2006 Iowa gubernatorial election
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 County results Culver: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Nussle: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Iowa |
|---|
 |
 Federal government |
 State government |
 Cedar Rapids |
 Des Moines |
The 2006 Iowa gubernatorial election took place November 7, 2006. The incumbent governor, Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, had served two terms and decided not to seek a third term. In the election, Chet Culver defeated Jim Nussle to win the governorship, by a margin of 54.4 percent to 44.1 percent.[1] As of 2022, this is the last time a Democrat won the governorship of Iowa.
Democratic primary[]
Candidates[]
- Chet Culver, Iowa Secretary of State (1999–present), son of former United States Senator John Culver
- Running mate: Patty Judge, Secretary of Agriculture of Iowa (1999–present) and former State Senator
- Mike Blouin, former director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development (2003-2005), former U.S. Representative for IA-02 (1975-1979), and 1st director of the Information Security Oversight Office (1979-1980)
- Running mate: Andrea McGuire, physician
- Ed Fallon, Iowa State Representative (1993–present)
- Sal Mohamed, 2004 Democratic candidate for Congress
Results[]
Primary results by county:
Culver
- Culver—71-80%
- Culver—61-70%
- Culver—51-60%
- Culver—41-50%
- Culver—31-40%
Blouin
- Blouin—51-60%
- Blouin—41-50%
- Blouin—31-40%
Fallon
- Fallon—61-70%
- Fallon—51-60%
- Fallon—41-50%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Chet Culver | 58,131 | 39.08 | |
| Democratic | Mike Blouin | 50,728 | 34.10 | |
| Democratic | Ed Fallon | 38,253 | 25.72 | |
| Democratic | Sal Mohamed | 1,545 | 1.04 | |
| Democratic | Write-ins | 94 | 0.06 | |
| Total votes | 148,751 | 100 | ||
Republican primary[]
Candidates[]
- Jim Nussle, U.S. Representative
Withdrew
- Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader, to become Nussle's running-mate for the general election
Results[]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jim Nussle | 73,975 | 100.00 | |
| Total votes | 73,975 | 100 | ||
Independents[]
Green[]
- Wendy Barth, peace activist and software engineer from Cedar Rapids
Libertarian[]
- Kevin Litten, pharmacist from Cedar Rapids
General election[]
The Democratic nominee, Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver, selected Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge as his running mate. Judge had previously run for the Democratic nomination for Governor before dropping out to run for Lieutenant Governor. The Republican nominee, U.S. Congressman Jim Nussle, selected Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats as his running mate. Vander Plaats, like Judge, had previously run for his party's nomination before dropping out to run for Lieutenant Governor.
Predictions[]
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[3] | Tossup | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[4] | Lean D | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[5] | Lean D | November 2, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics[6] | Lean D | November 6, 2006 |
Polling[]
| Source | Date | Chet Culver (D) |
Jim Nussle (R) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Des Moines Register | November 3, 2006 | 52% | 43% |
| Rasmussen | October 27, 2006 | 49% | 45% |
| Research 2000 | October 17, 2006 | 49% | 44% |
| Des Moines Register | October 14, 2006 | 46% | 39% |
| Rasmussen | October 5, 2006 | 42% | 42% |
| Des Moines Register | September 17, 2006 | 44% | 44% |
| Research 2000 | September 14, 2006 | 48% | 43% |
| Zogby/WSJ | September 11, 2006 | 43% | 46% |
| Rasmussen | September 1, 2006 | 42% | 40% |
| Zogby/WSJ | August 28, 2006 | 48% | 45% |
| Rasmussen | August 3, 2006 | 41% | 38% |
| Zogby/WSJ | July 24, 2006 | 45% | 47% |
| Zogby/WSJ | June 21, 2006 | 46% | 47% |
| Research 2000 | May 22–24, 2006 | 49% | 41% |
| Rasmussen | May 2, 2006 | 46% | 40% |
| Rasmussen | April 5, 2006 | 40% | 38% |
| Rasmussen | February 15, 2006 | 41% | 40% |
| Rasmussen | January 12, 2006 | 40% | 40% |
| Rasmussen | November 28, 2005 | 41% | 38% |
Results[]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Chet Culver | 569,021 | 54.02% | +1.33% | |
| Republican | Jim Nussle | 467,425 | 44.38% | -0.13% | |
| Green | Wendy Barth | 7,850 | 0.75% | -0.68% | |
| Libertarian | Kevin Litten | 5,735 | 0.54% | -0.74% | |
| Socialist Workers | Mary Martin | 1,974 | 0.19% | ||
| Write-ins | 1,250 | 0.12% | |||
| Majority | 101,596 | 9.65% | +1.48% | ||
| Turnout | 1,053,255 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
See also[]
- U.S. gubernatorial elections, 2006
- State of Iowa
- Governors of Iowa
References[]
- ^ Beaumont, Thomas (November 8, 2006). "Culver sails into victory". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
- ^ a b "2006 Primary Election Official Results" (PDF). sos.state.ia.us. 6 June 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2006.
- ^ "2006 Governor Race Ratings for November 6, 2006" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 1, 2006.
- ^ "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ "2006 Gubernatorial Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ "Official Results Report - Statewide" (PDF). sos.state.ia.us. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-21.
External links[]
Candidates[]
- Culver's Campaign Website
- Nussle's Campaign Website
- Barth's Campaign Website
- Litten's Campaign Website
- Fallon's Campaign Website
- Mohamed's Campaign Website
Iowa Secretary of State[]
Categories:
- 2006 Iowa elections
- Iowa gubernatorial elections
- 2006 United States gubernatorial elections