2006 United States Senate election in Nevada

The 2006 United States Senate election in Nevada was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican John Ensign defeated Democratic nominee Jack Carter to win re-election to a second term. This election was the only Senate election in Nevada where the incumbent Republican Senator was re-elected or won re-election since 1980 and the only Senate election in Nevada for this seat where the incumbent Republican Senator was re-elected or won re-election since 1952.

2006 United States Senate election in Nevada

← 2000November 7, 20062012 →
 
NomineeJohn EnsignJack Carter
PartyRepublicanDemocratic
Popular vote322,501238,796
Percentage55.36%40.99%

County results
Ensign:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election

John Ensign
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

John Ensign
Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Defeated in primary

  • Ed Hamilton, businessman

Results

Republican primary results[1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
RepublicanJohn Ensign (incumbent) 127,023 90.47
RepublicanNone of these candidates6,7544.81
RepublicanEd Hamilton6,6294.72
Total votes140,406 100.00

Democratic primary

Popular Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman had said in January 2006 that he would probably run,[2] but decisively ruled out a run in late April.[3] Going into the 2006 cycle, many top Nevada Democrats such as State Assembly speaker Richard Perkins indicated that the party would put more efforts into the gubernatorial election than into defeating Ensign.[3]

Candidates

Nominee

Defeated in primary

  • Ruby Jee Tun, middle school science teacher[2]

Declined to run

Results

Democratic primary vote[1]
PartyCandidateVotes%
DemocraticJack Carter 92,270 78.30
DemocraticNone of these candidates14,42512.24
DemocraticRuby Jee Tun11,1479.46
Total votes117,842 100.00


General election

Candidates

  • Jack Carter (D), Navy veteran and son of President Jimmy Carter
  • John Ensign (R), incumbent U.S. Senator
  • David Schumann (I), retired financial analyst, 2004 nominee, and 2002 state senator nominee
  • Brendan Trainor (L), state party chair, airline quality manager, and frequent candidate

Campaign

Carter's advantages included his formidable speaking abilities and kinship with a former U.S. President. On the other hand, Ensign was also considered to be an effective speaker and as of the first quarter of 2006, held an approximately 5-1 advantage over Carter in cash-on-hand.

Debates

Endorsements

Individuals

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report[4]Solid RNovember 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball[6]Safe RNovember 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report[7]Safe RNovember 6, 2006
Real Clear Politics[8]Safe RNovember 6, 2006

Polling

SourceDateEnsign (R)Carter (D)
Zogby/WSJMarch 31, 200652%38%
Las Vegas Review-Journal/Mason-DixonApril 3–5, 200660%27%
Reno Gazette-Journal/News 4May 12–15, 200652%32%
Zogby/WSJJune 21, 200651%36%
Zogby/WSJJuly 24, 200650%35%
Rasmussen Archived September 21, 2006, at the Wayback MachineJuly 31, 200646%39%
Las Vegas Review-Journal/Mason-DixonAugust 12, 200654%33%
Zogby/WSJAugust 28, 200648%45%
Zogby/WSJSeptember 11, 200652%40%
Reno Gazette-Journal/Research 2000September 15, 200656%35%
RasmussenSeptember 22, 200650%41%
Las Vegas Review-Journal/Mason-DixonSeptember 26, 200658%35%
Zogby/WSJSeptember 28, 200649%42%
RasmussenOctober 17, 200650%42%
Zogby/WSJOctober 19, 200652%43%
Reno Gazette-Journal/Research 2000October 29, 200655%41%

Results

General election results[9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
RepublicanJohn Ensign (incumbent) 322,501 55.36% +0.27%
DemocraticJack Carter238,79640.99%+1.30%
None of These Candidates8,2321.41%-0.50%
Independent AmericanDavid K. Schumann7,7741.33%+0.91%
LibertarianBrendan Trainor5,2690.90%+0.01%
Majority83,70514.37%-1.03%
Turnout582,572
Republican holdSwing

Ensign won a majority of the votes in every county in the state, with his lowest percentage at 53%[citation needed].

See also

References

External links