ARIZONA, November 13, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Democrat Rep. Kyrsten Sinema has officially won Arizona’s open Senate seat, almost a week after the midterm congressional elections, reducing Republicans’ net gain in the chamber to a single seat.
With 99.8% of precincts reporting, Sinema won 49.7% of the vote to pro-life GOP Rep. Martha McSally’s 48%. McSally, a retired Air Force colonel and the United States’ first female combat pilot, announced on Twitter Monday evening that she had conceded the race to Sinema, thanking her supporters and wishing Sinema “all success as she represents Arizona in the Senate.”
Congrats to @kyrstensinema. I wish her success. I’m grateful to all those who supported me in this journey. I’m inspired by Arizonans’ spirit and our state’s best days are ahead of us. pic.twitter.com/tw0uKgi3oO
— McSally For Senate (@MarthaMcSally) November 13, 2018
“As long as I’ve served Arizona, I’ve worked to help others see our common humanity & find common ground,” Sinema claimed in a victory statement. “That’s the same approach I’ll take to representing our great state in the Senate, where I’ll be an independent voice for all Arizonans.” Critics are skeptical she’ll be a unifying voice, however, given her far-left views and history of controversial public statements.
Sinema is an open bisexual who holds a 100% pro-abortion voting record and was endorsed by a population control group that has advocated “tax[ing] to the hilt” families that engage in “irresponsible breeding.”
In the closing weeks of her campaign, she found herself hounded by numerous quotes from her past, such as a 2010 joke that Arizona is the “meth lab of democracy”; a 2003 email inviting “feminist witches” to an anti-war rally; a 2003 interview claiming “I don’t care if you want to” about Americans joining the Taliban; and a 2002 email stating it “would be inappropriate to ask someone to not destroy property or to carry a weapon.”
Last month, a 2006 interview with the nightlife magazine 944 also resurfaced, in which Sinema suggested that women who choose to be full-time homemakers or mothers have nothing to be proud of. “These women who act like staying at home, leeching off their husbands or boyfriends, and just cashing the checks is some sort of feminism because they’re choosing to live that life,” she claimed “That’s bulls***. I mean, what the f*** are we really talking about here?”
Sinema has claimed her derogatory comments were merely a failed attempt at sarcastic humor and didn’t reflect her true feelings, but they did echo the genuine arguments of some feminists, and even the European Union, that women who don’t work outside the home are a cultural problem.
Republicans expanded their 51-49 Senate majority by two seats on election night, strengthening their ability to confirm pro-life judges as their loss of the House of Representatives all-but eliminates any prospect of pro-life federal legislation over the next two years. Sinema’s victory reduces the GOP to a Senate net gain of just one seat, as two more races remain to be decided.
A bitter recount battle is currently underway in Florida’s race to unseat incumbent Democrat Sen. Bill Nelson, while Mississippi GOP Sen. Cyndy Hyde-Smith’s bid to keep her seat is headed for a November 27 runoff election.
McSally and Sinema were running for the seat being vacated by retiring moderate Republican Sen. Jeff Flake. NPR notes that McSally could still theoretically be appointed to another Arizona Senate seat; Republican Gov. Doug Ducey named former Republican Sen. Jon Kyl to temporarily take over the late Sen. John McCain’s seat, and it remains to be seen whether Kyl will choose to stay or step down.