The 1986 United States Senate election in Arizona was held on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
decided to retire instead of seeking a sixth term. The open seat was won by
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
, a Republican congressman from
Arizona's 1st congressional district and former
Navy officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent contextu ...
, as well as future 2008 presidential nominee against Democrat
Barack Obama. McCain would remain in the Senate until his death on August 25, 2018.
General election
Candidates
*
Richard Kimball
Richard Kimball is an American politician who is the founder and president emeritus of the nonprofit voter education organization Vote Smart.
Early life
Kimball was born in Tucson, Arizona, in 1946. Kimball attended the University of Arizona wh ...
, former member of the Arizona Corporation Commission and State Senator (Democratic)
*
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
, U.S. Representative from
Phoenix (Republican)
Campaign
Kimball's campaign was subject to negative press from the ''
Arizona Republic'' and ''
Phoenix Gazette''. One Gazette columnist described him as displaying "terminal weirdness."
[Nowicki, D. & Muller, B. (March 1, 2007)]
The Senate calls.
'' The Arizona Republic''. Retrieved September 16, 2007. McCain ultimately won the election by a margin of 21%.
Results
See also
*
1986 United States Senate elections
The 1986 United States Senate elections was an election for the United States Senate in the middle of Ronald Reagan's second presidential term. The Republicans had to defend an unusually large number of freshman Senate incumbents who had been el ...
References
{{John McCain
Arizona
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
1986 Arizona elections
John McCain