Sen. Krysten Sinema speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing. |/Bonnie Cash-Pool/Getty Images
By Hailey Fuchs | POLITICO
Since the beginning of 2020, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s reelection campaign has paid the Democratic consulting firm Authentic nearly a half million dollars for digital work and list acquisition.
Inside the firm, staffers have revolted over the contract, expressing shock and agitation that a company that professes fidelity to a set of progressive values has worked alongside a lawmaker many believe are standing in the way of progress on those values.
“I am doing the devils work,” said one employee at Authentic of the work done for Sinema, according to internal union messages reviewed by POLITICO. “I feel sick about it tbh,” chimed another.
Faced with pushback from employees, management at Authentic, one of the Democratic Party’s more prominent firms, defended itself by saying their work for Sinema was important for maintaining a Democratic Senate majority, according to those messages. But the situation grew dire enough that employees, who are unionized, were told they could be removed from the Sinema account if they felt uncomfortable with it, per the union’s contract.
“The Authentic Union views Sen. Sinema’s recent actions to block voting rights legislation as an affront to their company’s values, which they’re proud of and committed to upholding,” Taylor Billings, organizing director of the Campaign Workers Guild, which represents Authentic’s union, said in a statement to POLITICO.
The revolt inside Authentic underscores the degree to which Sinema has found herself in the crosshairs of her own party during the Biden years. The Arizona Democrat has rankled some of the biggest powers in Democratic circles with her refusal to back key components of the president’s agenda, most recently a reform to Senate rules to allow elections reform legislation to pass by a simple majority vote. Top women’s groups have suggested they might withdraw their support if her position remained the same. One-time donors have threatened to back a primary challenger. Even Sinema’s own digital firm has struggled with keeping her as a client.
A spokesperson for Sinema declined to comment on the situation at Authentic and instead noted that the senator supports voting rights legislation but not eliminating the filibuster to achieve it. Authentic did not return requests for comment.
