Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) avoided committing to supporting Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) in a reelection race Tuesday, saying it was “much too early” to do so.
Schumer praised Sinema’s work as a senator during comments to reporters, but he stopped shy of throwing his support behind her after she left the Democratic Party in December.
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“Sen. Sinema is an excellent Congress member and Senate member, and she has done a lot of good things here. But it’s much too early to make a decision,” Schumer said.
The comment came a day after Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) announced his bid for the Democratic nomination of Sinema’s Senate seat when she’s up for reelection. It also comes a day after Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) urged Sinema to caucus with Republicans if she seeks reelection.
“A lot of Republicans [are] talking about it,” Thune told reporters, according to the Hill. “Obviously, we’d love to have her become a Republican or at least caucus [with] Republicans. That would make things a little more clear.”
Sinema was considered a wild card when she was in the Democratic Party due to her tendency to cross party lines on important conservative issues such as infrastructure, taxes, and gun violence. However, Sinema said she was an independent and would not caucus with Republicans when she left the party in December.
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Philip Letsou, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, urged Schumer to support Sinema instead of Gallego, calling the congressman a “radical.”
“The Democrat civil war is on in Arizona,” Letsou said in a statement to CNN. “Chuck Schumer has a choice: stand with open borders radical Ruben Gallego or back his incumbent, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.”
Sinema has not announced a bid for reelection so far.
