2006 United States Senate election in Mississippi

2006 United States Senate election in Mississippi

←  2000 November 7, 2006 2008 (special)  →

Nominee Trent Lott Erik R. Fleming Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 388,399 213,000 Percentage 63.58% 34.87%

County results Lott:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90% Fleming:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

U.S. senator before election Trent Lott Republican Elected U.S. Senator Trent Lott Republican

The 2006 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Trent Lott won re-election to a fourth term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Bill Bowlin, business consultant and Republican nominee for MS-01 in 1990
• Erik R. Fleming, State Representative
• James O'Keefe, businessman
• Catherine Starr, activist

Results

Democratic primary county results

Democratic primary results ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Erik R. Fleming	46,185	44.07
	Democratic	Bill Bowlin	23,175	22.11
	Democratic	James O'Keefe	20,815	19.86
	Democratic	Catherine Starr	14,629	13.96
Total votes			104,804	100

Democratic primary runoff results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Erik R. Fleming	19,477	64.99
	Democratic	Bill Bowlin	10,490	35.01
Total votes			29,967	100

General election

Candidates

• Erik R. Fleming (D), State Representative
• Trent Lott (R), incumbent U.S. Senator
• Harold Taylor (L)

Campaign

Lott ran for re-election without facing any opposition in his party's primary. While it had been speculated that Lott might retire after his home was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, he instead chose to run for re-election. Fleming is an African American, which represents 37% of the state's population. However, no African American has ever been elected to statewide office. The last black U.S. Senator was Hiram Revels, who was appointed and took office in 1870. Fleming got little help from the DSCC, which only donated $15,000 to his campaign. ^[3]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report [4]	Solid R	November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball [5]	Safe R	November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report [6]	Safe R	November 6, 2006
Real Clear Politics [7]	Safe R	November 6, 2006

Results

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Trent Lott (incumbent)	388,399	63.58
	Democratic	Erik R. Fleming	213,000	34.87
	Libertarian	Harold Taylor	9,522	1.56
Majority			175,399	28.71
Total votes			610,921
	Republican hold		Swing

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Coahoma (Largest city: Clarksdale)
• Jefferson Davis (Largest city: Prentiss)
• Hinds (largest municipality: Jackson)

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Washington (Largest city: Greenville)
• LeFlore (Largest city: Greenwood)

See also

• 2006 United States Senate elections

References

• Election Results

1. State Rec
2. Our Campaigns - MS US Senate-D Primary Run-Off Race - Jun 27, 2006
3. FOXNews.com - Fleming runs low-budget Miss. challenge of Cochran - Politics | Republican Party | Democratic Party | Political Spectrum
4. "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.
5. "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
6. "2006 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
7. "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.

Further reading

• Orey, Byron D'Andra. "Racial Threat, Republicanism, and the Rebel Flag: Trent Lott and the 2006 Mississippi Senate Race," National Political Science Review July 2009, Vol. 12, pp. 83-96