Progressive Arizona Democrats don’t like the way Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has been voting. They say she’s not supporting what they call Democratic Party tenets, so this weekend they plan to censure her.
Arizona Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Grodsky said this is an example of democracy in action.
"Kyrsten Sinema is an independent thinker, and she represents all of Arizona, not just one part of it. So she’s been operating that way, that’s how she campaigned. That’s what she said when she won the nomination, but obviously there are people who have differences of opinion," Grodsky said.
Some progressives are angry that Sinema crossed party lines and voted to confirm Attorney General William Barr. However, she has voted with Democrats on a number of high-profile issues, like denying funding for President Trump’s border wall.
But the likely Democratic nominee for the state’s other Senate seat, astronaut Mark Kelly, does not think Sinema deserves to be censured.
"I think Senator Sinema’s doing a very good job representing us in the United States Senate. Regardless of who the person is in office, we are all not going to agree with every vote that every member of Congress takes. It’s just clear. I’m not going to necessarily agree with every vote she takes, certainly not every vote Senator McSally takes, and I think that is true for all of us," Kelly said.
Kelly is trying to replace Republican Martha McSally in the Senate.
As for how he would vote on Barr, Kelly says he wasn’t at the confirmation hearings. But knowing what he knows now about Barr, he probably would not have voted to confirm.
