Fears among Arizona Republicans are growing as new polling suggests that a three-way Senate race in the Grand Canyon State could favor Democrats.
In 2022, Sen. Krysten Sinema (I-AZ) left the Democratic Party and became an independent. At first, many political pundits believed that If Sinema chose to run for reelection, her candidacy as an independent would sway more votes toward Republicans, but recent polling shows the opposite.
When Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) left the Democratic Party last year to become an independent, many political experts believed if she decided to run for reelection, her bid could ultimately boost a Republican candidate to victory.https://t.co/VvR462Gp0C
— Conservative News Daily (@ConservNewsDly) November 22, 2023
A Noble Predictive Insights poll showed that Sinema’s base of support is nearly twice as Republican as it is Democrat, meaning the independent senator could take some GOP votes away from Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake and others.
Such a tragedy for Arizona Republicans would take place in a potential three-way race comprised of 34% Republican, 34% independent, and 30% Democratic, as reported by the Washington Examiner.
To date, Sinema has not announced whether she plans to run for reelection in Arizona. If the independent senator does throw her hat in the ring, she will likely face a contested primary against Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Lake.
As speculation grows over Sinema’s potential Arizona Senate bid, Republicans are trying to sway their voters from the independent senator and Gallego. In an advertisement released by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), titled, “A Choice,” Senate Republicans claim that Sinema sides with President Joe Biden’s agenda “100%” of the time.
The advertisement also took aim at Gallego, calling the Arizona congressman a “deadbeat dad” for leaving his then-wife Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego when she was 10 months pregnant.
“National Democrats are fighting a lose-lose civil war over who they’ll make their standard bearer: Rotten Ruben Gallego or liberal rubber stamp Kyrsten Sinema. Arizonans deserve better,” NRSC spokesman Tate Mitchell said in a statement.
NRSC’s advertisement suggests that the three-way Arizona Senate race will be between one Republican and two Democrats — a message some believe won’t turn out successful.
“I’m just not sure that’s going to work as a strategy overall,” an anonymous Arizona Republican said. “Many voters here know Sinema has caused massive headaches for the president with his Build Back Better agenda and the filibuster, so these kinds of attacks just unfortunately aren’t based in reality.”
“I can tell you a real concern among some of us is that Gallego will end up as the next senator of Arizona as a result of this three-way race,” the Republican continued. “That would be a real nightmare for us.”
