United States Senate election in Michigan, 2000

United States Senate election in Michigan, 2000

November 7, 2000

Nominee Debbie Stabenow Spencer Abraham Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,061,952 1,994,693 Percentage 49.5% 47.9%

U.S. Senator before election Spencer Abraham Republican Elected U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow Democratic

The 2000 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham ran for re-election to a second term, but was defeated by Democrat Debbie Stabenow.

Candidates

Democratic

• Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Representative

Republican

• Spencer Abraham, incumbent U.S. Senator

Green

• Matthew Abel

Libertarian

• Michael Corliss

Reform

• Mark Forton

Constitution

• John Mangopoulos

Natural Law

• William Quarton

Campaign

Abraham, who was first elected in the 1994 Republican Revolution despite never running for public office before, was considered vulnerable by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Major issues in the campaign included prescription drugs for the elderly.^[1] By September 4, Abraham still had failed to reach 50% in polls despite having spent over $6 million on television ads.^[2] In mid-October, he came back and reached 50% and 49% in two polls respectively.^[3]

Results

The election was very close with Stabenow prevailing by just over 67,000 votes. Stabenow was also likely helped by the fact that Al Gore won Michigan on the presidential level. Ultimately Stabenow pulled out huge numbers out of the Democratic stronghold of Wayne County, which covers the Detroit Metropolitan Area. Stabenow also performed well in other heavily populated areas such as Ingham County home to the states capital of Lansing. Stabenow also won the very liberal college town of Ann Arbor. Abraham did not concede right after major news networks declared Stabenow the winner. Abraham held out hope that the few outstanding precincts could push him over the edge. Abraham did concede defeat at around 4:00 A.M. EST. Abraham called Stabenow and congratulated her on her victory. The election was historic. Stabenow became the first woman to represent Michigan in the United States Senate.

General election results^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Debbie Stabenow	2,061,952	49.47
	Republican	Spencer Abraham (Incumbent)	1,994,693	47.86
	Green	Matthew Abel	37,542	0.90
	Libertarian	Michael Corliss	29,966	0.72
	Reform	Mark Forton	26,274	0.63
	Constitution	John Mangopoulos	11,628	0.28
	Natural Law	William Quarton	5,630	0.14
Majority			67,259	1.61
Turnout			4,165,685
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing	-4.02

References

1. "Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com". Time. October 14, 2000.
2. "Congress Races Test Coattails". Newsday. September 4, 2000.
3. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Dz8iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sqwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3886,3871152&dq=debbie+stabenow&hl=en
4. Trandahl, Jeff (June 21, 2001). "STATISTICS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL AND CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF NOVEMBER 7, 2000". CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.