Senator Kyrsten Sinema Angered Many in The Democratic Party

Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s angered many in the democratic party with her decision to not show up for a recent vote on establishing a commission to investigate the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol. The senator later said that a family issue kept her from attending the vote. We spoke with political analyst Mike O’Neil about the impact of the senator’s decisions on capitol hill. 

First, we asked O’Neil what his thoughts were on Secretary of State, Katie Hobbs, announcing her run for governor. 

“If she gets in early she may preempt the field, and I think that’s what she is most likely trying to do at this point,” O’Neil said. 

O’Neil believes that Hobbs is coming across as very confident and very assured in her national publicity. 

We then moved on to ask O’Neil his thoughts on Sen. Sinema’s no-show appearance after calling for the January 6th vote in the first place. 

“I thought that the initial non explanation, just no-show was devastating,” O’Neil said. “I watched the internet light up with former supporters who were just downright angry.” 

This morning Sen. Sinema stated that her missing the commission vote was due to a family matter. This statement came late after many had already made up their mind about her.

“She could very easily have said I have a personal family matter, It is clear to me that my vote is not going to make the difference for who I would have voted for, and I would’ve stuck around if the vote had any chance of being decisive,” O’Neil said. 

O’Neil believes that people will try to cut others slack if there is actually a family issue, but that she should have stated it earlier than she did. 

We asked O’Neil if she would be primaried if she runs for reelection. 

“I think it depends on how she handles the rest of her first term,” O’Neil said.