2004 United States Senate elections

← 2002 November 2, 2004 2006 →
← 1998 Class 3 2010 →
34 of the 100 seats in theUnited States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Bill Frist Tom Daschle (lost re-election) Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 3, 2003 January 3, 1995 Leader's seat Tennessee South Dakota Seats before 51 48 Seats after 55 44 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 39,920,562 44,754,618 Percentage 45.3% 50.8% Seats up 15 19 Races won 19 15   Third party   Party Independent Seats before 1[1] Seats after 1 Seat change Popular vote 186,231 Percentage 0.2% Seats up 0 Races won 0
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain     Democratic hold      Republican gain     Republican hold      No election
Majority Leader before election Bill Frist Republican ElectedMajority Leader Bill Frist Republican

The2004 United States Senate elections were held on November 2, 2004, with allClass 3 Senate seats being contested. They coincided with there-election ofGeorge W. Bush aspresident and theUnited States House elections, as well as many state and local elections. Senators who were elected in1998, known asSenate Class 3, were seeking re-election or retiring in 2004.

Republicans won six seats but lost two themselves, giving them a net gain of four seats. Five of the six gains came from southern states. DemocratsFritz Hollings ofSouth Carolina,John Breaux ofLouisiana,Bob Graham ofFlorida, andZell Miller ofGeorgia chose to retire, whileJohn Edwards ofNorth Carolina chose to run for theDemocratic nomination for president, and was subsequently selected as theDemocratic nominee for vice president. They were succeeded by RepublicansJim DeMint,David Vitter,Mel Martinez,Johnny Isakson, andRichard Burr, respectively.

InSouth Dakota, RepublicanJohn Thune defeated the incumbent Senate minority leaderTom Daschle, marking the first and only time since1952 that a sitting party leader lost re-election, as well as the only time that person was the minority leader. Republican SenatorPeter Fitzgerald ofIllinois chose not to run for re-election, and Democrat (and future president)Barack Obama won in a landslide, becoming the Senate's only Black member and only the third popularly elected in American history and only the third elected sinceReconstruction. Also, Republican SenatorBen Nighthorse Campbell ofColorado chose not to run for re-election and DemocratKen Salazar won the open seat.

This was the third consecutive election cycle for Senate Class 3 where the Democrats either broke even or lost seats. This also marked the first time since1980 in which a presidential candidate from either party won with coattails in the Senate. Additionally, these election results are tied with those of1996 and1998 as the highest number of Senate seats that the Republicans have held since1920. Republicans would not make a net gain of seats during a presidential election year again until2024. This is the last time both major parties were on the general election ballot in every race.

Summary of the2004 United States Senate elections results

Parties							Total
		Democratic	Republican	Independent	Libertarian	Others
Before these elections		48	51	1	—	—	100
End ofthis Congress (two months later)		48	51	1	—	—	100
Not Up		29	36	1	—	—	66
Up		19	15	—	—	—	34
Incumbent retired	Total before	5	3	—	—	—	8
	Held by same party	—	1	—	—	—	1
	Replaced by other party	2 Republicans replaced by 2 Democrats 5 Democrats replaced by 5 Republicans		—	—	—	7
	Result after	2	6	—	—	—	8
Incumbent ran	Total before	14	12[a]	—	—	—	26
	Won re-election	13	12	—	—	—	25
	Lost re-election	1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican		—	—	—	1
	Lost renomination, held by same party	—	—	—	—	—	0
	Lost renomination, and party lost	—	—	—	—	—	0
	Result after	13	13	—	—	—	26
Net gain/loss		4	4	—	—	—	4
Total elected		15	19	—	—	—	34
Result		44	55	1	—	—	100
Popular vote	Votes	44,754,618	39,920,562	186,231	754,861	2,481,075	88,097,347
	Share	50.80%	45.31%	0.21%	0.86%	2.82%	100%

Sources:

• Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections
• United States Elections Project at George Mason UniversityArchived 2013-07-09 at theWayback Machine

Three Republicans and five Democrats retired instead of seeking re-election.

One Democrat sought re-election but lost in the general election.

One Democrat resigned on January 17, 2006, and was replaced by a Democratic appointee.

