Watch Kyrsten Sinema’s statement as she announces retirement from Senate

Kyrsten Sinema announced that she will step down from the Senate at the end of the year, rather than run for re-election, in a video published on Tuesday, 5 March.

The senator from Arizona said she was choosing to leave “because I choose civility, understanding, listening, working together on stuff”.

Ms Sinema was a Democrat, but switched to be independent in 2022.

Her decision makes the border state’s politics likely to be it one of the most talked-about parts of the country as the presidential election nears, as her presence in the 2024 race was likely to set up a three-way fight between herself and the two major-party challengers for her seat.