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   McCain: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Kirkpatrick: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% No votes | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Arizona |
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The 2016 United States Senate election in Arizona was held on November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the U.S. Senate to represent the State of Arizona, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, other elections to the U.S. Senate in other states and elections to the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as various state and local elections.
The Democratic primary was held on March 22, 2016, while the Republican primary election took place on August 30, 2016.[1] After serving in the Arizona State Legislature and U.S. House of Representatives for a number of years, Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick sought to unseat incumbent Republican senator John McCain, who won re-election to his sixth and final term in office.
After hinting in September 2013 that he could retire,[2] McCain subsequently said that the chances he would run again were "pretty good", but his campaign had emphasized that he had not made a decision yet.[3] On April 7, 2015, he announced that he would run for re-election.[4] McCain faced strong primary opposition from the Tea Party, but he ultimately defeated challenger Kelli Ward in the August 30 primary.[5][6]
McCain won with 53.7% of the vote compared to Kirkpatrick's 40.8%, with 5.5% voting for the Green candidate Gary Swing. Although McCain won reelection by double digits, this was the closest margin of his Senate career. It was also his first election in which he failed to win the traditionally Democratic counties of Coconino and Pima. As of 2024[update], this was the last time Republicans won a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona. Kirkpatrick would later successfully run again for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona's 2nd congressional district in 2018 and 2020.
- ^ "Elections Calendar & Upcoming Events". AZSOS.gov. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
- ^ Trujillo, Mario (September 13, 2013). "McCain hints at retirement in 2016". The Hill. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
- ^ "McCain to huddle with supporters on 2016 re-election". AZCentral.com. October 20, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
- ^ "John McCain to run for sixth term in 2016". USA Today. April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
- ^ "McCain gets ready for race of his life". The Hill. September 25, 2014. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
- ^ "A state GOP 'civil war' over McCain's re-election bid?". AZCentral.com. October 13, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2014.