Several sites and individuals publish predictions of competitive seats. These predictions look at factors such as the strength of theincumbent (if the incumbent is running for reelection) and the other candidates, and the state's partisan lean (reflected in part by the state'sCook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assign ratings to each seat, indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that seat.

Most election predictors used:

• "tossup": no advantage
• "tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
• "lean": slight advantage
• "likely" or "favored": significant, but surmountable, advantage
• "safe" or "solid": near-certain chance of victory

Where a site gives a percentage probability as its primary indicator of expected outcome, the chart below classifies a race as follows:

• Tossup: 50-55%
• Tilt: 56-60%
• Lean: 61-75%
• Likely: 76-93%
• Safe: 94-100%

There were no special elections during the 108th Congress.

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 2005; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 3 seats.

In seven races the margin of victory was under 10%.

Alabama Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee Richard Shelby Wayne Sowell Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,242,200 595,018 Percentage 67.6% 32.4%

County results Shelby:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Sowell:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Richard Shelby Republican Elected U.S. Senator Richard Shelby Republican

Incumbent RepublicanRichard Shelby won re-election to a fourth term over Democraticperennial candidate Wayne Sowell.

Shelby, who switched parties ten years prior, had over $11 million cash on hand.^[3] Shelby was chairman of theBanking Committee.^[4] Wayne Sowell became the first black U.S. Senate nominee of a major party in Alabama.^[5]

Alaska Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee Lisa Murkowski Tony Knowles Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 149,773 140,424 Percentage 48.9% 45.5%

Results by borough and census area Murkowski:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Knowles:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Lisa Murkowski Republican Elected U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski Republican

Incumbent RepublicanLisa Murkowski ofAnchorage, sought election to her first full term after being appointed to serve out the rest ofher father's unexpired term when he resigned in December 2002 to becomeGovernor of Alaska. Her main challenger was Democratic former GovernorTony Knowles, her father's predecessor as governor. Murkowski won by a slight margin.

AlthoughAlaska is heavily Republican, popular opinion had swung against the Murkowski family because of a tax increase passed by Governor Frank Murkowski, Lisa Murkowski's father. In addition, multiple voters disapproved of apparentnepotism in the appointment of Lisa Murkowski to the Senate. Knowles, who as mentioned above preceded Frank Murkowski as governor, had enlisted extensive out-of-state support for his bid to take over Lisa Murkowski's Senate seat. However, veteran Republican SenatorTed Stevens taped advertisements warning Alaskans that electing a Democrat could result in less federal dollars for Alaska.

Lisa Murkowski had low approval ratings as senator due to her father,Frank Murkowski, who at the time was theGovernor of Alaska with extremely low approval ratings himself. Former Governor Tony Knowles ran against Murkowski. He ran as a Democrat who supported drilling inANWR, in contrast to most Democrats. Ted Stevens tried to "rescue" her campaign and help her maintain her seat.^[8]

Arizona Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee John McCain Stuart Starky Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,505,372 404,507 Percentage 76.7% 20.6%

County results McCain:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election John McCain Republican Elected U.S. Senator John McCain Republican

Incumbent RepublicanJohn McCain won re-election to a fourth term with his largest victory over Democratic teacher Stuart Starky.^[10]

Since 1998, McCain challenged Texas GovernorGeorge W. Bush in the presidential primary and despite winning the New Hampshire primary, he lost the nomination. Solidifying his image as amaverick, he voted against theBush tax cuts. He supported limits onstem cell research. He had a lopsided favorable ratings of 39% to 9% unfavorable in the most recentThe New York Times/CBS News poll.

Stuart Starky, an eighth-grade teacher inSouth Phoenix, was widely known as a long-shot challenger. Starky stated that "I truly believe he's going to run for president again."^[11] Starky was called byThe Arizona Republic a "sacrificial lamb"^[12] put on ballot because there were no chances to beat McCain. During his campaign, he debated McCain twice, once in Tucson and once in Flagstaff. He was also featured on the cover of Teacher Magazine, dubbed the "Unsinkable Stu Starky." Starky was defeated in alandslide. But, despite the relatively low percentage, he gained the highest vote per dollar amount in the country, spending only about $15,000 for his campaign (Starky's campaign may have been aided byJohn Kerry running for president).^[13]

2004 United States Senate election in Arkansas

← 1998 November 2, 2004 2010 →

Nominee Blanche Lincoln Jim Holt Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 580,973 458,036 Percentage 55.9% 44.1%

County results Lincoln:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Holt:     50–60%

Senator before election Blanche Lincoln Democratic Elected Senator Blanche Lincoln Democratic

Incumbent DemocratBlanche Lincoln ran for re-election. Lincoln won re-election over Republican State SenatorJim Holt while PresidentGeorge W. Bush carried the state with almost the same margin of victory.

