Authentic, a Democrat digital consulting firm, dropped Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) as a client, after she changed her party affiliation to “Independent” on Friday. This move by the firm who has represented Sinema for years, could be ultimately putting her at a disadvantage for 2024, when she is up for reelection.
Sinema announced on Friday, that she would leave the Democrat Party to become an Independent during an interview, released Friday morning with CNN’s Jake Tapper. While saying that she ultimately believed her move made-
“a lot of sense”, explaining that a “growing number of Arizonans and people like me just don’t feel like we fit neatly into one party’s box or the other.”
- Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ)
This situation has been building and comes after the digital firm saw an uprising from its staffers earlier this year, after Sinema voted against legislation that the Biden administration pushed, such as eliminating the filibuster, which a majority of Democrats wanted, and her infamous no vote against raising the minimum wage to $15-an-hour. Apparently, staffers at the firm, didn’t like that fact that she wouldn’t play ball with the standing Democratic ideas, concepts and wishes.
Issues previously reported at Authentic, by Politico state-
“Faced with pushback from employees, management at Authentic, one of the Democratic Party’s more prominent firms, defended itself by saying their work for Sinema was important for maintaining a Democratic Senate majority, according to those messages. But the situation grew dire enough that employees, who are unionized, were told they could be removed from the Sinema account if they felt uncomfortable with it, per the union’s contract.”
“And…The revolt inside Authentic underscores the degree to which Sinema has found herself in the crosshairs of her own party during the Biden years. The Arizona Democrat has rankled some of the biggest powers in Democratic circles with her refusal to back key components of the president’s agenda, most recently a reform to Senate rules to allow elections reform legislation to pass by a simple majority vote. Top women’s groups have suggested they might withdraw their support if her position remained the same. One-time donors have threatened to back a primary challenger.”
-Politico
Essentially, firm staffers expressed their “shock and agitation” as to why their company that “professes fidelity to a set of progressive values” has worked with Sinema, according to a report earlier this year. In fact, in internal union messages the publication reviewed, one of the firm’s staffers said, “I am doing the devil’s work,” while another staffer said, “I feel sick about it tbh [to be honest].”
Declining to comment on the report by Politico, Sinema’s office, nor the digital firm, responded to a request for comments from the publication. As noted by Politico-
“Sinema’s campaign had given the firm over $700,000 in business since 2020, and Federal Election Commission records showed that the expenses include digital consulting and list acquisition.”
-Politico
Following Sinema’s party switch, and seemingly because she will caucus with the Democrats, they will still likely have control of the Senate with 51 seats. What remains to be seen is the real impact of her vote. Sinema will certainly not feel obligated to rubber stamp the Democrat Party wishes, nor hopefully will she be any longer subject to being harassed /threatened by disrespectful young constituents in bathrooms – regarding her vote.
“Intimidation, harassment and violence have no place in a democracy.”
-Mo Ibrahim