Although polls in the final weeks of the race showed the contest tightening, spurring a visit by President George W. Bush to support Musgrave, Paccione ultimately lost to Musgrave by just under 2.5% of votes cast—or under 6,000 votes out of roughly 240,000 — finishing closer than the previous Democratic challenger Stan Matsunaka who received 44.8% of the votes cast in a three-way race with Green Party Candidate Kinsey and Musgrave. In a three-way race that included Reform Party candidate Eric Eidsness, Musgrave garnered 45.61% to Paccione's 43.12%, and Eidsness 11.28% of the vote.