Ruben Gallego Of Arizona

Kyrsten Sinema Becomes Independent, 11th Since The 17th Amendment Passage In 1913!

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Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced today that she is becoming an Independent, making for three Independents, all of whom will still caucus with the Democratic Party.

The other two Senators are Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, who have been Independents in the Senate for 16 years and 10 years respectively.

Altogether, Sinema becomes the 11th US Senator since the passage of the 17th Amendment in 1913, calling for popular vote for the Senate, to become an Independent for a substantial period of time.

Sinema is unreliable in her vote, with an early progressive background two decades ago, but much more conservative once she came to the House of Representatives in 2013, and the US Senate in 2019.

But on most matters, the Democrats are in a better position with 51 Senators including three Independents than the present 50 Senators and two Independents.

It is clear that the Arizona Senate race in 2024 will be a three way race, of Independent Sinema, Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego (who was planning to challenge her for the nomination), and a Republican opponent.

So Sinema could keep her Senate seat theoretically with less than a majority of the vote in a three way contest!

A Great Advantage For Democrats In Senate In The 118th Congress!

Ronald 3 Comments

With the gain of one seat by Democrats in the US Senate, the political equation changes dramatically!

Now there will be one more Democrat on every Senate committee, rather than an even number.

No longer will Vice President Kamala Harris be needed regularly to break Senate ties.

No longer will it be essential that both Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona be in on every vote, and with both of them facing reelection in 2024.

It will be easier to gain judicial confirmations, very important for the future of the courts, and were a Supreme Court Justice leave the Court, it could create a more balanced Court.

If there was a vacancy or party switch, the Democrats would still control the Senate.

Legislation will be easier to pass the Senate, although it likely would fail to gain support of the narrowly majority Republican House of Representatives.

Finally, keeping the control of the Senate will be very difficult in 2024, as only 10 seats are Republican controlled, and will be hard to gain, so the Democrats have to work to find a way to avoid more than a one seat loss.

Some of the Republicans running for reelection in 2024 are particularly despicable, and Democrats need to find viable candidates to fight them, and hopefully, defeat them, including

Ted Cruz of Texas
Rick Scott of Florida
Josh Hawley of Missouri
Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee

It is time to start recruitment of Democrats in Texas, Florida, Missouri, and Tennessee to attempt to gain at least one or two Republican seats in 2024!

At the same time, at least 3 Democratic Senators are likely to have a rough time in 2024, including Manchin and Sinema, along with Jon Tester of Montana, and Sinema is likely to have an intraparty battle with Ruben Gallego, 7th District Congressman.