Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) hauled in roughly $816,000 in donations through the Democratic fundraising software behemoth ActBlue during the second quarter of 2023 despite becoming an independent late last year, records show.
Top Democrats have clashed with Sinema on the heels of the senator leaving the party in December 2022, lamenting Washington’s focus on “party doctrine.” Sinema has nonetheless continued to benefit from the influence of ActBlue, which between April and June served as a conduit for donors to hand $270,000 to her campaign and $545,000 to Sinema’s joint fundraising committee, according to campaign finance disclosures.
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“When Sinema left the Democratic Party she knowingly forfeited the support it has lent her over her political career,” Sacha Haworth, senior adviser to Replace Sinema, a PAC supporting Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) in his Senate bid, told the Washington Examiner. “Sinema is no longer a Democrat. She should not be allowed to use the platform.”
Sinema, who has yet to announce a run in 2024, disclosed receiving $1.6 million in the second quarter, which she ended with $10.7 million in cash on hand. Meanwhile, Gallego took $3.1 million during the same period, and Mark Lamb, the Pinal County sheriff running for Senate as a Republican, pocketed about $607,000, disclosures show. Failed 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is also mulling a Senate bid.
It’s the latest quarter that has seen Gallego boasting more impressive fundraising numbers than Sinema, who between January and March received $2.1 million to the congressman’s $3.7 million. Gallego finished the second quarter with $3.7 million cash on hand. Sinema’s Getting Stuff Done PAC also took money through ActBlue between April and June.
Sinema’s campaign website in late March began directing donors to her fundraising page through Anedot, a payment processor used by independents and Republicans, and she also still takes contributions through Democracy Engine, whose CEO Jonathan Zucker used to head ActBlue. The Sinema Leadership Fund and her campaign recently dished out merchant fees combined totaling $39,100 to ActBlue, $10,300 to Democracy Engine, and $2,800 to Anedot, according to disclosures.
Sinema’s reliance on ActBlue appears to undercut her efforts to sever ties with the Democratic Party. While ActBlue claims on a support page located on its website that “only Democrats and progressive organizations (not Republicans) can use our tools to fundraise,” the company also says in its policies it lets third-party incumbents or independents fundraise through the platform if the candidates have a “proven record of caucusing with Democrats.”
Tension, though, has only heightened between Sinema and her ex-Democratic colleagues as the 2024 election nears. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was notably listed as the special guest in late June for a Gallego fundraiser held virtually, according to an event invitation. Sinema reportedly told Republican lobbyists earlier this year that Democratic “lunches were ridiculous” while explaining why she doesn’t attend weekly caucus meetings on Capitol Hill.
“Anedot allows people from all political backgrounds on the platform,” an employee at Anedot told the Washington Examiner. “Lawmakers’ campaigns are allowed to use Anedot as well as ActBlue. No one has been kicked off Anedot for using multiple platforms.”
Sinema isn’t alone among non-Democrats who have used ActBlue to their advantage while building their war chests. Independent Sens. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont have received large donations through the software since 2012, disclosures show.
However, ActBlue has said in the past that the company has policies barring candidates from being on it if they’re going head-to-head versus “a Democratic nominee in a partisan race.” The platform reportedly enforced this rule in 2021 against Buffalo, New York, Mayor Byron W. Brown, a Democrat turned independent, upon booting him off.
“The fact that [Sinema’s] an independent, she’s got a base on both sides,” Republican Arizona state Rep. Quang Nguyen told the Washington Examiner, noting he too would “take advantage” of ActBlue to fundraise if he were in Sinema’s shoes.
Sinema’s lasting fundraising ties to Democrats extend beyond ActBlue. She has long paid the Washington, D.C., political firm Fulkerson Kennedy & Co. for “fundraising consulting,” disclosures show.
Fulkerson Kennedy works with various Democrats and its top vendors in 2022 were Senate Majority PAC, Sen. Maggie Hassan’s (D-NH) campaign, and Sinema’s leadership PAC, which handed it almost $497,000. The firm is led by Ashley Kennedy, who previously worked on behalf of ex-Sens. Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Jim Webb (D-VA), as well as Tonya Fulkerson, ex-Mid Atlantic Region finance director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to Fulkerson Kennedy’s website.
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Sinema’s quarter two ActBlue haul comes after she received about $1.3 million through the platform during the first quarter, the Washington Examiner reported. Roy Herrera, a lawyer for the Gallego campaign, said at the time this was “either hypocritical or ironic.”
Sinema and Gallego’s campaign, as well as ActBlue, did not reply to requests for comment.
