The 2012 United States Senate election in Arizona was held on November 6, 2012, alongside a

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

, other elections to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in other states, as well as elections to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and various state and local elections. Incumbent Senator

Jon Kyl Jon Llewellyn Kyl ( ; born April 25, 1942) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senator for Arizona from 1995 to 2013. Following the death of John McCain in 2018, Kyl briefly returned to the Senate; his resignatio ...

, a Republican and the Senate Minority Whip, decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. U.S. Representative

Jeff Flake Jeffry Lane Flake (born December 31, 1962) is an American politician and diplomat who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 2013 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the United States House of Repr ...

won the open seat. As of 2024, this was the last time that a Republican won Arizona's Class 1 Senate seat.

Republican primary

The filing deadline for Republican candidates was June 1, 2012, and the primary election took place on August 28, 2012.

Candidates

Declared

* Wil Cardon, CEO of a real estate investment firm *

, U.S. Representative from the 6th district * Bryan Hackbarth, former mayor of Youngtown * Clair Van Steenwyk, conservative radio host

Withdrew

* Doug McKee, businessman

Declined

Fife Symington III John Fife Symington III (born August 12, 1945) is an American businessman and politician who served as the 19th governor of Arizona from 1991 until 1997. Symington, who is a member of the Republican Party, resigned from office in 1997 following ...

, former Arizona governor *

Joe Arpaio Joseph Michael Arpaio (; born June 14, 1932) is an American former law enforcement officer and politician. He was the Sheriffs in the United States, Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona for 24 years, from 1993 to 2017, ...

Maricopa County Maricopa County () is a county in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census the population was 4,420,568, or about 62% of the state's total, making it the fourth-most populous county in the United States and ...

sheriff (running for re-election as Sheriff) *

Jan Brewer Janice Kay Brewer (''née'' Drinkwine; born September 26, 1944) is an American politician who served as the 22nd governor of Arizona from 2009 to 2015, as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Prior to this, Brewer ...

, Arizona governor *

Trent Franks Harold Trent Franks (born June 19, 1957) is an American businessman and former politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2017 (numbered as the 2nd district from 2003 to 2013). He is a member of the Republican Party. Du ...

, U.S. representative * J. D. Hayworth, former U.S. representative *

, incumbent U.S. senator *

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, and author who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomi ...

, former

governor of Alaska A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

(2006–2009) and nominee for

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Ben Quayle Benjamin Eugene Quayle (born November 5, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician who is a former U.S. Representative for . A member of the Republican Party, he is the son of the 44th vice president of the United States, Dan Quayle. Before s ...

, U.S. representative *

David Schweikert David Sheridan Schweikert ( ; born March 3, 1962) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative from since 2023. The district covers northeastern Maricopa County. He previously served as the U.S. representativ ...

, U.S. representative *

John Shadegg John Barden Shadegg (; born October 22, 1949) is an American politician and former U.S. representative for , serving from 1995 until 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district, numbered as the 4th district before the 2000 censu ...

, former U.S. representative

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Former

Surgeon General Surgeon general (: surgeons general) is a title used in several Commonwealth countries and most NATO nations to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior uniformed physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with p ...

Richard Carmona was the only candidate for the Democratic nomination, receiving all 289,881 votes cast in the primary election.

Candidates

Declared

Richard Carmona Richard Henry Carmona (born November 22, 1949) is an American physician, nurse, police officer, public health administrator, and politician. He was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the seventeenth Surg ...

, former

Surgeon General of the United States The surgeon general of the United States is the operational head of the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (PHSCC) and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government of the United States. T ...

Withdrew

* Don Bivens, former chairman of the

Arizona Democratic Party The Arizona Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Arizona. Its headquarters are in Phoenix. Along with its main rival, the Arizona Republican Party, it is one of two major parties in the state. The Arizon ...

* David Ruben, physician

Declined

Dennis Burke Dennis K. Burke (born 1962) is a former United States Attorney for the District of Arizona. Early life and education Burke was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1962. Burke received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in 1985 and earned ...

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

* Phil Gordon, Mayor of Phoenix *

Ed Pastor Edward Lopez Pastor (; June 28, 1943 – November 27, 2018) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Arizona from 1991 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Arizon ...

, U.S. Representative * Warren Stewart, civil rights leader *

Gabby Giffords Gabrielle Dee Giffords (born June 8, 1970) is an American retired politician and gun violence prevention advocate. She served as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing from January 2007 until January 2012, when ...

, former U.S. Representative *

Mark Kelly Mark Edward Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American politician, retired astronaut, and former United States Navy, naval officer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from Arizona, a seat he ha ...

, astronaut and husband of Gabrielle Giffords, (later elected to Arizona's Class 3 Senate seat in 2020). *

Janet Napolitano Janet Ann Napolitano (; born November 29, 1957) is an American politician, lawyer, and academic administrator. She served as president of the University of California from 2013 to 2020, on the faculty at the Goldman School of Public Policy at t ...

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the U ...

and former Arizona governor * Jim Pederson, former

chairman and 2006 Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

(Republican), U.S. Representative *

(Democratic), former U.S. Surgeon General * Michael F. Meyer (independent) * Marc J. Victor (Libertarian), attorney

Debates

There were three debates before the election. The first was in Phoenix on October 10, 2012, the second in Tucson on October 15 and the last was in Yuma on October 25. External links
Complete video of debate
October 10, 2012 –

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

Complete video of debate
October 15, 2012 –

Complete video of debate
October 25, 2012 –

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

Predictions

Polling

Republican primary
Democratic primary
with Don Bivens
with J.D. Hayworth
with Jeff Flake
with Jon Kyl
with Sarah Palin

Results

By congressional district

Despite losing, Carmona carried 5 of the 9 congressional districts.

References

External links

Arizona Secretary of State – Elections

Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector and ...

Outside spending
at the

Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States ...

Candidate issue positions
at

On the Issues On the Issues or OnTheIssues is an American non-partisan, non-profit organization providing information to American voters on American candidates, primarily via their website. The organization was started in 1996, went non-profit in 2000, and is ...

Official campaign websites (Archived)
Richard Carmona for U.S. Senate

Jeff Flake for U.S. Senate

Ian Gilyeat for U.S. Senate

Marc J. Victor For Senate
{{Arizona elections

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

Debates

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

Predictions

Polling

Results

By congressional district

See also

References

External links