Kyrsten Sinema: No, I Won't Join GOP

Kyrsten Sinema has no more interest in becoming a Republican than she had in remaining a Democrat, apparently. Asked on Face the Nation Sunday whether, now that the former Democrat is an independent, there's any chance she'll someday join the GOP, the senator said no, Politico reports. "You don’t go from one broken party to another," she said. Outlets are painting her statements as a "vow" or promise to "never" become a Republican, and the Guardian notes that she said she's "absolutely" done with the two-party system in the US.

Of the state she represents, she added, "Arizona is one of the states that has the highest level of independents in the country. We are a state of folks who don’t often march to the drum that is being taught to us, right. So most of us don’t fit neatly in one box or another. And I think the challenge that we have right now in our political discourse is to make it OK for folks to think on their own." Should she decide to run for reelection to the Senate in 2024, she'll have to fend off challengers from both the Democratic and Republican parties. But she wouldn't discuss her decision on that matter Sunday, saying that for now she wants "to stay focused on the work that I’m doing." (More Kyrsten Sinema stories.)