Oregon gubernatorial election, 2006

Oregon gubernatorial election, 2006
Oregon
November 7, 2006

 
Nominee Ted Kulongoski Ron Saxton
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 699,786 589,748
Percentage 50.73% 42.75%

County results

Governor before election

Ted Kulongoski
Democratic

Elected Governor

Ted Kulongoski
Democratic

The 2006 Oregon gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic Governor of Oregon Ted Kulongoski ran for a second and final term as governor. Kulongoski faced several challengers in his primary, whom he dispatched to win his party's nomination a second time, while Republican nominee Ron Saxton, the former Chair of the Portland Public Schools Board and a candidate for Governor in 2002 emerged from a crowded primary. Kulongoski and Saxton were initially going to be challenged in the general election by State Senator Ben Westlund, but Westlund withdrew his candidacy before the general election. There were, however, a number of strong independent challengers, the most notable of whom was Mary Starrett, the Constitution Party nominee. In a hard-fought campaign, Kulongoski won re-election by a surprisingly wide margin, winning his second term as governor.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic Primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ted Kulongoski (Incumbent) 170,944 53.56
Democratic Jim Hill 92,439 28.96
Democratic Pete Sorenson 51,346 16.09
Democratic Write-ins 4,448 1.39
Total votes 319,177 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ron Saxton 125,286 41.69
Republican Kevin Mannix 89,553 29.80
Republican Jason Atkinson 67,057 22.31
Republican W. Ames Curtright 7,414 2.47
Republican Gordon Leitch 3,100 1.03
Republican William E. Spidal 2,537 0.84
Republican David W. Beem 1,659 0.55
Republican Bob Leonard Forthan 841 0.28
Republican Write-ins 3,107 1.03
Total votes 300,554 100.00

General election

Campaign

As the Democratic and Republican primaries intensified, State Senator Ben Westlund, a registered Republican, announced that he would run for governor as an independent.[2] Though Westlund gathered the requisite signatures to be able to run, he eventually dropped out of the race in August, noting, At the beginning of this campaign, I made a commitment to the people of Oregon, that I was in it to win it, and that I absolutely would not play a spoiler role."[3] Constitution Party nominee Mary Starrett was widely perceived to win votes largely at the expense of Saxton's campaign,[4] which prompted several Republicans to challenge Starrett's ability to appear on the ballot,[5] a challenge that was rejected. Ultimately, Kulongoski was re-elected by a fairly large margin.

Polling

Poll Source Date Administered Kulongoski (D) Saxton (R) Starrett (C) Morley (L) Keating (G)
KATU/Oregonian October 31, 2006 45% 38% 6% 1% 1%
Rasmussen October 31, 2006 51% 44%
Riley Research October 25, 2006 47% 36% 4% 1% 1%
Riley Research October 3, 2006 37% 39% 2% 1% 1%
Rasmussen October 1, 2006 47% 42%
Rasmussen September 25, 2006 47% 38%
Zogby Interactive Poll September 11, 2006 47.0% 39.8% 4.5% 1.2%
Zogby Interactive Poll August 28, 2006 49.9% 43.5%
Rasmussen August 22, 2006 49% 35%
Rasmussen August 3, 2006 45% 35%
Zogby Interactive Poll July 24, 2006 49.0% 42.2%
Zogby Interactive Poll June 21, 2006 47.6% 40.1%
Rasmussen May 23, 2006 43% 41%
Zogby Interactive Poll March 22–27, 2006 46% 38.8%
Rasmussen February 27, 2006 47% 33%

Results

Oregon gubernatorial election, 2006[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Ted Kulongoski (Incumbent) 699,786 50.73% +1.70%
Republican Ron Saxton 589,748 42.75% -3.40%
Constitution Mary Starrett 50,229 3.64%
Pacific Green Joe Keating 20,030 1.45%
Libertarian Richard Morley 16,798 1.22% -3.36%
Write-ins 2,884 0.21%
Majority 110,038 7.98% +5.10%
Turnout 1,379,475
Democratic hold Swing

See also

References

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