Sinema’s victory over Martha McSally, a Republican congresswoman and former Air Force pilot, marks the first Democratic triumph since 1976 in a battle for an open Senate seat in Arizona. Sinema takes the seat being vacated by Jeff Flake, a Republican who is leaving the Senate after repeated clashes with President Donald Trump.

Sinema’s victory guarantees the Democrats at least 47 Senate seats. Republicans control 51, with two still undecided: Florida, where there is a recount, and Mississippi, where there is a runoff.

The outcome in Arizona had been too close to call for nearly a week, as large numbers of early and mailed ballots were counted. Sinema had trailed slightly in initial tallies on Election Day, but later counting put her ahead by a growing margin. On Monday, The Associated Press called the race and McSally conceded.

In a statement on Facebook Monday night, Sinema pointedly struck a nonpartisan note as she pledged to continue working in government to “find common ground.”

“That’s the same approach I’ll take to representing our great state in the Senate, where I’ll be an independent voice for all Arizonans,” she wrote.

The victory by Sinema points to a remarkable shift in Arizona’s political landscape. The state was a Republican bastion for decades, but Democrats are seizing on dissatisfaction with budget cuts and growing unease over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown to make inroads with moderate voters.

With Sinema’s triumph, Democrats now hold six seats in the state’s Congressional delegation, and the Republicans five. The Democrats have not had a majority in the delegation since the 1960s.

Voter drives to register more Latinos, who generally vote Democratic in Arizona, appear to have paid off for Sinema. About 2.1 million Latinos live in Arizona, about one-third of the state’s population. Though Trump narrowly carried the state in the 2016 election, many Latinos in Arizona have expressed displeasure with the president.

Sinema, 42, won the race by about 1.7 percentage points.

The New York Times

Simon Romero © 2018 The New York Times