Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema has defeated Republican Rep. Martha McSally for Arizona's U.S. Senate seat. Her victory was announced Monday night, almost a week after the midterm elections.
McSally said she called Sinema to congratulate her on becoming Arizona's first female senator. It was a close race between the two; Sinema held a slight lead over McSally on Sunday with more than 250,000 votes still to be counted, according to the Arizona Republic.
The seat was available after Sen. Jeff Flake announced he was retiring from the Senate in October 2017. He cited the current divisive political climate as the reason for his exit.
Sinema was first elected to office in 2004 on the Arizona House of Representatives. In 2010, she moved to the Arizona Senate, and in 2013, she became a U.S. representative for Arizona.
