2006 United States Senate election in Florida

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2006 United States Senate election in Florida
Flag of Florida.svg
←  2000 November 7, 2006 2012  →
  Bill Nelson.jpg Katherine Harris (R-FL) (cropped).jpeg
Nominee Bill Nelson Katherine Harris
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote2,890,5481,826,127
Percentage60.30%38.10%
2006 United States Senate election in Florida results map by county.svg
County results
Nelson:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Harris:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
U.S. senator before election

Bill Nelson
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Bill Nelson
Democratic

The 2006 United States Senate election in Florida was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson won re-election to a second term.

Contents

Background

During the Terri Schiavo case in March 2005, a talking points memo on the controversy was written by Brian Darling, the legal counsel to Republican Senator Mel Martínez of Florida. [1] The memo suggested the Schiavo case offered "a great political issue" that would appeal to the party's base (core supporters) and could be used against Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida who was up for reelection in 2006, because he had refused to co-sponsor the bill which came to be known as the Palm Sunday Compromise. [2] Bill Nelson was nevertheless reelected as Senator on November 7, 2006, with 60% of the vote.

Florida was one of five Democratic-held Senate seats up for election in a state that George W. Bush won in the 2004 presidential election.

Republican primary

Candidates

Endorsements

Polling

Poll SourceDateLeRoy
Collins Jr.		Katherine
Harris		Will
McBride		Peter
Monroe
Strategic Vision [9] July 26, 20069%45%22%7%
Mason-Dixon [10] July 26, 20068%36%11%2%
Quinnipiac [11] July 27, 20066%40%21%3%
Scroth Eldon & Associates [12] August 11, 20069%28%11%5%
SurveyUSA [13] August 24, 200620%43%15%7%
Strategic Vision [14] August 30, 200619%38%21%5%
Quinnipiac [15] August 31, 200611%38%22%3%
SurveyUSA [16] August 31, 200612%45%22%5%
Mason-Dixon [17] September 2, 200617%38%21%2%
Primary ResultsSeptember 5, 200615%49%30%5%
Republican Primary results by county .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} Harris 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% McBride 30-40% 2006 US Senate Republican Primary in Florida by county.svg
Republican Primary results by county
  Harris
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  McBride
  •   30–40%

Results

Republican primary results [18]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Katherine Harris 474,871 49.4
Republican Will McBride287,74130.0
Republican LeRoy Collins Jr. 146,71215.3
Republican Peter Monroe 51,3305.3
Total votes960,654 100.0

General election

Candidates

Campaign

The organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which monitors political corruption, complained to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in October 2006 that the Bacardi beverage company had illegally used corporate resources in support of a fundraising event for Nelson in 2005. CREW had previously filed a similar complaint concerning a Bacardi fundraising event for Republican Senator Mel Martinez, an event that raised as much as $60,000 for Martinez's campaign. The amended complaint alleged that, on both occasions, Bacardi violated the Federal Election Campaign Act and FEC regulations by soliciting contributions from a list of the corporation's vendors. [19]

Endorsements

In a rare move, all twenty-two of Florida's daily newspapers supported Nelson, while none supported Harris in the general election. [20]

Debates

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [36] Solid DNovember 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball [37] Safe DNovember 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report [38] Safe DNovember 6, 2006
Real Clear Politics [39] Safe DNovember 6, 2006

Polling

Graphical summary

%support2030405060702021/02/282022/07/312022/11/2 00:00HarrisNelsonUndecided/OtherOpinion polling for the 2006 United States S...
View source data.
Poll SourceDateBill
Nelson (D)		Katherine
Harris (R)
Strategic Vision (R) [40] July 20, 200548%40%
Strategic Vision (R) [41] August 21, 200547%38%
Quinnipiac [42] August 31, 200557%33%
Strategic Vision (R) [43] September 22, 200548%36%
Rasmussen [44] November 14, 200553%36%
Quinnipiac [45] November 15, 200555%31%
Strategic Vision (R) [46] November 30, 200548%32%
Rasmussen [47] January 5, 200654%31%
Rasmussen [48] February 14, 200649%40%
Strategic Vision (R) [49] February 22, 200649%34%
Quinnipiac [50] February 24, 200653%31%
University of North Florida [51] March 15, 200648%28%
Mason-Dixon [52] March 29, 200651%35%
Strategic Vision (R) [53] March 30, 200656%28%
Zogby/WSJ [54] March 31, 200650%37%
Rasmussen [55] April 14, 200657%27%
Quinnipiac [56] April 20, 200656%27%
Strategic Vision (R) [57] April 26, 200656%24%
Rasmussen [58] May 22, 200660%33%
Strategic Vision (R) [59] May 25, 200656%26%
Quinnipiac [60] May 25, 200658%25%
Zogby/WSJ [61] June 21, 200651%33%
Strategic Vision (R) [62] June 28, 200661%26%
Quinnipiac [63] June 30, 200659%26%
Zogby/WSJ [61] July 24, 200655%34%
Strategic Vision (R) [64] July 26, 200660%22%
Mason-Dixon [10] July 26, 200657%29%
Quinnipiac [65] July 27, 200661%24%
Rasmussen [66] July 28, 200661%33%
St. Petersburg Times [67] August 11, 200660%25%
Zogby/WSJ [68] August 28, 200652%32%
Strategic Vision (R) [69] August 30, 200663%20%
Rasmussen [70] September 5, 200657%34%
Zogby/WSJ [68] September 11, 200651%33%
SurveyUSA [71] September 14, 200653%38%
Mason-Dixon [72] September 20–22, 200653%35%
Strategic Vision (R) [73] September 27, 200659%31%
Rasmussen [74] September 27, 200656%33%
Rasmussen [75] October 4, 200654%37%
SurveyUSA [76] October 10, 200655%37%
Quinnipiac [77] October 11, 200661%33%
Mason-Dixon [78] October 16–17, 200657%31%
Strategic Vision (R) [79] October 25, 200658%35%
Quinnipiac [80] October 25, 200664%29%
St. Petersburg Times [81] October 28, 200656%30%
Strategic Vision (R) [82] November 2, 200659%33%
Mason-Dixon [83] November 3, 200658%34%
SurveyUSA [84] November 5, 200659%36%

