Press Conference Held Earlier Today at State Capitol… Signs Included “Sinema Sold Us Out For Wall Street Cash”
PHOENIX – In light of new reporting on Kyrsten Sinema’s luxury spending spree using campaign and taxpayer money to fund her extravagant lifestyle, as well as Sinema’s close ties to Wall Street (including the same Wall Street firms driving Arizona’s housing crisis), leaders from multiple Arizona organizations, as well as several Arizona legislators, representing thousands of everyday Arizonans have called on Kyrsten Sinema not only to step aside from the 2024 Senate race, but also to resign immediately.
Multiple polls show Sinema running a distant third place in a three-way Senate race. Recent polling shows only 27% of Arizona voters want Sinema to run for reelection.
Notably, Sinema derided grassroots activism in a recent interview with The Atlantic magazine. She said: “You can make a poster and stand out on the street, but at the end of the day all you have is sunburn. You didn’t move the needle. You didn’t make a difference.’”
This event did indeed have posters – including a giant dollar bill sign that said “Sinema Sold Out.” However, sunscreen was available for all attendees, and no one got burned.
Watch the full press conference HERE.
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Arizona organizational leaders representing thousands of Arizonans as well as several Arizona state legislators were in attendance. Legislators present included Senator Anna Hernandez, Rep. Analise Ortiz, Rep. Oscar De Los Santos, Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, and Rep. Mariana Sandoval.
Groups represented at the press conference included the Arizona Coalition to End the Filibuster, Arizona Students’ Association, Common Defense, Fuerte Arts Movement, For All, Indivisible, Living United for Change in Arizona, Patriotic Millionaires, Progress Arizona, Progressive Democrats of America, Replace Sinema, Rural Arizona Action, VetsForward, and others.
FACTS:
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Sinema is using campaign and taxpayer money to fund her extravagant, first-class lifestyle. She recently spent over $100,000 in just three months on jets, limos, luxury hotels, and wine.
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Sinema’s Campaign Accepted Nearly $1 Million In New Contributions From The Financial Industry. According to an analysis of her first quarter 2023 FEC filing, employees and PACs associated with the financial industry contributed $967,962 to Sinema’s campaign committee. [FEC.gov, accessed 4/16/23]
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Sinema’s Federal Campaigns Had Previously Accepted Over $3 Million From Employees And PACs Of The Financial Industry. According to an analysis by Open Secrets, employees and PACs associated with the financial industry contributed $3,106,398 to Sinema’s federal campaign committees from 2017 to 2022.
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Sinema’s efforts to save the carried interest loophole, which primarily benefits private equity, are well documented. This loophole particularly benefits wealthy real estate investors. Experts also cite home purchases by corporate investors as a major factor in the explosion of home and rental prices in Arizona. Real estate investors bought up over 30% of Arizona’s available single-family homes in 2021, according to Pew research. That’s a rate higher than in any other state except Georgia.
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Sinema notably has a history of putting herself, donors, and lobbyists first and Arizonans last, prompting ethics complaints in the process: a 37-page handbook for her Senate staff leaked last year detailed the amount of time she allots for constituent meetings (3 minutes) versus that for lobbyists (20 minutes), her weekly hour-long appointments with the Senate personal masseuse, and her unwillingness to work past 6:30 pm. The handbook spurred an ethics complaint filed by 13 advocacy groups for her alleged abuse of staff, including requiring them to do her grocery shopping, make sure she is fed at all times, and fix her internet.
QUOTES:
“Sell-Out Sinema has ignored Arizonans in favor of Wall Street and her other special interest donors and their lobbyists, who fund her campaigns. As it’s become clear, these Wall Street donors also fund Sinema’s extravagant lifestyle of European vacations, private jets, limos, luxury hotels, and expensive restaurants. Meanwhile, Kyrsten Sinema has been clear that she thinks very little of us, and all of her constituents. She’s ignored our communities, she stopped taking calls from the people who helped get her elected, and she hasn’t had a real Town Hall meeting since she became Senator.” – Alex Alvarez, executive director of Progress Arizona. “
“Senator Sinema sold out her constituents to private equity, including some of the biggest financial firms in the world, and this has fueled the housing crisis affecting all Arizonans – none more so than the thousands of veterans and military family members in our state who are homeless or on the brink of becoming homeless.” – Aaron Marquez, executive director of Arizona VetsForward.
“Sinema told us she supported the freedom to vote but refused to work with constituents to make it happen. Sinema called John Lewis her hero, but refused to get into good trouble with us to pass his namesake voting rights legislation.” – Pastor Aubrey Barnwell, African American Christian Clergy Coalition.
“When Sinema was elected in 2018, she had a choice to make, to use her influence and power to support Arizona families… Or sell out. Sinema chose to sell out, giving handouts to Wall St. and Big Pharma while obstructing major legislation and reforms. All while refusing to meet with her constituents. Voters are fed up and are ready to move on, and it is time to step aside, Senator.” – Gina Mendez, LUCHA.
“We are approaching a year since the SCOUTS decision that stripped us from our right to a safe and legal abortion. People are literally losing their bodily autonomy and right to seek an abortion with every weekly massage Sinema gets we loss our dignity. We deserve a Senator who will fight for us & our right to safe abortion access.” – Liz Luna, Rural Arizona Action.
“Democrats and Republicans agree that the housing shortage in the state has reached “crisis levels. Private equity has fueled Arizona’s housing crisis. But Sinema continues to side with Wall Street instead of the renters and working families in Arizona.Today, I am calling on Kyrsten Sinema to return campaign contributions from private equity or resign. ” – Dominique Medina, Fuerte Arts Movement
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