2006 United States gubernatorial elections

Election ratings

predictions table

Race summary

States

Territories and federal district

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. Minnesota, 1.0%
2. Rhode Island, 2.0%
3. Guam, 2.3%
4. Nevada, 4.0%

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Maryland, 6.5%
2. Florida, 7.1%
3. Alaska, 7.4%
4. Wisconsin, 7.5%
5. Maine, 7.7%
6. Oregon, 8.1%
7. Idaho, 8.6%
8. Texas, 9.2%
9. Iowa, 9.4%

Red denotes states won by Republicans. Blue denotes states won by Democrats.

Alabama

Main article: 2006 Alabama gubernatorial election

Riley:
Baxley:

Alaska

Main article: 2006 Alaska gubernatorial election

Palin:
Knowles:

Palin campaigned on a clean government platform in a state with a history of corruption. An October 15 CRG Research poll had the candidates tied at 43%. An October 28 Rasmussen Reports poll showed Palin leading Knowles by a single percentage point.

Republican nominee Sarah Palin was elected with 48.3% of the vote, a plurality.

Arizona

Main article: 2006 Arizona gubernatorial election

Napolitano:

Arkansas

Main article: 2006 Arkansas gubernatorial election

Beebe:
Hutchinson:

Democratic nominee Mike Beebe was elected with about 55.6% of the vote.

California

Main article: 2006 California gubernatorial election

Schwarzenegger:
Angelides:

Colorado

Main article: 2006 Colorado gubernatorial election

Ritter:
Beauprez:

Democratic nominee Bill Ritter was elected with 57.0% of the vote.

Connecticut

Main article: 2006 Connecticut gubernatorial election

|County results |220px |Municipality results}} DeStefano:

Florida

Main article: 2006 Florida gubernatorial election

Crist:
Davis:

Crist came out of the September 12 primary with momentum, but as the election drew closer, polls began to show a more competitive race. An October 23 Quinnipiac poll October 23 showed Crist's lead down to 2%. However, an October 26 Rasmussen Reports poll had Crist leading Davis 52% to 41%.

Republican nominee Charlie Crist was elected with 52.2% of the vote.

Georgia

Main article: 2006 Georgia gubernatorial election

Perdue:
Taylor:

Exit polls showed that Perdue won white voters (68% to 27%) while Taylor won black voters (81% to 17%). Perdue's 17% of the African-American vote was the highest showing of any Republican seeking statewide office in Georgia.

Hawaii

Main article: 2006 Hawaii gubernatorial election

Lingle:

Idaho

Main article: 2006 Idaho gubernatorial election

Otter:
Brady:

Republican congressman C.L. "Butch" Otter, a former lieutenant governor himself, was heavily favored to succeed Risch. On May 23 he easily won a four-way Republican primary, receiving 70% of the vote. In the general election, he faced newspaper publisher Jerry Brady, who was the Democratic nominee for the second consecutive gubernatorial election. Although Brady won the state's most populous county (Ada County, the location of Boise) in 2002, he was decisively defeated by Kempthorne statewide. He was expected to fare similarly against Otter; however, the race became fairly competitive, possibly due to a national trend towards the Democratic party.

Republican nominee Butch Otter was elected with 52.7% of the vote. Brady received 44.1%, making this gubernatorial election the closest in Idaho since 1994.

Illinois

Main article: 2006 Illinois gubernatorial election

Blagojevich:
Topinka:

An October 15 Rasmussen Reports poll showed Blagojevich dropping 4 points, to end with 44% and Topinka staying at 36%. An October 22 SurveyUSA poll had Blagojevich leading Topinka 44% to 34% with 8% undecided. However, an October 31 Mason-Dixon poll showed Blagojevich leading Topinka only 44% to 40% with 9% undecided.

Democratic incumbent Rod Blagojevich was re-elected. Green Party candidate Rich Whitney showed one of the best showings of a third-party candidate in the 2006 election. Whitney received 361,336 votes, or 10% of the ballot share. This made the Green party an official major party in the state of Illinois.

Iowa

Main article: 2006 Iowa gubernatorial election

Culver:
Nussle:

The Democratic nominee, Chet Culver, was elected with 54.0% of the vote.

Kansas

Main article: 2006 Kansas gubernatorial election

Sebelius:
Barnett:

Maine

Main article: 2006 Maine gubernatorial election

Baldacci:
Woodcock:

Polls consistently showed Baldacci with a small lead. An October 17 Rasmussen Reports poll had Baldacci with 44% and Woodcock at 34%. Meanwhile, a Voice of the Voter poll announced by WCSH on November 6, one day before the election, gave John Baldacci his smallest lead yet with only 36%, with Senator Chandler Woodcock 30% and the now leading independent Barbara Merrill 22%, more than doubling her share. Green Independent candidate Pat LaMarche polled at 11%.

Baldacci was reelected with 38% of the vote compared to Woodcock's 30%, with 21.55% going to independent Barbara Merrill.

Maryland

Main article: 2006 Maryland gubernatorial election

O'Malley:
Ehrlich:

A November 2 SurveyUSA poll had O'Malley leading Ehrlich 48% to 47% with 2% undecided. A November 3 Mason-Dixon poll has O'Malley and Ehrlich tied at 45% with 9% undecided. Democratic nominee Martin O'Malley was elected.

When Ehrlich unexpectedly beat his Democratic challenger, Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy in 2002, and became first Republican Governor of Maryland since Spiro T. Agnew, he was regarded by many as potential presidential candidate for 2008.

O'Malley defeated Ehrlich in the general election, 52.7% to 46.2%.

