2006 Arkansas gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2006 United States gubernatorial elections.

2006 Arkansas gubernatorial election

←  2002 November 7, 2006 2010  →

Nominee Mike Beebe Asa Hutchinson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 430,765 315,040 Percentage 55.61% 40.67%

County results Congressional district results Beebe:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Hutchinson:      40–50%     50–60%

Governor before election Mike Huckabee Republican Elected Governor Mike Beebe Democratic

The 2006 Arkansas gubernatorial election took place on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Huckabee was barred from seeking candidacy due to term limits set by the State Constitution in 1998, stating that the governor may only serve two terms in their lifetime. Democratic State Attorney General Mike Beebe, defeated Republican former U.S. representative Asa Hutchinson by a wide margin. This was the first open seat election since 1978. Hutchinson later won the governorship in 2014 when Beebe was term limited.

Democratic primary

Nominee

• Mike Beebe, Arkansas Attorney General

Republican primary

Hutchinson campaigning for governor in 2006

Nominee

• Asa Hutchinson, former administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, former U.S. representative from Arkansas's 3rd congressional district (1997–2001) ^[1]

Died

• Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, Lieutenant Governor ^[2]

Independents

Declared

• Rod Bryan, bass player for Ho-Hum and owner of Anthro-Pop Records ^[3]

General election

Debates

2006 Arkansas gubernatorial election debates

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Republican	Democratic
Key:  P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Asa Hutchinson	Mike Beebe
1	Oct. 4, 2006	KEZA KHBS KHOG Morning News of Northwest Arkansas	Craig Cannon	C-SPAN	P	P
2	Oct. 17, 2006	KARK-TV William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum	Bob Clausen	C-SPAN	P	P

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report [4]	Lean D (flip)	November 6, 2006
Inside Elections [5]	Likely D (flip)	November 2, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball [6]	Likely D (flip)	November 6, 2006
Real Clear Politics [7]	Lean D (flip)	November 6, 2006

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Asa Hutchinson (R)	Mike Beebe (D)	Other	Undecided
SurveyUSA [8]	November 3–5, 2006	549	± 4.3%	42%	51%	4%	3%
SurveyUSA [9]	October 22–24, 2006	572	± 4.1%	38%	58%	3%	1%
SurveyUSA [10]	September 25–26, 2006	493	± 4.5%	40%	55%	3%	2%
SurveyUSA [11]	August 27–29, 2006	538	± 4.3%	38%	51%	0%	7%
SurveyUSA [12]	July 14–16, 2006	509	± 4.4%	38%	48%	—	13%
SurveyUSA [13]	January 22–23, 2006	506	± 4.4%	45%	46%	4%	5%
SurveyUSA [14]	December 3–5, 2005	684	± 3.8%	44%	49%	4%	3%

Endorsements

Mike Beebe (D)

Individuals

• Wesley Clark, 2004 Democratic presidential candidate ^[15]

Results

Mike Beebe is inaugurated as governor of Arkansas.

Arkansas gubernatorial election, 2006 ^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mike Beebe	430,765	55.61%	+8.65%
	Republican	Asa Hutchinson	315,040	40.67%	−12.35%
	Independent	Rod Bryan	15,767	2.04%	N/A
	Green	Jim Lendall	12,774	1.65%	N/A
	Write-in		334	0.04%	N/A
Total votes			774,680	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic gain from Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Arkansas (Largest city: Stuttgart)
• Calhoun (Largest city: Hampton)
• Cleburne (Largest city: Heber Springs)
• Cleveland (Largest city: Rison)
• Columbia (Largest city: Magnolia)
• Franklin (Largest city: Ozark)
• Garland (Largest city: Hot Springs)
• Grant (Largest city: Sheridan)
• Howard (Largest city: Nashville)
• Independence (Largest city: Batesville)
• Johnson (Largest city: Clarksville)
• Logan (Largest city: Booneville)
• Miller (Largest city: Texarkana)
• Montgomery (Largest city: Mount Ida)
• Perry (Largest city: Perryville)
• Pike (Largest city: Glenwood)
• Prairie (Largest city: Des Arc)
• Scott (Largest city: Waldron)
• Sharp (Largest city: Cherokee Village)
• Stone (Largest city: Mountain View)
• Union (Largest city: El Dorado)
• Van Buren (Largest city: Clinton)
• Washington (Largest city: Fayetteville)
• White (Largest city: Searcy)
• Yell (Largest city: Dardanelle)
• Cross (Largest city: Wynne)
• Faulkner (Largest city: Conway)
• Drew (Largest city: Monticello)

External links

Official campaign website (Archived)

• Mike Beebe for Governor (D)
• Asa Hutchinson for Governor (R)
• Rod Bryan for Governor (I)

References

1. Archives, L. A. Times (March 13, 2005). "Hutchinson Announces 2006 Gubernatorial Run". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
2. "National Briefing | South: Arkansas: Rockefeller To Run". The New York Times. Associated Press. February 26, 2005. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved January 7, 2024.
3. "Independent candidate for Ark. governor campaigns on bike". AccessWDUN. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
4. "2006 Governor Race Ratings for November 6, 2006" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2008. Retrieved October 1, 2006.
5. "2006 Gubernatorial Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
6. "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 6, 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
7. "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
8. SurveyUSA
9. SurveyUSA
10. SurveyUSA
11. SurveyUSA
12. SurveyUSA
13. SurveyUSA
14. SurveyUSA
15. "Mike Beebe | WesPAC". November 4, 2006. Archived from the original on November 4, 2006. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
16. "Voices of Arkansas: A Report on Voting Trends in the Natural State" (PDF). Arkansas Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 21, 2017. Retrieved June 27, 2014.