Kelly’s Senate Race Could Act as a Referendum on Kyrsten Sinema’s Moderate Policies

News Analysis While Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is not up for reelection this year, her colleague Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) is. The contrast between the two is stark, and Arizona voters will be left to decide if Kelly’s left-leaning progressive policies are too radical for the red-leaning swing state when compared to Sinema’s centrist policies. Sinema has found herself in the spotlight since the beginning of the 117th Congress. Like her moderate ally Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.), Sinema has often broken with her party on a slew of issues ranging from taxes to the filibuster. Kelly, by contrast, has largely voted with his party. Throughout the latter half of 2021, Sinema remained firmly opposed to her party’s $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act (BBB), a bill that Kelly supported. Because of objections made by both Sinema and Manchin, Democrats were ultimately forced to halve the bill to $1.85 trillion. Sinema has said …