2000 United States Senate election in Michigan

none March 2026 September 2023 2000 United States Senate election in Michigan Michigan presidential no 1994 United States Senate election in Michigan 1994 2006 United States Senate election in Michigan 2006 November 7, 2000 150x150px Debbie Stabenow.jpg Debbie Stabenow Democratic Party (United States) 2,061,952 49.47% Spencer Abraham.jpg Spencer Abraham Republican Party (United States) 1,994,693 47.86% Stabenow: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% Abraham: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% #d72f30 70–80% U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham Republican Party (United States) Debbie Stabenow Democratic Party (United States) 300px County results 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 he was narrowly defeated by his Democratic opponent, congresswoman Debbie Stabenow. Stabenow subsequently made history as the first woman to represent Michigan in the United States Senate. With a margin of 1.6%, this election was the second-closest race of the 2000 Senate election cycle, behind only the election in Washington. Following his defeat, Abraham would later be appointed United States Secretary of Energy by George W. Bush and served from 2001 to 2005. General election Candidates Matthew R. Abel (Green) Spencer Abraham, incumbent U.S. Senator (Republican) Michael Corliss (Libertarian) Mark Forton (Reform) John Mangopoulos (Constitution) William Quarton (Natural Law) Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Representative from East Lansing (Democratic) 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.Michaels Marguerite October 14, 2000 In Michigan Looks Aren't Everything Time http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,57698,00.html dead 2022-01-04 https://web.archive.org/web/20101122081243/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,57698,00.html November 22, 2010 By September 4, Abraham still had failed to reach 50% in polls despite having spent over $6 million on television ads.https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/59403477.html?dids=59403477:59403477&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+04%2C+2000&author=Elaine+S.+Povich.+WASHINGTON+BUREAU&pub=Newsday+%28Combined+editions%29&desc=Congress+Races+Test+Coattails&pqatl=google Newsday Congress Races Test Coattails September 4, 2000 July 7, 2017 November 5, 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20121105102102/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/59403477.html?dids=59403477:59403477&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Sep+04,+2000&author=Elaine+S.+Povich.+WASHINGTON+BUREAU&pub=Newsday+(Combined+editions)&desc=Congress+Races+Test+Coattails&pqatl=google dead In mid-October, he came back and reached 50% and 49% in two polls respectively.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Dz8iAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sqwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3886,3871152&dq=debbie+stabenow&hl=en The Argus-Press - Google News Archive Search Abraham's campaign established a negative web site with the URL LiberalDebbie.com which parodied the logo for Little Debbie snack cakes.http://liberaldebbie.com/ LiberalDebbie.Com https://web.archive.org/web/20000816194124/http://liberaldebbie.com/ 2000-08-16 McKee Foods, the maker of Little Debbie cakes objected to the trademark infringement and the Abraham campaign included a disclaimer stating that McKee Foods does not endorse Abraham.http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0006/13/ip.00.html CNN Transcript - Inside Politics: Gore Claiming Credit for the Strong Economy; Clinton Administration and Republicans Sparring Over Cost of Prescription Drugs - June 13, 2000 www.cnn.comhttps://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,997307,00.html Ask Dr. Notebook Melissa August Greg Burke Val Castronovo Matthew Cooper Daren Fonda Benjamin Nugent Julie Rawe John Rosenblatt Josh Tyrangiel Alexandra Wolfe Time June 26, 2000 content.time.com Debates Complete video of debate, October 22, 2000 Results The election was very close with Stabenow prevailing by just over 67,000 votes. Stabenow was also likely helped by the fact that Vice President Al Gore won Michigan in the concurrent presidential election. 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 state's capital of Lansing, and the college town of Ann Arbor. Abraham did not concede right after major news networks declared Stabenow the winner; he held out hope that the few outstanding precincts could push him over the edge. At 4:00 AM, Abraham conceded defeat. Senator Abraham called Stabenow and congratulated her on her victory. As a result of the historic election, Stabenow became the first woman to represent Michigan in the United States Senate. General election resultsJeff Trandahl STATISTICS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL AND CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OF NOVEMBER 7, 2000 June 21, 2001 CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2000/2000Stat.htm Democratic Party (United States) Debbie Stabenow 2,061,952 49.47 Republican Party (United States) Spencer Abraham (incumbent) 1,994,693 47.86 Green Party (United States) Matthew Abel 37,542 0.90 Libertarian Party (United States) Michael Corliss 29,966 0.72 Reform Party (United States) Mark Forton 26,274 0.63 Constitution Party (United States) John Mangopoulos 11,628 0.28 Natural Law Party (United States) William Quarton 5,630 0.14 4,165,685 100.00 Democratic Party (United States) Republican Party (United States) Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Delta (largest city: Escanaba) Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Lake (largest village: Baldwin) Monroe (largest city: Monroe) Macomb (largest city: Warren) Muskegon (largest city: Muskegon) See also 2000 United States Senate elections References External links Official campaign websites (archived) Debbie Stabenow (D) for Senate Spencer Abraham (R) for Senate 2000 Michigan United States Senate election