The votes are in, Election Day 2016 is finally over, and we know who won the U.S. Senate race in Arizona. Did John McCain win his Senate seat? On Tuesday, Nov. 8, Arizona re-elected McCain for a sixth Senate term.
McCain has held Arizona's U.S. Senate seat since he was first elected in 1987. In 2008, McCain and running mate Sarah Palin lost the presidential election to Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The Arizona senator and former GOP presidential candidate has had to walk a fine line between criticisms during this election cycle. Ballotpedia.com reports:
[McCain's] major primary election opponent [Kelli Ward] criticized him for not fully supporting Trump, while his general election Democratic opponent [Ann Kirkpatrick] criticized him for not standing up to [Donald] Trump when the presidential nominee criticized the senator’s military service.
In the 2016 general election, McCain faced off against Kirkpatrick and Green Party nominee Gary Swing, as well as four write-in candidates: Republican Sean Webster, Democrat Axel Bello, Libertarian Merissa Hamilton, and Independent Pat Quinn.
The Arizona U.S. Senate race was considered one to watch in 2016, given Arizona's status as a key battleground state in the presidential election. Questions arose as to whether or not Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric would have repercussions for his fellow party member. It didn't. According to The New York Times, John McCain won the Senate seat with 53.1 percent of the vote.
