Democrat Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema To Become Independent After Democrats Secure Narrow Senate Majority

Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema is changing her party affiliation by leaving the Democratic Party and will be registering as a political independent.
In a tweet, Sinema announced that she has "joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington and formally registering as an Arizona Independent."
"Becoming an Independent won't change my work in the Senate; my service to Arizona remains the same," she wrote.
Yet the statement will still alarm party leaders, who thought they had secured a 51-49 majority on Tuesday when Raphael Warnock won re-election in Georgia.
However, Sinema's move will unlikely change the power balance in the next Congress beginning in January as the Democrats' Senate majority already includes two independents: Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine.
It's not clear she will retain her office on the Democratic side of the chamber. Or if she will be re-election in 2024, something she says she won't address yet.
"Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are great members of our caucus. They are very valuable. They don't always agree with us on certain issues, but they are tremendous contributors to our caucus, and we will continue to work with them," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
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