John McCain
an elite senate candidate from Arizona who won 21 consecutive elections, consistently outperforming expectations
Republican
US SenatePresidentUS House
Electoral Grade
A
+109.0 pts
avg overperformance
Better than 91% of candidates6 graded races
Overperformance vs. state presidential baseline. Incumbents held to a higher bar: Senate/Gov −3 pts.
59
Races
29-30
W-L (49%)
+1.1
Avg Margin
1982–2016
Career Span
Best: +85.9 (2008 President)Worst: -56.1 (2004 Senate)
49%
Win Rate
+27.4
Avg Overperformance
21
Win Streak
34 yrs
Career Span
65.6M
Career Votes
Top 9%
Percentile
Evidence & provenance
Source owners
Certified contest returns, candidate career records, and Akashic Edge deterministic grading inputs.
Freshness
Rendered Apr 14, 2026 from the latest candidate, contest, and forecast tables loaded in Akashic Edge.
Boundary scope
Candidate-level profile spanning every contest recorded for this person in Akashic Edge.
Claim type
Deterministic summaries, calculated grades, and certified election history. No freeform AI prose.
Career Margin Trend56 races
Senate
President
Career Timeline
1,359,267
Candidate Votes
53.7%
Vote %
2,530,730
Total Votes
-13.0%
Margin
Electoral Performance
+23.8
Race Score
+26.8
vs. State Pres.
D+13.8
State Pres.
Key Insights
5 insights generated
Deterministic highlights from career record, margins, and standout performances.
Unlock with Pro$33/moGeographic Performance
59 races with county data
County-level results, strongest and weakest counties, and performance by county type.
Unlock with Pro$33/moCounty Results Table
Sortable, searchable table of every county result for each race.
Unlock with Pro$33/moDemographic Coalition Analysis
59 races available
Scatter plots correlating county performance with demographics: race, education, income, foreign-born.
Unlock with Insider$99/moOpponents Faced9 opponents
Barack ObamaDEM
21-3051 matchups · 2008–2008
Ann KirkpatrickDEM
1-02016 Senate(-13.0)
Rodney GlassmanDEM
1-02010 Senate(-24.2)
Stuart Marc StarkyDEM
1-02004 Senate(-56.1)
Ed RangerDEM
1-01998 Senate(-41.6)
Claire SargentDEM
1-01992 Senate(-24.2)
Richard KimballDEM
1-01986 Senate(-21.0)
Harry W Braun IIIDEM
1-01984 House
William E \"bill\" HegartyDEM
1-01982 House
Primary History
98 primaries
Primary election results, win rates, field sizes, and vote share.
Unlock with Pro$33/moSimilar Candidates
8 matches found
Candidates with the closest career profiles — same era, similar performance.
Unlock with Pro$33/moAsk the Historian
Curious about John McCain's performance?
Ask the Historian
Interactive AI-powered chat about John McCain's career, opponents, and performance.
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