Sen. Kyrsten Sinema Won’t Seek Reelection

(NationRise.com) – Senator Kyrsten Sinema (R-AZ) announced via X that she will not run for another term in 2024.

A message for Arizonans from Senator Kyrsten Sinema pic.twitter.com/1XWFSWgGdh

— Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) March 5, 2024

Sinema told her constituents that political divisions in the United States largely drove her decision. She accused both parties of pulling to the extremes of each side, creating unprecedented parallels across the nation. She said that her goal was to help fix it while protecting the Constitution.

She also claimed that while she believes they made tangible progress, the nation continues to pull the divide farther and refuses to meet in the middle on pertinent issues. She described it as “all or nothing” for most Americans. She said that, along with the growing anger that’s consuming the nation, is antithetical to her approach to politics and ultimately drove her to leave the Senate.

Sinema was only serving her first term in the Senate as an Independent. She previously served in Congress as a Democrat representing the 9th District in Arizona. She made headlines as the first Congressional representative who was openly bisexual. She also previously served as a Senator in 2018 after narrowly beating Republican Martha McSally. She cited differences with a few far-left ideologies as her reason for leaving the Democrat party in 2022. Her term is set to end in January 2025.

Sinema joins a surprising number of Senators and Congressional representatives who have decided to retire from their positions ahead of the 2024 general election. Like Sinema, most of the outgoing representatives are citing the growing divisions and lack of civility as their reasons for leaving. It has left both parties scrambling to find new candidates, although experts believe Republicans stand to gain from the exodus. They cite growing concerns over illegal immigration in traditionally blue strongholds and increased populations in red states as some of the top reasons.

Tensions have also been heightened among representatives, often disrupting meetings with angered outbursts and arguments. Some of those confrontations have even ended in threats or become physical.