Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) — who faced backlash after changing her party affiliation to independent from Democrat in December — is still facing blowback from Democratic donors, insiders told On the Money.
While attacks labeling her “the worst kind of hypocrite” from former colleagues in the Arizona legislature have died down, her campaign is still being hounded by angry Democratic donors who want their money back.
According to one source, angry donors were initially told the campaign was working on it — but now they aren’t even getting their calls returned. Neither the senator nor her staff are even bothering to respond anymore, a source added.
Still, Sinema — who almost single-handedly squashed a challenge to the carried interest loophole that taxes private equity and hedge fund profits at a lower rate than other businesses — may be expecting a generous payday from her Wall Street beneficiaries, some Democratic donors are speculating.
Sinema may also appeal to some GOP types as well. According to a report in Politico Thursday, Sinema is actively trying to ingratiate herself with GOP donors and has trashed Democrats as “old dudes eating Jell-O” to do so.
Sources note she probably recognizes there’s no point trying to end things on good terms with Democrats since they won’t be writing her more checks anyway.
While Sinema has more than $8 million in her war chest, she will need more as she gears up for a 2024 re-election campaign. If word spreads of the way she’s been treating her Democratic donors, she may soon have trouble with independent and Republican donors too, one source speculated.
A spokesperson for Sinema did not respond to a request for comment.