Hawaii United States Senate election, 2006

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2006 U.S. Senate election for the state of Hawaii was held November 7, 2006.

Incumbent Senator Daniel Akaka defeated a challenge in the Democratic primary on September 23, 2006, by U.S. Representative Ed Case. Akaka prevailed over Republican Cynthia Thielen in the general election.

Case had stated that although he has the deepest respect for Daniel Akaka, Hawaii is in a time of transition with regard to the state's representation in Congress which requires that the state phase in the next generation to provide continuity in that service. He had warned the state would lose all clout in Washington if the state's two US Senators, both of whom are over 80 years old, leave office within a short time of each other. If a Senator were to die, Hawaii election law requires that the governor appoint a replacement of the same party. [1]

Hawaii's other Representative, Neil Abercrombie, and other Senator, Daniel Inouye, pledged their support to Sen. Akaka. [2] Senator Barack Obama, popularly known as Hawaii's "third senator", also endorsed Akaka.

The winners of the September 23, 2006 Democratic and Republican* primaries competed head to head in the general election in November.

Contents 1 Candidates 1.1 Democratic Party 1.1.1 Lost Primary 1.2 Republican Party 1.2.1 Lost Primary 1.2.2 Other 1.3 Independents/Minor Parties 2 Opinion Polls 2.1 General Election 2.2 Democratic Primary 3 Election results 4 External links

[edit] Candidates

[edit] Democratic Party

• Daniel Akaka - Incumbent Senator

[edit] Lost Primary

• Ed Case - U.S. Representative, former state Representative & 2002 candidate for Governor

[edit] Republican Party

• Cynthia Thielen - State Representative. Thielen was appointed by the state Republican Party to take the place of Jerry Coffee, who withdrew but still won the primary.

[edit] Lost Primary

• Mark Beatty - Attorney, Linguist & Businessman
• Charles "Akacase" Collins - Political Unknown
• Jay Friedheim - Attorney & previous U.S. Senate Candidate (1998 & 2004)
• Eddie Pirkowski - Leader and Businessman
• Steve Tataii - Conflict Resolution Teacher & author of 3 recent books on Iraq War

[edit] Other

Jerry Coffee, a retired Navy captain, Vietnam War POW, and motivational speaker, withdrew from the race before the Republican primary; however, his name still appeared on the ballot, and he won the primary.

[edit] Independents/Minor Parties

• Lloyd "Jeff" Mallan (Libertarian) - Website Developer & Perennial Candidate

[edit] Opinion Polls

[edit] General Election

Source	Date	Akaka (D)	Theielen(R)
Rasmussen	August 11, 2006	58%	30%

[edit] Democratic Primary

Source	Date	Akaka	Case
Honolulu Advertiser/Ward Research	September 17, 2006	51%	38%
Rasmussen	August 11, 2006	47%	45%
Honolulu Advertiser/Ward Research	July 2, 2006	51%	40%
QMark Research & Polling	May 15, 2006	40%	38%

[edit] Election results

2006 United States Senate election, Hawaii
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Daniel Akaka (incumbent)	210,330	61.4	-11.5
	Republican	Cynthia Thielen	126,097	36.8	+12.3
	Libertarian	Lloyd Mallan	6,415	1.9	+1.0
Majority			84,233	24.6
Turnout			342,842
	Democratic hold		Swing

[edit] External links

• Daniel Akaka campaign website
• Ed Case campaign website
• Mark Beatty campaign website
• Jerry Coffee campaign website
• Cynthia Thielen campaign website
• Eddie Pirkowski campaign website
• Steve Tataii campaign website
• Lloyd "Jeff" Mallan campaign website
• HawaiiDemocrats.com - Election Resource Website