 While having majority support, it was fiercely opposed by Senator Mitch McConnell on free speech and partisan threat grounds, and it again fell victim to a filibuster and failed to gain cloture.McCain easily won re-election to a third senate term in November 1998, gaining 69 percent of the vote to 27 percent for his Democratic opponent, environmental lawyer Ed Ranger.Ranger was a motorcycle enthusiast whose Harley-Davidson was painted as the flag of Arizona and a political novice who had only recently returned from four years of working and living in Mexico.