Minnesota United States Senate election, 2006
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The 2006 Minnesota U.S. Senate election took place on November 7, 2006. The incumbent, Senator Mark Dayton, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, announced in February 2005 that he would be retiring from the Senate after his first term ended in early 2007, thus leaving the seat open. Some analysts had predicted that this race would be the costliest and closest Senate election in 2006 (which turned out to be false, as the DFL candidate won with a 20 per cent margin).
The primary election took place on September 12, 2005.
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[edit] Candidates
[edit] Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Amy Klobuchar, the Hennepin County Attorney, 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 29 September 2005. On January 20, 2006, Wetterling dropped out of the race and endorsed Klobuchar. [1] [2]
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. [3]
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 and also endorsed Klobuchar.
[edit] Republican Party
Mark Kennedy was the U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 6th congressional district at the time, and was the GOP nominee in this election. [4]
Kennedy had faced potential challenges from former Senator Rod Grams, as well as 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.)
Ultimately, Kennedy faced only token opposition; he beat Harold Shudlick, a retired minister and Vietnam veteran and John Ulrich, a business consultant, teacher, and US Marine Corps veteran in the 12 September 2006 Primary Election.
[edit] Other political parties
- Ben Powers (Constitution) - conservative activist [5]
- Michael Cavlan (Green) - a nurse and independent journalist [6]
- Robert Fitzgerald (Independence) - a public access TV show director [7]
- Peter Idusogie (Independent) - a business consultant and 2004 DFL Congressional candidate [8]
[edit] 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. [9]
As of 13 October 2006, Ben Powers is the only ballot-qualified candidate not to be invited to appear on Minnesota Public Television's Almanac program.
[edit] Polling
After the release of the Minnesota Poll on 17 September, 2006, showing Klobuchar ahead by 24%, Kennedy's campaign issued a statement[10] from Joe Paly, 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."[1]. 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. As noted below, the most recent non-partisan poll by Rasmussen Reports shows a similar margin of victory for Klobuchar, and the election on November 7 showed a 20% margin of victory for Klobuchar. Kennedy's campaign has frequently accused the Star Tribune of bias in favor of Klobuchar, whose father was an editorial columnist for the "Strib" until his retirement. However, the St.Paul Pioneer Press also showed Klobuchar with a 15% lead in September.
[edit] Election results
| 2006 United States Senate election, Minnesota | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Amy Klobuchar | 1,278,849 | 58.1 | +9.3 | |
| Republican | Mark Kennedy | 835,653 | 37.9 | -5.4 | |
| Independence | Robert Fitzgerald | 71,194 | 3.2 | -2.5 | |
| Green | Michael Cavlan | 10,714 | 0.5 | n/a | |
| Constitution | Ben Powers | 5,408 | 0.3 | -0.1 | |
| Write-ins | 954 | 0.1 | 0 | ||
| Majority | 443,196 | 20.2 | |||
| Turnout | 2,202,752 | 70.6 | |||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
[edit] 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
[edit] See also
- United States Senate elections, 2006
- Minnesota gubernatorial election, 2006
- U.S. midterm elections, 2006
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| Preceded by 2002 Norm Coleman (R) |
Minnesota U.S. Senate elections 2006 Amy Klobuchar (D) |
Succeeded by 2008 Norm Coleman (R) |