Massachusetts

Main article: 2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial election

Healey:
Tie:

On November 7, Deval Patrick was elected with 56% of the vote. He became the first African American governor ever elected in the history of the state, and just the second in the nation's history (the first was Douglas Wilder, a Democrat from Virginia, who served as Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994). Patrick was also the first Democratic governor of Massachusetts since Michael Dukakis left office in 1991.

Michigan

Main article: 2006 Michigan gubernatorial election

DeVos:
Tie:

Minnesota

Main article: 2006 Minnesota gubernatorial election

Hatch:
Tie:

An October 23 SurveyUSA poll has Hatch leading Pawlenty 45% to 44% and Hutchinson with 7% . A November 1 Saint Cloud Times poll has Hatch at 46% and Pawlenty at 36%. Republican incumbent Tim Pawlenty was re-elected.

Nebraska

Main article: 2006 Nebraska gubernatorial election

Hahn:
Tie:

Nevada

Main article: 2006 Nevada gubernatorial election

Gibbons:
Titus:

Republican nominee Jim Gibbons was elected with 48% of the vote, a plurality. Titus received 44% of the vote and Christopher H. Hansen, the nominee of the Independent American Party of Nevada, received about 3%.

New Hampshire

Main article: 2006 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

|x245px |County results |x245px |Municipality results}} Coburn:

New Mexico

Main article: 2006 New Mexico gubernatorial election

Richardson:
Dendahl:

New York

Main article: 2006 New York gubernatorial election

| Independence | Working Families Spitzer:
Faso:

Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer was elected in a landslide, winning 58 out of the state's 62 counties and taking 65.3% of the vote.

Ohio

Main article: 2006 Ohio gubernatorial election

|[[File:2006 Ohio gubernatorial election results map by county.svg|210px]]|County results |[[File:2006 Ohio gubernatorial election results map by congressional district.svg|190px|]]|Congressional district results}} Blackwell:
Congressman Ted Strickland won the Democratic primary with 79% of the vote, defeating state representative Bryan Flannery. The Republican primary, between Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro, was more competitive by far. Petro came under fire for switching positions on same-sex marriage and abortion, as well as allegedly taking business from lawyers who refused to give him campaign contributions. Blackwell and Petro also split over proposals to reduce state spending. Blackwell ultimately won the primary with 56% of the vote.

Blackwell was not a close ally of disgraced Governor Taft, but Taft's unpopularity still damaged his campaign. The negativity of the Republican primary also damaged Blackwell's general election campaign. In addition, in 2006 there was a nationwide trend towards the Democratic Party. An October 6 poll by Rasmussen Reports showed that Strickland led by 52% to 40%, a decline from September. By contrast, an October 12 SurveyUSA poll had Strickland leading Blackwell 60% to 32%.

Democratic nominee Ted Strickland was elected with 60.5% of the vote. He became the first Democratic Governor of Ohio since Dick Celeste.

Oklahoma

Main article: 2006 Oklahoma gubernatorial election

Henry:
Istook:

Oregon

Main article: 2006 Oregon gubernatorial election

Kulongoski:

Saxton:

Pennsylvania

Main article: 2006 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election

|[[File:2006 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election results map by county.svg|250px]] |County results |[[File:2006 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election results map by congressional district.svg|250px]] |Congressional district results |[[File:PA 2006 Governor Election By Precinct.svg|320px]] |Precinct results Rendell:
Tie:

Rhode Island

Main article: 2006 Rhode Island gubernatorial election

|County results |[[File:2006 Rhode Island gubernatorial election results map by municipality.svg|230px]] |Municipality results}} Fogarty:

South Carolina

Main article: 2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election

Sanford:
Moore:

South Dakota

Main article: 2006 South Dakota gubernatorial election

Rounds:

Billion:

Tennessee

Main article: 2006 Tennessee gubernatorial election

Bredesen:

Primary elections were held on August 3, 2006.

As of , this was the last time a Democrat won a majority of counties in the state, the last time a Democrat won any statewide race in Tennessee, and the most recent statewide election in Tennessee in which 88 of the state's 95 counties, including Knox County and Hamilton County, went to the Democratic candidate. Only Davidson, Shelby, Haywood, Hardeman, Houston, Jackson, and Lake counties have voted for a Democratic candidate in a presidential, Senate, or gubernatorial race since 2006, with Jackson and Lake only going Democratic once. Eight years later, Republican governor Bill Haslam won every county in the state when he won re-election. This marked a sharp political shift in Tennessee.

Texas

Main article: 2006 Texas gubernatorial election

Perry:

Bell:
Strayhorn:

Vermont

Main article: 2006 Vermont gubernatorial election

|x210px |County results |x210px |Municipality results }} Parker:

Wisconsin

Main article: 2006 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

Green:
Tie:

Wyoming

Main article: 2006 Wyoming gubernatorial election

Freudenthal:

Territories and federal district

District of Columbia

Main article: 2006 Washington, D.C., mayoral election

Guam

Main article: 2006 Guamanian general election

In the U.S. territory of Guam, in the western Pacific Ocean, Republican governor Felix P. Camacho was challenged by Democrat Robert Underwood. A former Guam delegate-at-large in the U.S. House of Representatives, Underwood had previously represented Guam from 1993 to 2003. The race was a rematch of the 2002 gubernatorial election in which Camacho handily defeated Underwood and won his first term in office by 10 points (see Politics of Guam). However, the race was significantly more close and competitive in 2006, with Camacho narrowly winning re-election by a 2-point margin over Underwood.

U.S. Virgin Islands

November 21, 2006 (runoff)

Notes

References

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