Replace Sinema with a Democrat Who Will End the Filibuster

UPDATE: Funds to this campaign will now be distributed to Ruben Gallego and 5 proven Arizona organizations.

As designated when we launched this campaign, 60% of the funds we raise will go to the campaign of a Democratic challenger who will fight to end the filibuster. Ruben Gallego is that candidate –– a Democrat who has pledged to vote to nix the filibuster and will put Arizona’s working families first, not big corporate donors. 

And 40% of the funds will go to these 5 proven Arizona organizations that will provide the independent grassroots organizing to defeat Sinema and elect Ruben: Arizona Students Association, LUCHA, Northeast Arizona Native Democrats, Our Voice Our Vote, and Progress Arizona. These groups have endorsed Gallego and will educate, organize, and mobilize voters to turn out the broad, diverse coalition we need to win.

Please DONATE to this campaign on this page to help replace Sinema with Ruben Gallego so we can finally end the filibuster and deliver for the people.

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UPDATE: Kyrsten Sinema has left the Democratic Party. 

Donations to this campaign will now be used to fund a Democratic candidate to replace Sinema who will fight to end the filibuster and, if Sinema runs, defeat her in the general election.

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UPDATE: Kyrsten Sinema voted with Manchin and the GOP to block filibuster reform and defeat legislation to protect voting rights and save democracy.

She chose the side of Bull Connor and George Wallace over that of John Lewis and MLK.

And she must never be elected to office again.

Pledges to this campaign will now be converted to donations to fund a primary challenge to replace Sinema with a leader who will help end the filibuster.

This fight is not over. But together we will ensure that Kyrsten Sinema's career in elected office ended tonight.

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For months, Arizonans who led the charge in electing Kyrsten Sinema have been pushing her to listen to the voters who put her in office and stop blocking President Biden’s agenda by protecting the filibuster –– a non-Constitutional, minority veto Senate rule that President Obama himself called a “relic of Jim Crow.”

But Sinema refuses to listen. So it's time to send a message that she can’t ignore.

Either Senator Sinema votes to end or reform the Jim Crow filibuster or we fund a primary challenge to replace her with someone who will. 

Pledge a donation to her future challenger if Sinema refuses to back Biden's agenda and vote to end the filibuster now!

In the wake of the January 6th insurrection and with our freedom to vote and fair elections under attack in Arizona and across America, our democracy is at stake. Only federal legislation –– blocked by the filibuster — can secure it. And on so many other critical issues, from the $15 minimum wage to the Dream Act, from gun violence prevention to workers’ right to organize, police reform, LGBTQ equality, and more, the filibuster stands in the way of life-changing reforms that President Biden and Democrats were elected to deliver. We can't wait any longer for Senator Sinema to act with the urgency this moment demands and end the filibuster to clear the path for change.

Pledge a donation now and tell Sinema: it's the filibuster or her political future.

Arizonans of every walk of life have used nearly every tool of democratic participation to call on Senator Sinema to end the filibuster. We've called, emailed, signed petitions, and tweeted. Arizona veterans, small business owners, unions, and faith leaders have published open letters and held private meetings. Scores of Arizona state legislators issued a public letter calling to end the filibuster to pass federal voting rights legislation. The Arizona Democratic Party State Committee passed a resolution with 91% support putting the Party on record in favor of ending the filibuster. Hundreds have rallied and marched, even amid a pandemic. Nearly 50 Arizonans, joined by national civil rights and social justice leaders like Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. William J. Barber, have followed in the footsteps of Sinama’s avowed hero John Lewis and been arrested in nonviolent civil disobedience. And polling shows Arizona Democrats and independents overwhelmingly support this reform. Yet Senator Sinema is doubling down and won’t even engage in dialogue. 

It's time for Sinema to choose: fight for us or we will fund someone who will.

Pledge a donation to her future challenger if Sinema refuses to vote to end the filibuster now!

