When Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018, she became the first Arizona Democrat to serve in Congress’ senior chamber since 1994.
When she declared herself independent and left the party in December 2022, her defection dealt a severe blow to Democrats nationwide. It was a public rebuke of Biden administration policies by a key swing-state moderate in a divided Senate.
But when she announced on March 5 that she would not seek a second term as an independent incumbent in a three-way race, Ms. Sinema may have given her former party a parting boost.
The race to succeed her now becomes a binary choice between presumptive candidates who are as starkly polarized as any in the 2024 U.S. election….