The Arizona Senate race is down to two.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema will not seek reelection in November, leaving the chamber at the end of the year.

“I love Arizona and I am so proud of what we’ve delivered,” said Sinema. “Because I choose civility, understanding, listening, working together to get stuff done, I will leave the Senate at the end of this year.”

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

— Kyrsten Sinema (@SenatorSinema) March 5, 2024

Sinema became an independent in 2022 after standing up for the filibuster. Sen. Joe Manchin, who is also retiring, and Sinema have been moderates. They haven’t leaned as far left as other Democrats.

I’m not going to lie. I’ll miss Sinema and Manchin. I don’t always agree with them, but they were never scared to stand up to Democrats and not toe the party line.

Sinema mentioned the problems in both parties:

“Our democracy was weakened by government dysfunction and the constant pull to the extremes by both political parties,” Sinema said in a video announcement posted to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “I promised I would do my best to fix it.”

She added, “The only political victories that matter these days are symbolic – attacking your opponents on cable news or social media. Compromise is a dirty word. We’ve arrived at that crossroad, and we chose anger and division. I believe in my approach. But it’s not what America wants right now.”

Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego will face off against Kari Lake, who lost the governor race in 2022.

The Arizona Senate has always been a toss up.

It’s still a toss up according to Cook Political Report.

Gallego is no Sinema:

But unlike Sinema, who in 2018 became the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Arizona in 30 years by running as a Blue Dog, Gallego is an unabashed progressive. Gallego made clear he would primary Sinema before she left the Democratic Party in December 2022 and is also to the left of the state’s other Democratic senator, Mark Kelly, who won races in both 2020 and 2022 by winning over independents and moderate Republicans. Gallego, a Marine veteran who would be the state’s first Hispanic senator, currently represents a ninth of the state and is less well-defined statewide than Lake.

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