Senator Sinema’s stubborn refusal to reconsider her extremist position in the face of such dire need and sustained demand from her constituents is simply unacceptable. Further, Sinema is blocking President Biden’s agenda even where it can get around the filibuster via the budget reconciliation exception. If she won’t stand with her party and the voters who elected her, Sinema must be replaced with a Democrat who will. A recent poll showed that if Sinema continues to protect the filibuster and block the Democratic agenda, 66% of likely Democratic primary voters would back a challenger who will help end the filibuster. Those numbers alone should scare her into changing course. But we need to make the threat even more clear and much more concrete. We need to show Sinema that if she refuses to fight for us, Democrats and independents nationwide will deliver the funding to make a future primary challenger an undeniable threat to her political career. 2024 is a long way off. But if we make it crystal clear today that if Sinema continues on this extreme course she is sealing her political fate, she will have no choice but to change course now if she wants to be re-elected then.

Join Arizona leaders who helped turn AZ blue and pledge to fund a primary challenger to Sinema if she continues to block Biden's agenda and choose the filibuster over our democracy and the progress Arizonans desperately need.

Sinema has over 3 million in cash on hand, mostly from big donors and corporate interests like Exxon and Big Pharma –– exactly the forces that want to block real progress. Let’s show them that when our democracy and justice for so many are on the line, small donors and working people in Arizona and across the country can come together and give a primary challenger the support they would need to defeat her.

Your card will only be charged to process your pledged donation IF Sinema doesn’t vote to end or reform the filibuster when the Senate brings the question up for a vote for the first time in 2022. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has pledged to finally hold a vote on filibuster reform to clear the way for incredibly urgent voting rights legislation in January, so now is the time to show Sinema how serious the threat to her political career.

Join us in pledging a donation to her Kyrsten Sinema’s future primary challenger if she refuses to vote to end the filibuster -- and then share this campaign with friends and family on social media right now!

We passed our initial goal of 1000 pledges and $100,000 in donations -- now we're shooting to pass $125,000. 

Help us put Sinema on notice: it’s time to choose. The filibuster or democracy. The filibuster or progress. The filibuster or her political future.

FAQ

Who is leading this campaign?

This campaign is founded and led by a committee of Arizona leaders who helped to turn AZ blue, have helped lead the fight to end the filibuster, and bring perspective from multiple communities and movements that make up the Democratic Party coalition in Arizona. See below for the list of Arizona leaders who are backing this campaign.

Where will my money go?

IF Sinema doesn't vote to end or reform the filibuster when filibuster reform is first brought to a vote in 2022, your pledge will be converted by charging your card approximately 14 days after the vote. The money will be split 60/40 between (1) the campaign committee of a credible Democratic primary challenger who has distinguished themselves as a public champion to end the filibuster and has a strong record of accountability to all of the communities that make up Arizona (60%) and (2) proven Arizona organizations that will provide the independent grassroots organizing to power a successful primary challenge and a general election victory (40%). The steering committee (as designated below) of this campaign will decide no later than March 1, 2024 on the challenger candidate and organizations to which your donation will be distributed.

This project is legally required to designate a fallback beneficiary that will receive the funds in the event that our steering committee fails to decide on a primary challenger and organizations to distribute the funds to, if necessary. The fallback beneficiary is Arizona Donor Alliance, an active donor collaboration committed to building and funding a permanent, statewide, progressive infrastructure of independent political organizations in Arizona. Make no mistake: our steering committee is 100% committed to delivering, if necessary, on distributing all funds to a primary challenger and organizations that will support that challenge as promised.

What do we mean by “reform” or “fix” the filibuster? What change would meet our demand?

The standard for acceptable filibuster reform is empowering the majority — 51 votes — to ultimately end debate at a reasonable point and bring a bill up for a final vote. A “talking filibuster” is fine if it includes an eventual majority cloture vote to advance a bill for up-or-down passage after a Senator yields the floor, or after a set number of Senators speak, or within a set period of days. A “carve out” on voting rights that throws movements fighting for legislation on immigrant rights, gun violence, labor rights, climate justice, and so much more under the bus is not acceptable.

