Arizona United States Senate election, 2006

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The 2006 U.S. Senate election for the state of Arizona was held November 7, 2006. The primary election was held on September 12th. The incumbent, Republican Jon Kyl, was elected to the Senate in 1994 and was re-elected to a second term in 2000; prior to that he spent eight years in the US House of Representatives. Kyl's Democratic opponent for the general election is wealthy real-estate developer Jim Pederson, who served as the Arizona Democratic Party Chairman from 2001 to 2005. During his tenure, Pederson spent millions of dollars of his own money to help Democrats modernize and to elect current Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. The deadline for signing petition signatures to appear on the September 12, 2006 primary ballot was June 14th, 2006.

Contents 1 September 2005 -- Pederson enters the race 2 Expectations 3 List of candidates 3.1 Democrats 3.2 Republican 3.3 Libertarian 4 Former Candidates 4.1 Democrats 5 Opinion Polls 6 Election results 7 External links

[edit] September 2005 -- Pederson enters the race

Not long after the 2004 election, Pederson's name began being mentioned as a potential Senate candidate for the 2006 race. On July 28th, 2005, Pederson formally stepped down as Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party, further fueling those speculations.

In early September 2005, an e-mail was sent from the Arizona Democratic Party's website, inviting people to an announcement by Pederson on September 7th. In an anticlimactic move, an e-mail was sent out shortly after the first saying that the announcement would be postponed due to Hurricane Katrina. It was requested that any money that would be donated to Pederson's campaign at the announcement be directed to relief efforts instead. Similarly, a meeting in Arizona of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) was scheduled for around the same time. It was also postponed and the same request was made involving donations. On September 7, 2005, Pederson filed to run for US Senate.

On September 14, 2005, Pederson formally announced his intention to run, in his home town of Casa Grande, Arizona.

[edit] Expectations

Despite the fact that every poll is yielding different results, the gap has narrowed, especially since Pederson released his array of ads. Some polls report double digit gaps, but The Rocky Mountain Poll released May 18th produced numbers that Pederson is only seven points behind Kyl, 40-33.

The race might be one of the most expensive in Arizona history. As of May 7, 2006, Kyl's campaign had raised over $9 million, primarily from private donations from Oil and Energy companies and large fundraising dinners. Pederson's campaign had raised over $5 million, primarily through a dinner event with former President Clinton and a $2 million donation from Pederson.

[edit] List of candidates

[edit] Democrats

• Jim Pederson - real estate developer, former Arizona Democratic Party chair (2001-2005)

[edit] Republican

• Jon Kyl - incumbent Senator (1995-Current)

[edit] Libertarian

• Richard Mack - former Graham County sheriff, gun control opponent [1]

[edit] Former Candidates

[edit] Democrats

• John Verkamp - Veteran and former Republican state Senator
• Leonard Clark - teacher, Iraq War veteran, and liberal activist

[edit] Opinion Polls

Source	Date	Kyl (R)	Pederson (D)	Mack (L)
Mason-Dixon/MSNBC-McClatchy	November 5, 2006	49%	41%	3%
SurveyUSA	November 3, 2006	53%	40%	4%
Zimmerman/Marketing Intelligence	October 25-30, 2006	45.8%	41.3%	3.7%
Arizona State University/KAET-TV	October 24, 2006	47%	41%	3%
Zogby/WSJ	October 19, 2006	49.9%	43.7%
Rasmussen	October 19, 2006	51%	42%
SurveyUSA	October 17, 2006	48%	43%	4%
Northern Arizona University	October 17, 2006	49%	33%	2%
Behavior Research Center	October 4, 2006	40%	34%
Zogby/WSJ	September 28, 2006	50.5%	44%
Arizona State University/KAET-TV	September 26, 2006	49%	38%	2%
SurveyUSA	September 19, 2006	48%	43%	2%
Rasmussen	September 18, 2006	50%	39%
Zogby/WSJ	September 11, 2006	50.2%	43.5%
Harstad Strategic Research (D)	September 7, 2006	47%	41%
Rasmussen	August 31, 2006	52%	35%
Arizona State University/KAET-TV	August 29, 2006	46%	36%
Zogby/WSJ	August 28, 2006	48.3%	44.2%
Rasmussen	August 2, 2006	53%	34%
Behavior Research Center	July 26, 2006	45%	27%
Zogby/WSJ	July 24, 2006	50.2%	42.4%
SurveyUSA	July 17, 2006	52%	40%
Zogby/WSJ	June 21, 2006	48.4%	41.7%
Arizona State University/KAET-TV	June 20, 2006	43%	29%
Rasmussen	June 11, 2006	52%	35%
Behavior Research Center	May 18, 2006	40%	33%
SurveyUSA	May 8, 2006	52%	37%
Rasmussen	April 30, 2006	51%	35%
Arizona State University/KAET-TV	April 20-23, 2006	42%	31%
Rasmussen	April 4, 2006	56%	33%
Zogby/WSJ	March 30, 2006	47%	42%
SurveyUSA	February 27, 2006	57%	33%
Behavior Research Center	January 22, 2006	55%	26%
Rasmussen	December 26, 2005	50%	30%
Arizona State University	October 28, 2005	50%	28%

[edit] Election results

2006 United States Senate election, Arizona
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jon Kyl (incumbent)	814,398	53.3	-26.0
	Democratic	Jim Pederson	664,141	43.5	n/a
	Libertarian	Richard Mack	48,231	3.2	-1.9
Majority			150,257	9.8
Turnout			1,526,770
	Republican hold		Swing

[edit] External links

• Kyl's campaign website
• Pederson's campaign website
• Verkamp's campaign website
• Mack's campaign website

Arizona 2006 Elections
US Senate • US House • Governor • State Legislature • Other State