Replace Sinema

Sinema’s Real Legacy: From Obstruction to Corruption and Giving the Finger to Her Own Constituents 

Today Kyrsten Sinema announced she’s not running for re-election. Good riddance. 

When we launched this campaign – first known as Primary Sinema – in 2021, our goal was to expose Sinema for putting her own needs before those of voters and to clear the way for a better Democrat to replace her. What we discovered along the way was just how corrupt Sinema truly is – doing the bidding of wealthy donors while ignoring her constituents, and then using her campaign accounts as a slush fund for luxury vacations. Of course, Sinema also left the Democratic Party after we helped make clear she wouldn’t be winning a primary.   

Sinema will try to portray herself as an accomplished lawmaker who did the hard work of bipartisanship to cut deals. The reality is that those deals were only necessary because Sinema betrayed her voters to weaken Democrats’ agenda, empower Republicans, and put herself at the center of the photo ops.  

Here are the top FIVE things Kyrsten Sinema will *actually* be remembered for: 

  1. Disregarding the rights of Americans to protect the filibuster – namely, abortion rights and voting rights. Because of Sinema’s (and Joe Manchin’s) obstruction, Roe v. Wade has still not been codified into law and Republican-led states continue to eliminate abortion rights. The clock has been turned backward for millions of women. The John Lewis Voting Rights Act and additional voting rights measures have also remained in limbo. Meanwhile, Sinema stridently defends her pro-filibuster position in front of audiences of billionaires in places like Davos.  
  2. Obstructing President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda – weakening the President at a critical time and forcing Democrats to arbitrarily pare back an agenda focused on helping American families and addressing the climate crisis. Sinema specifically stood in the way of priorities like affordable child care and reducing student loan debt. Even Joe Manchin called Sinema out for getting in the way of lower drug prices. And when pieces of Build Back Better finally made it into law as the Inflation Reduction Act, Sinema’s priority was going to bat for her private equity donors and saving the carried interest loophole.
  3. Giving the finger – metaphorically and otherwise – to her own voters. Sinema infamously gave a “thumbs down” and a curtsy when she voted down a $15 minimum wage. Just a few weeks later, she showed up in public wearing a ring that said “Fuck Off.” Charming. Sinema’s time in the Senate has been defined by these public displays of showboating; meanwhile, she also became known for dodging her Arizona constituents and the press corps. In more than five years in the Senate, she never held a single town hall meeting that was open to the public without a pre-invited guest list. Sinema gave the biggest “eff you” of them all when she left the Democratic Party, once she realized she would not be able to win a primary.  
  4. Blatant, overt, jaw-dropping corruption. Just a few months ago, the Arizona Republic ran the following headline: “Luxury trips, fine wines are now part of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s image. Will voters care?” Our PAC spent more than two years literally writing the research book on Sinema and raising public awareness on her illegal luxury spending. We filed an FEC complaint detailing all the ways she has illegally used campaign money to subsidize her personal lifestyle, and we have another one on the way. We also filed complaints with the Senate Ethics Committee about Sinema’s abuse of taxpayer resources, including having her Senate staff run personal errands, and flying private on the public’s dime. At every turn, we remained shocked at the extent to which Sinema’s legislative record became so closely aligned with the interests of the industries who fund her campaigns. (And again, she was using their campaign contributions to vacation quite frequently in Europe, for spa weekends, trips to wineries, and Michelin star meals. She even used campaign funds to subsidize her expensive athletic hobby.)  
  5. Sinema’s utter failure to deliver on the one thing she promised to do: achieve a border deal. We guess all those dinners with Republicans, public fawning of Mitch McConnell, and public disdain for Democrats could only achieve so much. Some will give credit to Sinema for bipartisan deals on infrastructure and gun safety. But remember: Democrats would have achieved more had they been allowed by Sinema and Manchin to pass legislation with 50 votes. Because of Sinema’s insistence on empowering Republicans, outcomes for Arizonans and Americans were watered down.         

Top 10 Headlines to Remember Sinema By: 

  1. Arizona Republic: Luxury trips, fine wines are now part of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s image. Will voters care?
  2. New York Post: Kyrsten Sinema spent more than $100K in campaign cash on jets, limos, luxury hotels and wine
  3. Arizona Republic: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema spent over $200K on 11 taxpayer-funded private flights since 2020
  4. The Daily Beast: The Incredible 37-Page Guide for Staffing Sen. Kyrsten Sinema
  5. NBC: Kyrsten Sinema delivers a ‘gift to private equity’ in Democrats’ big agenda bill
  6. AP: Sinema took Wall Street money while killing tax on investors 
  7. The Daily Beast: How Kyrsten Sinema Uses Campaign Cash For Her Marathon Habit
  8. Wonkette: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Always Looking Out For Struggling Constituents, Like Kyrsten Sinema
  9. AZ Family 3TV/CBS 5: FEC complaint calls for federal probe of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema spending
  10. Newsweek: Kyrsten Sinema, Under Siege From Left, Faces Protests, Primary Challenge, SNL Scorn
     

About “Replace Sinema” / Change for Arizona 2024 PAC: The “Replace Sinema” PAC is the only federal Super PAC focused entirely on defeating Kyrsten Sinema in the Arizona Senate race in 2024. We were one of the first PACs willing to hold Sinema accountable for her obstruction, and we laid the groundwork to prove that she could not win a Democratic primary. Now, we are focused on ensuring that Sinema cannot hurt Democrats’ chances in the 2024 election. We have called attention to Sinema’s ties to special interests, and we made waves by filing a 27-page complaint with the FEC about Sinema’s potentially illegal campaign spending. We partner with grassroots groups across Arizona, and our Advisory Council consists of organizational leaders whose groups represent tens of thousands of Arizonans. We have endorsed Ruben Gallego because he will always put Arizonans first.

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Paid for by Change for Arizona 2024 PAC