Democratic Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema holds more than 50% support among Democrats and Republicans in her home state.
Sinema, a moderate who has said she wants to be the “next John McCain,” is viewed favorably by 52% of Arizona Democrats and 51% of Arizona Republicans, according to a Bendixen & Amandi International poll commissioned by Politico. Bendixen & Amandi surveyed 600 likely voters in Arizona from June 17-23, with a margin of error of 4%.
Independents gave Sinema a 44% favorable rating. Her overall favorability rating in her home state is 50%, according to the poll.
8/10 AZ’s better-known Democratic Sen, Kyrsten Sinema, has fascinating numbers because Rs are as likely as Ds to have a favorable impression of her —& more Rs than Ds approve of the job she’s doing
This has a lot to do w/the filibuster (see next) https://t.co/riScqpn5f0 pic.twitter.com/ocTJOE2AiB
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) June 29, 2021
Sinema has infuriated the left wing of the Democratic Party by opposing a $15 minimum wage and supporting the filibuster.
“It’s no secret that I oppose eliminating the Senate’s 60-vote threshold,” Sinema wrote in a June 21 Washington Post op-ed. “If anyone expected me to reverse my position because my party now controls the Senate, they should know that my approach to legislating in Congress is the same whether in the minority or majority.”
Sinema frequently collaborates with Republican Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, and the two consider themselves friends. They reportedly proposed a minimum wage hike to $11 to a bipartisan group, although the effort failed. Sinema and Romney also led a bipartisan group in infrastructure talks. (RELATED: Kyrsten Sinema Presides Over Senate In Hot Pink ‘Dangerous Creature’ Shirt, Romney Tells Her She Is ‘Breaking The Internet’)
Left-wing groups have threatened to primary her for her support for the filibuster and penchant for bipartisanship.
“Voters in Arizona… care more about jobs and their community and money in their pockets than they do about an arcane Senate rule called the filibuster,” Saikat Chakrabarti, the co-founder of No Excuses PAC and former Chief of Staff to Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, told Politico in February.