Gage Skidmore/CC BY 2.0

U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in April 2022.

When Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema left the Democratic Party to become an independent last month, it sent shock waves through the political world. But it also put a spotlight on political independents — elected officials and not — who do not identify with, or belong to a political party.

In Arizona, that’s more than a third of registered voters — more than those registered as Democrats and around 28,000 fewer than Republicans, according to newly-released numbers.

So, what might Sinema’s switch mean for those independents?

To find out, Jackie Salit, co-director of the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University and president of IndependentVoting.org, joined The Show. 

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