A new Politico analysis demonstrates the extent to which Democratic donors have abandoned Kyrsten Sinema in favor of Ruben Gallego. Meanwhile, Sinema has had to look elsewhere for funding – including major Republican donors who also give to Mitch McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund and No Labels.
Sinema’s small-dollar donor pool was already dwindling: in Q2 of this year she reported earning less than 1% of campaign donations from contributions of $200 or less.
“It’s no surprise that Arizonans are sick of Sinema prioritizing corporate donors and industry lobbyists, and are putting their dollars behind someone who will actually fight for them,” said Sacha Haworth, spokesperson for Replace Sinema.
EXCERPTS
Sinema left the Democratic Party. Democratic donors left her too. – POLITICO
Ally Mutnick and Jessica Piper | November 13, 2023
Democratic donors have fled Sen. Kyrsten Sinema since she left the party — and she hasn’t made up the loss with Republicans or independents. […]
A POLITICO analysis of her donors in recent cycles reveals her previous contributors are more loyal to the Democratic Party than they are to Sinema. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who launched a run for Sinema’s seat in January, has raised two-and-a-half times as much from Sinema’s 2018 major donors as Sinema herself has.
Gallego has supplanted Sinema as the de facto Democratic nominee in Arizona’s Senate race — and Democratic donors are responding.
The analysis demonstrates the degree to which Sinema placed herself on a political island with her dramatic departure from the Democratic Party. To win a second term, she would have to cobble together a patchwork of independents, Democrats and Republicans — both to vote for her and fund her campaign. […]
Sinema raised $4.6 million in the first nine months of 2023, less than half as much as Gallego’s nearly $10 million haul. Though Sinema still has more than twice as much in the bank ($10.8 million) as Gallego, her fundraising is slowing, and much of that money was raised before she left the party. For comparison: In the first nine months of her 2018 run, which she launched in September 2017, Sinema raised $7.1 million.
But many of those 2018 donors who helped propel Sinema to the Senate do not seem eager to do so again. […]
Sinema has burned through 45 percent of the roughly $4.6 million she raised this year despite not officially running a campaign, a significant off-year burn rate. […]
Sinema raised about $53,000 from donors who have also given to the super PAC arm of No Labels, according to the POLITICO analysis. And she shares eight donors with the Senate Leadership Fund, a Minority Leader Mitch McConnell-aligned super PAC that supports Senate GOP candidates.
Additional coverage below:
The Advocate: Democratic Donors Abandon Kyrsten Sinema Just Like She Did the Democratic Party
Trudy Ring | November 13, 2023
Washington Examiner: Kyrsten Sinema is facing one big problem after ditching the Democratic Party to run on her own
Rachel Silke | November 13, 2023
AlterNet: Kyrsten Sinema’s funds ‘dry up’ as Democratic donors abandon her: report
Carl Gibson | November 13, 2023
PoliticusUSA: Kyrsten Sinema Betrayed Democrats And Now Her Fundraising Has Collapsed
Justin Easley | November 14, 2023
NewsMax: Dems Defund Arizona’s Independent Sen. Sinema
Eric Mac | November 13, 2023
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