2006 United States Senate election in Florida
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 County results Nelson: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Harris: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Florida |
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 Government |
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.
Republican primary
Candidates
- LeRoy Collins Jr., retired naval officer and son of former Governor LeRoy Collins
- Katherine Harris, U.S. Representative
- Will McBride, attorney
- Peter Monroe, businessman and former COO of the Federal Housing Administration [1]
Endorsements
- The Bradenton Herald: Will McBride[1]
- Florida (Jacksonville) Times-Union: LeRoy Collins, Jr. or Peter Monroe[2]
- Gainesville Sun: LeRoy Collins, Jr.[3]
- Lakeland Ledger: LeRoy Collins, Jr.
- Miami Herald: LeRoy Collins, Jr.[4]
- Naples Daily News: LeRoy Collins, Jr.[3]
- Orlando Sentinel: Will McBride[5]
- Palm Beach Post: Peter Monroe[3]
- Sarasota Herald-Tribune: not making an endorsement
- South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun Sentinel: Peter Monroe[3]
- St. Petersburg Times: LeRoy Collins, Jr.[3]
- Tampa Tribune: LeRoy Collins, Jr.[3]
Polling
| Poll Source | Date | LeRoy Collins Jr. |
Katherine Harris |
Will McBride |
Peter Monroe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic Vision | July 26, 2006 | 9% | 45% | 22% | 7% |
| Mason-Dixon | July 26, 2006 | 8% | 36% | 11% | 2% |
| Quinnipiac | July 27, 2006 | 6% | 40% | 21% | 3% |
| Scroth Eldon & Associates | August 11, 2006 | 9% | 28% | 11% | 5% |
| SurveyUSA | August 24, 2006 | 20% | 43% | 15% | 7% |
| Strategic Vision | August 30, 2006 | 19% | 38% | 21% | 5% |
| Quinnipiac | August 31, 2006 | 11% | 38% | 22% | 3% |
| SurveyUSA | August 31, 2006 | 12% | 45% | 22% | 5% |
| Mason-Dixon[permanent dead link] | September 2, 2006 | 17% | 38% | 21% | 2% |
| Primary Results | September 5, 2006 | 15% | 49% | 30% | 5% |
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Katherine Harris | 474,871 | 49.4 | |
| Republican | Will McBride | 287,741 | 30.0 | |
| Republican | LeRoy Collins Jr. | 146,712 | 15.3 | |
| Republican | Peter Monroe | 51,330 | 5.3 | |
| Total votes | 960,654 | 100.0 | ||
General election
Candidates
Democrat
 |
- Bill Nelson, incumbent U.S. Senator
Republican
- Katherine Harris, former Florida Secretary of State and former U.S. Representative
Independents
- Floyd Ray Frazier
- Brian Moore, retired health care executive and former congressional candidate
- Belinda Noah
- Roy Tanner
Write-ins
- Alexander Grosholz
- Lawrence Scott
- Bernard Senter
Campaign
The organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which monitors political corruption, complained to the Federal Elections 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.[7]
Endorsements
In a rare move, all twenty-two of Florida's daily newspapers supported Nelson, while none supported Harris in the general election.[8]
- Bradenton Herald: Bill Nelson[9]
- Charlotte Sun-Herald: Bill Nelson[9]
- Daytona Beach News-Journal: Bill Nelson[10]
- Florida Times-Union: Bill Nelson[11]
- Fort Myers News-Press: Bill Nelson[12]
- Gainesville Sun: Bill Nelson[13]
- Lakeland Ledger: Bill Nelson[9]
- Miami Herald: Bill Nelson[9]
- Naples Daily News: Bill Nelson[14]
- Orlando Sentinel: Bill Nelson[15]
- Palm Beach Post: Bill Nelson[16]
- Pensacola News Journal: Bill Nelson[17]
- Saint Petersburg Times: Bill Nelson[18]
- Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Bill Nelson[19]
- Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers: Bill Nelson[20]
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Bill Nelson[21]
- Tallahassee Democrat: Bill Nelson[22]
- Tampa Tribune: Bill Nelson[23]
Debates
- Complete video of debate, October 23, 2006
- Complete video of debate, November 1, 2006
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[24] | Solid D | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[25] | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[26] | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics[27] | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
Polling
| Poll Source | Date | Bill Nelson (D) |
Katherine Harris (R) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic Vision (R) | July 20, 2005 | 48% | 40% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | August 21, 2005 | 47% | 38% |
| Quinnipiac | August 31, 2005 | 57% | 33% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | September 22, 2005 | 48% | 36% |
| Rasmussen | November 14, 2005 | 53% | 36% |
| Quinnipiac | November 15, 2005 | 55% | 31% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | November 30, 2005 | 48% | 32% |
| Rasmussen | January 5, 2006 | 54% | 31% |
| Rasmussen | February 14, 2006 | 49% | 40% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | February 22, 2006 | 49% | 34% |
