United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 2006

United States Senate election in Pennsylvania, 2006

←  2000 November 7, 2006 2012  →

Nominee Bob Casey, Jr. Rick Santorum Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,392,984 1,684,778 Percentage 58.6% 41.3%

County results Casey   50-60%   60-70%   80-90% Santorum   50-60%   60-70%

U.S. Senator before election Rick Santorum Republican Elected U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Jr. Democratic

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v t e

The 2006 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Rick Santorum ran for re-election to a third term, but was defeated by Bob Casey, Jr. ^[1] Casey was elected to serve between January 3, 2007 and January 3, 2013. Santorum trailed Casey in every public poll taken during the campaign. Casey's margin of victory (nearly 18% of those who voted) was the largest ever for a Democratic Senate nominee in Pennsylvania, and the largest margin of victory for a Senate challenger in the 2006 elections. ^[2] When Casey took office two months later, he became the first Democrat sworn in for a full term in the Senate from Pennsylvania since Joseph S. Clark Jr. won a second term in 1962.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary was held May 16, 2006.

Candidates

• Bob Casey, Jr., State Treasurer, former State Auditor General and son of former Governor Bob Casey, Sr. ^[3]
• Chuck Pennacchio, University of the Arts history professor
• Alan Sandals, attorney

Declined

• Barbara Hafer, former State Auditor General and State Treasurer ^[4]
• Joe Hoeffel, U.S. Representative ^[5]

Results

Casey won a landslide victory in the primary. ^[6]

Pennsylvania U.S. Senate Primary Election, 2006 ^{[7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Bob Casey, Jr.	629,271	84.5%	N/A
	Democratic	Chuck Pennacchio	66,364	8.9%	N/A
	Democratic	Alan Sandals	48,113	6.5%	N/A
	Democratic	Others	1,114	0.1%	N/A
Majority			115,591	68.9%	N/A
Turnout			744,862		+1.3%

Republican primary

John Featherman, who ran against Santorum in 2000 as a Libertarian, had been expected to challenge him in the 2006 Republican primary. However, Featherman withdrew his candidacy after a GOP petition challenge because he did not have the necessary number of signatures to get on the ballot. ^[9]

Candidates

• Rick Santorum, incumbent U.S. Senator and former U.S. congressman for Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district (1991–1995)

Results

Santorum was unopposed in the Republican primary.

General election

Candidates

Major

• Bob Casey, Jr. (D), State Treasurer
• Rick Santorum (R), incumbent U.S. Senator

Minor

• Carl Romanelli (G)- rail industry consultant, and was removed from the ballot by a Commonwealth Court judge on September 25, 2006 following a challenge from Democrats for failing to collect enough valid signatures required of third-party candidates. He lost the appeal to the state Supreme Court challenging the required number of signatures, on October 3, 2006 ^[10] Carl Romanelli was ordered to pay more than $80,000 in legal fees stemming from his failed effort to make the ballot. ^[11]
• Kate Michelman (I)- former president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. She decided against running and tacitly endorsed Casey in March 2006 ^[12]

Campaign

Santorum's support for Arlen Specter

See also: Rick Santorum § Specter endorsement

Republican strategists took as a bad omen Santorum's primary result in 2006, in which he ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. Republican gubernatorial nominee Lynn Swann, also unopposed, garnered 22,000 more votes statewide than Santorum in the primary, meaning thousands of Republican voters abstained from endorsing Santorum for another Senate term. This may have been partly due to Santorum's support for Arlen Specter, over Congressman Pat Toomey in the 2004 Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. Even though Santorum is only slightly less conservative than Toomey, he joined virtually all of the state and national Republican establishment in supporting the moderate Specter. This led many socially and fiscally conservative Republicans to consider Santorum's support of Specter to be a betrayal of their cause. ^{[13] [14] [15]} However, Santorum says he supported Specter to avoid risking a Toomey loss in the general election, which would prevent President George W. Bush's judicial nominees from getting through the Senate. ^[16] Santorum says Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito would not have been confirmed without the help of Specter, who was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the time. ^[16]

Santorum's controversial views

In the Senate, Santorum was an outspoken conservative from a state with a history of electing moderates. This led many political commentators to speculate that his low approval ratings were due to some of his more controversial statements and opinions.

Among these controversies were his views on the privatization of Social Security ^{[17] [18]} and the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. ^[19] In addition, his involvement in the Terri Schiavo case was considered by many in his state to be out of place. ^{[20] [21]}

All this left Santorum in a precarious position throughout the race. On May 31, 2006, the polling firm Rasmussen Reports declared that Santorum was the "most vulnerable incumbent" among the Senators running for re-election. ^[22] SurveyUSA polling taken right before the election showed that Santorum was the least popular of all 100 Senators, with a 38% approval rating and a net approval rating of -19%. ^[23]

Santorum's residency

While Santorum maintained a small residence in Penn Hills, a township near Pittsburgh, his family primarily lived in a large house in Leesburg, a suburb of Washington, D.C. in Northern Virginia. Santorum faced charges of hypocrisy from critics who noted the similarities between his living situation and that of former Representative Doug Walgren, who Santorum defeated in 1990. Back then, Santorum had claimed that Walgren was out of touch with his district; these claims were backed up with commercials showing Walgren's home in the Virginia suburbs. ^[24]

On NBC's Meet the Press on September 3, 2006, Santorum admitted that he only spent "maybe a month a year, something like that" at his Pennsylvania residence. ^[25]

Santorum also drew criticism for enrolling five of his six children in an online "cyber school" in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County (home to Pittsburgh and most of its suburbs), despite the fact that the children lived in Virginia. The Penn Hills School District was billed $73,000 in tuition for the cyber classes. ^[26]

Casey's momentum

Santorum began his contrast campaign against Casey early, charging him with relentlessly seeking higher political office ^[27] and failing to take definitive stands on issues. ^[28] While these charges kept the race competitive, in late September and through October, Casey's campaign seemed to regain the momentum it had had throughout most of the campaign, as most polls showed Casey widening his lead after a summer slump. In a Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll, released on September 26, 2006, Casey was favored by 14 points. ^[29] An October 18, 2006 poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports showed Casey with a similar double-digit lead. In the Rasmussen poll, only 46% of voters surveyed had a favorable view of Santorum, while 57% of voters viewed Casey favorably. ^[30]

Negative advertisements

At least one of Santorum's television ads called into question his campaign's use of the facts regarding Casey and people who had donated money to the Casey campaign. ^[31] The ad, which aired in September, showed several men seated around a table, while talking amongst themselves and smoking cigars, inside a jail cell. While none of the figures, who were played by actors, were named personally, the narrator provided the job descriptions, previous donations to Casey, and ethical and/or legal troubles of each. The Santorum campaign later provided the names of the people portrayed. An editorial in Casey's hometown newspaper, The Times-Tribune , pointed out that all but one of the contributions "[was] made to Casey campaigns when he was running for other offices, at which time none of the contributors were known to be under investigation for anything." ^[32] In fact, two of the persons cited in the Santorum campaign ad had actually given contributions to Santorum's 2006 Senate campaign. Another of the figures portrayed had died in 2004. Political scientist Larry Sabato called the ad "over the top" and suspected that the fallout would hurt Santorum. ^[33]

Debates

• Complete video of debate, October 12, 2006

Polling

Source	Date	Casey (D)	Santorum (R)
Quinnipiac	February 16, 2005	46%	41%
Keystone	March 22, 2005	44%	43%
Quinnipiac	April 23, 2005	49%	35%
Keystone	June 6, 2005	44%	37%
Quinnipiac	July 13, 2005	50%	39%
Rasmussen	July 22, 2005	52%	41%
Strategic Vision (R)	July 31, 2005	51%	40%
Strategic Vision (R)	September 12, 2005	52%	38%
Keystone	September 13, 2005	50%	37%
Quinnipiac	October 3, 2005	52%	34%
Strategic Vision (R)	October 16, 2005	52%	36%
Keystone	November 10, 2005	51%	35%
Rasmussen	November 10, 2005	54%	34%
Strategic Vision (R)	November 16, 2005	51%	36%
Quinnipiac	December 13, 2005	50%	38%
Strategic Vision (R)	December 18, 2005	50%	39%
Rasmussen	January 15, 2006	53%	38%
Strategic Vision (R)	January 25, 2006	50%	40%
Keystone	February 9, 2006	50%	39%
Quinnipiac	February 13, 2006	51%	36%
Rasmussen	February 16, 2006	52%	36%
Mansfield University	March 7, 2006	45%	31%
Rasmussen	March 14, 2006	48%	38%
Rasmussen	March 29, 2006	50%	41%
Quinnipiac	April 6, 2006	48%	37%
Strategic Vision (R)	April 13, 2006	50%	40%
Rasmussen	April 20, 2006	51%	38%
Muhlenberg/Morning Call	April 26, 2006	46%	38%
Keystone	May 4, 2006	47%	41%
Strategic Vision (R)	May 10, 2006	49%	41%
Quinnipiac	May 11, 2006	49%	36%
Rasmussen	May 22, 2006	56%	33%
Strategic Vision (R)	June 15, 2006	49%	40%
Rasmussen	June 19, 2006	52%	37%
Quinnipiac	June 21, 2006	52%	34%
Strategic Vision (R)	July 20, 2006	50%	40%
Rasmussen	July 26, 2006	50%	39%
Quinnipiac	August 15, 2006	47%	40%
Benenson Strategy Group (D)	August 16, 2006	51%	37%
Strategic Vision (R)	August 17, 2006	47%	41%
Rasmussen	August 22, 2006	48%	40%
Keystone	August 24, 2006	44%	39%
USA Today/Gallup	August 27, 2006	56%	38%
Keystone	September 18, 2006	45%	38%
Rasmussen	September 20, 2006	49%	39%
Temple/Philadelphia Inquirer	September 24, 2006	49%	39%
Quinnipiac	September 26, 2006	54%	40%
Strategic Vision (R)	September 28, 2006	50%	40%
Mason-Dixon/McClatchy-MSNBC	October 2, 2006	49%	40%
Rasmussen	October 5, 2006	50%	37%
Zogby International/Reuters	October 5, 2006	48%	36%
Muhlenberg/Morning Call	October 8, 2006	46%	41%
Rasmussen	October 16, 2006	55%	43%
West Chester University	October 27, 2006	50%	39%
Rasmussen	October 28, 2006	55%	42%
Temple/Philadelphia Inquirer	October 29, 2006	54%	38%
Quinnipiac	November 1, 2006	52%	42%
Keystone	November 1, 2006	53%	38%
Reuters/Zogby International	November 2, 2006	48%	40%
Muhlenberg/Morning Call	November 3, 2006	51%	43%
Mason-Dixon/McClatchy-MSNBC	November 5, 2006	52%	39%
Strategic Vision (R)	November 6, 2006	52%	40%

Results

General election results ^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Bob Casey, Jr.	2,392,984	58.64%	+13.2%
	Republican	Rick Santorum (Incumbent)	1,684,778	41.28%	-11.1%
	Write-in		3,281	0.08%
Majority			710,204	17.36%	+10.5%
Turnout			4,081,043
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing	-24.4%

At 9:45 PM EST on Election Night, Santorum called Casey to concede defeat. ^[35]

References

1. James O'Toole. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Santorum in cross hairs for 2006 election." January 17, 2005. Accessed February 8, 2007.
2. Borys Krawczeniuk. The Times-Tribune. "Casey dominated like no one before." November 9, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
3. James O'Toole. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Voters Guide 2006: 2 battle Casey for Democratic U.S. Senate nomination." May 8, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
4. Bob Casey for US Senate. "Hafer endorses Casey for U.S. Senate." Archived October 17, 2015, at the Wayback Machine . June 7, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
5. Peter Jackson, The Associated Press. The Times-Tribune. Casey to seek Senate nominationl; Hafer and Hoeffel out." March 4, 2007. Accessed February 8, 2007.
6. Pennsylvania Department of State. Commonwealth of PA - Elections Information. Accessed February 8, 2007.
7. "PA US Senate- D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 22, 2011. 
8. "PA US Senate- D Primary". Our Campaigns. Retrieved December 22, 2011. 
9. Kimberly Hefling, The Associated Press. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Santorum's only GOP challenger bowing out of primary." March 16, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
10. James O'Toole. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Green Party hopeful is out; win for Casey." October 4, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
11. The Citizens Voice - Breaking News: Romanelli ordered to pay more than $80,000
12. James O'Toole. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Democratic long shots seek limelight." March 21, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
13. Jerry Bowyer (October 10, 2006). "Outside Santorum's Sanctum". New York Sun. 
14. Stephen Moore (April 15, 2004). "Santorum's Shame". National Review. 
15. Timothy P. Carney (November 1, 2009). "Betrayal in Pennsylvania". AFF's Brainwash. 
16. In Iowa, Specter endorsement haunts Rick Santorum
17. Maeve Reston. Pittsburgh-Post Gazette. "Santorum finds many minds made up on Social Security." February 22, 2005. Accessed February 8, 2007.
18. Americans United. "Americans United announces "Mobilization against Privatization." April 19, 2005. Accessed February 8, 2007.
19. The Associated Press. The Washington Post. Santorum breaks with Christian Right law center." December 23, 2005. Accessed February 8, 2007.
20. Tom Barnes. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Santorum defends Schiavo visit." June 18, 2005. Accessed February 8, 2007.
21. Page Rockwell. Salon. "Rick Santorum's Schiavo woes." April 25, 2005. Accessed February 8, 2005.
22. Rasmussen Reports. "Pennsylvania Senate: Casey by 23." May 31, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
23. SurveyUSA. "Approval Ratings for all 100 U.S. Senators as of 10/24/06." October 24, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
24. Brian O'Neill. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Santorum: Hoisted on his own back yard." May 25, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
25. Meet the Press with Tim Russert. "MTP Transcript for Sept. 3." September 6, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
26. Vera Miller (September 20, 2006). "Dems Press Cyber Cost Issue". Penn Hills Progress. 
27. RickSantorum.com. "Hey There, Hi There, Ho There." August 26, 2006. Accessed February 12, 2007.
28. Bill Toland. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Santorum, Casey go toe-to-toe in debate." October 13, 2006. Accessed February 12, 2007.
29. Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Casey leads Santorum among likely voters, Quinnipiac University Pennsylvania poll finds; incumbent's momentum has stalled." September 26, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
30. Rasmussen Reports. "Pennsylvania Senate: Santorum trailing by 13." October 18, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
31. RickSantorum.com. "Corner Bar." September 13, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
32. The Times-Tribune. "Santorum hurls the low hard one." September 15, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
33. Larry Eichel. The Philadelphia Inquirer. "Santorum ad impugns ethics of Casey 'team.'" September 14, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.
34. Commonwealth of PA - Elections Information Archived May 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
35. Carrie Budoff and Emilie Lounsberry. The Philadelphia Inquirer. "Sen. Santorum loses in a landslide." November 8, 2006. Accessed February 8, 2007.

External links

• Casey's United States Senate Website
• Santorum's Campaign Website (archived from November 2, 2006)
• Casey's Campaign Website (archived from November 16, 2006)
• On the Issues: Rick Santorum
• On the Issues: Bob Casey
• Washington Post Analysis on Senate Race