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NARAL Pro-Choice America has joined a growing list of organizations that plan to withdraw support from Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., over her opposition to a change in Senate rules that would have allowed passage of Democratic voting bills.
On Tuesday, Mini Timmaraju, president of NARAL, announced a change to the organization’s “endorsement criteria.” The organization said it will “not endorse or support any senator” who does not work to pass the Democrats‘ election overhaul legislation.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., arrives to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Jan. 19, 2022. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Our democracy is in peril,” Timmaraju stated. “Anti-choice, anti-democracy forces — including all 50 Republican Senators — are dead-set on dismantling the very foundation of our republic. We cannot let this happen. It is past time for the Senate to pass the voting rights protections in the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act and safeguard the freedom to vote by any means necessary.”
“We will not endorse or support any senator who refuses to find a path forward on this critical legislation. Without ensuring that voters have the freedom to participate in safe and accessible elections, a minority with a regressive agenda and a hostility to reproductive freedom will continue to block the will of the majority of Americans.”
Sinema, who had previously said she would not vote to weaken the Senate’s 60-vote threshold, indeed joined Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and all Senate Republicans in a 52-48 vote to preserve the filibuster Wednesday evening. That vote followed a failed attempt by Democrats to push a bill combining the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act over the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster threshold.
President Biden failed to convince senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to eliminate or weaken the filibuster. (AP/Getty Images)
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Emily’s List, a political action committee dedicated to helping elect to office female Democratic candidates who support allowing abortion, said Wednesday that it will not endorse Sinema, claiming her decision to “reject the voices of allies, partners and constituents who believe the importance of voting rights outweighs that of an arcane process means she will find herself standing alone in the next election.”
Emily’s List concluded that Sinema “undermines the foundations of our democracy, her own path to victory and also the mission of EMILY’s List” should she not find a pathway forward in support of the legislation.
A change to the filibuster would require support from all Senate Democrats.
Abortion advocates and anti-abortion protesters demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court, Dec. 1, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Talk of a primary challenge to Sinema, who is up for reelection in 2024, has begun.
In a recent interview, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., said many of Sinema’s own colleagues are pushing him to challenge her.
“To be honest, I have gotten a lot of encouragement from elected officials, from senators, from unions, from your traditional Democratic groups, big donors,” said Gallego, who has served in the House since 2015. “Everything you can imagine under the sun.”
Sinema’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this article.
