $116,000 in 2023 alone. Almost all of the flights were within Arizona, and were for one or two-day trips. The Beast observed that the cost of Sinema's flights last year were more than the annual salaries of nearly all of her staff.

With Sinema no longer running, the Arizona US Senate race in 2024 will be between Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) and former newscaster Kari Lake, the presumptive Republican nominee who ran a failed campaign for governor in 2022.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

GOP Senate Candidate's 'Healer' Rhetoric May Backfire With MAGA Voters

GOP Senate Candidate's 'Healer' Rhetoric May Backfire With MAGA Voters

A multi-millionaire California bank owner aiming to oust US Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) this fall believes his campaign message of unity will win over voters, but according to a Daily Beast report, the feat may not be so easy for the GOP hedge fund manager.

Per the report, "despite all his calls for togetherness—and what some observers have deemed a 'meh' or 'weirdly lackluster' campaign kickoff—Hovde has long aligned himself with and donated to some of the most divisive and extreme Republicans."

Eric Hovde is set to be "a guest speaker alongside Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) at a Republican Party of Brown County dinner," next month, according to the Beast. "He already spoke at an event last fall with a Moms for Liberty activist and spent at least $8,000 as a sponsor of a conservative think-tank’s evening with Tucker Carlson, who used his air time to spout election fraud claims."

During his US Senate campaign launch last week, Hovde asked the audience gathered at one of his real estate company's properties, "Are you ready to be uniters and healers for your country? Are you ready to restore the American dream?"

In a similarly worded message via X (formerly Twitter), the 59-year-old wrote, "I don’t believe in the politics of destruction. That’s what has gotten us to where we are today. The worst problem facing our nation is the division. We are ripping apart our friendships and our families over politics. I’m in this fight to usher in a new brand of leadership and end politics as usual."

Supported by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the Beast notes, Hovde will soon need "to kiss the Donald’s ring, especially at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee," University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political science professor Kathleen Dolan told the news outlet.

"For him to generate interest, and for him to help generate that turnout, I think he’s got to be more of what the Republican voters here are going to expect," Dolan said. "He doesn’t want Trump to think that he isn’t as loyal as he can be. He doesn’t want Trump to question him at all. His best chance of getting elected is to ride on Trump’s coattails and ride on any Republican wave here in Wisconsin if it appears, and he can’t do that as successfully by taking this middle road."

Dolan also raised the question, "Is it just about his own sort of self-aggrandizement, or does he really want to be Senator from Wisconsin?" Noting that Hovde "'isn’t a visible person' and has the 'carpetbagger problem,' so Democrats will be working hard to shape his introduction to potential voters."

The Beast reports Hovde first launched his bid to enter Wisconsin politics in 2012, campaigning on the message of repealing "former President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. He also shared his support for overturning Roe v. Wade, saying he was 'totally opposed' to legalized abortion. His former campaign website declared, 'We must defend and protect all human life from conception to natural death.' (The site also announced he believes 'that marriage is between one man and one woman.')"

His Senate campaign over a decade later, according to the report, notes that the multi-millionaire changed his abortion stance to "saying he supports exceptions for rape, incest, and to save the mother’s life."

Despite his efforts, Democratic Party of Wisconsin rapid response director Arik Wolk told the news outlet, "Eric Hovde will push a divisive out-of-touch agenda that bans abortion nationwide and repeals the Affordable Care Act. From bankrolling anti-choice politicians to standing with extremist figures like Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Greene, Wisconsinites know Hovde is out of step with Wisconsin values."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Sam Brown

Hilarious Republican Mud Bath In Nevada Senate Primary

A new ad in Nevada’s GOP senate primary features a photoshopped image of Republican Sam Brown dancing on a stripper pole while Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) throws money at him. It is the latest example of how Republican in-fighting is consuming a crucial 2024 race.

