United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2006
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County Results Klobuchar: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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The 2006 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 7, 2006. The incumbent DFL U.S. Senator Mark Dayton decided in February 2005 that he would retire instead of seeking a second term. The primary elections took place on September 12, 2006. DFL nominee Amy Klobuchar won the open seat.
DFL primary
Candidates
- Amy Klobuchar, Hennepin County Attorney
- Darryl Stanton, businessman
Campaign
Klobuchar gained the early endorsement of the majority of DFL state legislators in Minnesota. A poll taken of DFL state delegates showed Klobuchar beating her then closest opponent, Patty Wetterling, 66% to 15%. As of June 30, 2005, Klobuchar had more cash on hand than any other candidate, nearly $1,100,000.
Klobuchar was endorsed by EMILY's List on September 29, 2005. On January 20, 2006, Wetterling dropped out of the race and endorsed Klobuchar.
Former Senate candidate and prominent lawyer Mike Ciresi, who was widely seen as the only other serious potential DFL candidate, indicated on February 7, 2006 that he would not enter the race. That removal of her most significant potential competitor for the DFL nomination was viewed as an important boost for Klobuchar.
The only other serious candidate for the DFL endorsement was veterinarian Ford Bell. Klobuchar won the official DFL endorsement on June 9, 2006. Bell dropped out of the race on July 10 citing inability to compete financially and also endorsed Klobuchar.
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
DFL | Amy Klobuchar | 294,671 | 92.51 | |
DFL | Darryl Stanton | 23,872 | 7.49 | |
Total votes | 318,543 | 100.00 |
Republican primary
Candidates
- Mark Kennedy, U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 6th congressional district
- Harold Shudlick, military veteran
- John Ulrich, military veteran
Campaign
Kennedy had faced potential challenges from former U.S. Senator Rod Grams, as well as U.S. Representative Gil Gutknecht, but both men were persuaded by national GOP leaders to run for the House instead. (Grams lost to Representative James Oberstar, while Gutknecht lost his reelection bid to Tim Walz.)
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Mark Kennedy | 147,091 | 90.21 | |
Republican | John Uldrich | 10,025 | 6.15 | |
Republican | Harold Shudlick | 5,941 | 3.64 | |
Total votes | 163,057 | 100.00 |
Independence primary
Candidates
- Robert Fitzgerald, public-access television executive
- Miles W. Collins
- Stephen Williams, salesman
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Independence | Robert Fitzgerald | 5,520 | 51.61 | |
Independence | Miles W. Collins | 2,600 | 24.31 | |
Independence | Stephen Williams | 2,575 | 24.08 | |
Total votes | 10,695 | 100.00 |
General election
Candidates
Major
- Mark Kennedy (R), U.S. Congressman
- Amy Klobuchar (D), Hennepin County Attorney
- Robert Fitzgerald (IPM), public-access television cable TV show director
Minor
- Michael Cavlan (G), nurse and independent journalist
- Ben Powers (C), quality control technician
- Peter Idusogie (I), businessman (write-in)
Campaign
Kennedy's routine support of President George W. Bush in House votes appears to be a central issue for Democrats in the senatorial campaign. In June 2006, allegations were made that many references to and photos of Bush had been removed from Kennedy's official house website; in rebuttal, Republicans said that there were 72 references to Bush on the website and that the changes noted by critics had been made some time ago, as part of the normal updating process. Ben Powers was the only ballot-qualified candidate not to be invited to appear on Minnesota Public Television's Almanac program, despite Mr. Powers' offer to fill the space left unfilled by Ms. Klobuchar's decision not to appear with Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Fitzgerald on the program. Green candidate Michael Cavlan appeared on the program twice during the 2006 campaign as a special guest.
Polling
After the release of the Minnesota Poll on September 17, 2006, showing Klobuchar ahead by 24%, Kennedy's campaign issued a statement from Joe Pally, the campaign's communications director. He claimed that the margin was exaggerated because of bias by the Star Tribune and that the poll "is clearly more about discouraging Kennedy supporters than on reflecting the true status of one of the most closely contested Senate races in the country.".[3] This press release came in the wake of news that the Republican party was scaling back funding for Kennedy's election campaign to shore up campaigns in states seen as winnable. Kennedy's campaign frequently accused the Star Tribune of bias in favor of Klobuchar, whose father was an editorial columnist and sports writer for the "Strib" until his retirement. As noted below, a subsequent poll by Rasmussen Reports showed a similar margin of victory for Klobuchar and the St.Paul Pioneer Press also showed Klobuchar with a 15% lead in September. Klobuchar ultimately won the November 7 election with greater than a 20% margin of victory.
