In Ariz., liberals debate forgiving congresswoman’s moderation
PHOENIX — Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema says Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency that some in her party are clamoring to abolish, is performing an “important function.” She recently joined House Republicans to ease restrictions on banks. And she offered a decidedly nonpartisan comment on conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
The third-term congresswoman has come a long way from her days as a Green Party activist as she tries to become the first Democrat to represent Arizona in the Senate in 30 years.
It’s a notable strategy in an election year in which many Democrats see a path to victory by tapping into the outrage of the party’s base in the Trump era. In neighboring Nevada, for instance, Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen is aiming to flip another GOP-held Senate seat and she seized on the high court vacancy to highlight the threat to abortion rights.
Some Arizona Democrats are frustrated that the 42-year-old Sinema hasn’t taken similarly aggressive stances.
Ken Wixon, a lifelong Democrat, said he planned to back Sinema’s Democratic opponent, Phoenix activist Deedra Abboud, in the Aug. 28 primary.
“I supported (Sinema) before, but she’s too easily influenced,” Wixon said after attending a recent political meeting in suburban Phoenix where Abboud spoke. “She seems to roll over too easily.”
Sinema said her shift to the right is the result of learning to work with others in a hyper-partisan Congress.
“What I’m really proud of is my ability and willingness to learn and grow as a political leader,” she told The Associated Press recently when asked if her moderate profile would turn off Democrats. “That’s allowed me to learn new opinions and change as I’ve gotten new information.”
Sinema is favored to win the primary and is seen as a competitive Democratic candidate in a general election that could hinge on how voters feel about President Donald Trump and his policies. That’s why some Democrats are willing to back her even if her liberalism has limits.
“I have some serious questions,” said Steven Slugocki, Democratic chairman in Maricopa County, Arizona’s most populous. “That’s not to say I won’t support her. The alternative is far worse.”
That alternative, to Slugocki, is any of the Republicans vying to succeed retiring, one-term Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, a persistent Trump critic. The GOP field includes former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, a crusader against illegal immigration who was convicted for contempt of court related to racial profiling practices and later pardoned by Trump, and Kelli Ward, a state senator endorsed last year by former Trump adviser Steve Bannon.
The third GOP candidate, Rep. Martha McSally, has been viewed as a moderate in the vein of Arizona’s senior GOP senator, John McCain. But as the primary approaches, she has sharpened her stance on immigration, removing her name as a co-sponsor of legislation backing a path to citizenship for some young immigrants in the country illegally.
Immigration politics are central to Arizona’s politics today.
In 2016, the influx of Latino voters contributed to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s narrow loss to Trump here. Clinton lost Ohio, for instance, by nearly twice as much as she lost Arizona.
A Democratic victory in the Senate race would suggest the state could be up for grabs in 2020. Bill Clinton was the last Democratic presidential nominee to carry Arizona in 1996.
While Latino voter advocates groan at some of Sinema’s positions, they note her support for allowing a path to citizenship for some young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.