Prior to her departure from the Democratic Party, Sinema was considered highly vulnerable to a
primary challenge due to her opposition to several parts of the
Democratic Party's legislative agenda. Prospective polling showed Sinema trailing all of her potential challengers by wide margins, with U.S. Representative
Ruben Gallego being viewed by numerous political analysts as the frontrunner to challenge her. On January 22, 2022, the
Arizona Democratic Party voted overwhelmingly to
censure Sinema for a second time for voting against a carve-out to the
Senate filibuster rule in a Democratic-led effort to pass the
John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Sinema did not support the
Inflation Reduction Act until after Democratic leaders agreed to remove a provision closing the so-called
carried interest tax loophole, the closure of which would have raised taxes on
hedge fund owners and
investment managers. This action renewed calls from Democrats for Sinema to face a primary opponent in her next election. Sinema left the Democratic Party in December 2022 and registered as an independent, while continuing to be counted as part of the
Senate Democratic Caucus.
(endorsed Ruben Gallego, her ex-husband) (ran for re-election) Endorsements Polling Ruben Gallego vs. Alexander Keller Ruben Gallego vs. Kate Gallego vs. Kathy Hoffman vs. Regina Romero vs. Kyrsten Sinema vs. Greg Stanton Results ==Republican primary==