Freedom Works key in Jeff Flake victory for U.S. Senate

 

Outcome of Senate election in Arizona proof that grassroots campaigns are critical to winning elections.

MESA, AZ – Congressman Jeff Flake will become Arizona’s 11th U.S. Senator after defeating former US Surgeon General Richard Carmona. After months of polling that showed Flake trailing in the race to fill outgoing Senator Kyl’s seat, momentum began to swing toward Flake in the closing weeks. As early ballots were returned Richard Carmona held an early 1.5% (2500 votes) lead on Jeff Flake. The overall results changed on Election Day when Flake closed the gap beating, Carmona at the polls by 10,000 votes. This shift, due in part of a larger than normal election day turnout, accounted for a net 9% gain on Election Day for Flake. Hundreds of thousands of provisional ballots statewide have yet to be counted which should only add to this lead.

Despite what many political pundits predicted, Romney did not carry Flake’s victory. Nearly 100,000 votes for Romney did not go to Flake. While Romney’s Election Day percentages dropped from early return ratios, Flake’s increased by double digits.

“Given the news that Jeff Flake has been elected our Senator, it’s impossible not to recognize the efforts of our organization and our volunteers,” said Freedomworks Field Director Stephen Viramontes. “After opening our office in Mesa right as early balloting began in October, we were able to produce and deploy the largest grassroots army this State has ever seen.”

As can be seen from the raw numbers, grassroots wins elections! In just a short 5 weeks, the accomplishments for Flake were tremendous along with support from various organizations.

· 389,000 phone calls to voters
· 193,070 doors knocked with placed literature
· 11,026 signs placed
· 102 completed precinct walks
· 2,309 volunteer hours

FreedomWorks is the nation’s largest Conservative grassroots political organization. Its focus and purpose is to help Conservatives get elected all across the country. This was the first cycle in which FreedomWorks had a grassroots presence in Arizona. With results such as these and a solid coalition built, it is likely to continue to focus efforts on future races in Arizona.

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