50 Days to General Election

Sunday marked the last 50 days until the general election on November 2. Here is an update on Arizona's past and current political status.

Let's start with Arizona's presidential voting history, pulled from Arizona's Secretary of Sate.

1992 General Election Results:

Bush/Quayle (R) with 572,086 votes. *State winner

Clinton/Gore (D) with 543,050 votes. *National winner

1996 General Election Results:

Dole/Kemp (R) with 622,073 votes.

Clinton/Gore (D) with 653,288 votes. *State and national winner

2000 General Election Results:

Bush/Cheney (R) with 781,652 votes. *State and national winner

Gore/Lieberman (D) with 685,341 votes.

2004 General Election Results:

Bush/Cheney (R) with 1,104, 294 votes. *State and national winner

Kerry/Edwards (D) with 893,524 votes.

Arizona has a mix of Democrats and Republicans holding national and state offices. Democratic governor, Napolitano, was first elected Attorny General in 1998 and won in a landslide for governor in 2000 with 63% of the vote. Napolitano will be up for re-election in 2011.

John McCain, current senator and Republican nominee for president, was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 and was elected U.S. Senator in 1986. He won his first election with a wide margin, 60-40% and in 1992, after the potentially damaging Keating Five investigation he was re-elected with a 56%-32% split.McCain's fourth full term in the Senate will be up in 2010. McCain has proven to be a solid favorite among Arizona citizens, at least as a senator. An important factor in McCain's potential win in Arizona is his race for president in 2000. McCain swept away the Arizona primary in February that year with 60% of the vote, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Republican John Kyl has held the other senate seat since 1994. In congress he was been a silent but strong force for defense policy. His third full term will be up in 2012.

With no other key national races coming up this November, Kyl has kept his usual quiet demeaner on the national stage while Napolitano has recently started campaigning for Obama. Check out her co-stumping here:

In polls, Arizona is leaning toward McCain. According to a collection of polls on pollster.com, the two candidates are sliding closer: Obama with 40.4% and McCain with 45.8%. In an ASU/Cronkite-Eight poll taken August 16-18, McCain leads with 40%, Obama next with 30% and Undecided with 28%.

Key issues concerning Arizona citizens have historically been
This year, issues of the economy (which canvases nearly all states this cycle) and immigration catch Arizonan's attentions in the presidential debate. Arizona also has a large Hispanic population, just over 25%. Capturing the Hispanic vote was not too difficult for Hillary Clinton and Obama has been serious efforts into swaying their support.

With a history of steadfast support for McCain, a large population concerned with two issues conservatives have to their advantage, recent polls and a large population not to happy with Clinton out of the game, this blogger predicts that if the election were held today, Arizona would go to McCain.