Katie Hobbs and Kyrsten Sinema Illustrate a Voting Rights Divide

Ms. Hobbs, the Arizona secretary of state, saw her star rise as she fought Republicans’ election falsehoods. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a fellow Democrat, insists on a bipartisan approach to voting rights.

PHOENIX — The political fortunes of Katie Hobbs, the Arizona secretary of state, have risen unlike any other Democrat in the country in the tumultuous aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. Now running for governor, she has emerged as a high-profile defender of the state’s election results and critic of Republican attempts to overturn the outcome. Her path stands in stark contrast to that of another prominent Arizona Democrat: Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a self-styled maverick who seems to relish thumbing her nose at liberals and has angered many Democrats in recent weeks. Insisting on bipartisanship, Ms. Sinema has become, along with Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a key intraparty roadblock to President Biden’s agenda. This week, all eyes in Washington have been on Ms. Sinema and other moderate senators as they pursue a bipartisan infrastructure bill. But by refusing to eliminate the filibuster, she and other Democratic senators have left in doubt the passage of sweeping voting rights legislation that many on the left view as of utmost importance in the face of a nationwide Republican crackdown.