The 2006 United States Senate election in Arizona was held November 7, 2006. The primary elections were held September 12. Incumbent Republican Jon Kyl won re-election to a third term. This election was the second time since 1970 that an incumbent Republican Senator from Arizona was re-elected to this seat.
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 was 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 Janet Napolitano as Governor of Arizona. The deadline for signing petition signatures to appear on the September 12, 2006, primary ballot was June 14, 2006.
Not long after the 2004 election, Pederson's name began being mentioned as a potential Senate candidate for the 2006 race. On July 28, 2005, Pederson formally stepped down as Chairman 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 7. 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 the U.S. Senate. On September 14, 2005, Pederson formally announced his intention to run, in his hometown of Casa Grande.
Although Kyl started the campaign with a sizable lead in most polls, the gap quickly narrowed, especially after Pederson released his array of ads.
Debates
Complete video of debate, October 15, 2006
Fundraising
The race was 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.[2]
Rasmussen Archived September 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
August 2, 2006
53%
34%
Zogby/WSJ
August 28, 2006
48%
44%
Arizona State University/KAET-TV
August 29, 2006
46%
36%
Rasmussen Archived September 2, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
August 31, 2006
52%
35%
Harstad Strategic Research (D)
September 7, 2006
47%
41%
Zogby/WSJ
September 11, 2006
50%
44%
Rasmussen
September 18, 2006
50%
39%
SurveyUSA
September 19, 2006
48%
43%
2%
Arizona State University/KAET-TV
September 26, 2006
49%
38%
2%
Zogby/WSJ
September 28, 2006
51%
44%
Behavior Research Center
October 4, 2006
40%
34%
Northern Arizona University
October 17, 2006
49%
33%
2%
SurveyUSA
October 17, 2006
48%
43%
4%
Rasmussen
October 19, 2006
51%
42%
Zogby/WSJ
October 19, 2006
50%
44%
Arizona State University/KAET-TV
October 24, 2006
47%
41%
3%
Zimmerman/Marketing Intelligence Archived November 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
October 25–30, 2006
46%
41%
4%
SurveyUSA
November 3, 2006
53%
40%
4%
Mason-Dixon/MSNBC-McClatchy
November 5, 2006
49%
41%
3%
Results
Pederson lost the election by 9.84% or 150,257 votes, despite Democratic Incumbent Governor Janet Napolitano easily being re-elected and winning every county statewide. While Pederson lost it was still notable, as it was the worst performance of Senator Kyl's career. Kyl did well as Republicans usually do in Maricopa County home of Phoenix. Pederson did well in Pima County home of Tucson which tends to support Democrats. Kyl was called the winner by CNN at around 8 P.M. local time, 11 P.M. EST. Pederson called Senator Kyl and conceded defeat at 9:02 P.M. local time, 12:02 A.M. EST.
^ a b c"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 20, 2013. Retrieved January 6, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^Our Campaigns - News - Kyl may seek an exemption to add cash to his war chest - Aug 23, 2006
^"2006 Senate Race Ratings for November 6, 2006" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
^"Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 6, 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
^"2006 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
^"Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
^"Jim Pederson (Senate AZ) | WesPAC". Archived from the original on November 4, 2006.
^"Endorsements". Archived from the original on November 1, 2006.
^"Human Rights Campaign - Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equal Rights - Out to Win - Election 2006". Archived from the original on October 26, 2006.
^Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives