2006 United States Senate election in Nebraska

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2006 United States Senate election in Nebraska
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←  2000 November 7, 2006 2012  →
  Ben Nelson official photo.jpg Ricketts, Pete 2013-11-04a.JPG
Nominee Ben Nelson Pete Ricketts
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote378,388213,928
Percentage63.88%36.12%
2006 United States Senate election in Nebraska results map by county.svg
2006 US Senate Election in Nebraska by Precinct.svg
Nelson:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Ricketts:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90%
Tie:      40–50%     50%     No data
U.S. senator before election

Ben Nelson
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Ben Nelson
Democratic

The 2006 United States Senate election in Nebraska was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democrat Ben Nelson won re-election to a second term, easily defeating Republican Pete Ricketts. Nelson won 63.9% of the vote to Ricketts's 36.1% Ricketts was later appointed in January 2023 to Nebraska's other Senate seat after serving as Governor of Nebraska from 2015 to 2023.

Contents

As of 2024, this remains the last time Democrats won any statewide election in Nebraska. This was the first election since 1978 that the winner was of a different party than the concurrent gubernatorial election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ben Nelson (incumbent) 92,501 100.00
Total votes92,501 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

Since Ricketts was a millionaire, he could finance his own campaign. His opponents could not raise enough money to keep up. Kramer raised $330,000 and Stenberg raised $246,000 in 2005.

Results

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{} Ricketts 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% Stenberg 30-40% 40-50% 50-60% 2006 United States Senate Republican primary in Nebraska results map by county.svg
Republican primary results by county
  Ricketts
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Stenberg
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
Republican primary results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Pete Ricketts 129,643 48.14
Republican Don Stenberg 96,49635.83
Republican David J. Kramer43,18516.03
Total votes269,324 100.00

General election

Candidates

Campaign

The primary election was held May 9, 2006. Pete Ricketts won the Republican nomination with 48% of the vote. Ben Nelson was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Nelson was elected in 2000 by a margin of 51% to 49% after serving as the state's governor for two terms. Nelson, considered the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, was the lone Democrat in Nebraska's Congressional delegation. This election was one of the most expensive in Nebraska history. In 2005, Ben Nelson raised $3.9 million for his re-election campaign. Pete Ricketts contributed $14.35 million of his own money to his campaign; he raised an additional $485,000 in contributions. The race also attracted national attention and generated several high-level campaign appearances. President George W. Bush appeared at a rally for Ricketts on November 5, 2006, in Grand Island, while then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama appeared at a fundraiser for Nelson and other Nebraska Democrats on May 5, 2006, in Omaha. However, he won re-election by a large margin.

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [3] Solid DNovember 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball [4] Likely DNovember 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report [5] Likely DNovember 6, 2006
Real Clear Politics [6] Safe DNovember 6, 2006

Polling

SourceDateBen
Nelson (D)		Pete
Ricketts (R)
Rasmussen [7] November 23, 200552%29%
Rasmussen [8] April 26, 200654%36%
Rasmussen [9] May 13, 200654%35%
Rasmussen [10] July 17, 200657%31%
Rasmussen [11] August 17, 200655%32%
Rasmussen [12] September 26, 200655%32%
Rasmussen [13] October 19, 200654%34%

Results

United States Senate election in Nebraska, 2006 [14]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Ben Nelson (incumbent) 378,388 63.88% +12.88%
Republican Pete Ricketts 213,92836.12%−12.70%
Total votes590,961 100.00% N/A
Democratic hold

Results by county

From CNN [15]

CountyBen Nelson
Democratic		Pete Ricketts
Republican		Total
votes
 %# %#
Adams 67.18%10,22232.82%4,99315,215
Antelope 57.54%1,55642.46%1,1482,704
Arthur 40.60%9559.40%139234
Banner 47.85%15652.15%170326
Blaine 54.95%15045.05%123273
Boone 65.23%1,66434.77%8872,551
Box Butte 68.23%2,48931.77%1,1593,648
Boyd 63.53%62236.47%357979
Brown 51.09%70648.91%6761,382
Buffalo 56.41%8,36743.59%6,46614,833
Burt 69.49%2,03430.51%8932,927
Butler 73.10%2,52726.90%9303,457
Cass 62.85%5,81937.15%3,4409,259
Cedar 66.34%2,60833.66%1,3233,931
Chase 49.05%79950.95%8301,629
Cherry 53.17%1,43646.83%1,2652,701
Cheyenne 46.18%1,45053.82%1,6903,140
Clay 64.47%1,66235.53%9162,578
Colfax 69.44%1,94730.56%8572,804
Cuming 63.45%1,95336.55%1,1253,078
Custer 58.88%2,88041.12%2,0114,891
Dakota 69.32%3,26030.68%1,4434,703
Dawes 57.42%1,70642.58%1,2652,971
Dawson 58.66%3,91041.34%2,7556,665
Deuel 48.70%39251.30%413805
Dixon 66.54%1,58933.46%7992,388
Dodge 66.70%7,95033.30%3,96911,919
Douglas 65.16%92,13334.84%49,257141,390
Dundy 61.16%57038.84%362932
Fillmore 71.49%1,78028.51%7102,490
Franklin 64.88%94635.12%5121,458
Frontier 65.34%82034.66%4351,255
Furnas 65.55%1,34734.45%7082,055
Gage 72.98%6,45127.02%2,3888,839
Garden 48.45%50051.55%5321,032
Garfield 59.09%54340.91%376919
Gosper 62.89%62237.11%367989
Grant 40.85%13459.15%194328
Greeley 75.99%80724.01%2551,062
Hall 61.52%10,37138.48%6,48716,858
Hamilton 59.36%2,66040.64%1,8214,481
Harlan 64.63%1,12435.37%6151,739
Hayes 57.09%28242.91%212494
Hitchcock 68.10%82431.90%3861,210
Holt 51.44%2,28848.56%2,1604,448
Hooker 56.23%18543.77%144329
Howard 69.16%1,80330.84%8042,607
Jefferson 71.41%2,26528.59%9073,172
Johnson 75.18%1,36924.82%4521,821
Kearney 58.76%1,61441.24%1,1332,747
Keith 48.79%1,58851.21%1,6673,255
Keya Paha 54.50%30345.50%253556
Kimball 46.42%75353.58%8691,622
Knox 63.65%2,05436.35%1,1733,227
Lancaster 70.07%60,30929.93%25,76286,071
Lincoln 61.23%7,66438.77%4,85212,516
Logan 52.51%19947.49%180379
Loup 64.36%24235.64%134376
Madison 54.61%5,73045.39%4,76210,492
McPherson 44.83%11755.17%144261
Merrick 63.24%1,92336.76%1,1183,041
Morrill 48.48%91251.52%9691,881
Nance 71.70%1,20628.30%4761,682
Nemaha 61.79%1,74538.21%1,0792,824
Nuckolls 66.98%1,37533.02%6782,053
Otoe 62.51%3,55037.49%2,1295,679
Pawnee 67.39%83532.61%4041,239
Perkins 52.97%66947.03%5941,263
Phelps 57.90%2,26942.10%1,6503,919
Pierce 55.99%1,37844.01%1,0832,461
Platte 62.97%6,66437.03%3,91910,583
Polk 62.92%1,43237.08%8442,276
Red Willow 70.60%3,01629.40%1,2564,272
Richardson 64.63%2,22635.37%1,2183,444
Rock 54.99%41345.01%338751
Saline 78.78%3,61521.22%9744,589
Sarpy 59.27%24,64040.73%16,93541,575
Saunders 67.62%5,39332.38%2,5827,975
Scotts Bluff 51.98%5,83448.02%5,38911,223
Seward 67.39%3,93032.61%1,9025,832
Sheridan 43.55%82056.45%1,0631,883
Sherman 70.99%1,01829.01%4161,434
Sioux 39.85%21660.15%326542
Stanton 53.92%1,06746.08%9121,979
Thayer 70.16%1,62729.84%6922,319
Thomas 53.12%17946.88%158337
Thurston 73.89%1,29626.11%4581,754
Valley 61.90%1,29038.10%7942,084
Washington 57.95%4,39442.05%3,1897,583
Wayne 63.90%1,96336.10%1,1093,072
Webster 67.36%1,16432.64%5641,728
Wheeler 65.72%25534.28%133388
York 57.50%3,11842.50%2,3055,423

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

[16] [17]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "U.S. Senate - Nebraska 2006 Primary Election Official Results". www.sos.ne.gov. Archived from the original on March 18, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  2. ↑ "U.S. Senate - Nebraska 2006 Primary Election Official Results". www.sos.ne.gov. Archived from the original on March 18, 2016. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  3. ↑ "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.
  4. ↑ "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. November 6, 2006. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  5. ↑ "2006 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  7. ↑ Rasmussen Archived January 3, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ Rasmussen
  9. ↑ Rasmussen
  10. ↑ Rasmussen
  11. ↑ Rasmussen
  12. ↑ Rasmussen
  13. ↑ Rasmussen
  14. ↑ "2006 Election Statistics". clerk.house.gov.
  15. ↑ "U.S. SENATE / NEBRASKA / COUNTY RESULTS". CNN . Archived from the original on December 21, 2006.
  16. ↑ "2006 Senatorial General Election Results - Nebraska". Dave Leip's election atlas.
  17. ↑ "2000 Senatorial General Election Results - Nebraska". Dave Leip's election atlas.
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