The Democratic Party heldsuper-majority status in theArkansas General Assembly. A majority of local and statewide offices were also held by Democrats. This was rare even for the time in theSouth, where a majority of statewide offices were and still are held by Republicans. Arkansas had the distinction in 1992 of being the only state in the country to give the majority of its vote to a single candidate in the presidential election—native sonBill Clinton—while every other state's electoral votes were won by pluralities of the vote among the three candidates. Arkansas had since become more reliably Republican in presidential elections. The state voted forGeorge W. Bush overJohn Kerry in 2004. Lincoln won by 2% less than she had in 1998.^[15]

Democrats at the time had an overwhelming majority of registered voters, and theDemocratic Party of Arkansas was more conservative than the national entity. Two of Arkansas' three Democratic Representatives at the time were members of theBlue Dog Coalition, which tends to be more pro-business, pro-military spending, and socially conservative than the Democratic mainstream.

Lincoln was a popular incumbent. In March, she had an approval rating of 55%.^[17] Lincoln calls herself an advocate for rural America, having grown up on a farm herself. Holt is from Northwest Arkansas, who also lives on a farm.^[18] Holt was widely perceived as a long shot. By the end of June, he only raised $29,000, while Lincoln had over $5 million cash on hand.^[19] Lincoln won re-election by over 11%.^[15]

California Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee Barbara Boxer Bill Jones Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 6,955,728 4,555,922 Percentage 57.7% 37.8%

County results Boxer:     40-50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Jones:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Barbara Boxer Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer Democratic

Incumbent DemocratBarbara Boxer defeated Republican formerSecretary of StateBill Jones. Boxer's 6.96 million votes set the record for the most votes cast for one candidate in one state in one election, until it was surpassed by SenatorDianne Feinstein's 7.75 million votesin 2012.

Boxer originally had decided to retire in 2004 but changed her mind to "fight for the right to dissent" against conservatives like Majority LeaderTom DeLay. Jones was widely considered as the underdog.^[17] Jones got a major endorsement from the popular GovernorArnold Schwarzenegger.^[20] The two major candidates had a debate. Pre-election polling had Boxer leading in double digits.^[21] But he never released a single TV ad. Boxer portrayed Jones as too conservative for California, citing his votes in the California Assembly (1982 to 1994) against gun control, increased minimum wage, support for offshore drilling, and a loosening of environmental regulations.^[22]

Jones raised about $700,000 more than Boxer during the third quarter, pulling in $2.5 million to Boxer's $1.8 million. But overall, Boxer has raised $16 million to Jones' $6.2 million. And Boxer has spent about $7 million on radio and television ads alone.^[23]

The election was not close, with Boxer winning by an authoritative 20 point margin. Jones only performed well in rural parts of the state. Boxer on the other hand won almost all major metropolitan areas in the state. The race was called right when the polls closed at 11:00 P.M. EST, and 7:00 P.M. PTZ. Jones conceded defeat to Boxer at 11:12 P.M. EST, and 7:12 PTZ.

Colorado Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee Ken Salazar Pete Coors Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,081,188 980,668 Percentage 51.3% 47.4%

County results Salazar:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Coors:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election Ben Nighthorse Campbell Republican Elected U.S. Senator Ken Salazar Democratic

Incumbent RepublicanBen Nighthorse Campbell decided to retire instead of seeking a third term. The DemocraticAttorney General of ColoradoKen Salazar won the open seat.

