Maine United States Senate election, 2006

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The 2006 U.S. Senate election for the state of Maine was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Senator Olympia Snowe sought re-election to a third term and won it handily over Democrat Jean Hay Bright, with more than 70% of the vote. Concurrent Senate elections were held in 32 other U.S. states.

Snowe, who had been elected to both of her previous terms by approximately 2 to 1 margins, had never lost an election. Meanwhile, her Democratic opponent in the 2006 election, Jean Hay Bright, had never been elected to political office; Snowe was expected to be easily re-elected.

Democrats' best hope for taking the seat was that Snowe would retire rather than run in 2006, but there was never any indication that Snowe seriously considered not running for re-election. [1].

The filing deadline for major party candidates was March 15, 2006. The primary was held on June 13, 2006. Olympia Snowe was unopposed for the Republican nomination; Jean Hay Bright narrowly won the Democratic nod with 50.7% of the vote against Eric Mehnert.

The race had been called by FOX News for the Republican incumbent Olympia Snowe 23 minutes after the closing of the polls, based largely upon Hay Bright's poor performance against the popular Snowe. Snowe won re-election by a greater margin than any U.S. Senator that cycle save Indiana's Richard Lugar, who faced only a Libertarian opponent.

Contents 1 Candidates 1.1 Republican Party 1.2 Democratic Party 1.2.1 Lost in primary 1.3 Independent 2 Opinion polls 3 Election results 4 External links

[edit] Candidates

[edit] Republican Party

• Olympia Snowe, the winner and incumbent Senator first elected in 1994 and previously a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

[edit] Democratic Party

• Jean Hay Bright announced her candidacy in May 2005. Well-known in Maine for her decades of political activism, Hay Bright was previously an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination to the House in 1994 and the Senate in 1996. A writer and former investigative reporter with three books and hundreds of published columns under her belt, she is an outspoken pro-choice, anti-war, pro-labor, pro-environment candidate.

A former board member of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), Hay Bright owns and operates a commercial organic farm with her husband David Bright in Dixmont, Maine. She was a founding member of the Maine Progressive Caucus in 2004, and was on the original Board of Stewards for the Good Life Center, the last homestead of authors Helen and Scott Nearing in Harborside, Maine, serving from 1995 to 2003.

[edit] Lost in primary

• Eric Mehnert, an attorney with a legal practice in Bangor, Maine announced his candidacy in October 2005. His platform included: Initiating policies that strengthen and protect the employees and owners of small business while fighting excesses of corporate greed, such as exporting jobs overseas; continued learning opportunities and training programs for all Maine citizens, especially those displaced or just returning to the workforce; protecting the coastline and preserving working waterfronts; extending access to health care and prescription drugs, particularly for low income seniors and families; providing education from Head Start through college that prepares children to compete in the Information Age; developing a progressive environmental program insuring access to natural resources for all Maine's citizens, and at the same time ensuring maintaining the proper balance for all the forest users from the lumber industry to the environmentalists and the sports men and women who enjoy this priceless asset; Fighting for Civil Rights so that no person or population is disenfranchised; commitment to a strong defense policy, and maintaining the strength of the armed forces, while ensuring that troops are deployed only for legitimate national security and humanitarian issues, with actions which have a clearly defined mission, attainable military objective, and exit strategy; and exploring both renewable and alternative sources of energy.

[edit] Independent

• Bill Slavick (campaign site) - peace activist, retired journalist, and Army veteran

[edit] Opinion polls

Source	Date	Snowe (R)	Hay Bright (D)	Slavick (I)
Critical Insights	October 27, 2006	74%	14%	6%
Rasmussen	October 17, 2006	70%	24%
Rasmussen	August 21, 2006	68%	20%
Rasmussen	August 2, 2006	69%	22%
Rasmussen	June 22, 2006	66%	26%

[edit] Election results

2006 United States Senate election, Maine
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Olympia Snowe (incumbent)	398,723	74.4	+5.5
	Democratic	Jean Hay Bright	109,727	20.5	-10.6
	Independent	Bill Slavick	27,819	5.2	n/a
Majority			288,996	53.9
Turnout			536,269
	Republican hold		Swing

[edit] External links

• Snowe's official Senate site
• Snowe's campaign site
• Hay Bright's campaign site
• Mehnert's campaign site
• Slavick's campaign site

Preceded by: 2002 Susan Collins

Maine U.S. Senate elections 2006

Succeeded by: 2008