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2004 United States Senate election in Florida

The 2004 United States Senate election in Florida took place on November 2, 2004, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Democratic incumbent Bob Graham ran unsuccessfully for president of the United States instead of seeking a fourth term. Mel Martínez won the open race to succeed Graham over Betty Castor.

Primary elections were held on August 31, 2004. Castor defeated U.S. representative Peter Deutsch to win the Democratic nomination, while Martínez won the Republican nomination over 2000 nominee Bill McCollum and businessman Doug Gallagher with the support of President George W. Bush.

In the general election, Martínez won the open seat with 49.4 percent of the vote to 48.3 percent for Castor. This was the first open election for this seat since 1974 and the closest race of the 2004 United States Senate elections.As of 2026, this is the last election where an incumbent senator opted not to run for re-election in Florida.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declined

  • Bob Graham, incumbent U.S. senator since 1987 and former governor

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Withdrew

Campaign

An early contender for the Republican nomination was U.S. representative Mark Foley, who raised $3 million for his Senate campaign and was seen as marginally more moderate than his opponents. However, longstanding rumors regarding Foley's sexuality came under scrutiny in the alternative press. While Foley denounced the rumors in an unusual press conference, he did not deny them, instead arguing that his sexuality had no bearing on his ability as a legislator. Foley withdrew from the campaign on September 6, 2003, citing his father's diagnosis with cancer. Foley would later resign from office in 2006 and come out as "a gay man" after revelations that he had sent explicit sexual messages to teenage boys who had served as congressional pages.

Martínez was supported by the Bush administration.

Results

General election

Candidates

Predictions

Polling

Betty Castor vs. Bill McCollum

Peter Deutsch vs. Mel Martínez

Peter Deutsch vs. Bill McCollum

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

Notes

Partisan clients<br />

References

External links

Debates

Official campaign websites (archived)<br /> Democrats

Republicans