Bisexual former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), a former Democrat, reportedly said she voted for Republican US House candidate Jay Feely (AZ) in her state’s July 21st GOP primary and plans to vote for him in November, Axios reported yesterday.
Citing two unnamed sources, the aforementioned publication said Sinema told groups of business leaders and allies that she has gotten to know Feely and his wife and that she likes him and considers him “common sense” and a “fiscal conservative” who is best suited to handle Arizona’s water crisis.
Related
Feely is running against former state Rep. Amish Shah (D) in Arizona’s 1st congressional district, a competitive district that “leans Democrat” according to the Cook Political Report.
Feely’s campaign website says that one of his top issues — along with “standing with Israel” and securing the southern US border — is “protecting women’s sports” because “radical gender ideology is destroying fairness and opportunity for young women, and weak leaders are letting it happen.”
Your LGBTQ+ guide to Elections
Stay ahead of the election with our newsletter that covers candidates, issues, and perspectives that matter.
His state already bans trans girls and women from participating in girls’ and women’s sports, and both the NCAA and the International Olympic Committee have banned trans women from competing in women’s sports.
Shah’s campaign website doesn’t mention LGBTQ+ issues. It focuses on affordability, healthcare accessibility, the state water shortage, and increased educational funding. During his time as a state legislator, Shah voted for the 2022 Equality and Fairness for All Arizonans Act. Though the legislation didn’t become law, it sought to ban anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Equality Arizona and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) have both endorsed Shah.
Sinema has long been a favorite of Republicans as well. During her six years in the US Senate, she fancied herself a political moderate” who championed “bipartisanship.” She was a reliable ally to the business community, voting against several of former President Joe Biden’s labor nominees, opposing an increase in the $7.25 federal minimum hourly wage, preventing tax increases on private equity and venture capital earnings, and providing taxpayer subsidies to exporters.
While she highlighted her bisexuality before her election to Congress, she largely avoided mentioning it afterward.
During her last senatorial term, she joined another fellow former Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), to block the elimination of the filibuster, and with it, Democrats’ hopes for enacting legislation on expanded voting, LGBTQ+ rights, the economy, and climate change. It was a stand that brought scorn from Democratic colleagues and voters, alienating Sinema from her non-wealthy constituents and party members.
The Arizona Democratic Party voted to censure Sinema in January 2022, citing her failure to help pass federal voting rights legislation. Arizona Democrats also blasted her for being “noticeably absent” on the campaign trail during the 2022 midterm elections.
Her unpopularity and ineffectiveness compelled then-Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego to successfully run for her Senate seat in 2024. Polling showed that majorities of Arizona voters from every political affiliation disapproved of her. Her low approval ratings made her one of the five most unpopular senators in the entire nation.
She would have faced Gallego in a re-election race, but instead, she disaffiliated from the Democratic Party, became an Independent, and then announced her retirement, since her re-election defeat seemed all but certain. She then used her farewell Senate speech to defend the filibuster.
After leaving Congress, Sinema began working as a lobbyist for AI data centers. She also reportedly warned local politicians in her home state of Arizona in August 2025 that Trump may force them to build an AI data center whether they want one or not, something that would significantly strain local energy and water resources while adding to air and noise pollution.
When the suburb of Chandler, Arizona, resoundingly rejected a proposal to build a 422,000-square-foot AI data center within its borders, despite pleas from Sinema (I-AZ), she blamed the left for spreading misinformation about data centers.
She’s now facing a “homewrecking” lawsuit from the ex-wife of her former male bodyguard, with whom she had an extra-marital affair during her time as a senator.
Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.