2006 United States Senate elections

The 2006 United States Senate elections were held on November 7, 2006, with all 33 Class 1 Senate seats being contested. The term of office for those elected in 2006 ran from January 3, 2007, to January 3, 2013. Before the election cycle, the Republican Party controlled 55 of the 100 Senate seats.

The Senate elections were part of the Democratic sweep during the 2006 elections, in which Democrats made numerous gains and no congressional or gubernatorial seat held by a Democrat was won by a Republican. However, Democratic incumbent Joe Lieberman in Connecticut was defeated in the primary and was later reelected as a third-party candidate; he continued to caucus with the Democrats. Because of this, this is the first time since 1970 in which a member of a third party, who is not an independent, was elected to the Senate. Independent Jim Jeffords in Vermont retired but was succeeded by another Independent, Bernie Sanders, retaining their presence in the Senate. Jeffords and Sanders both caucused with Democrats. Democrats picked 6 seats up by defeating Republican incumbents in Missouri, Montana, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Virginia, while holding open seats in Maryland and Minnesota. Republicans held their sole open seat in Tennessee. As of 2022, this is the most recent midterm in which none of the open seats flipped parties.

Following the elections, no party held a majority of seats for the first time since January 1955. The Democrats were able to control the chamber because the two Independents caucused with the Democrats. They needed at least 51 seats to control the Senate because Vice President Dick Cheney would have broken any 50–50 tie in favor of the Republicans. This was the only time between 1990 and 2022 that Democrats gained Senate seats in a midterm.

, this was the last time a Democrat won a Senate election in Nebraska, the last time a Democrat did not win a seat in Connecticut, and the last time that the tipping point state was decided by under 1%, with Jim Webb of Virginia winning by a margin of under 0.4%.

Results summary

{| style="width:40em; text-align:center;"

|+ ↓

|- style="color:white;"

| style="background:; width:49%;" | 49

| style="background:; color:black; width:2%;" | 2

| style="background:; width:49%;" | 49

{| style="width:40em; text-align:center;"

| style="width:49%;color:"| Democratic

| Independent

| style="width:49%;color:"| Republican

<onlyinclude>Summary of the November 7, 2006, United States Senate election results

{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center

! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Parties

| style="background-color:" |

! rowspan=2 | Total

! Republican

! Democratic

! Independent

! Libertarian

! Green

! Independence

! Constitution

! Others

! colspan=2 | Before these elections

! | 55

! 44

! 1

! —

! 100

! rowspan=3 style="background:#cccccc" | Not Up

! Total

| 40

| | 27

| —

! 67

! style="background:#dddddd" |

| | 21

| 12

| 0

| —

! 33

! style="background:#dddddd" |

| | 19

| 15

| 0

| —

! 34

! style="background:#cccccc" | Up

! style="background:#dddddd" | Class 1

| 15

| | 17

| 1

| —

! 33

| colspan=99 |

! rowspan=2 style="background:#cccccc" | Incumbent retired

| 1

| | 2

| 1

| —

! 4

| —

! 0

! rowspan=6 style="background:#cccccc" | Incumbent ran

! Total before

| 14

| | 15

| —

! 29

| 8

| | 14

| —

! 22

| colspan=2 | 6 Republicans replaced by 6 Democrats

| —

! 6

| —

! 0

| —

| colspan=2 | 1 Democrat re-elected as an Independent

| —

! 1

! Result after

| 8

| | 20

| 1

| —

! 29

! colspan=2 | Net gain/loss

| 6

| | 5

| 1

| —

! 6

! colspan=2 | Total elected

! 9

! | 22

! 2

! —

! 33

| colspan=99 |

! colspan=2 | Result

! 49

! | 49

! | 2

! —

! 100

| colspan=99 |

! rowspan=2 style="background:#cccccc" | Popular vote

! Votes (turnout: 29.7 %)

| 25,437,934

| | 32,344,708

| 378,142

| 612,732

| 295,935

| 231,899

| 26,934

| 1,115,432

! 60,839,144

! Share

| 41.81%

| | 53.16%

| 0.62%

| 1.01%

| 0.49%

| 0.38%

| 0.04%

| 1.83%

! 100%

Sources:

Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Elections
United States Elections Project at George Mason University </onlyinclude>

Change in composition

Before the elections

[[File:2006 United States Senate elections retirements map.svg|thumb|250px|Map of retirements:

]]

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

| | D

| width=50px | D

| | D

| | D

| | I

| | R

| rowspan=2 | R

| colspan=9 style="text-align:right" | Majority →

| | R

| | R

After the elections

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

| | D

| width=10% | D

| | D

| | D

| | I

| colspan=9 style="text-align:right" | Majority (with Independents) ↑

| rowspan=2 | I

| | R

| | R

|- valign=top

! Key:

{| class=wikitable

| align=center width=35px | D

| Democratic

| align=center width=35px | I

| Independent

| align=center width=35px | R

| Republican

Final pre-election predictions

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

! State

! Incumbent

! Last election

! Crystal Ball

! Rothenberg

! Cook

! Result

! Arizona

| | Jon Kyl

| | 79.3% R

| data-sort-value="53.3" | Kyl 53.3% R

! California

| | Dianne Feinstein

| | 55.8% D

| data-sort-value="-59.4" | Feinstein 59.4% D

! Connecticut

| | Joe Lieberman

| | 63.2% D

| style="background:" |

| data-sort-value="-49.7" | Lieberman 49.7% I

! Delaware

| | Tom Carper

| | 55.5% D

| data-sort-value="-67.1" | Carper 67.1% D

! Florida

| | Bill Nelson

| | 51% D

| data-sort-value="-60.3" | Nelson 60.3% D

! Hawaii

| | Daniel Akaka

| | 72.7% D

| data-sort-value="-61.4" | Akaka 61.4% D

! Indiana

| | Richard Lugar

| | 66.5% R

| data-sort-value="87.3" | Lugar 87.3% R

! Maine

| | Olympia Snowe

| | 68.9% R

| data-sort-value="74.4" | Snowe 74.4% R

! Maryland

| | Paul Sarbanes

| | 63.2% D

| data-sort-value="-54.2" | Cardin 54.2% D

! Massachusetts

| | Ted Kennedy

| | 72.9% D

| data-sort-value="-69.5" | Kennedy 69.5% D

! Michigan

| | Debbie Stabenow

| | 49.4% D

| data-sort-value="-56.9" | Stabenow 56.9% D

! Minnesota

| | Mark Dayton

| | 48.8% D

| data-sort-value="-58.1" | Klobuchar 58.1% D

! Mississippi

| | Trent Lott

| | 65.9% R

| data-sort-value="63.6" | Lott 63.6% R

! Missouri

| | Jim Talent

| | 49.8% R

| data-sort-value="-49.6" | McCaskill 49.6% D

! Montana

| | Conrad Burns

| | 50.6% R

| data-sort-value="-49.2" | Tester 49.2% D

! Nebraska

| | Ben Nelson

| | 51% D

| data-sort-value="-63.9" | Nelson 63.9% D

! Nevada

| | John Ensign

| | 55.1% D

| data-sort-value="55.4" | Ensign 55.4% R

! New Jersey

| | Bob Menendez

| | Appointed

| data-sort-value="-53.4" | Menendez 53.4% D

! New Mexico

| | Jeff Bingaman

| | 61.7% D

| data-sort-value="-61.7" | Bingaman 70.6% D

! New York

| | Hillary Clinton

| | 55% D

| data-sort-value="-67.0" | Clinton 67.0% D

! North Dakota

| | Kent Conrad

| | 61.4% D

| data-sort-value="-68.8" | Conrad 68.8% D

! Ohio

| | Mike DeWine

| | 59.9% R

| data-sort-value="-56.2" | Brown 56.2% D

! Pennsylvania

| | Rick Santorum

| | 52.4% R

| data-sort-value="-58.7" | Casey 58.7% D

! Rhode Island

| | Lincoln Chafee

| | 56.8% R

| data-sort-value="-53.5" | Whitehouse 53.5% D

! Tennessee

| | Bill Frist

| | 65.1% R

| data-sort-value="50.7" | Corker 50.7% R

! Texas

| | Kay Bailey Hutchison

| | 65% R

| data-sort-value="61.7" | Hutchison 61.7% R

! Utah

| | Orrin Hatch

| | 65.6% R

| data-sort-value="62.6" | Hatch 62.6% R

! Vermont

| | Jim Jeffords

| | 65.6% R

| style="background:" |

| data-sort-value="65.4" | Sanders 65.4% I

! Virginia

| | George Allen

| | 52.3% R

| data-sort-value="-49.6" | Webb 49.6% D

! Washington

| | Maria Cantwell

| | 48.7% D

| data-sort-value="-56.9" | Cantwell 56.9% D

! West Virginia

| | Robert Byrd

| | 77.7% D

| data-sort-value="-64.4" | Byrd 64.4% D

! Wisconsin

| | Herb Kohl

| | 61.5% D

| data-sort-value="-67.3" | Kohl 67.3% D

! Wyoming

| | Craig L. Thomas

| | 73.7% R

| data-sort-value="70.0" | Thomas 70.0% R

Race summary

Special elections during the 109th Congress

There were no special elections during the 109th Congress.

Elections leading to the next Congress

