Elections

Rep. Jeff Flake beats former Surgeon Gen. Carmona in Ariz. US Senate race

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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Republican Rep. Jeff Flake will be the next senator from Arizona. Flake beat Democrat Richard Carmona in one of the nastier senate races this cycle.

Carmona, an independent turned Democrat, kept the race closer than expected, and the more competitive the race looked, the more personal it got.

The Flake campaign attacked Carmona, a former United States Surgeon General who served in the Geore W. Bush administration, as someone who has “issues with women” — trotting out Carmona’s former boss, who accused him of pounding on her door in anger in the middle of the night.

Carmona compounded that image when he jokingly said during a debate that the male moderator was “prettier” than CNN anchor Candy Crowley.

The two candidates spent the final weeks of the campaign sparring over an ad Carmona was running that featured Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl praising him during the confirmation hearings for his nomination to surgeon general.

Both Kyl and McCain endorsed Flake, however, and called Carmona’s use of their words “shameful.”

Flake will be the junior Senator from Arizona serving with McCain.

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