Is Arizona really becoming more purple? What the 2024 Senate race could tell us

Key Facts

In 2018, when she was still a member of the Democratic Party, Kyrsten Sinema ran her Senate campaign as a self-described “Arizona Independent,” a distinction that helped her become the first Democrat to win the seat in three decades.
In the last session of Congress, when Democrats regained control of the Senate, Sinema helped negotiate some of the most important pieces of legislation her party passed, including last year’s $1.2-trillion infrastructure bill, the bipartisan gun safety bill and a bill to boost semiconductor manufacturing in the United States.
Several Republicans who lost statewide races in 2022 are also considering running for Senate in 2024, according to news reports, including Kari Lake and Blake Masters, Trump-backed candidates for governor and Senate who lost in the general election; Karrin Taylor Robson, a former member of the state board of regents who lost the GOP gubernatorial primary to Lake; and solar energy executive Jim Lamon, who lost the Senate primary to Masters.
Daniel Scarpinato, a Republican strategist and past chief of staff to former GOP Gov. Doug Ducey, said Republicans need to run as if they need to win as much support as possible in the general election.