Campaign Literature Archive - Nov. 3, 2020 Arizona U.S. Senate

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ARIZONA

Nov. 3, 2020 U.S. Senate (Special Election)

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+Mark Kelly (D)	1,716,467	51.16%
Martha McSally (R) i	1,637,661	48.81%
write-ins	1,189	0.04%
	3,355,317

Registration: 4,281,152. Ballots cast: 3,420,565.
Plurality: 78,806 votes (2.35 percentage points)

AZ Secretary of State

DEMOCRATIC PICK UP
Notes: The special election race between appointed Sen. Martha McSally (R) and Mark Kelly (D), retired Navy captain, former astronaut and husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords, was one of the marquee contests of the cycle.

In 2018 then-Rep. McSally ran to fill the Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Jeff Flake (R); she lost to Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D) by 2.35 percentage points (49.96% to 47.61%). However, on Dec. 18 Gov. Doug Ducey announced that he would appoint her to fill the McCain seat being temporarily being held by Jon Kyl, effective Jan. 2019.

McSally and Kelly participated in just one debate on Oct. 6 organized by the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission and media organizations (>). The two candidates and four moderators appeared in person in the studios of Arizona PBS and ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism in downtown Phoenix. Precautions included increased distances and plexiglass between participants. The format was 90-second responses, 45-second rebuttals, up to two minutes of discussion and one-minute closing statements. McSally described Kelly as "a counterfeit who will enable the radical left and their agenda to be forced on us." Kelly called for "independent leadership focused on solving the problems we face."

The Senate race was not the only tight race in Arizona; the presidential campaign was closely fought here, including $140.4 million spent on advertising by the campaigns and outside groups in the six months from May 1-Nov. 3, 2020. Arizona ultimately ended up being the second closest state after Georgia, decided for Biden by a margin of just 0.30 percentage points (+).

Kelly prevailed by 2.35 percentage points (about the same margin as for Sinema in 2016); he was sworn in on Dec. 2, 2020.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Arizona Senate race was the sixth most expensive of the cycle; spending totaled $255.3 million, $170.6 million by the campaigns and $84.7 million by outside groups (>). The Kelly campaign outspent the McSally campaign by $98.4 million to $72.2 milllion. Pro-Kelly outside groups spent $50.2 million, led by the Senate Majority PAC ($15.5 million), DSCC ($7.6 million) and Priorities USA Action ($3.6 million). Pro-McSally groups spent $34.4 million, led by DefendArizona ($17.0 million), Senate Leadership Fund ($15.0 million) and the NRSC ($9.8 million).

Campaign Managers:
Mark Kelly: Jen Cox
Senior advisor to U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (MI), Dec. 2018-Jan. 2019. Regional political director at the DCCC, Jan.-Nov. 2018. Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Kildee, Jan. 2015-Feb. 2018. Chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Ron Barber, June 2012-Jan. 2015. Campaign manager on Ron Barber for Congress special election, Feb.-June 2012. Deputy chief of staff/operations director to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Dec. 2011-Jan. 2012. Executive assistant to U.S. Rep. Giffords, Jan. 2009-Dec. 2011. B.A. from University of Arizona.

Martha McSally: Dylan Lefler
(Apr. 2019) Campaign manager on David Young for Congress (IA), Jan.-Nov. 2018. Outreach for Sen. Jeff Flake, Jan.-Dec. 2017. Political director on Jeff Flake for U.S. Senate, Aug.-Oct. 2017. Data director on Friends of John McCain, Sept. 2015-Nov. 2016. Associate at Lovasco, Jan.-Sept. 2015. Field representative on Ducey 2014, May-Nov. 2014. B.S. and B.A. in public relations and poltical science from Northern Arizona University, 2014.