For related races, see 2006 United States Senate elections.
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 County resultsNelson: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Harris: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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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.
Background
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. 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. Bill Nelson was nevertheless reelected as Senator on November 7, 2006, with 60% of the vote.
Republican primary
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
Endorsements
- The Bradenton Herald: McBride
- Florida (Jacksonville) Times-Union: Collins or Monroe
- Gainesville Sun: Collins
- Lakeland Ledger: Collins
- Miami Herald: Collins
- Naples Daily News: Collins
- Orlando Sentinel: McBride
- Palm Beach Post: Monroe
- Sarasota Herald-Tribune: no endorsement
- South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun Sentinel: Monroe
- St. Petersburg Times: Collins
- Tampa Tribune: Collins
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 | September 2, 2006 | 17% | 38% | 21% | 2% |
| Primary Results | September 5, 2006 | 15% | 49% | 30% | 5% |
- 30–40%
- 40–50%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
- 70–80%
- 30–40%
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
 | This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
- 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.
Endorsements
In a rare move, all twenty-two of Florida's daily newspapers supported Nelson, while none supported Harris in the general election.
- Bradenton Herald: Bill Nelson
- Charlotte Sun-Herald: Bill Nelson
- Daytona Beach News-Journal: Bill Nelson
- Florida Times-Union: Bill Nelson
- Fort Myers News-Press: Bill Nelson
- Gainesville Sun: Bill Nelson
- Lakeland Ledger: Bill Nelson
- Miami Herald: Bill Nelson
- Naples Daily News: Bill Nelson
- Orlando Sentinel: Bill Nelson
- Palm Beach Post: Bill Nelson
- Pensacola News Journal: Bill Nelson
- Saint Petersburg Times: Bill Nelson
- Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Bill Nelson
- Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers: Bill Nelson
- South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Bill Nelson
- Tallahassee Democrat: Bill Nelson
- Tampa Tribune: Bill Nelson
Debates
- Complete video of debate, October 23, 2006
- Complete video of debate, November 1, 2006
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report | Solid D | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
Polling
Graphical summary
 | Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
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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 almost immediately when the polls closed at 7 P.M. EST.
| 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 | ||||
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)
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
- "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.
- "Orlando Sentinel - Central Florida Political Pulse: Florida Senate race archives". blogs.orlandosentinel.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2006.
- "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
- ^ http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/nation/epaper/2006/08/25/a9a_endorse_0825.html
- 404 | MiamiHerald.com
- Topic Galleries - OrlandoSentinel.com
- Strategic Vision
- ^ Mason-Dixon
- Quinnipiac
- Scroth Eldon & Associates
- SurveyUSA
- Strategic Vision
- Quinnipiac
- SurveyUSA
- Mason-Dixon
- "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. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
- Harris, Nelson tout testimonials
- ^ "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. 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.
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Quinnipiac
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Rasmussen Archived November 24, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
- Quinnipiac
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Rasmussen
- Rasmussen
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Quinnipiac
- University of North Florida
- Mason-Dixon
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Zogby/WSJ
- Rasmussen
- Quinnipiac
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Rasmussen
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Quinnipiac
- ^ Zogby/WSJ
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Quinnipiac
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Quinnipiac
- Rasmussen Archived September 22, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- St. Petersburg Times
- ^ Zogby/WSJ
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Rasmussen
- SurveyUSA
- Mason-Dixon
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Rasmussen
- Rasmussen
- SurveyUSA
- Quinnipiac
- Mason-Dixon
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Quinnipiac
- St. Petersburg Times
- Strategic Vision (R)
- Mason-Dixon
- SurveyUSA
External links
Debates
- Debate, October 23, 2006
Campaign Websites (Archived)
- Bill Nelson for Senate
- Katherine Harris for Senate
- Leroy Collins for Senate
- Peter Monroe for Senate
- Ray Frazier for Senate
- Brian Moore for Senate
- Belinda Noah for Senate
- Roy Tanner for Senate
- Lawrence Scott for Senate
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