In these general elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 2007; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|- valign=bottom

! rowspan=2 | State

! colspan=3 | Incumbent

! rowspan=2 | Result

! rowspan=2 | Candidates

! Senator

! Party

! Electoral history

! Arizona

| | Republican

| 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! California

| | Democratic

| 1992 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Connecticut

| | Democratic

| 1988 1994 2000

| | Incumbent lost renomination, but re-elected as an independent. Independent Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Delaware

| | Democratic

| 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Florida

| | Democratic

| 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Hawaii

| | Democratic

| 1990 1990 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Indiana

| | Republican

| 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Maine

| | Republican

| 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Maryland

| | Democratic

| 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000

| | Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.

| nowrap |

! Massachusetts

| | Democratic

| 1962 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Michigan

| | Democratic

| 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Minnesota

| | DFL

| 2000

| | Incumbent retired. Democratic (DFL) hold.

| nowrap |

! Mississippi

| | Republican

| 1988 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Missouri

| | Republican

| 2002

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Montana

| | Republican

| 1988 1994 2000

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Nebraska

| | Democratic

| 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Nevada

| | Republican

| 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! New Jersey

| | Democratic

| 2006

| Interim appointee elected.

| nowrap |

! New Mexico

| | Democratic

| 1982 1988 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! New York

| | Democratic

| 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! North Dakota

| | Democratic-NPL

| 1986 1992 1992 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Ohio

| | Republican

| 1994 2000

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Pennsylvania

| | Republican

| 1994 2000

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Rhode Island

| | Republican

| 1999 2000

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Tennessee

| | Republican

| 1994 2000

| | Incumbent retired. Republican hold.

| nowrap |

! Texas

| | Republican

| 1993 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Utah

| | Republican

| 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Vermont

| | Independent

| 1988 1994 2000

| | Incumbent retired. Independent hold.

| nowrap |

! Virginia

| | Republican

| 2000

| | Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.

| nowrap |

! Washington

| | Democratic

| 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! West Virginia

| | Democratic

| 1958 1964 1970 1976 1982 1988 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Wisconsin

| | Democratic

| 1988 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

! Wyoming

| | Republican

| 1994 2000

| Incumbent re-elected.

| nowrap |

Closest races

In eight races the margin of victory was under 10%.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! District

! Winner

! Margin

| Virginia

| data-sort-value=-1 | Democratic (flip)

| 0.4%

| Montana

| data-sort-value=-1 | Democratic (flip)

| 0.9%

| Missouri

| data-sort-value=-1 | Democratic (flip)

| 2.3%

| Tennessee

| data-sort-value=0.5 | Republican

| 2.7%

| Rhode Island

| data-sort-value=-1 | Democratic (flip)

| 7.0%

| New Jersey

| data-sort-value=-1 | Democratic

| 9.0%

| Arizona

| data-sort-value=0.5 | Republican

| 9.8%

| Connecticut

| data-sort-value-1 | Independent (flip)

| 9.9%

Gains and losses

[[File:110th US Congress Senate.svg|thumb|375px|Senate composition following the 2006 elections

