Arizona

ARIZONA

10 Electoral Votes

Population
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Arizona Secretary of State)

Total Population, July 1, 2008 est.	6,500,180
Total Registration, for Nov. 4, 2008	2,987,451 active

Rep. 1,118,587 (37.44%) Dem. 1,022,252 (34.22%) Lib. 18,153 (0.61%) Other 824,450 (27.60%) Grn. 4,009
Arizona has: 15 counties.
Two largest counties: Maricopa, Pima. >
Five largest cities: Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Glendale, Chandler. >
Notes: Arizona had the second-fastest growing population of any state in the country from July 1, 2007 to July 1, 2008, growing at a rate of 2.3%, a numerical increase of 146,759. From July 1, 2006 to July 1, 2007Maricopa County had the highest numerical growth of any county in the country, experiencing a population increase of 101,583; the population of Pinal County (near Phoenix) was the third fastest growing county during this period, 11.5%.

Government
Governor: Janet Napolitano (D) re-elected in 2006.
State Legislature: Arizona State Legislature   House: 60 seats Senate: 30 seats
Local: Cities and Counties...   NACO counties
U.S. House: 4R, 4D - 1. R.Renzi (R) | 2. T.Franks (R) | 3. J.Shadegg (R) | 4. E.Pastor (D) | 5. H.Mitchell (D) | 6. J.Flake (R) | 7. R.Grijalva (D) | 8. G.Giffords (D).
U.S. Senate: John Kyl (R) first elected 1994, re-elected in 2006, John McCain (R) first elected 1986, re-elected in 2004.

2008
update
U.S. House: In the open 1st CD, a large rural district held by Rep. Rick Renzi (R), State Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D) defeated Sydney Hay (R) by 55.88% to 39.43% with 4.69% going to an independent and a Libertarian. The U.S. House delegation goes to 5D, 3R for the 111th Congress.
Post-Election: On Dec. 1, 2008 President-Elect Obama nominated Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) to be Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; she was confirmed by the Senate on Jan. 20 and resigned the same day and Secretary of State Janice Brewer (R) ascended to the governorship.
    > Democrats pick up one U.S. House seat. MORE

State of Arizona
Secretary of State

AZ Democratic Party
AZ Green Party
AZ Libertarian Party
AZ Republican Party
Reform Party of AZ
Const. Party of AZ

Arizona Republic
Media (Newsp.)
TV, Radio

Politics1-AZ

Arizona Republic-Politics

The Grand Canyon State

General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Voting eligible population*: 4,096,006.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 56.0%.

Early voting began Oct. 2, 2008.
Early ballots requested: 1,347,428.
Early ballots returned: 1,233,333.
Early ballots counted: 1,227,267...this is 52.88% of the 2,320,951 ballots cast.

Total Registration: 2,987,451 active +

Official Results >
Obama/Biden (Dem.)	1,034,707	(45.12)
McKinney/Clemente (Grn.)	3,406	(0.15)
Barr/Root (Lib.)	12,555	(0.55)
+McCain/Palin (Rep.)	1,230,111	(53.64)
Nader/Gonzalez (none)	11,301	(0.49)
Chuck Baldwin (w/in)	1,371	(0.06)
Jay Charles (w/in)	16	-
Jonathan Allen (w/in)	8	-
Total........2,293,475

Ballots cast: 2,320,951.

2008 Overview
Sen. McCain won his home state, although the Obama campaign ran some late ads here. Also of note, Republicans' registration advantage had been reduced from 5.33 percentage points (140,988) in Nov. 2004 to 3.22 percentage points (96,335) in Nov. 2008. (+) Nonetheless the McCain-Palin ticket carried 11 counties to four for Obama-Biden, gaining a plurality of 195,404 votes (8.52 percentage points).
Obama/Allies | McCain/Allies | Nader

[Primary Election: September 2, 2008]

Presidential Preference Election -- Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Registration, Jan. 7, 2008: Rep. 1,042,294 (38.42%) Dem. 904,741 (33.35%) Lib. 17,704 (0.65%) Other 748,331(27.58%) Total 2,713,070.

Democrats
67 Delegates (56 Pledged and 11 Unpledged) and 9 Alternates.
1.65% of the 4,049 Delegate Votes. 1.58% of 4,234 Delegate Votes.

Organization: Clinton | Obama
former: Edwards | Richardson

Official Results

+Hillary Clinton
229,501

50.37%

Chris Dodd
484

0.11%

John Edwards
23,621

5.18%

Mike Gravel
370

0.08%

Dennis Kucinich
1,973

0.43%

Barack Obama
193,126

42.39%

Bill Richardson
2,842

0.62%

Others (17)
3,718

0.82%

455,635

24 total candidates on the ballot.

Republicans
53 Delegates: 3 RNC; 26 at-large; 24 by CD (3 x 8 CDs) and 50 alternates
2.23% of the 2,380 Delegates.

At-large and CD delegates allocated winner-take-all in the primary.