Before Campbell's retirement, no prominent Democrat had entered the race, with educator Mike Miles and businessmanRutt Bridges pursuing the Democratic nomination. After Campbell's retirement, some expected popular Republican GovernorBill Owens to enter the race,^[25] however he declined to run. Campbell's retirement and Owens' decision not to run prompted a number of prominent Democrats to reexamine the race.^[26]

On March 10, the same day Owens announced he would not run, U.S. CongressmanMark Udall entered the race.^[27] The next day, state Attorney GeneralKen Salazar entered the race, leading Udall to immediately withdraw and endorse him.^[28] Salazar lost to Mike Miles at the State nominating convention. In spite of this loss, the national Democratic Party backed Salazar with contributions from theDSCC and promotion of Salazar as the only primary candidate.^[29]

The two candidates got into an ideological battle, as U.S. RepresentativeBob Schaffer attackedPete Coors, former CEO and chairman ofCoors Brewing Company, because his company had provided benefits to the partners of itsgay andlesbian employees, in addition to promoting its beer ingay bars. Coors defended himself by saying that he was opposed tosame-sex marriage, and supported aconstitutional amendment to ban it, although he noted that he supported civil unions for gay couples. According to theRocky Mountain News, Coors described his company's pro-LGBT practices as "good business, separate from politics."^[31] Coors defeated Schaffer with 61% of the vote in the primary, with a number of analysts citing his high name recognition in the state as a primary factor.^[32][33]

Pete Coors ran as a moderate conservative. However, Salazar was also a moderate and a highly popular State Attorney General.^[34] Coors is also a great-grandson ofAdolph Coors, founder of the brewing company. His father isJoseph Coors, president of the company and founding member ofThe Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Salazar narrowly won the open seat. It was one of only two Democratic pickups in the 2004 Senate elections; Illinois was the other.

According to the non-partisanOpenSecrets, Coors gave his own campaign $1,213,657 and received individual donations of $60,550 from other Coors family members^{[citation needed]}.

A state record of over $11 million was raised during the election.^[35]

2004 United States Senate election in Connecticut

← 1998 November 2, 2004 2010 →

Nominee Chris Dodd Jack Orchulli Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 945,347 457,749 Percentage 66.4% 32.1%

County results Municipality results Dodd:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Orchulli:     40–50%     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Chris Dodd Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Chris Dodd Democratic

Incumbent DemocratChris Dodd won re-election for a fifth term, beating RepublicanJack Orchulli, CEO and co-founder of aMichael Kors's apparel company.^[37]

Chris Dodd was one of the most powerful senators in congress. In the election cycle, Dodd raised over $7 million. His top five contributors wereBear Stearns,Citigroup,National Westminster Bank,Lehman Brothers, andGoldman Sachs.^[38]

Republican nominee, Jack Orchulli, ran as fiscal conservative and social moderate^{[citation needed]}. He broke ranks with his party ongay marriage andabortion.^[39] That put him on the same side as most voters in theblue state of Connecticut^{[citation needed]}. He often talked about a "broken education system." He argued that Dodd has not done anything in his 30 years in congress to fix such issues as traffic problems inFairfield County.^[40]

Orchulli launched a statewide TV ad campaign in September, as he spent over $1.1 million and pledged to spend "whatever it takes" if polls show he is gaining ground on Dodd.^[41]

Florida Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee Mel Martínez Betty Castor Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 3,672,864 3,590,201 Percentage 49.4% 48.3%

County results Martinez:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Castor:     40-50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Bob Graham Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Mel Martínez Republican

Incumbent DemocratBob Graham retired after three terms. The primary elections were held on August 31, 2004. RepublicanMel Martínez won the open seat, beating DemocratBetty Castor, former president of theUniversity of South Florida, former Education Commissioner of Florida, and former state senator. Martínez, a formerU.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, was supported by theBush administration.