1 Democrat and 1 Independent]]

thumb|Results of the Senate elections by county

Retirements

Two Democrats, one Republican, and one Independent retired rather than seek re-election.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" | Age at end of term

! scope="col" | Assumed office

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Maryland

| |

| align="center"| 73

| align="center"| 1977

| |

! Minnesota

| |

| align="center"| 59

| align="center"| 2001

| |

! Tennessee

| |

| align="center"| 54

| align="center"| 1995

| |

! Vermont

| |

| align="center"| 72

| align="center"| 1989

| |

Defeats

Six Republicans and one Democrat sought re-election but lost in the primary or general election.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Assumed office

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Connecticut

| |

| align="center"

| |

! Missouri

| |

| align="center"| 2002

| |

! Montana

| |

| align="center"| 1989

| |

! Ohio

| |

| align="center"| 1995

| |

! Pennsylvania

| |

| align="center"| 1995

| |

! Rhode Island

| |

| align="center"| 1999

| |

! Virginia

| |

| align="center"| 2001

| |

Post-election changes

One Republican died on June 4, 2007, and was replaced by a Republican appointee on June 22, 2007. One other Republican resigned on December 18, 2007, and was replaced by a Republican appointee on December 31, 2007.

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col" |State

! scope="col" |Senator

! scope="col" |Replaced by

! Mississippi (Class 1)

| |

! Wyoming (Class 1)

| |

Arizona

Incumbent Republican Jon Kyl won re-election to a third term over Democrat Jim Pederson, real estate developer and former chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party.

California

Incumbent Democrat Dianne Feinstein won re-election to her third full term.

The Republican candidate was Dick Mountjoy, who had never held a statewide elected position, but had been a state senator for several years. Also running was Libertarian Michael Metti, Don Grundmann of the American Independent Party, Todd Chretien of the Green Party and Marsha Feinland of the Peace and Freedom Party.

Because California is a state that requires a large amount of money to wage a competitive statewide campaign, it is not unusual - as was the case for this race - for a popular incumbent to have no significant opponent. Several prominent Republicans, such as Bill Jones, Matt Fong, and others, declined to run, and a previous announced challenger, businessman Bill Mundell, withdrew his declaration after determining he would not be a self-funded candidate (like Michael Huffington was in the 1994 election).

On September 22, the Los Angeles Times reported that Mountjoy's official biography, as found on his campaign website, falsely asserted that he had served aboard the battleship USS Missouri during the Korean War—he'd actually served aboard the heavy cruiser USS Bremerton. A review of the ships' logs corroborated this and the website was quickly changed to reflect his service aboard the Bremerton rather than the Missouri. Mountjoy denied having been responsible for adding the incorrect information

Feinstein won the election easily. Feinstein won almost every major urban area, winning in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, and San Diego. Feinstein was projected the winner as the polls closed at 11 p.m. EST.

Connecticut

Incumbent Democrat Joe Lieberman lost the August 8 Democratic primary to cable executive Ned Lamont, a former Greenwich selectman. Lieberman formed his own third party and won in the general election to a fourth term.

Because Connecticut was believed to be a Democratic stronghold, Connecticut's Senate seat was considered safe to remain as a Democratic seat by political analysts, but Lieberman's continued support for conservative and Bush administration policies made him vulnerable to a Democratic primary challenger. Lieberman's critics objected to what they call Lieberman's lack of commitment to the Democratic party; his opposition to affirmative action; his opposition to a Connecticut state law that would require Catholic hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape victims; his membership in the bipartisan Gang of 14; his support of Florida governor Jeb Bush in the Terri Schiavo case; his initial willingness to compromise on Social Security privatization; his alliances with Republicans; and his attacks on other Democrats.

