Democrats' Strategy for Senate Wins Diverges in Western Desert

Sinema, a three-term U.S. representative, doesn't talk much about the president or about flipping Senate control. She's cautious about making explicit appeals to Latinos. And she's emphasizing issues with centrist appeal like making sure people with pre-existing conditions can get health insurance and supporting veterans, while avoiding culturally divisive issues like immigration and guns.

On the campaign trail last week, Sinema blasted "the political partisanship that is creating chaos in Washington, D.C."

Hispanic Voters

Hispanics are critical to Democratic prospects in both states. They make up 29% of Nevada's population and 31% of Arizona, according to the Census Bureau. They typically vote for Democratic candidates by large margins, but their turnout tends to be low compared to white voters, especially in midterm elections. Yet to be seen is how Trump's use of immigration as a campaign issue, including proposing to limit birthright citizenship and dispatching U.S. troops to the Mexico border, will affect Latino turnout.

At a press conference last week in Phoenix, Sinema answered carefully when asked how she's appealing to Hispanics, saying the contest is "not about what individual ethnicity a person lives with." She said she's "communicating with all Arizonans" including Latinos, Native Americans, Anglos, African Americans and Asian Americans.

'Trump Score'

Sinema has the fourth-highest "Trump score" of any House Democrat and votes with him 62.2% of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight.com. She has voted against her party leaders to make Trump's tax cuts for individuals permanent, undo Dodd-Frank regulations on some financial institutions, oppose a carbon tax, and express support for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that some on the left want to eliminate.

McSally said she doesn't buy Sinema's centrist "makeover." Her campaign distributed fliers featuring side-by-side photos of McSally in an Air Force fighter pilot uniform and Sinema, a former Green Party activist, in a pink tutu protesting the Iraq war in its early days.

"I need you to talk to your friends, because a lot of them actually think she's OK, that she's OK on the issues," McSally told supporters at a synagogue in Scottsdale. "But she's not."

Seeking distance from her party, Sinema rejects a push by some Democrats for Medicare for all, saying last week she's interested in "pragmatic solutions to the health care challenges we face." Rosen is more in line with party liberals, saying in an interview that she supports legislation to let Americans buy into Medicaid as a public insurance option.

At his rally in Henderson last Friday, Heller cited experience, economic progress and his alliance with Trump as reasons Nevadans should vote for him. "We have become friends, and we're delivering for Nevada," he told reporters.

"Everybody has to run their own campaign the way they think that their state is going to find appealing. Rosen is running a very liberal campaign — she wants to appeal to the Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders crowd. I don't think that works in Nevada," Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in an interview at a recent Heller rally in Henderson, Nevada.

"Kyrsten Sinema tries to appeal as a moderate — the problem is YouTube for her," Gardner said, alluding to recently unearthed videos of her disparaging Arizona for the state's sharp right turn early in Barack Obama's presidency.

Obama recently visited Nevada to campaign for Rosen — but he hasn't rallied in Arizona for Sinema. Before his Nevada rally with Rosen, Sanders paid a visit to Arizona and campaigned for Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Garcia. Sinema didn't join him.

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