In the spring, the campaign hired fundraising staff from the defunct presidential campaigns ofHoward Dean andBob Graham,^[43] and subsequently posted much higher fundraising numbers over the summer.^[44] Online grassroots techniques devised for the Dean campaign (Castor became aDean Dozen candidate in August^{[citation needed]}) were one contributing factor:^[45] another was the support ofEMILY's List, which named Castor as its highest-rated candidate for the 2004 election cycle^{[citation needed]}, even when her support for banning intact dilation and extraction (D&X) abortions was not in line with the EMILY's List support for woman's issues.^[46][47] The latter was a source of criticism during the August primary heat - a complaint was filed by a Deutsch supporter with the Federal Election Commission accusing inappropriate coordination with EMILY's List^{[citation needed]}. The complaint was dismissed by the Federal Election Commission in 2005.^[48]

Castor's handling ofSami Al-Arian became another source of criticism during the campaign^{[citation needed]}. In June,The American Democracy Project, a527 group founded byBernie Friedman^{[citation needed]}, began attacking Castor's handling of the incident, alleging that she had sufficient evidence to fire Al-Arian in the mid-1990s^{[citation needed]}. Castor responded by stating that she never had sufficient evidence to fire Al-Arian, who was atenured professor at the time^{[citation needed]}. On June 29, Senator Graham, who had previously remained outside of the Al-Arian controversy, released a statement that "Betty Castor acted appropriately as President of the University of South Florida to deal with Sami Al-Arian"^{[citation needed]}: later, Graham and SenatorBill Nelson brokered an agreement between the Democratic candidates to refrain from negative campaigning against each other^{[citation needed]}, although this agreement appeared to break down in the final weeks of the race, when Deutsch launched attack ads on television^{[citation needed]}.

Despite these controversies, Castor won the Democratic nomination on August 31. She was defeated, however, by Republican candidateMel Martínez in a close race on November 2, 2004. The overwhelming support for Martínez among Latinos effectively counterbalanced Castor's relatively high popularity among swing voters throughout the state.

There was some speculation that Castor would run forGovernor of Florida in 2006 to replaceJeb Bush, who was ineligible for re-election due to term limits, but she announced in 2005 that she would not be a candidate.

Georgia Election

← 2000 (special) 2010 →

Nominee Johnny Isakson Denise Majette Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,864,205 1,287,695 Percentage 57.9% 40.0%

Isakson:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Majette:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Zell Miller Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson Republican

Incumbent DemocratZell Miller retired. Democratic U.S. RepresentativeDenise Majette became both the first African American and the first woman to be nominated for the U.S. Senate in Georgia. Republican U.S. RepresentativeJohnny Isakson won the open seat.

The results were almost a complete reversal from the previous election in 2000.

Majette's announcement that she would seek to replace Miller also caught Democrats by surprise, as she was not on anyone's call list when Democrats began seeking a candidate to replace Miller. Further skepticism among Democrats about the viability of her candidacy surfaced when she announced that "God" had told her to run for the Senate. She received important endorsements from U.S. SenatorsMary Landrieu of Louisiana andDebbie Stabenow of Michigan, along with others in Washington who campaigned and raised money for Majette. Her Senate campaign slogan was "I'll be nobody's Senator, but yours."

A number of factors led to Majette's loss. These include her late start, her valuable time and money spent in the runoff, larger conservative turnout from a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages (which Majette opposed), the popularity of PresidentGeorge W. Bush in Georgia, and her lack of experience (being a one-term congresswoman).

Hawaii Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee Daniel Inouye Cam Cavasso Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 313,629 87,172 Percentage 75.5% 21.0%

County results Inouye:     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Daniel Inouye Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye Democratic

Incumbent Democrat U.S. SenatorDaniel Inouye won re-election to an eighth term over Republican,Campbell Cavasso, a former state representative.

Inouye won every single county with at least 70% of the vote. His best performance was inKauai County, where he won with an estimated 80%; also was Cavasso's weakest performance, getting just 16.5% of the vote there.

Idaho Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee Mike Crapo Party Republican Popular vote 499,796 Percentage 99.2%

County results Crapo:     >90%     100%

U.S. senator before election Mike Crapo Republican Elected U.S. Senator Mike Crapo Republican

Incumbent RepublicanMike Crapo won a second term in a landslide after no one filed for the Democratic nomination. Democrat Scott McClure conducted awrite-in campaign but only received 4,136 votes, or about 1% of those cast.

Crapo won every county with over 95% of the vote. His weakest performance by far was inLatah County, where he got 95.6% of the vote to McClure's 4.4%.