Brown launched his campaign in July. He is an election denier and anti-abortion extremist, but support from McConnell and other Washington, D.C. insiders has made him a target for his competitors in the Republican primary. Brown and his opponents are hoping to take on incumbent Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen in the 2024 election.

The ad is from the campaign of Dr. Jeff Gunter, a dermatologist who served as former President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Iceland from 2019 to 2021. In the spot, Gunter boasts that he is “110% pro-Trump.” For months, Gunter has been hitting Brown for not endorsing Trump’s 2024 campaign.

Gunter posted the following on the social media platform X: “Nevada Republicans take notice: nowhere on Scam Brown’s website does he endorse President Trump or even mention the America First movement. This McConnell-backed puppet can’t even say who he’s supporting for president in 2024.”

On Jan. 12, Brown seemingly caved to this pressure and endorsed Trump’s White House bid. A spokesperson for Brown’s campaign did not immediately respond to questions for this story.

Trump is extremely popular amongst Nevada Republicans. A recent Emerson College poll found 73% of likey Nevada GOP caucus voters support Trump. In recent weeks, Gunter has teased that Trump may soon endorse his campaign.

Brown previously ran for senate in 2022 but failed to advance past the Republican primary. At that time, Brown attacked his opponent Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt for having McConnell’s support.

“Guess who else has endorsed Adam? Mitch McConnell,” Brown said in a campaign event with the Republican Men’s Club of Northern Nevada on Nov. 21, 2021. “So it’s, you know, if we trust Mitch McConnell, well then, well I’m sorry for you but I don’t.”

In Dec. 2023, McConnell appeared at a campaign fundraiser for Brown. Gunter says this about face makes Brown a hypocrite.

Nevada’s Republican primary for senate is scheduled for June 11, 2024. According to personal finance disclosures, Gunter’s net worth exceeds $25 million, more than enough to self-finance his campaign.
Also competing is Jim Marchant, a former member of the Nevada Assembly who is aligned with QAnon conspiracy theorists.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News.

Kyrsten Sinema

Several GOP Senators Backed Biden Judicial Nominee -- But Not Sinema

On Wednesday, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema reached a new milestone in her turncoat Senate journey when she voted not to confirm U.S. District Judge S. Kato Crews to a Colorado seat. Luckily Crews received the support of every other Senate Democrat, a couple Republicans, and one independent not named Sinema and was confirmed by a 51-48 vote.

Sinema did not respond to queries about her vote, but considering that she reportedly voted in 95 of the Trump judicial nominees, it seems unlikely she found an honest criticism of Crews. It seems more likely that as we enter the election year, Sinema is looking to find splashy ways to prove that she is an “independent.” What she’s “independent” about is hard to divine. While her team has quietly crafted a plan to show donors how she could win reelection, she has made no formal announcement about her 2024 plans.

This was the first time Sinema has voted against one of Biden’s judicial nominations, but not her first time voting against the Democratic Party. Since ascending to the Senate after defeating Republican Martha McSally, Sinema has quickly become something of a monster, turning her back on so many of the constituents who voted her into office. In her first year in office she voted against her then Democratic colleagues 27.5 percent of the time—second only to West Virginia’s most corrupt official, Sen. Joe Manchin.

Sinema’s crowning achievement was the derision she earned when she voted to tank the $15 minimum wage amendment to the American Rescue Plan, and made a big show of licking Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s boots to do it. Less than a year later, Sinema was announcing to everybody she was no longer a Democrat but an independent. The people who were surprised or cared about the Arizona senator’s new affiliation at the time could be summed up as Kyrsten Sinema.

Sinema’s ever-increasing betrayal of her originally stated values has led virtually every former Democratic organization to endorse Rep. Ruben Gallego’s run for Senate in 2024. That Sinema’s lip service to centrism rings untrue and she has only proven to voters of all political persuasions that she is untrustworthy have also made her unpopular across the political spectrum.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Martha McSally as the incumbent in the Senate race she lost to Kyrsten Sinema. The race was for an open seat.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.