Organization: Huckabee | McCain | Paul | Romney
former
Giuliani - announced Lisa James as state chair on Dec. 7, 2007
Hunter - endorsed by U.S. Rep. Trent Franks (AZ-02) (Oct. 30, 2006) +

Official Results

Rudy Giuliani
13,658

2.52%

Mike Huckabee
48,849

9.03%

Duncan Hunter
1,082

0.20%

Alan Keyes
970

0.18%

+John McCain
255,197

47.17%

Ron Paul
22,692

4.19%

Mitt Romney
186,838

34.53%

Fred Thompson
9,492

1.75%

Others
2,257

0.42%

Total
541,035

24 total candidates on the ballot.

Setting the Primary Date
Statute sets out the date of the presidential preference election as the fourth Tuesday in February, but the Governor can issue a proclamation to move the date forward (as happened in 2004). On Aug. 21, 2007, Gov. Napolitano took that step, setting the date of the 2008 primary as February 5, 2008.

[Also Note. Arizona Democrats were among the ten state parties along with DC that applied [PDF] to the DNC, at the Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting on April 20, 2006, to go in the pre-window period; however, the DNC selected Nevada to hold an early caucus].

Presidential Preference Election (Secretary of State)
"The filing period for candidates in the Presidential Preference Election begins on November 27, 2007, and ends December 17, 2007, at 5:00 p.m.."

-Registration closes Jan. 7, 2008 at midnight.

-"In 2007, the Arizona Legislature moved the beginning of the Presidential Preference Election early voting period from 15 days to 26 days before the election. See Ariz. Sess. Laws 2007, Ch. 168."

On Dec. 18, 2007 the Secretary of State certified the ballot order.

General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Voting Eligible Population: 3,717,055.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 54.1%.

Early voting began Sept. 30, 2004.
Early ballots requested: 938,409.
Early ballots returned: 839,714.
Early ballots counted: 830,455...this is 40.75% of the 2,038,069 ballots cast.

Registration: Rep. 1,055,252 (39.92%), Dem. 914,264 (34.59%), Lib. 18,261 (0.69%), Other 655,554 (24.80%) ...Total 2,643,331.

Official Results
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)	893,524	(44.40)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.)	11,856	(0.59)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	1,104,294	(54.87)
w/in Cobb/LaMarche	138	-
w/in Nader/Camejo	2,773	(0.14)
Total........2,012,585

Ballots cast: 2,038,069.

2004 Overview
Although Arizona was classified as a battleground state, Bush more than doubled his plurality, winning by 210,770 votes (10.47 percentage points). 480,569 more votes were cast in the presidential race in 2004 than in 2000, a 31.4% increase. As in 2000 Bush carried 11 counties including the largest, Maricopa County, while the Democratic ticket won in four counties (Apache and Coconino in the North and Pima and Santa Cruz in the South) (results by county).
General Election Details
Kerry/Allies | Bush-Cheney '04

[Primary Election: September 7, 2004]

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population: 3,357,701.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 45.6%.

Arizona had the third lowest turnout as a percentage of voting eligible population after Hawaii and Nevada.

Early ballots requested: 643,987.
Early ballots counted: 578,215...this is 37.08% of the 1,559,520 ballots cast.

Registration: Rep. 942,078 (43.35%) Dem. 830,904 (38.24%) Lib. 12,576 (0.58%) Grn. 3,807 (0.18%) NLP 101 (0.00%) Reform 1,588 (0.07%) Other 382,068 (16.66%) ...Total 2,173,122.

Official Results
Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)	685,341	(44.73)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)	45,645	(2.98)
Smith/Suprynowicz (Lib.)	5,775	(0.38)
Hagelin/Goldhaber (NLP)	1,120	(0.07)
Buchanan/Foster (Ref.)	12,373	(0.81)
+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)	781,652	(51.02)
Phillips/Frazier (Write-in)	110	(0.01)
Total........1,532,016

Ballots cast 1,559,520.

2000 Overview
In the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections, Arizona ended up as one of the closest states; Bush won by about 30,000 votes or less than 3% in 1992 and Clinton won by about 30,000 votes or less than 3% in 1996. This time around the state went a bit more solidly back into the Republican column as Gov. Bush won with a plurality of 96,311 votes (6.29 percentage points). Libertarian Harry Browne was kept off the ballot in the state where he achieved his strongest 1996 showing because of a conflict that split the state party into two factions. In addition to candidate races, Arizona voters faced 14 propositions on the Nov. 7 ballot.
General Election Activity

1992 and 1996 General Elections

1992

Bush (Rep.)..........572,086	(38.47)
Clinton (Dem.)......543,050	(36.52)
Perot (Ind.)...........353,741	(23.79)
Others (4+w/in)......18,098	(1.22)
Total........1,486,975

1996

Clinton (Dem.)......653,288	(46.52)
Dole (Rep.)...........622,073	(44.29)
Perot (Ref.)..........112,072	(7.98)
Browne (Lib.).........14,358	(1.02)
Write-ins.................2,614	(0.19)
Total........1,404,405