Kyrsten Sinema goes independent, scrambles U.S. #Senate

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said in remarks published at 6 a.m. ET Friday that she's leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent.

Why it matters: It's a political earthquake that will shake up the Senate — just three days after Democrats thought they had secured a 51-49 majority.

Our thought bubble, via Axios' Josh Kraushaar: Sinema views activists in the Arizona Democratic Party as extreme as the state Republican Party.

She's up in 2024, and risked a primary from Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) on the left.
"Arizonans — including many registered as Democrats or Republicans — are eager for leaders who focus on common-sense solutions rather than party doctrine," Sinema says in an op-ed in The Arizona Republic, her state's largest paper.

"That's why I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington."