Donor: “I think Sinema has been more for Sinema than she has for the people she represents.”
Amidst Kyrsten Sinema’s ongoing luxury spending scandal and on the heels of the blockbuster Daily Beast report revealing that Sinema uses campaign funds to pay for her marathon hobby, today Ron Hansen from the Arizona Republic outlines just how many donors are defecting.
As the piece points out, Ruben Gallego has raised almost $400,000 from former Sinema donors since announcing he would challenge her for the Senate seat. And as one prominent Arizona donor puts it, that’s because Sinema has not been looking out for Arizonans’ interests:
“I think Sinema has been more for Sinema than she has for the people she represents. There is not a chance I would give her money because I think her agenda is no longer in agreement with mine.” – Donna Moog
Sinema has seen her popularity crater and reliably comes in last in polling. Now she can add defecting Arizona donors to the list.
Sinema notably has a history of putting herself, donors, and lobbyists first and Arizonans last: a 37-page handbook for her Senate staff leaked last year detailed the amount of time she allotts 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. Those revelations prompted an ethics complaint filed by 13 advocacy groups for her alleged abuse of staff.
ICYMI:
Arizona Republic: Rep. Ruben Gallego Outraised Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Among Past Sinema Donors In Realignment
Ron Hansen // May 17, 2023
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema should recognize many of those who donated to Rep. Ruben Gallego’s campaign in his initial bid to oust her: Many of them gave her cash in the past.
Among the contributors identified by name, more than 300 people gave Gallego, D-Ariz., at least $393,000 in cash in the first three months of the year after previously giving to Sinema, according to an Arizona Republic analysis of campaign finance records.
[…] Taken as a whole, the numbers suggest that Gallego quickly inherited a sizable chunk of Sinema’s previous — and usually prolific — donor base, while she largely relied on a new one. Historically, Sinema has been among the most effective fundraisers in Washington, but her edge in that department is unclear as many of the donors who gave to her as a Democrat appear to be sticking with the party.
[…] “I think Sinema has been more for Sinema than she has for the people she represents,” Moog said. “There is not a chance I would give her money because I think her agenda is no longer in agreement with mine.”
[…] Gallego’s Senate campaign raised $3.8 million in the first quarter compared to $2.1 million for Sinema’s campaign. Nearly all his money came from individual donors while half of Sinema’s funds came from a Sinema-aligned political-action committee that includes five-digit contributions from some donors.
And most of Gallego’s individual donors gave less than $200, the threshold for public disclosure. Such small-dollar donors are generally viewed as likely votes if not prominent benefactors.
[…] Sinema’s campaign relied heavily on $1.1 million in transfers from the Sinema Leadership Fund, an allied political-action committee. Half the PAC’s recent funding, $539,000, came from employees of Blackstone, Carlyle and KKR, records show.
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