The 2012 United States Senate election in Arizona was held on November 6, 2012, alongside a presidential election, 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.
Incumbent Senator Jon Kyl, a Republican and the Senate Minority Whip, decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth term. U.S. Representative Jeff Flake won the open seat.
As of 2026, this was the last time that a Republican won Arizona's Class 1 Senate seat.
The filing deadline for Republican candidates was June 1, 2012, and the primary election took place on August 28, 2012.
Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona was the only candidate for the Democratic nomination, receiving all 289,881 votes cast in the primary election.
There were three debates before the election. The first was in Phoenix on October 10, 2012, the second in Tucson on October 15 and the last was in Yuma on October 25. External links
Republican primary<br />
Democratic primary<br />
with Don Bivens<br />
with J.D. Hayworth<br />
with Jeff Flake<br />
with Jon Kyl<br />
with Sarah Palin<br />
Despite losing, Carmona carried five of nine congressional districts.
Official campaign websites (Archived)