In the 2002 Michigan Senate race, the advantages of incumbency were difficult to overcome. Republicans failed to recruit three potential candidates, before finally convincing Andrew “Rocky” Raczkowski to run. Raczkowski's late start and his status as a “last resort” candidate made fundraising difficult and discouraged noncandidate groups from involvement in the race. Raczkowski's race was clearly not a priority for the state Republican Party or the NRSC. The less than $5 million spent in 2002 is in stark contrast to the almost $35 million candidates and noncandidates combined to spend in the competitive 2000 Michigan Senate race. The small amount of noncandidate group activity in 2002 was mostly limited to mail and telephone calls and mostly benefited Democrat Carl Levin. In the end, Levin beat Raczkowski by a margin of 23 percentage points.