On March 13, 2006, Ned Lamont announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination. Lamont was more liberal than Lieberman, but he was not immune from criticism from within his own party. The New Republic senior editor and "liberal hawk" Jonathan Chait criticized Lamont's supporters by comparing them to activists who he felt "tore the party apart" in the 1960s and 70s.

Early polling showed Lieberman with as much as a 46-point lead, but subsequent polls showed Lamont gaining until Lamont took the lead just weeks before the primary. A controversy about a "kiss" Lieberman supposedly received from President Bush during the 2005 State of the Union address highlighted concerns that the senator was too close to the unpopular president to be a credible Democratic nominee. Lieberman released several campaign advertisements over the summer of 2006, seeking to connect himself to former President Bill Clinton and to portray Lamont as standing for little more than opposition to Lieberman. Lamont struck back against some of Lieberman's more negative ads with an advertisement produced by well-known political consultant Bill Hillsman. In Lamont's ad, a foreboding narrator says, "Meet Ned Lamont. He can't make a decent cup of coffee, he's a bad karaoke singer, and he has a messy desk." Lamont then chimes in, "Aren't you sick of political attack ads that insult your intelligence? Senator Lieberman, let's stick to issues and pledge to support whoever wins the Democratic primary."

From midmorning August 7 to well past August 9, Lieberman's official campaign site was taken offline; officials from Lieberman's campaign claimed, "dirty politics" and "Rovian tactics" on the part of Lamont's supporters, and more specifically, a sustained Distributed Denial of Service attack that, according to the Lieberman campaign, had left the site down for several days.

Tim Tagaris, Lamont's Internet communications director, denied the charge and attributed the downtime to the fact that the Lieberman campaign had chosen an inferior web host, or ISP, and was only paying $15/month to operate its site (in comparison to the $1500/month being spent by the Lamont campaign). On December 20, 2006, a joint investigation by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's office and the U.S. attorney's office cleared the Lamont campaign of the hacking accusations. A spokesman for Kevin O'Connor, the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, stated, "The investigation has revealed no evidence the problems the Web site experienced were the result of criminal conduct."

Lamont won the primary with 51.79% of the vote, as opposed to Lieberman's 48.21%. However, in his concession speech, Lieberman announced that he would stand by his prior statements that he'd run as an independent if he lost the Democratic primary.

In the Republican Party primary, Alan Schlesinger drew fire in July when it was revealed that he had been gambling under an alias in order to avoid detection as a card counter. Despite calls to withdraw from the race, Schlesinger remained in the race, ultimately becoming the Republican nominee when no other Republican challengers entered the race.

200px|thumb|left|Lieberman during his re-election campaign on a third party ticket

On June 12, Ned Lamont began running radio ads promising if he lost the primary to endorse Lieberman, challenging Lieberman to abandon consideration of an independent run by making a similar pledge. Lieberman refused to make this pledge; his campaign manager, Sean Smith said, "Are we going to support Ned Lamont? Ah, no!"

On July 3 in Hartford, Lieberman announced that he would collect signatures in order to guarantee himself a position on the November ballot. Both Lieberman and Smith said that Lieberman will run as a "petitioning Democrat" and would caucus with Senate Democrats if elected. On July 10, the Lieberman campaign officially filed paperwork allowing him to collect signatures to form a new political party, the Connecticut for Lieberman party.

Upon Lieberman's announcement, independent polls continued to show him favored to win a plurality or outright majority of the vote in a three-way general election (see below). The petition issue led to charges against the Lieberman campaign of political opportunism and lack of respect for the political process. Lieberman received strong support from many prominent conservative pundits and publications. "[H]is most vocal support came from places like The Weekly Standard, National Review, and Commentary Magazine; Sean Hannity, Bill Kristol and right-wing radio hosts cheered for his victory." Thus, "Lieberman was able to run in the general election as the de facto Republican candidate — every major Republican office-holder in the state endorsed him — and to supplement that GOP base with strong support from independents."

On August 9, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and DSCC Chair Chuck Schumer issued the following joint statement on the Connecticut Senate race:

According to The Hill, a Democratic aide to a high-ranking senator commented that Lieberman might be stripped of his Democratic privileges in the Senate. "At this point Lieberman cannot expect to just keep his seniority," said the aide. "He can't run against a Democrat and expect to waltz back to the caucus with the same seniority as before. It would give the view that the Senate is a country club rather than representative of a political party and political movement."

