2004 United States Senate election in Arizona
The 2004 United States Senate election in Arizona took place on November 2, 2004 alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John McCain won re-election to a fourth term with his largest victory as a U.S. senator.[1] As of 2022, this was the last time the counties of Apache and Santa Cruz voted for the Republican candidate.
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| Elections in Arizona |
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General election
Candidates
- Ernest Hancock (Libertarian)
- John McCain, incumbent U.S. Senator (Republican)
- Stuart Starky, teacher (Democratic)
Campaign
Since 1998, McCain had an eventful third term. He challenged Texas Governor George W. Bush in the Presidential primary and despite winning the New Hampshire primary, he lost the nomination. Solidifying his image as a maverick, he voted against the Bush tax cuts. He supported limits on stem cell research. He had a lopsided favorable ratings of 39% to 9% unfavorable in the most recent The New York Times/CBS News poll.
Stuart Starky, an eighth-grade teacher in South Phoenix, was widely known as a long-shot challenger. Starky stated that "I truly believe he's going to run for president again."[2] Starky was called by The Arizona Republic a "sacrificial lamb"[3] put on ballot because there were no chances to beat McCain. During his campaign, he debated McCain twice, once in Tucson and once in Flagstaff. He was also featured on the cover of Teacher Magazine, dubbed the "Unsinkable Stu Starky." Starky was defeated in a landslide. Despite the relatively low percentage, he gained the highest vote per dollar amount in the country, spending only about $15,000 for his campaign (Starky's campaign may have been aided by John Kerry running for president).[4]
- Complete video of debate, October 15, 2004
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[5] | Safe R | November 1, 2004 |
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John McCain (incumbent) | 1,505,372 | 76.74% | +8.00% | |
| Democratic | Stuart Starky | 404,507 | 20.62% | -6.54% | |
| Libertarian | Ernest Hancock | 51,798 | 2.64% | +0.37% | |
| Majority | 1,100,865 | 56.12% | +14.54% | ||
| Turnout | 1,961,677 | ||||
| Republican hold | Swing | ||||
By county
| County | Starky # | Starky % | Hancock # | Hancock % | McCain # | McCain % | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache | 9,588 | 41.0% | 905 | 3.9% | 12,923 | 55.2% | 23,416 |
| Cochise | 9,555 | 21.8% | 1,394 | 3.2% | 32,879 | 75.0% | 43,828 |
| Coconino | 13,520 | 26.6% | 1,504 | 3.0% | 35,849 | 70.5% | 50,873 |
| Gila | 4,291 | 21.0% | 632 | 3.1% | 15,551 | 76.0% | 20,474 |
| Graham | 2,000 | 19.1% | 322 | 3.1% | 8,171 | 77.9% | 10,493 |
| Greenlee | 746 | 25.0% | 68 | 2.3% | 2,166 | 72.7% | 2,980 |
| La Paz | 965 | 19.5% | 156 | 3.2% | 3,826 | 77.3% | 4,947 |
| Maricopa | 216,124 | 18.6% | 29,769 | 2.6% | 917,527 | 78.7% | 1,163,420 |
| Mohave | 10,423 | 18.4% | 1,686 | 3.0% | 44,402 | 78.6% | 56,511 |
| Navajo | 7,434 | 23.4% | 1,222 | 3.9% | 23,091 | 72.7% | 31,747 |
| Pima | 89,483 | 25.2% | 7,980 | 2.2% | 258,010 | 72.6% | 355,473 |
| Pinal | 13,595 | 21.5% | 1,692 | 2.7% | 48,094 | 75.9% | 63,381 |
| Santa Cruz | 3,583 | 31.6% | 252 | 2.2% | 7,502 | 66.2% | 11,337 |
| Yavapai | 14,852 | 17.4% | 3,160 | 3.7% | 67,312 | 78.9% | 85,324 |
| Yuma | 8,348 | 22.3% | 1,056 | 2.8% | 28,069 | 74.9% | 37,473 |
| Arizona | 404,507 | 20.6% | 51,798 | 2.6% | 1,505,372 | 76.7% | 1,961,677 |
See also
References
- "Election 2004: U.S. Senate – Arizona – Exit Poll", CNN. Retrieved December 23, 2007.
- Purdum, Todd S. (August 21, 2004). "The 2004 Campaign: The Arizona Senator; Bearhug Politics: Careful Steps to a New Bush-McCain Alliance". The New York Times.
- "McCain Profile: The 'maverick' goes establishment". archive.azcentral.com.
- Cech, Scott J. (October 1, 2004). "The Unsinkable Stu Starky". Education Week.
- "The Final Predictions". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
- "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".
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