Results

As expected, Nelson was easily reelected. He won with 60.3% of the vote winning by 1,064,421 votes or 22.2%, and carried 57 of Florida's 67 counties. Nelson was projected the winner almost immediately when the polls closed at 7 P.M. EST.

General election results
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Bill Nelson (incumbent) 2,890,548 60.30% +9.26%
Republican Katherine Harris 1,826,12738.10%−8.09%
Independent Belinda Noah24,8800.52%n/a
Independent Brian Moore 19,6950.41%n/a
Independent Floyd Ray Frazier16,6280.35%n/a
Independent Roy Tanner15,5620.32%n/a
Write-in 940.00%n/a
Majority 1,064,42122.21%+17.36%
Turnout 4,793,534
Democratic hold Swing

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Senator's office produced Schiavo memo". Associated Press. April 6, 2005 – via NBC News.
  2. ↑ "The Seattle Times: Nation & World: GOP memo says issue offers political rewards". The Washington Post. April 4, 2005. Archived from the original on January 27, 2007 – via The Seattle Times.
  3. ↑ "Orlando Sentinel - Central Florida Political Pulse: Florida Senate race archives". blogs.orlandosentinel.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2006.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ U.S. SENATE: It's a toss up | Jacksonville.com
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/nation/epaper/2006/08/25/a9a_endorse_0825.html [ dead link ]
  7. ↑ 404 | MiamiHerald.com [ dead link ]
  8. ↑ Topic Galleries - OrlandoSentinel.com [ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ Strategic Vision
  10. 1 2 Mason-Dixon
  11. ↑ Quinnipiac
  12. ↑ Scroth Eldon & Associates
  13. ↑ SurveyUSA
  14. ↑ Strategic Vision
  15. ↑ Quinnipiac
  16. ↑ SurveyUSA
  17. ↑ Mason-Dixon [ permanent dead link ]
  18. ↑ "Official Results September 5, 2006 Republican Primary Election". Florida Department of State. September 5, 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  19. ↑ "CREW FILES AMENDED FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST BACARDI USA AND MARTINEZ FOR SENATE". Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  20. ↑ Harris, Nelson tout testimonials
  21. 1 2 3 4 "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on December 13, 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  22. ↑ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
  23. ↑ U.S. SENATE: Nelson the best choice | Jacksonville.com
  24. ↑ The News Press Endorsement Recap
  25. ↑ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
  26. ↑ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2006.
  27. ↑ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on November 1, 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2006.
  28. ↑ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 11, 2006. Retrieved October 11, 2006.
  29. ↑ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on November 1, 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2006.
  30. ↑ Nelson for U.S. Senate
  31. ↑ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
  32. ↑ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
  33. ↑ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2006.
  34. ↑ Tallahassee Democrat - www.tallahassee.com - Tallahassee, FL
  35. ↑ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
  36. ↑ "2006 Senate Race Ratings for November 6, 2006" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  37. ↑ "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 6, 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  38. ↑ "2006 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  39. ↑ "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  40. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  41. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  42. ↑ Quinnipiac
  43. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  44. ↑ Rasmussen Archived November 24, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  45. ↑ Quinnipiac
  46. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  47. ↑ Rasmussen
  48. ↑ Rasmussen
  49. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  50. ↑ Quinnipiac
  51. ↑ University of North Florida
  52. ↑ Mason-Dixon [ permanent dead link ]
  53. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  54. ↑ Zogby/WSJ
  55. ↑ Rasmussen
  56. ↑ Quinnipiac
  57. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  58. ↑ Rasmussen
  59. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  60. ↑ Quinnipiac
  61. 1 2 Zogby/WSJ
  62. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  63. ↑ Quinnipiac
  64. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  65. ↑ Quinnipiac
  66. ↑ Rasmussen Archived September 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  67. ↑ St. Petersburg Times
  68. 1 2 Zogby/WSJ
  69. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  70. ↑ Rasmussen
  71. ↑ SurveyUSA
  72. ↑ Mason-Dixon
  73. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  74. ↑ Rasmussen
  75. ↑ Rasmussen
  76. ↑ SurveyUSA
  77. ↑ Quinnipiac
  78. ↑ Mason-Dixon
  79. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  80. ↑ Quinnipiac
  81. ↑ St. Petersburg Times
  82. ↑ Strategic Vision (R)
  83. ↑ Mason-Dixon
  84. ↑ SurveyUSA

Debates

Campaign Websites (Archived)

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