Barry Goldwater - Political Career

Political Career

Goldwater entered Phoenix politics in 1949 when he was elected to the City Council as part of a nonpartisan group of candidates who focused on "cleaning up" widespread prostitution and gambling. As a Republican he won a seat in the US Senate in 1952, when he upset veteran Democrat and Senate majority leader Ernest McFarland. He defeated McFarland again in 1958, with a strong showing in his first reelection in a year in which the Democrats picked up 13 seats in the Senate. He stepped down from the Senate in 1964 for his presidential campaign.