| Quinnipiac | February 24, 2006 | 53% | 31% |
| University of North Florida | March 15, 2006 | 48% | 28% |
| Mason-Dixon | March 29, 2006 | 51% | 35% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | March 30, 2006 | 56% | 28% |
| Zogby/WSJ | March 31, 2006 | 50% | 37% |
| Rasmussen | April 14, 2006 | 57% | 27% |
| Quinnipiac | April 20, 2006 | 56% | 27% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | April 26, 2006 | 56% | 24% |
| Rasmussen | May 22, 2006 | 60% | 33% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | May 25, 2006 | 56% | 26% |
| Quinnipiac | May 25, 2006 | 58% | 25% |
| Zogby/WSJ | June 21, 2006 | 51% | 33% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | June 28, 2006 | 61% | 26% |
| Quinnipiac | June 30, 2006 | 59% | 26% |
| Zogby/WSJ | July 24, 2006 | 55% | 34% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | July 26, 2006 | 60% | 22% |
| Mason-Dixon | July 26, 2006 | 57% | 29% |
| Quinnipiac | July 27, 2006 | 61% | 24% |
| Rasmussen | July 28, 2006 | 61% | 33% |
| St. Petersburg Times | August 11, 2006 | 60% | 25% |
| Zogby/WSJ | August 28, 2006 | 52% | 32% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | August 30, 2006 | 63% | 20% |
| Rasmussen | September 5, 2006 | 57% | 34% |
| Zogby/WSJ | September 11, 2006 | 51% | 33% |
| SurveyUSA | September 14, 2006 | 53% | 38% |
| Mason-Dixon | September 20–22, 2006 | 53% | 35% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | September 27, 2006 | 59% | 31% |
| Rasmussen | September 27, 2006 | 56% | 33% |
| Rasmussen | October 4, 2006 | 54% | 37% |
| SurveyUSA | October 10, 2006 | 55% | 37% |
| Quinnipiac | October 11, 2006 | 61% | 33% |
| Mason-Dixon | October 16–17, 2006 | 57% | 31% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | October 25, 2006 | 58% | 35% |
| Quinnipiac | October 25, 2006 | 64% | 29% |
| St. Petersburg Times | October 28, 2006 | 56% | 30% |
| Strategic Vision (R) | November 2, 2006 | 59% | 33% |
| Mason-Dixon | November 3, 2006 | 58% | 34% |
| SurveyUSA | November 5, 2006 | 59% | 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 right when the polls closed at 7 P.M. EST.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Nelson (incumbent) | 2,890,548 | 60.3 | +9.8 | |
| Republican | Katherine Harris | 1,826,127 | 38.1 | −8.1 | |
| Independent | Belinda Noah | 24,880 | 0.5 | n/a | |
| Independent | Brian Moore | 19,695 | 0.4 | n/a | |
| Independent | Floyd Ray Frazier | 16,628 | 0.3 | n/a | |
| Independent | Roy Tanner | 15,562 | 0.3 | n/a | |
| Write-in | 94 | 0.0 | n/a | ||
| Majority | 1,064,421 | 22.2 | +17.4 | ||
| Turnout | 4,793,534 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
See also
- 2006 United States Senate elections
- 2006 Florida gubernatorial election
- 2006 Florida state elections
- 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida
References
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2006.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ U.S. SENATE: It's a toss up | Jacksonville.com
- ^ a b c d e f http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/nation/epaper/2006/08/25/a9a_endorse_0825.html [dead link]
- ^ 404 | MiamiHerald.com[dead link]
- ^ Topic Galleries - OrlandoSentinel.com[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Official Results September 5, 2006 Republican Primary Election". Florida Department of State. September 5, 2006. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
- ^ "CREW FILES AMENDED FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST BACARDI USA AND MARTINEZ FOR SENATE". Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
- ^ Harris, Nelson tout testimonials
- ^ a b c d "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on December 13, 2006. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
- ^ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
- ^ U.S. SENATE: Nelson the best choice | Jacksonville.com
- ^ The News Press Endorsement Recap
- ^ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
- ^ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2006.
- ^ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on November 1, 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2006.
- ^ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 11, 2006. Retrieved October 11, 2006.
- ^ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on November 1, 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2006.
- ^ Nelson for U.S. Senate
- ^ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
- ^ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
- ^ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2006.
- ^ Tallahassee Democrat - www.tallahassee.com - Tallahassee, FL
- ^ "Bill Nelson For Senate". Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ "2006 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
External links
- Debates
- Debate, October 23, 2006
- Campaign Websites (Archived)