We call on President Biden, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and the Democratic caucus to hold a vote on filibuster reform that meets the standards above. However, in deciding whether Sinema has met our demand to vote to end or reform the filibuster and whether to convert pledges to donations, the question will be whether or not she votes in favor of the filibuster reform that is put up for a vote. We do not expect Sinema to be ahead of her party caucus on this matter, but she must not stand in its way.

What about reconciliation?

On reconciliation, we must be clear -- all of the absurd contortions around what the parliamentarian thinks and what meets the Byrd rule standard only matter because of the filibuster. Sinema's obstruction of the prescription drug price negotiation measure, climate action, immigration reform, child care, and other desperately-needed measures in the budget reconciliation package is an extension of her defense of the filibuster. They are parts of a single project of obstruction of President Biden and the Democratic Party's agenda. We call on Senator Sinema to fully support President Biden’s $3.5 trillion Build Back Better Act. While we think that Sinema will likely vote for the final version of Build Back Better in the Senate, it is clear that many urgent priorities will not be addressed or only partially addressed in the reconciliation bill. Filibuster reform will then be the only game left in town for major progressive legislation. And if we win it, the arcane requirements of reconciliation will no longer constrain the bills we fight to pass. In sum, in choosing a single demand to focus this pressure campaign to end Sinema’s obstruction and open the door to the greatest range of potential reforms, we believe that the call to end the filibuster is the option that will have the greatest impact if we succeed.

The following Arizona leaders are endorsing this campaign:

*Note: Endorsers have signed in an individual capacity. Organizations are listed for identification only. 

+Note: those marked with a "+" are members of the steering committee for this effort and, if necessary, will choose the primary challenger to Sinema who will receive 60% of your pledge as well as the organizations that will receive the other 40%; they may add and list additional steering committee members over time.

Kai Newkirk,+ Founder, For All & lead organizer of the Arizona Coalition to End the Filibuster*

Belén Sisa,+ former National Latino Press Secretary for Bernie 2020 and co-founder of USEE ASU*

Karina Ruiz,+ Executive Director, Arizona Dream Act Coalition*

Dan O'Neal,+ Arizona Coordinator for Progressive Democrats of America*

Brianna Westbrook,+ former Arizona Democratic Party Vice-Chair

Steven Valencia,+ organizer, Tucson Jobs with Justice*

Arizona State Sen. Martin Quezada, LD 29

Allie Young, Indigenous Activist

Patti Serrano, organizer, Progressive Democrats of America - Arizona*

Katie Sexton-Wood, faith leader and organizer

Patrick Morales, community organizer & education activist

Lupe Conchas, President, Young Democrats of Arizona*

Dianne Post, attorney & board member, Arizona National Organization for Women*

Matthew Marquez, community organizer

Patricia Thomas, Co-leader of Indivisible West Phoenix*

Korina Iribe, DACA recipient & community organizer

Josue Andonaegui, immigrant rights organizer

Ken Kenegos, Coordinator, AZ Medicare for All Coalition* 

Azza Abuseif, community organizer

Randy Parraz, activist & organizer

Eddie Chavez, community organizer

Jenise Porter, Coordinator of the Tucson Chapter of Progressive Democrats of America*

Alison Jones, Tucson Democratic activist

Phil Lopes, former State Representative

Rebecca Garelli, Co-founder & Organizer of Arizona Educators United*

Kevin Loera, organizer, Our Revolution - Arizona*

Kyle Nitschke, Organizing Director, Arizona Students Association* & co-chair of the Arizona Democratic Party Progressive Council*

Shayna Stevens, community organizer

Jade Duran, Maricopa County Democratic Party Secretary*

Dulce Matuz, DREAMer and entrepreneur

Crystal Carrillo, Phoenix Democratic activist

Julie Golding, Chair, LD 26*

Xenia Orona, Co-Founder of Fuerte Arts Movement*

Ian Danley, community leader