2004 United States Senate election in Arizona
November 2, 2004
 
Nominee John McCain Stuart Starky
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,505,372 404,507
Percentage 76.74% 20.62%
County results
McCain:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
U.S. senator before election

John McCain
Republican

 Elected U.S. Senator

John McCain
Republican

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.

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]

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[5] Safe R November 1, 2004

Results

General election results[6]
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

  1. ↑ "Election 2004: U.S. Senate – Arizona – Exit Poll", CNN. Retrieved December 23, 2007.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ "McCain Profile: The 'maverick' goes establishment". archive.azcentral.com.
  4. ↑ Cech, Scott J. (October 1, 2004). "The Unsinkable Stu Starky". Education Week.
  5. ↑ "The Final Predictions". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives".
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