Kyrsten Sinema Senate election result ‘too close to call’
Out bisexual Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema. (Christian Petersen/Getty)
Out Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema is not conceding her Senate election bid, after early counts showed her trailing by less than one percent of the vote.
Kyrsten Sinema, a bisexual Democrat, had been a favourite to flip the Republican-held US Senate seat in Arizona in the US midterm election 2018 on Tuesday.
She could become the country’s second out LGBT+ senator, alongside Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin.
Democratic US Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
However, there will be a long wait before the result is clear.
While most of the results are now confirmed following the US midterm election 2018, Sinema’s count has gone down to the wire and a result could take days to decide.
The candidate and Republican challenger Martha McSally are almost tied in the nail-biting vote.
The latest numbers announced early on Wednesday morning show Kyrsten Sinema with 834,135 votes (48.5 percent) and McSally with 850,043 (49.3 percent).
“This race is about you and we’re going to make sure your vote is counted.”
A fringe Green Party candidate, Angela Green, has picked up 2.2 percent of the vote despite her last-minute endorsement of Sinema.
According to ABC News, counting is still ongoing for “hundreds of thousands” of ballots in Arizona’s largest county, Maricopa County, and the process is expected to continue for days.
The next update on the race will be Thursday, according to AZ Central.
Neither candidate has conceded, and due to the tiny margin between the candidates it is possible that the race could result in recounts and legal processes.
Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema speaks onstage at the Human Rights Campaign 2018 Los Angeles Gala D (Rich Fury/Getty)
AZ Central reports that Republicans in the state are threatening to file a legal challenge to early ballots cast at emergency vote centres.
Eric Spencer, the state elections director, told the outlet: “There are going to be very sophisticated operations of monitoring and reporting that stuff back to the parties. And it’s inevitable there will be some sort of lawsuit filed during the process.”
Sinema posted on Twitter: “Good morning, Arizona! This race is about you and we’re going to make sure your vote is counted.
“There are a lot of outstanding ballots – especially those mailed-in – and a lot of reasons to feel good! We’re doing the work & will keep you updated. Thanks for being on Team Sinema!”
US midterm election 2018 results
Kyrsten Sinema’s opponent, Martha McSally, is not a supporter of LGBT+ rights. She has backed Donald Trump’s ban on transgender troops in the military and backed ‘freedom to discriminate’ laws.
During her time in Congress, Sinema co-sponsored the Equality Act, which would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to also ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
She also sponsored HR4041, a bill that would enshrine transgender people’s right to serve in the US military.
Annise Parker of LGBTQ Victory Fund, a PAC seeking to support LGBT+ elected officials, previously said that this race is important ”not just for the Democratic party and for the LGBTQ community, but for all Americans who demand an end to the political divisiveness that Martha McSally embodies.”
She added that the race was key to “the evolution in how Americans view LGBTQ people and candidates.”
Polling ahead of the vote has showed it on a knife-edge.
A CBS News/YouGov poll on October 5 showed Sinema leading McSally by 47 percent to 44, but a New York Times poll on October 19 showed her trailing by 46 percent to 48.
