Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) is learning that there are major differences between her voters and conservative voters in West Virginia.
While Sinema may be aligning herself with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), voters in her home state are not rewarding her independent streak the same way West Virginia voters have traditionally rewarded Manchin.
A new Morning Consult poll reveals that bucking her party isn't doing Sinema any favors back home. The numbers show that "46 percent of Arizona Democrats approved of Sinema's job performance in the third quarter of 2021, down 21 points from the first quarter," while "42 percent of all Arizona voters approve of her, compared with 48 percent who said the same earlier this year."
ALG Research numbers found the same for voters across key battleground Congressional districts in Arizona.
"Sinema's approval rating fell from 48 percent to 42 percent among registered voters in Arizona between the first and third quarters of 2021, while the share who disapprove increased from 35 percent to 42 percent during that time," said the Morning Consult.
"The decline was largely driven by Democratic voters, who, at 46 percent, are now 21 percentage points less likely to approve of the Arizona senator's job performance than they were at the beginning of the year," the report said.
And Sinema, who was recently followed into a bathroom by immigration activists and faces calls for a Democratic challenger if she runs for re-election in three years, can't count on robust support from the faction still backing her: 14 percent of Arizona Democrats say they 'strongly' approve of Sinema, compared to 28 percent who said the same in the Jan. 1-March 31 surveys."
While Sinema may have made friends on the right for her opposition to the Build Back Better plan, they aren't the ones who will support her in her next election with votes, money or volunteers.
