Dem takes Flake’s Senate seat in Ariz.

PHOENIX — Democrat Kyrsten Sinema won Arizona’s open U.S. Senate seat yesterday in a race that was among the most closely watched in the nation, beating Republican Rep. Martha McSally in the battle to replace GOP Sen. Jeff Flake.

The Senate makeup now stands at 47 Democrats and 51 Republicans with races in Florida and Mississippi still too close to call.

The three-term congresswoman won after a slow vote count that dragged on for nearly a week after voters went to the polls on Nov. 6. She becomes Arizona’s first Democratic U.S. senator since 1994. Her win cemented Arizona as a swing state after years of Republican dominance.

Sinema portrayed herself as a moderate who works across the aisle to get things done.

McSally, a former Air Force pilot who embraced President Trump after opposing him during the 2016 elections, had claimed that Sinema’s anti-war protests 15 years ago disqualified her and said one protest amounted to what she called “treason.”

But during her six years in Congress, Sinema built one of the most centrist records in the Democratic caucus, and she voted for bills backed by Trump more than 60 percent of the time. She backed legislation increasing penalties against people in the country illegally who commit crimes.

McSally backed Trump’s tax cut, border security and the Affordable Care Act repeal agenda as she survived a three-way GOP primary in August, defeating two conservative challengers who claimed her support for Trump was fake. McSally also campaigned on her military record and support for the Armed Forces.