Kyrsten Sinema pulls $1M through Democratic software behemoth ActBlue despite party switch
Gabe Kaminsky
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Sen. Krysten Sinema (I-AZ), who left the Democratic Party and became an independent late last year, hauled in roughly $1.3 million in combined campaign and political action committee donations during the first quarter of 2023 through the powerful Democratic fundraising software ActBlue, records show.
Sinema for Arizona pulled in over $900,000 in donations through the software, while her joint fundraising committee, Sinema Leadership Fund, received roughly $454,000 between January and March, according to Federal Election Commission filings reviewed by the Washington Examiner. The senator has come under the spotlight in recent months for having still been active on ActBlue despite her party switch in December 2022 after almost a decade in Congress as a Democrat.
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In late March, Sinema’s campaign website began directing donors to her fundraising page through Anedot, a payment processor used by independents and Republicans. The senator has yet to announce a reelection bid but is widely expected to run as an independent against Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who raised $3.7 million between January and March, compared to Sinema’s $2.1 million haul, disclosures show.
Sinema’s campaign reported about $10 million cash on hand to Gallego’s $2.7 million, according to disclosures. Her continued presence on ActBlue demonstrates how the top software can provide a major lifeboat for lawmakers seeking to maximize their ability to reach voters. Independent Sens. Bernie Sanders (VT) and Angus King (ME) have raked in campaign donations through ActBlue since 2012, records show. Getting Stuff Done, the leadership PAC affiliated with Sinema, has also taken donations through ActBlue.
“It strikes me as a bit of either hypocritical or ironic that she left the Democratic Party but continues to use one of the primary fundraising platforms for Democrats,” Roy Herrera, a lawyer for Gallego’s campaign, told the Washington Examiner. “If she’s truly extricating herself from the Democratic Party, then why hasn’t she extricated herself from ActBlue?”
Meanwhile, Sinema’s PAC and campaign paid almost $68,000 to ActBlue for “merchant fees,” filings show. Over 30% of the Sinema campaign’s haul in the first quarter was from employees of the investment firms Blackstone, Elliot Advisors, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, the hedge fund company Carlyle Group, the tax services company Ryan, LLC, and affiliates of the entities, NBC News reported.
A spokesperson for ActBlue did not reply to a Washington Examiner request for comment. The company permits independent or third-party incumbents to fundraise through ActBlue if they still have a “proven record of caucusing with Democrats,” according to its policies.
Still, tension has brewed between Sinema and the Democratic Party since she made her party switch. She told a cohort of Republican lobbyists this year that Democratic “lunches were ridiculous” in explaining why she no longer attends weekly meetings on Capitol Hill, a source told Politico. She also claimed the lunch is composed of “old dudes [who] are eating Jell-O” and “everyone is talking about how great they are,” the outlet reported.
In January, the Arizona Democratic Party censured Sinema after she joined fellow centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Republicans in voting against altering filibuster rules. Raquel Teran, the state’s party chairwoman, claimed at the time that the senator was not doing “whatever it takes to ensure the health of our democracy.”
“It’s not surprising,” Matt Kenney, a veteran Republican political consultant in Arizona, told the Washington Examiner. “Sen. Sinema is a proven campaigner and a smart tactician. She’ll use every tool at her disposal, including ActBlue, and I don’t think she’ll care what anyone says about it.”
“If Sinema is bringing in big dollars from [ActBlue], it’s a testament to her marketability and electability,” Kenney, a partner at Camelback Strategy Group, a firm with offices in Arizona, Texas, and Virginia, added.
Beyond Sinema’s ties to ActBlue, her campaign and PAC have also paid hefty sums to Fulkerson Kennedy & Co, a political firm in Washington, D.C., for “fundraising consulting,” disclosures show. The firm has worked with various other Democratic entities, including Senate Majority PAC, which is affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Sinema for Arizona paid the firm over $67,700 between January and March, while her leadership fund steered it over $24,500 in January and February, disclosures show. Between October 2017 and December 2022, the two committees paid Fulkerson & Kennedy roughly $533,200.
“She walked away from the Democratic Party and, in our minds, that means you forfeit the infrastructure of the Democratic Party,” Sacha Haworth, senior adviser to the Replace Sinema PAC and a former political director of American Bridge 21st Century, a left-wing opposition research group, told the Washington Examiner. “When you no longer adopt the Democratic Party platform, you should forfeit any of the apparatus that comes with it.”
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“That includes ActBlue,” Haworth, who was communications director for Sinema’s campaign between 2017 and 2018, added. “It seems to me she is trying to have it both ways.”
Sinema’s campaign did not return a request for comment.