Illinois Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee Barack Obama Alan Keyes Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 3,597,456 1,390,690 Percentage 70.0% 27.0%

County results Obama:     40-50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Keyes:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Peter Fitzgerald Republican Elected U.S. Senator Barack Obama Democratic

Incumbent RepublicanPeter Fitzgerald decided to retire after one term. The Democratic and Republicanprimary elections were held in March, which included a total of 15 candidates who combined to spend a record total of over $60 million seeking theopen seat.

State Senator and futurePresidentBarack Obama won the Democratic primary andJack Ryan won the Republican primary. Ryan later withdrew from the race four days after theChicago Tribune persuaded a California court to release child custody records. The Illinois Republican State Central Committee chose former DiplomatAlan Keyes to replace Ryan as the Republican candidate.

The election was the first for the U.S. Senate in which both major party candidates wereAfrican American. Obama's 43% margin of victory was the largest in the state history of U.S. Senate elections. The inequality in the candidates spending for the fall elections – $14,244,768 by Obama and $2,545,325 by Keyes – is also among the largest in history in both absolute and relative terms.^[55]

Fitzgerald's predecessor, DemocratCarol Moseley Braun, declined to run. Barack Obama, a member of theIllinois Senate since 1997 and an unsuccessful2000 Democratic primary challenger to four-term incumbent U.S. Rep.Bobby Rush for Rush'sU.S House seat, launched a campaign committee at the beginning of July 2002 to run for the U.S. Senate, 21 months before the March 2004 primary,^[56] and two months later hadDavid Axelrod lined up to do his campaign media.^[57] Obama formally announced his candidacy on January 21, 2003,^[58] four days after former U.S. Sen.Carol Moseley Braun announced she would not seek a rematch with U.S. Sen.Peter Fitzgerald.^[59]

On April 15, 2003, with six Democrats already running and three Republicans threatening to run against him,^[60] incumbent Fitzgerald announced he would not seek a second term in 2004,^[61] and three weeks later popular Republican former GovernorJim Edgar declined to run,^[62] leading to wide open Democratic and Republican primary races with 15 candidates, including 7 millionaires^[63] (triggering the first application of the Millionaires' Amendment of the 2002McCain–Feingold Act), in the most expensive Senate primary in U.S. history.^[64]

Obama touted his legislative experience and early public opposition to theIraq War to distinguish himself from his Democratic primary rivals. Illinois ComptrollerDan Hynes won the endorsement of theAFL–CIO. Obama succeeded in obtaining the support of three of the state's largest and most active member unions:AFSCME,SEIU, and theIllinois Federation of Teachers. Hynes and multimillionaire former securities traderBlair Hull each won the endorsements of two of the nine Democratic Illinois members of the US House of Representatives. Obama had the endorsements of four:Jesse Jackson, Jr.,Danny Davis,Lane Evans, andJan Schakowsky.

Obama surged into the lead after he finally began television advertising in Chicago in the final three weeks of the campaign, which was expanded todownstate Illinois during the last six days of the campaign. The ads included strong endorsements by the five largest newspapers in Illinois—theChicago Tribune,Chicago Sun-Times,Daily Herald,The Rockford Register Star, andPeoria Journal Star—and a testimonial bySheila Simon that Obama was "cut from that same cloth" as her father, the late former U.S. SenatorPaul Simon, who had planned to endorse and campaign for Obama before his unexpected death in December 2003.^{[65][66][67][68][69][70]}

On March 16, 2004, Obama won the Democratic primary by an unexpected landslide—receiving 53% of the vote, 29% ahead of his nearest Democratic rival, with a vote total that nearly equaled that of all eight Republican candidates combined—which overnight made him a rising star in the national Democratic Party, started speculation about a presidential future, and led to the reissue of his memoir,Dreams from My Father.^[71][72][73] The Democratic primary election, including seven candidates who combined to spend over $46 million, was the most expensive U.S. Senate primary election in history.

