Vox Sentences - Sinema goes independent

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema registers as an independent; the UK faces widespread walkouts over the holidays.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

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Why Kyrsten Sinema left the Democratic Party

Anna Moneymaker/ Getty Images  

• Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema announced she’s leaving the Democratic Party to become a political independent. [CNN / Jeremy Herb]
• Sinema said she’s changing affiliations because, like roughly a third of Arizonans, she doesn’t fit in either political party. [Politico / Burgess Everett]
• It’s also the case, however, that while Sinema hasn’t announced plans to run for reelection in 2024, being an independent could help her avoid a tough primary contest. [Vox / Christian Paz]
• Democrats will maintain Senate control despite Sinema’s departure. Sinema says she won’t caucus with the GOP. [Associated Press / Jonathan J. Cooper and Lisa Mascaro]
• The Arizona senator’s party change may have been a long time coming. Her unwillingness to support weakening the filibuster to protect voting rights and increasing corporate taxes have frustrated Democrats. [New York Times / Carl Hulse]

The UK faces mass strikes 

• The United Kingdom is facing its worst strikes in years, with hundreds of thousands of workers set to walk out in December, demanding better wages and working conditions. [Wall Street Journal / Max Colchester]
• Nurses, ambulance crews, and postal workers are among several unions that want pay increases to address Britain’s cost-of-living crisis fueled by near-record inflation. [Quartz / Amanda Shendruck]
• Meanwhile, the UK’s interior minister is urging people to reconsider plans to travel abroad as airport staff walkouts could bring travel to a halt in the week leading up to Christmas. [CNBC / Jenni Reid]
• Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he’s working on laws to lessen the impact of the strikes. [BBC / Becky Morgan]

The US government is suing to block Microsoft from acquiring video game company Activision Blizzard for $69 billion over antitrust concerns. [Vox / Sara Morrison]

• A Moscow court sentenced opposition figure Ilya Yashin to more than eight years in prison for speaking out against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [CNN]
• Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) is struggling to find a Washington, DC, apartment due to high housing costs, and because he has bad credit from the debt he took on to support his run for Congress. [Guardian / Martin Pengelly]
• An attorney for the victim’s family has filed a motion for a new hearing seeking information that led to the release of Adnan Syed, the subject of the hit podcast Serial. [AP / Brian Witte]

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“Like a lot of Arizonans, I have never fit perfectly in either national party.”

[Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on her decision to register as an independent / Arizona Republic]

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