Sinema Criticized For Opposing Voting Rights Legislation, Could Face Gallego Over Senate Seat

(Photo : Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
US Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Democrat of Arizona, arrives for a meeting between US President Joe Biden and the Senate Democratic Caucus to discuss the passing of legislation to protect the constitutional right to vote and the integrity of elections, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 13, 2022.

The Democratic Party is criticizing Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema for her opposition to the voting rights legislation, prompting the left to urge Rep. Ruben Gallego to challenge the senator for a seat at the Senate.

Sinema's perspective on the filibuster reform is shared only by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin among Democrats. The slim Democratic majority in the Senate means that filibuster reform was seen as a needed move to pass the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. The proposal was a top priority for Democrats and United States President Joe Biden.

Sinema's Primary Challenger

Arizona Democrats previously organized heavily to get Sinema elected to the Senate, which she previously served in the U.S. House, which gave her a narrow victory. For months, these officials lobbied her to change her stance on the filibuster but many of them were unable to even get a meeting with the Democrat.

Due to Sinema's refusal to budge on her opposition, which is seen as her siding with Republicans, the voting rights legislation has been dropped in the Senate for now. Arizona Democrats are now fundraising to support Sinema's primary challenger in 2024. The idea was supported by Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders this week, ABC News reported.

Rep. Gallego said that his phone has been ringing a lot recently with calls that are urging him to be Sinema's primary challenger in 2024. The lawmaker claimed that among the individuals making the case include the Arizona Democrat's own Senate Democratic colleagues.

In an interview, Gallego said that it was not Sanders who was urging him to challenge Sinema for the Senate seat in 2024. The official said that there was more than one senator who had called him. Gallego declined to say which of Sinema's colleagues were privately hoping that she would face an intra-party fight.

Narrow Victory

The official also said that in the last several days, the calls for him to challenge the Arizona senator have only intensified. Gallego said that he has received a lot of encouragement from elected officials, including senators, unions, traditional Democratic groups, and big donors. The seven-year House veteran said that he has been urged by "everything you can imagine under the sun," AZ Family reported.

Some have said that Sinema has become public enemy no. 1 within her own party this week after her blocking of the voting rights legislation. The Arizona Democrat has long held onto the middle of the road since she was once a Green Party activist that was considered to be "too extreme" even for the Democratic Party when she first ran for the state Legislature.

Sinema was the first Democrat from Arizona that the state has sent to the Senate in the last three decades. However, her narrow win in 2018 over then-Rep. Martha McSally was primarily due to the support of moderate Republicans and independent voters.

The people who supported Sinema were known to have buyer's remorse over their 2016 vote for former President Donald Trump. This is the reason that some believe led Sinema to announce her support for the filibuster last week, AZCentral reported.