GOP frontrunner Jack Ryan had divorced actressJeri Ryan in 1999, and the records of the divorce were sealed at their mutual request. Five years later, when Ryan's Senate campaign began, theChicago Tribune newspaper andWLS-TV, the localABC affiliate, sought to have the records released. On March 3, 2004, several of Ryan's GOP primary opponents urged Ryan to release the records.^[74] Both Ryan and his wife agreed to make their divorce records public, but not make the child custody records public, claiming that the custody records could be harmful to their son if released. Ryan went on to win the GOP primary on March 16, 2004, defeating his nearest competitor, Jim Oberweis, by twelve percentage points.^[75]

Ryan was a proponent of across-the-boardtax cuts andtort reform, an effort to limit payout inmedical malpracticelawsuits. He was also a proponent ofschool choice and supportedvouchers for private school students.

Oberweis's 2004 campaign was notable for a television commercial where he flew in a helicopter over Chicago'sSoldier Field, and claimed enough illegal immigrants came into America in a week (10,000 a day) to fill the stadium's 61,500 seats.^[76][77] Oberweis was also fined $21,000 by the Federal Election Commission for a commercial for his dairy that ran during his 2004 Senate campaign. The FEC ruled that the commercial wrongly benefited his campaign and constituted a corporate contribution, thus violating campaign law.^[78]

As a result of the GOP and Democratic primaries, DemocratBarack Obama was pitted against RepublicanJack Ryan.

Ryan trailed Obama in early polls, after the media reported that Ryan had assigned Justin Warfel, a Ryan campaign worker, to track Obama's appearances.^[79] The tactic backfired when multiple people, including Ryan's supporters, criticized this activity. Ryan's spokesman apologized, and promised that Warfel would give Obama more space. Obama acknowledged that it is standard practice to film an opponent in public, and Obama said he was satisfied with Ryan's decision to have Warfel back off.^[79]

As the campaign progressed, the lawsuit brought by theChicago Tribune to openchild custody files from Ryan's divorce was still continuing. Barack Obama's backers emailed reporters about the divorce controversy, but refrained from on-the-record commentary.^[80] On March 29, 2004, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Schnider ruled that several of the Ryans' divorce records should be opened to the public, and ruled that a court-appointed referee would later decide which custody files should remain sealed to protect the interests of Ryan's young child.^[81] A few days later, on April 2, 2004, Barack Obama changed his position about the Ryans' soon-to-be-released divorce records, and called on Democrats to not inject them into the campaign.^[80]

On June 22, 2004, after receiving the report from the court appointed referee, the judge released the files that were deemed consistent with the interests of Ryan's young child. In those files,Jeri Ryan alleged that Jack Ryan had taken her to sex clubs in several cities, intending for them to have sex in public.^[82][83]

The decision to release the files generated much controversy because it went against both parents' direct request, and because it reversed the earlier decision to seal the papers in the best interest of the child. Jim Oberweis, Ryan's defeated GOP opponent, commented that "these are allegations made in a divorce hearing, and we all know people tend to say things that aren't necessarily true in divorce proceedings when there is money involved and custody of children involved."^[82]

Although theirsensational nature made the revelations fodder fortabloid and television programs specializing in such stories, the files were also newsworthy because of questions about whether Ryan had accurately described the documents to GOP party leaders. Prior to release of the documents, Ryan had told leading Republicans that five percent of the divorce file could cause problems for his campaign.^[84] But after the documents were released, GOP officials including state GOP ChairJudy Baar Topinka said they felt Ryan had misleadingly indicated the divorce records would not be embarrassing.^[85]

That charge of dishonesty led to intensifying calls for Ryan's withdrawal, though Topinka, who was considering running herself, said after the June 25 withdrawal that Ryan's "decision was a personal one" and that the state GOP had not pressured Ryan to drop out.^[86] Ryan's campaign ended less than a week after the custody records were opened, and Ryan officially filed the documentation to withdraw on July 29, 2004. Obama was left without an opponent.

The Illinois Republican State Central Committee chose former diplomatAlan Keyes to replace Ryan as the Republican candidate. Keyes, aconservative Republican from Maryland, faced difficulties. First, Keyes had few ties to Illinois political leaders. Second, the lack of an opponent allowed Obama to campaign throughout the more conservative downstate regions to build up name recognition. Third, Keyes was seen as acarpetbagger, only establishing legal residency inCalumet City, Illinois days before running.