Source | Date | Klobuchar (DFL) | Kennedy (R) | Fitzgerald (IPM) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rasmussen | December 23, 2005 | 48% | 41% | |
Rasmussen | January 28, 2006 | 43% | 42% | |
Rasmussen | February 28, 2006 | 45% | 42% | |
Zogby/WSJ | March 31, 2006 | 49% | 41% | |
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Poll | May 9, 2006 | 50% | 42% | |
Rasmussen | May 10, 2006 | 45% | 43% | |
Zogby/WSJ | June 21, 2006 | 49% | 41% | |
Rasmussen | June 30, 2006 | 47% | 44% | |
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune Minnesota Poll | July 16, 2006 | 50% | 31% | |
Zogby/WSJ | July 24, 2006 | 49% | 43% | |
Bennett, Petts, and Blumenthal (D) | July 24, 2006 | 48% | 30% | |
SurveyUSA | July 24, 2006 | 47% | 42% | 8% |
Rasmussen | August 7, 2006 | 50% | 38% | 5% |
Zogby/WSJ | August 28, 2006 | 50% | 42% | |
Rasmussen | August 28, 2006 | 47% | 40% | 8% |
Gallup | September 5, 2006 | 50% | 40% | |
Zogby/WSJ | September 11, 2006 | 49% | 40% | |
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune Minnesota Poll | September 17, 2006 | 56% | 32% | 3% |
University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute | September 21, 2006 | 52% | 36% | 7% |
Minnesota Public Radio/Pioneer Press/Mason-Dixon | September 25, 2006 | 52% | 37% | 1% |
SurveyUSA | September 28, 2006 | 51% | 43% | 2% |
Rasmussen | October 4, 2006 | 53% | 36% | 6% |
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune Minnesota Poll | October 15, 2006 | 55% | 34% | 3% |
Zogby/WSJ | October 19, 2006 | 50% | 43% | |
SurveyUSA | October 24, 2006 | 55% | 39% | 3% |
Rasmussen | October 25, 2006 | 54% | 39% | |
University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute | November 1, 2006 | 55% | 33% | 3% |
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune Minnesota Poll | November 4, 2006 | 54% | 34% | 4% |
SurveyUSA | November 6, 2006 | 56% | 40% | 2% |
Results
The race was, as expected, not close, with Klobuchar winning by an authoritative 20 point margin. Klobuchar did well in major cities, such as Minneapolis and St. Paul, while Kennedy only managed to do well in smaller, less populated counties. The turnout was high, although not unusual for Minnesota, as Minnesota ranks as one of the highest voter turnout states. Official turnout came in at 70.64%.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DFL | Amy Jean Klobuchar | 1,278,849 | 58.06% | +9.23% | |
Republican | Mark Kennedy | 835,653 | 37.94% | -5.35% | |
Independence | Robert Fitzgerald | 71,194 | 3.23% | -2.58% | |
Green | Michael Cavlan | 10,714 | 0.49% | n/a | |
Constitution | Ben Powers | 5,408 | 0.25% | +0.15% | |
Write-ins | 954 | ||||
Majority | 443,196 | 20.2% | |||
Turnout | 2,202,772 | 70.64% | |||
DFL hold | Swing |
See also
References
- 1 2 http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/20060912/ElecRslts.asp?M=S&R=all&P=A&Races=. Retrieved May 21, 2011. Missing or empty
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(help) - ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on January 12, 2011. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
- ↑ Mark Kennedy for Senate Archived October 4, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
External links
- Klobuchar's campaign website
- Kennedy's campaign website
- Fitzgerald's campaign website
- Powers' campaign website
- Pro-Kennedy weblog covering the MN Senate Race
- DFL website covering the MN Senate race
- Full list of U.S. Senate Candidates in Minnesota - From E-Democracy.Org
- Election results
- Debate, October 15