Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., hauled in roughly $816,000 in donations in the second quarter of 2023 through ActBlue, a fundraising software for Democrats, despite leaving the party to become an independent last year.
In April and June, ActBlue allowed donors to give $270,000 for Sinema's 2024 reelection campaign — which she has not yet announced — and another $545,000 to her joint fundraising committee, reports The Washington Examiner, quoting campaign finance disclosures.
Sacha Haworth, senior adviser to Replace Sinema, a PAC supporting Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., in his bid for the Senate, commented that when Sinema left the Democratic Party, "she knowingly forfeited the support it has lent her over her political career."
"Sinema is no longer a Democrat," Haworth added. "She should not be allowed to use the platform."
Sinema got about $1.3 million through ActBlue during the first quarter, disclosures show, which Roy Herrera, a lawyer for the Gallego campaign called "either hypocritical or ironic."
Sinema and Gallego's campaign did not reply to requests for comment, nor did ActBlue.
There have been other non-Democrats who have used ActBlue, such as independent Sens. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, both of whom have been getting large donations through the software since 2012, disclosures show.
ActBlue has said in past years that it has policies that bar candidates from using the software if they're competing against a Democrat nominee in a partisan race.
In 2021, the platform enforced the rule when it kicked off Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, a Democrat who, like Sinema, left the party and turned independent.
However, on a support page on its website, ActBlue says that "only Democrats and progressive organizations [not Republicans] can use our tools to fundraise." But it said that it allows third-party incumbents or independents to use the platform if they have a "proven record of caucusing with Democrats."
Sinema last week disclosed receiving a total of $1.6 million in the second quarter of the year, ending the period with $10.7 million in cash on hand. Meanwhile, Gallego's campaign reported bringing in $3.1 million during the same period, finishing the second quarter with $3.7 million cash in hand.
On the Republican side, Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb brought in $607,000. Republican Kari Lake, who lost the state's gubernatorial race in 2022, is also reportedly considering a race for the Senate.
Sinema's Getting Stuff Done PAC also took in money through ActBlue between April to June, The Examiner noted.
Her campaign website started directing donors in late March to payment processor Anedot, which is used by independents and Republicans. She's also taking contributions through Democracy Engine, headed by CEO Jonathan Zucker, the former head of ActBlue.
The Sinema Leadership Fund and her campaign recently reported paying merchant fees of $39,100 to ActBlue, $10,300 to Democracy Engine, and $2,800 to Anedot.
"Anedot allows people from all political backgrounds on the platform," a company employee commented. "Lawmakers' campaigns are allowed to use Anedot as well as ActBlue. No one has been kicked off Anedot for using multiple platforms."
Republican Arizona state Rep. Quang Nguyen told The Examiner that, as Sinema is an independent, she has a "base on both sides," and that he'd use ActBlue as well if he were her.
Disclosures also show that Sinema has long paid the Washington, D.C., political firm Fulkerson Kennedy & Co. for fundraising consulting.
The company works with various Democrats. Its top vendors in 2022 were the Senate Majority PAC, the campaign for Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., and Sinema's Leadership Fund PAC.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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