Washington Free Beacon editor in chief Matthew Continetti said Tuesday that Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema's victory in the Arizona Senate race shows Democrats that moving to the center, rather than further to the left, is a "winning strategy."
"In Arizona ... there's been this debate about Democrats, about strategy going from 2018 to 2020: should they continue to really rally the progressive base, or should they try to move to the center?" Continetti said on Fox News. "I think if you look at Sinema and her success and you see that split-ticket voting happening between the top of the ticket and her Senate race, that shows for Democrats, moving to the center, like Sinema did since she was first elected to Congress, is a winning strategy."
Sinema "started out in politics as a liberal activist and spokeswoman for the Green Party," the New York Times reported," before she "shifted to the center after winning a seat in 2012 in the House of Representatives, drawing criticism from some on the left for siding with [President Donald] Trump and other Republicans on some legislation."
Sinema was declared the winner in her Senate race against Republican Rep. Martha McSally on Monday night, nearly a week after Election Day. The outcome had been too close to call, so election officials had to count large numbers of early and mailed ballots. Sinema will fill the seat being vacated by Sen. Jeff Flake (R., Ariz.), who did not seek reelection.
Continetti also discussed the voting recounts in Florida, where a winner has not yet been announced in the Senate and gubernatorial races. Both Republican candidates have declared victory, however, after they finished slightly ahead in the polls on Election Day.
"I really don't see the recounts affecting the final result, especially since now [Republican] Governor [Rick] Scott, soon to be Senator Scott, I think is focusing his attention on shenanigans in those two counties in southern Florida," Continetti said, referring to lawsuits that Scott has filed against county election officials.
The two counties in question, Palm Beach and Broward, are the focus of ongoing scrutiny for their handling of the recounts and may decide the race for the Senate.