Lieberman won with approximately 50% of the vote, and served a six-year term from January 3, 2007, to January 3, 2013. Exit polls showed that Lieberman won the vote of 33% of Democrats, 54% of independents and 70% of Republicans. Lieberman won every county in the November general election.

Delaware

Incumbent Democrat Thomas R. Carper won re-election to a second term over a Republican Temple University law professor, Jan C. Ting.

Florida

Incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson won re-election to a second term over Republican congresswoman Katherine Harris.

The organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 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.

Nelson was easily re-elected, winning all but 10 of Florida's 67 counties and receiving 60.3% of the vote, winning by 1,064,421 votes or 22.2%. Nelson was projected the winner as the polls closed at 7 p.m. EST.

Hawaii

Incumbent Democrat Daniel Akaka won re-election to his third full term over Republican State Representative Cynthia Thielen.

Democratic congressman Ed Case ran against Akaka in the Democratic Primary, having stated that although he had the deepest respect for Akaka, Hawaii was in a time of transition with regard to the state's representation in Congress which required that the state elect Senators of the next generation to provide continuity. He warned the state would lose all clout in Washington if the state's two US Senators, both of whom were over 80 years old, left office within a short time of each other. If a Senator were to die, Hawaii election law requires that the governor appoint a replacement of the same party.

Hawaii's other Representative, Neil Abercrombie, and other Senator, Daniel Inouye, pledged their support to Akaka, who won the primary with 55% of the vote.

Maine

Incumbent Republican Olympia Snowe won re-election to a third term over Democratic activist Jean Hay Bright.

Snowe, who had been elected to both of her previous terms by approximately 2-to-1 margins, had never lost an election. Snowe won by a landslide even as Democrats won across the country due to her being a centrist Republican and having a very high approval rating in Maine. Meanwhile, her Democratic opponent in the 2006 election, Jean Hay Bright, had never been elected to political office.

Democrats' best hope for taking the seat was that Snowe would retire rather than run in 2006, but there was never any indication that she seriously considered not running for re-election.

The filing deadline for major party candidates was March 15, 2006. The primary was held June 13, 2006. Olympia Snowe was unopposed for the Republican nomination; Jean Hay Bright narrowly won the Democratic nod with 50.7% of the vote against Eric Mehnert.

Hay Bright announced her candidacy in May 2005. Hay Bright was previously an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination to the House in 1994 and the Senate in 1996.

The race had been called by FOX News for Snowe 23 minutes after the polls had closed. Snowe won re-election by a greater margin than any U.S. Senator that cycle except Indiana's Richard Lugar, who faced only a Libertarian opponent. Snowe won in all of Maine's counties, taking at least 60% of the vote in each region.

Maryland

Incumbent Democrat Paul Sarbanes, Maryland's longest serving United States senator, decided to retire instead of seeking a sixth term. Democratic nominee Ben Cardin won the open seat.

Kweisi Mfume, a former congressman and NAACP President, was the first to announce for the position, in March 2005. Ben Cardin, then a congressman since 1987, was the only other major candidate until September 2005, when Dennis F. Rasmussen, a former Baltimore County Executive, American University professor Allan Lichtman, and wealthy Potomac businessman Josh Rales entered the contest. Thirteen other candidates subsequently also entered the primary. As of August 2006, Cardin had raised more than $4.8 million and collected endorsements from a number of Democratic politicians, the AFL–CIO, and The Washington Post; Mfume had raised over $1.2 million and collected endorsements from the Maryland State Teachers Association, Progressive Maryland, former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening, the National Organization for Women, and Maryland Congressmen Elijah Cummings and Al Wynn.

Michael S. Steele, Lieutenant Governor and former chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, was expected to win the Republican primary, and the Baltimore Sun wrote the month before that he faced "only nominal opposition". Among a field of nine other candidates, the only Republican receiving significant media coverage was Daniel Vovak.