Kyrsten Sinema’s announcement that she will not seek re-election in November’s Arizona U.S. Senate race means U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat who would be the state’s first Latino senator, may be President Joe Biden’s best hope for a repeat victory in Arizona over former President Donald Trump.
Sinema, who was elected as a Democrat in 2018, declared herself an independent at the end of 2022. Her announcement Tuesday that she won’t be seeking re-election turns what was a three-way race between her, Gallego and Republican Kari Lake into a head-to-head between the Democrat and the Republican. November’s showdown between a working-class Latino Democrat and an election-denying MAGA candidate who blames an “invasion” of migrants for America’s problems may prove to be important not just for control of the Senate but also for control of the White House.
November’s showdown between a working-class Latino Democrat and an election-denying MAGA candidate may prove to be important not just for control of the Senate but also for control of the White House.
Though polls show Biden trailing Trump in Arizona by an average of 5.5 points, a poll conducted just before Sinema’s announcement showed Gallego leading Lake by 7 points. Biden’s success in Arizona may depend on his grabbing Gallego’s coattails.
“I’ve been talking to my community, building that trust with them, and fighting for them for more than a decade,” Gallego said by telephone Wednesday, acknowledging the high-stakes pressure his campaign is facing. “Will that benefit President Biden? I think it’s going to benefit President Biden. It’s going to benefit all Democrats.”
Latinos played a major role in Biden’s victory in 2020 when he defeated then-President Trump by fewer than 11,000 votes. They again played a major role in 2022 when Democrat Katie Hobbs defeated Lake in that year’s gubernatorial race and Sen. Mark Kelly, a Democrat, won re-election in a race against Republican…
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