Final campaign spending reports from the 2010 election season revealed desperation by ultimately unsuccessful candidates who loaned their campaigns large amounts of money, as well as aggressive spending by winning candidates who likely didn’t need it.

Many candidates who spent big and lost big this election cycle were bound by one thread — they’re Democrats.

Indeed, Democrats in several races outraised and outspent their opponents by tens of thousands of dollars while others benefited as much by independent spending aimed at helping their campaigns.

Republicans are targeting four Democratic-held seats in the 30-member Senate, a coup that would give them supermajority control for the first time in Arizona’s history.

Polling on Arizona’s statewide races has consistently shown GOP candidates on top, and Republicans are optimistic that the anti-Democratic mood sweeping the state and the country will give them total control of state government.

Only a couple of relatively competitive races stand between Republicans and their first sweep of Arizona’s six statewide offices since 1994, not including the Corporation Commission.

More voters in the state are shedding their party affiliations in favor of identifying themselves as independent, yet nonpartisan candidates are still having trouble gaining political traction.

If little things win elections, then Gosar’s campaign strategy may be right on target. The Flagstaff dentist has spent the past several months traveling across one of the most expansive and diverse congressional districts in the nation, sometimes making speeches, sometimes handing out campaign flyers, but mostly just shaking hands and assuring voters that he is one of them.

Kirkpatrick, who is counting on Democrats to vote for her despite her independent streak, has gone out of her way to appeal to independents and moderate Republicans who disagree with Gosar’s conservative platform.

Many Democrats view the attorney general’s race as their best chance of winning a statewide office in 2010, and national organizations from both sides have spent nearly $1 million in the final weeks of the campaign.

David Schweikert said he’s having more fun in this election than he’s ever had, certainly more fun than two years ago when Rep. Harry Mitchell beat him by 10 percentage points.

Sen. John McCain says he's hesitant to predict whether Republicans can retake the Senate, although he thinks it could come down to races in California and Washington state.