The 2004 United States Senate election in Florida took place on November 2, 2004 alongside other elections to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in other states as well as elections to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator

Bob Graham Daniel Robert "Bob" Graham (born November 9, 1936) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 38th governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and a United States senator from Florida from 1987 to 2005. He is a member of the Dem ...

decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. Graham made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. The primary elections were held on August 31, 2004. Republican

Mel Martínez Melquíades Rafael Ruiz Martínez (born October 23, 1946) is a Cuban-American lobbyist and former politician who served as a United States Senator from Florida from 2005 to 2009 and as general chairman of the Republican Party from November 200 ...

won the open seat with 49.4% of the vote to Democratic nominee

Betty Castor Elizabeth Castor (née Bowe; born May 11, 1941) is an American educator and former politician. Castor was elected to the Florida Senate and as Florida Education Commissioner, and she subsequently served as the President of the University of Sou ...

's 48.3%. With a margin of 1.1%, this election was the closest race of the 2004 Senate election cycle.

Democratic primary

Candidates

, former President of the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF is ...

, former Education Commissioner of Florida, and former State Senator *

Peter Deutsch Peter R. Deutsch (born April 1, 1957) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida. Deutsch was a Democratic Representative from Florida's 20th congressional district from 1993 until 2005. Background Deutsch was born in the boro ...

, U.S. Representative from

Broward County Broward County ( , ) is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with over 1.94 ...

* Bernard Klein, businessman *

Alex Penelas Alexander Penelas (born December 18, 1961) is an American attorney who is the former mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Education and personal life Penelas, an American of Cuban descent, attended St. Thomas University and graduated in 1981 ...

, Mayor of Miami-Dade County

Results

Republican primary

Martínez was supported by the Bush Administration.

Candidates

Johnnie Byrd Johnnie B. Byrd Jr. (born February 8, 1951) is a former member of the Florida House of Representatives from District 62 representing Eastern Hillsborough County from 1996 through 2004. He was speaker of the House from 2002 to 2004. In 2004, B ...

, State Representative from

Plant City Plant City is an incorporated city in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, approximately midway between Brandon and Lakeland along Interstate 4. The population was 39,764 at the 2020 census. Despite many thinking it was named for flora ...

* Doug Gallagher, businessman *

Larry Klayman Larry Elliot Klayman (born July 20, 1951) is an American attorney, right-wing activist, and former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor. He founded both Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch. In addition to his numerous lawsuits against the Clinton adm ...

, attorney * William Kogut * Sonya March *

, former

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development The United States secretary of housing and urban development (or HUD secretary) is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the president's Cabinet, and thirteenth in the presidential line of succe ...

and candidate for

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

* Bill McCollum, former U.S. Representative and candidate for U.S. Senate in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

* Karen Saull

Results

General election

Candidates

* Dennis Bradley (V), activist *

(D), former State Senator *

(R),

Predictions

Polling

Results

References

External links

*
WTSP-TV (Tampa Bay) website
' *

' ;Debates
Florida Senate General Election Debate
on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

, October 18, 2004
Florida Senate General Election Debate
on

, October 25, 2004 ;Official campaign websites (archived) Democrats
Betty Castor

Peter Deutsch

Alex Penelas

Bernard E. Klein
Republicans
Mel Martínez

Bill McCollum

Doug Gallagher

Johnnie Byrd

Sonya March

Larry Klayman

William Billy Kogut
{{United States elections, 2004 Politics of Florida 2004 Florida elections Florida

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Candidates

Predictions

Polling

Results

See also

References

External links