Democratic Senate candidate Abby Finkenauer calls Kyrsten Sinema 'a sellout'
She's running for office thousands of miles away from Arizona, but that's not stopping Abby Finkenauer from calling out one of the state's Democratic senators.
Finkenauer, a former congresswoman and Democratic candidate for Senate in Iowa, called Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) a "sellout" on Thursday, in response to Sinema declaring on the Senate floor that she won't support changing filibuster rules in order to pass voting rights legislation.
While Democrats "technically" have control of the Senate, Finkenauer said in a Twitter video, "we've got a sellout in Kyrsten Sinema, who is there for what reason I don't know, but she refuses to actually do anything that works for working families like the one that I grew up in. I don't know if she forgot where she came from or who she's there to fight for, but it's about dang time that we expand the Democratic majority."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Finkenauer, a moderate who aims to unseat Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in November, said in a follow-up tweet that if she goes to the Senate, "I'll vote for filibuster reform to pass voting rights legislation, and deliver on progress for working families that Republicans like Sen. Grassley are blocking." Axios notes that in addition to Finkenauer, several Democrats running for the Senate are now promising to back filibuster changes, including Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.). Demings told supporters in a campaign email sent Tuesday she will be "the 50th vote Democrats need to end the filibuster and pass voting rights protections."
While Finkenauer may not be a fan of Sinema's, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is — he applauded Sinema's Thursday speech, telling reporters, "It was extraordinarily important and she has, as a conspicuous act of political courage, saved the Senate as an institution."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
How are these Epstein files so damaging to Trump?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As Republicans and Democrats release dueling tranches of Epstein-related documents, the White House finds itself caught in a mess partially of its own making
-
Margaret Atwood’s memoir, intergenerational trauma and the fight to make spousal rape a crime: Welcome to November booksThe Week Recommends This month's new releases include ‘Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts’ by Margaret Atwood, ‘Cursed Daughters’ by Oyinkan Braithwaite and 'Without Consent' by Sarah Weinman
-
‘Tariffs are making daily life less affordable now’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacksSpeed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
-
Trump pardons 2020 fake electors, other GOP alliesSpeed Read The president pardoned Rudy Giuliani and more who tried to overturn his 2020 election loss
-
Supreme Court to decide on mail-in ballot limitsSpeed Read The court will determine whether states can count mail-in ballots received after Election Day
