Kyrsten Sinema (born 12 July 1976) was a member of the US House of Representatives (D-AZ 9) from 3 January 2013 to 3 January 2019 (preceding Greg Stanton) and a US Senator from 3 January 2019 to 3 January 2025 (succeeding Jeff Flake and preceding Ruben Gallego). She was the first openly bisexual person to be elected to the US Congress and the first female senator from her state, and she was a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.
Biography[]
Kyrsten Sinema was born in Tucson, Arizona on 12 July 1976, and her family spent three years living in an abandoned gas station with no running water or electricity. She graduated from high school as valedictorian at the age of 16, and she graduated from Brigham Young University and from Arizona State University. She worked as a social worker from 1995 to 2002, and she later became a US Green Party activist and liberal state lawmaker. In 2004, she became a member of the Democratic Party member, and she served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011, in the State Senate from 2011 to 2012, and in the US House of Representatives in 2013. Sinema shifted toward centrism after being elected to the US Congress, joining the conservative Blue Dog Coalition. She worked for the adoption of the DREAM Act and defended same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state, herself being the first openly bisexual member of Congress. In 2018, she decided not to run for re-election in order to run for the US Senate, and she defeated Republican Martha McSally. Known for her independent voting record, she became an independent on 9 December 2022, returning the Senate to a partisan tie with 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and 1 independent. She ultimately chose not to seek re-election.