Kyrsten Sinema says Republicans got ‘a good old-fashioned a – – kicking’ in midterms

Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said Friday that Republicans took “a good old-fashioned a – – kicking” in this month’s midterm elections, and warned Democrats not to read their wins as a mandate for revenge.

“It wasn’t just a wave. This was a tsunami,” Sinema, now president and CEO of the Arizona Business Roundtable, said on KTAR News 92.3 FM‘s Outspoken with Bruce & Gaydos.

She said voters’ top concerns were corruption, gas prices, the cost of goods and the war in Iran. Democrats, who hold 55 U.S. Senate seats and could reach 56, risk misreading that message, she added.

“I think the mistake that could be made on the part of Democrats is mistaking the party of no and thinking that is a substitute and good enough for the future, which it’s not,” Sinema said. “So the Democrats really face a challenge. How do you switch from being the party of no to being the party of pro?”

In Arizona, Democrats will control both chambers of the Legislature for the first time in 60 years. Sinema, who served in a Republican-dominated state Senate, joked that the new 20-10 split leaves Republicans as a “one-pizza caucus.”

She said whether Democratic control helps business depends on what lawmakers choose to do.

She also defended data centers, which have drawn pushback in Arizona, including from Attorney General Kris Mayes, who has called for a pause on new ones.

Sinema emphasized data centers should pay for their own electricity and water and follow zoning rules, but called proposals for a moratorium a mistake.

“If you use something with the on-off button, you’re accessing that data center,” she said.

Sinema declined to discuss the criminal case against Matthew Ammel, her former bodyguard and ex-lover, citing the pending prosecution.

Ammel is accused of causing more than $200,000 in damage at her Cave Creek home, and his affair with Sinema is at the center of a North Carolina “homewrecker” lawsuit that his ex-wife filed against her.

“I am doing fine, and I am safe,” she said.

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