TheChicago Tribune in aneditorial, stated that "Mr. Keyes may have noticed a large body of water as he flew intoO'Hare. That is calledLake Michigan."^[87] In 2000, Keyes attackedHillary Clinton for running for US Senator from New York even though she had never lived there, calling her a carpetbagger.^[88] Keyes attacked Barack Obama for voting against a bill that would have outlawed a form of late-term abortion.^[89]

Obama ran the most successful Senate campaign in 2004, and was so far ahead in polls that he soon began to campaign outside of Illinois in support of other Democratic candidates. He gave large sums of campaign funds to other candidates and theDemocratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and sent a number of his volunteers to work on other races, including that of eventual three-term CongresswomanMelissa Bean who defeated then-CongressmanPhil Crane in that year's election. Obama and Keyes differed on a number of issues includingschool vouchers and tax cuts, both of which Keyes supported and Obama opposed.^[90]

The Obama-Keyes race was one of the first to be called onElection Day, November 2, 2004.

At the start of Keyes's candidacy in August, Keyes had 24% support in thepolls. He received 27% of the vote in the November general election to Obama's 70%.^[91]

Following theelection, Keyes refused to call Obama to congratulate him. Media reports claimed that Keyes also failed to concede the race to Obama.^{[citation needed]} Two days after the election, a radio interviewer asked Keyes whether he had conceded the race. Keyes replied, "Of course I've conceded the race. I mean, I gave my speech to that effect."^[92]

On the radio program, Keyes explained that his refusal to congratulate Obama was "not anything personal," but was meant to make a statement against "extend[ing] false congratulations to the triumph of what we have declared to be across the line." He said that Obama's position on moral issues regarding life and the family had crossed that line. "I'm supposed to make a call that represents the congratulations toward the triumph of that which I believe ultimately stands for ... a culture evil enough to destroy the very soul and heart of my country? I can't do this. And I will not make a false gesture," Keyes said.^[92]

Indiana Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee Evan Bayh Marvin Scott Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,496,976 903,913 Percentage 61.7% 37.2%

County results Bayh:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Scott:     40–50%     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Evan Bayh Democratic Elected U.S. Senator Evan Bayh Democratic

Incumbent DemocratEvan Bayh won re-election to a second term, beating RepublicanMarvin Scott, a professor atButler University.

In September, Bayh had $6.5 million cash on hand. Scott's strategy of trying to paint Bayh as too liberal failed to gain traction. Bayh was viewed early in 2004 as a serious vice presidential candidate forJohn Kerry. Bayh was on the final shortlist for a Kerry running mate, but North Carolina SenatorJohn Edwards was chosen as Kerry's running mate.

Bayh won 86 ofIndiana's counties compared to 6 for Scott.^[93]

Iowa Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee Chuck Grassley Arthur A. Small Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,038,175 412,365 Percentage 70.2% 27.9%

County results Grassley:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90%     >90%

U.S. senator before election Chuck Grassley Republican Elected U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley Republican

Incumbent RepublicanChuck Grassley won a fifth term, beating former DemocraticIowa State SenatorArthur A. Small. Though this election coincided with the highly competitivepresidential election in Iowa, Grassley was in little danger of losing his seat and defeated Small handily.

Kansas Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee Sam Brownback Lee Jones Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 780,863 310,337 Percentage 69.2% 27.5%

County results Brownback:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%      80–90%     >90% Jones:     50–60%

U.S. senator before election Sam Brownback Republican Elected U.S. Senator Sam Brownback Republican

Incumbent RepublicanSam Brownback won re-election to a second term over Democratic railroad engineer Lee Jones.

Though Robert Conroy won the Democratic nomination, he dropped out of the race shortly after becoming the nominee, noting that he expected Jones to win and was tired of campaigning. TheKansas Democratic Party selected Lee Jones as the replacement candidate.^[97]

Brownback raised $2.5 million for his re-election campaign, while Jones raised only $90,000. Kansas last elected a Democratic senator in 1932. Brownback was popular in the state.^[98]

Kentucky Election

← 1998 2010 →

Nominee Jim Bunning Daniel Mongiardo Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 873,507 850,855 Percentage 50.7% 49.3%

County results Bunning:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Mongiardo:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

U.S. senator before election Jim Bunning Republican Elected U.S. Senator Jim Bunning Republican