Kyrsten Sinema’s Lead in Arizona Senate Race Appears 'Insurmountable'

Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema's lead continued to grow in a U.S. Senate race over Republican Martha McSally this weekend. Her lead grew to more than 38,000 votes, which amounts to a 1.7 percentage point lead over her competitor.

"Krysten's lead is insurmountable," said Sinema's campaign manager, Andrew Piatt, according to The Arizona Republic.

In a tweet on Friday, Donald Trump baselessly asserted that the Senate election was fraudulent.

But in Arizona, Republican leaders distanced themselves from Trump's accusations of fraud as well as from the National Republican Senatorial Committee's assertions that Democrats were "cooking the books."

Republican Sen. Jeff Flake balked at the language.

"There is no evidence of election officials 'cooking the books' in Arizona," Flake said. "Such careless language undermines confidence in our democratic institutions."

Arizona's Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who were both projected to win reelection in the same election as Sinema, refused to question the count's integrity.

McSally has also declined to join in the attacks on the election itself while continuing to hold on to the hope that more than 200,000 outstanding votes would swing the race in her favor.

Should results hold, Sinema will be the first woman to represent Arizona in the U.S. Senate and the first openly bisexual member of the chamber, which will then have more out members than ever in history.

She will join Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, the first out lesbian or openly LGBTQ member of the body.

Former U.S. Sen. Harris Wofford of Pennsylvania, a Democrat who served from 1991 to 1995, still calls late wife Clare one of "two great loves" of his life but announced his engagement to a man in 2016, years after leaving the Senate.

Sinema's election appears to be part of a "rainbow wave" of LGBTQ candidates winning nationwide.