by - Cinema’s departure from the party puts national Democrats in a difficult position in 2024.
- If he runs again, they’ll have to decide whether to support him, a Democrat, or remain neutral.
- Insider asked Democratic senators what the party should do. Most had no answers.
Independent Senator Kyrsten Cinema’s departure from the Democratic Party poses a conundrum for his former bandmates if he runs for re-election in Arizona in 2024: Should they support him or a nominated candidate from their own party?
Insider asked a handful of Democratic senators on Monday how the party should handle the re-election of their controversial colleagues. So far, they are not ready to answer this question.
“I’m not surprised. He’s an independent person,” said Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia about Cinema’s decision.
He, along with other Democratic senators, pointed out that little is likely to change in the Senate. “Overwhelmingly, his voting record matches up pretty well with us on the Democratic side,” Kaine said.
“It doesn’t change my life one iota,” said Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. “We’re still 51 years old.”
Kaine declined to say whether the party should support him in 2024. “You think much further than me,” he said. Meanwhile, Whitehouse said he would depend if he was “competing with the party”.
Cinema, who became the first Democrat to win the U.S. Senate race in Arizona in 2018 since 1988, has yet to announce whether he wants another six-year term in 2024. tripartite race between himself, a Democrat and a Republican.
“I don’t think anyone has announced anything,” Democratic Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona told reporters, adding that he didn’t want to go into “conjectures.” “I worked very closely with him for a long time.”
Some have argued that Cinema’s independent comeback was a calculated move, designed not only to avoid an overwhelming primary election, but also to deter Democrats from nominating the left-of-centre vote to split the vote and return the seat. to the GOP.
The party that hosts independents has some precedent: Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine are party groups with Democrats, but they are not official members of the party. Sanders accepted the state party’s candidacy in Vermont three times when he ran for the Senate—and then rejected it—the Democratic Senator Campaign Committee (DSCC), the party’s Senate campaign arm, remained neutral between King and a Democratic candidate in 2012, and it didn’t. Do not take part in 2018.
But the Arizona Democrats are unlikely to surrender to Cinema, despite their liberal stance on most issues. Democratic Representative Ruben Gallego is now openly discussing a potential Senate campaign and Statement that exploded his decisionHe said the state party Cinema “responds to corporations and billionaires, not Arizonans.”
The DSCC’s 2022 chairman, Democrat Senator Gary Peters from Michigan, also declined to comment on whether the party would support Cinema.
Speaking to reporters, Peters stated that they are on the Senate Homeland Security and State Affairs Committee and said, “I will continue to work with Senator Cinema.” “We will work together.”
Besides just endorsements, support from the national party also has financial consequences. The DSCC spends tens of millions of dollars on competitive races to support Democrats and attack Republicans.
“He’s a very independent leader in the Senate, and his new party affiliation fits that well. He’ll still be part of our majority,” said Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, who has just worked with Cinema to administer a bill that does the same. – Sex and interracial marriage through the Senate.
But he too refused to say whether the party should support Cinema in 2024, waving as the elevator closed.
For now, Cinema’s decision doesn’t seem to concern much of the Senate itself.
He said his position in the Senate would not change, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday that he will functionally remain part of the Democrats’ newly expanded 51-seat majority in the legislature. giving them a majority on committees and the ability to issue subpoenas.
When asked by reporters what he thought of Cinema’s announcement, Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware shrugged dramatically.
