(The Center Square) – Arizona Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema will not run for re-election.
The senator has been seen as a bipartisan dealmaker in her time in the Senate, with most recently leading the charge on a border security bill that ended up getting shot down.
“Because I choose civility, understanding, listening, working together to get stuff done, I will leave the Senate at the end of this year,” Sinema said in a video Tuesday.
Sinema left the Democratic Party at the end of 2022, after being elected in 2018 following a competitive campaign against Republican Martha McSally, who later ended up serving a brief appointed term in the Senate.
The speculation that she would not seek re-election mounted in recent weeks, as she would have a narrow time frame to file petition signatures, as the deadline is April 1.
Her decision not to run now paves the way for a two-way race between Republican Kari Lake and Democratic Congressman Ruben Gallego, who are the respective nominees.
