2006_United_States_Senate_election_in_Florida
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.
For related races, see 2006 United States Senate elections.
Quick Facts Nominee, Party ...
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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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During the Terri Schiavo case in March 2005, a talking points memo on the controversy was written by Brian Darling, the legal counsel to Republican Senator Mel Martínez of Florida.[1] The memo suggested the Schiavo case offered "a great political issue" that would appeal to the party's base (core supporters) and could be used against Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida who was up for reelection in 2006, because he had refused to co-sponsor the bill which came to be known as the Palm Sunday Compromise.[2] Bill Nelson was nevertheless reelected as Senator on November 7, 2006 with 60% of the vote.
Candidates
- LeRoy Collins Jr., retired naval officer and son of former Governor LeRoy Collins
- Katherine Harris, U.S. Representative and former Florida Secretary of State
- Will McBride, attorney
- Peter Monroe, businessman and former COO of the Federal Housing Administration[3]
Endorsements
- The Bradenton Herald: McBride[4]
- Florida (Jacksonville) Times-Union: Collins or Monroe[5]
- Gainesville Sun: Collins[6]
- Lakeland Ledger: Collins
- Miami Herald: Collins[7]
- Naples Daily News: Collins[6]
- Orlando Sentinel: McBride[8]
- Palm Beach Post: Monroe[6]
- Sarasota Herald-Tribune: no endorsement
- South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun Sentinel: Monroe[6]
- St. Petersburg Times: Collins[6]
- Tampa Tribune: Collins[6]
Polling
More information Poll Source, Date ...
| 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% |
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Harris
- 30–40%
- 40–50%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
McBride
- 30–40%
Results
More information Party, Candidate ...
| 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 | ||
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Candidates
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- Floyd Ray Frazier (Independent)
- Katherine Harris, former Florida Secretary of State and former U.S. Representative (Republican)
- Brian Moore, retired health care executive and former congressional candidate (Independent)
- Bill Nelson, incumbent U.S. Senator (Democratic)
- Belinda Noah (Independent)
- Roy Tanner (Independent)
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.[10]
Endorsements
In a rare move, all twenty-two of Florida's daily newspapers supported Nelson, while none supported Harris in the general election.[11]
- Bradenton Herald: Bill Nelson[12]
- Charlotte Sun-Herald: Bill Nelson[12]
- Daytona Beach News-Journal: Bill Nelson[13]
- Florida Times-Union: Bill Nelson[14]
- Fort Myers News-Press: Bill Nelson[15]
- Gainesville Sun: Bill Nelson[16]
- Lakeland Ledger: Bill Nelson[12]
- Miami Herald: Bill Nelson[12]
- Naples Daily News: Bill Nelson[17]
- Orlando Sentinel: Bill Nelson[18]
- Palm Beach Post: Bill Nelson[19]
- Pensacola News Journal: Bill Nelson[20]
- Saint Petersburg Times: Bill Nelson[21]
- Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Bill Nelson[22]
- Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers: Bill Nelson[23]
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Bill Nelson[24]
- Tallahassee Democrat: Bill Nelson[25]
- Tampa Tribune: Bill Nelson[26]
Debates
- Complete video of debate, October 23, 2006
- Complete video of debate, November 1, 2006
Predictions
More information Source, Ranking ...
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[27] | Solid D | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[28] | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[29] | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics[30] | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
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Polling
- Graphical summary
 | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
More information Poll Source, Date ...
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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.
More information Party, Candidate ...
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Nelson (incumbent) | 2,890,548 | 60.30% | +9.26% | |
| Republican | Katherine Harris | 1,826,127 | 38.10% | -8.09% | |
| Independent | Belinda Noah | 24,880 | 0.52% | n/a | |
| Independent | Brian Moore | 19,695 | 0.41% | n/a | |
| Independent | Floyd Ray Frazier | 16,628 | 0.35% | n/a | |
| Independent | Roy Tanner | 15,562 | 0.32% | n/a | |
| Write-in | 94 | 0.00% | n/a | ||
| Majority | 1,064,421 | 22.21% | +17.36% | ||
| Turnout | 4,793,534 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
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Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Gilchrist (Largest city: Trenton)
- Sumter (Largest city: The Villages)
- Bradford (Largest city: Starke)
- Charlotte (Largest city: Charlotte)
- Columbia (Largest city: Lake City)
- DeSoto (Largest city: Arcadia)
- Escambia (Largest city: Pensacola)
- Hardee (Largest city: Wachula)
- Highlands (Largest city: Sebring)
- Indian River (Largest city: Sebastian)
- Lake (Largest city: Clermont)
- Lee (Largest city: Cape Coral)
- Suwannee (Largest city: Live Oak)
- Duval (largest municipality: Jacksonville)
- Seminole (largest municipality: Sanford)
- Hendry (Largest city: Clewiston)
- Marion (Largest city: Ocala)
- "Senator's office produced Schiavo memo". Associated Press. April 6, 2005 – via NBC News.
- "The Seattle Times: Nation & World: GOP memo says issue offers political rewards". The Washington Post. April 4, 2005. Archived from the original on January 27, 2007 – via The Seattle Times.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2006.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (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.
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.
- "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. November 6, 2006. 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.