Kyrsten Sinemathe bisexual U.S. senator from Arizona who recently switched from being a Democrat to an independentannounced that she will not run for re-election this year, per media reports.
"Because I choose civility, understanding, listening, working together to get stuff done, I will leave the Senate at the end of this year," Sinema said in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter). She added, "Compromise is a dirty word. We've arrived at that crossroad, and we chose anger and division. I believe in my approach, but it's not what America wants right now."
The leading Republican, 2022 gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (who's an ally of former President Donald Trump), and the leading Democrat, Rep. Ruben Gallego, are already running to succeed Sinema. Mark Lamb is also vying for the GOP nomination, per Arizona Central.
Sinema's decision came weeks after Trump led the Republican resistance to a bipartisan border security bill that she negotiated for months. GOP senators killed her measure by using the legislative filibuster that Sinema long defended over the complaints of her Democratic supporters.
Sinema is only the second LGBTQ+ woman elected to Congress, following U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, who was elected in 1999 as a U.S. representative. Sinema was elected to the U.S. House in 2012 before winning a seat in the U.S. Senate in 2018.
Andrew Davis