2006 United States Senate election in Ohio

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2006 United States Senate election in Ohio
← 2000 November 7, 2006 2012 →
Turnout53.25% (Registered Voters)
  Sherrod Brown, official House photo, color (cropped).jpg Mike DeWine official photo.jpg
Nominee Sherrod Brown Mike DeWine
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 2,257,369 1,761,037
Percentage 56.2% 43.8%
2006 United States Senate election in Ohio results map by county.svg
County results
Brown:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
DeWine:      50–60%      60–70%
U.S. senator before election

Mike DeWine
Republican

Elected U.S. Senator

Sherrod Brown
Democratic

Elections in Ohio
Federal government
State government
Ballot measures
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Columbus
Toledo
  • v
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The 2006 United States Senate election in Ohio was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Mike DeWine ran for re-election, but was defeated by Democratic congressman Sherrod Brown.[1] As of 2021, this is the most recent time a Democratic Senate candidate in Ohio won a race by double digits. DeWine would later successfully run for attorney general and governor of Ohio in 2010 and 2018, respectively.

Background[]

The incumbent Republican Senator R. Michael DeWine had approval ratings at 38%,[2] making him the second most unpopular U.S. Senator behind Pennsylvania Republican Rick Santorum, who was also up for reelection in 2006. Pre-election stories in the U.S. media suggested that the national Republican Party may have given up on saving Senator DeWine's Senate seat before election day.[citation needed] Sherrod Brown, former Ohio Secretary of State and U.S. Representative from Ohio's 13th district easily won the Democratic nomination over his opponent Merrill Keiser Jr.

Democratic primary[]

Candidates[]

Declared[]

  • Sherrod Brown, U.S. Representative
  • Merrill Keiser Jr., trucking business owner/operator and Vietnam War veteran

Withdrew[]

  • Paul Hackett, Iraq War veteran

Results[]

Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sherrod Brown 583,776 78.11%
Democratic Merrill Keiser Jr. 163,628 21.89%
Total votes 747,404 100.00%

Republican primary[]

Candidates[]

  • Mike DeWine, incumbent U.S. Senator
  • David Smith, candidate for OH-02 in 2005
  • William G. Pierce, engineer

Campaign[]

Both candidates campaigned as conservative alternatives to DeWine, citing DeWine's support for legal abortion and his role as one of the Republican members of the Gang of 14 who compromised with Democrats in a dispute about judicial appointments.

Results[]

Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Mike DeWine (incumbent) 555,962 71.82%
Republican David Smith 112,427 14.52%
Republican William Pierce 105,734 13.66%
Total votes 774,123 100.00%

[3]

General election[]

Campaign[]

The Republican party, which was facing multiple challenges to their Senate majority, was initially determined to assist DeWine is his competitive race while the National Democratic party supported Brown in hopes of taking control of the Senate. John McClelland, a spokesman for the Ohio Republican Party said, "It's vitally important to the Republican Party as a whole, so I think that's why you see the president coming to Ohio to support Mike DeWine." Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said, "Mike DeWine Senior is in for the fight of his life, make no mistake about it."[4]

On July 14, 2006, DeWine's campaign began airing TV commercials depicting a smoking World Trade Center. "The senator was notified... by a reporter at U.S. News & World Report that the image of the burning Twin Towers could not have depicted the actual event because the smoke was blowing the wrong way."[5][6] DeWine's campaign admitted that the video was actually a still photo of the World Trade Center with smoke digitally added.[5] He also was criticized for using an emotionally charged image to attack his challenger.[6]

Another of DeWine's ads suggested that opponent Sherrod Brown didn't pay his taxes for thirteen years. This claim led to the Associated Press reporting on October 19 that, "Several Ohio television stations have stopped airing a Republican ad because state documents contradict the ad's accusation that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown didn't pay an unemployment tax bill for 13 years." Brown produced a commercial citing these facts.[7] DeWine's ads were changed to state only that he had failed to pay his unemployment taxes until legal action was taken against him.

According to an article in the October 16, 2006, edition of The New York Times, top Republican party officials on the national level determined that DeWine would probably be defeated and were moving financial support from his race to other Republican senatorial candidates they felt were more likely to win.[8]

Debates[]

Fundraising[]

During the election cycle, DeWine raised $14.9 million and spent $15.5 million.[9] Brown raised $8.9 million and spent $10.8 million.[10]

Predictions[]

Source Ranking As of
Sabato's Crystal Ball[11] Likely D (flip) November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report[12] Likely D (flip) November 6, 2006
Real Clear Politics[13] Lean D (flip) November 6, 2006

Polling[]

Source Date Sherrod
Brown (D) 		Mike
DeWine (R)
Zogby October 31, 2005 40% 37%
Rasmussen December 2, 2005 41% 43%
Rasmussen January 7, 2006 40% 45%
Rasmussen February 18, 2006 37% 46%
Rasmussen March 31, 2006 42% 45%
Zogby/WSJ March 31, 2006 46% 37%
Rasmussen April 24, 2006 41% 43%
Rasmussen May 15, 2006 44% 41%
University of Cincinnati May 25, 2006 42% 52%
Survey USA June 13, 2006 48% 39%
Zogby/WSJ June 21, 2006 47% 34%
Rasmussen June 27, 2006 39% 46%
Columbus Dispatch July 23, 2006 45% 37%
Zogby/WSJ July 24, 2006 45% 37%
Rasmussen August 1, 2006 44% 42%
SurveyUSA August 5, 2006 49% 41%
Rasmussen August 26, 2006 45% 42%
Zogby/WSJ August 28, 2006 47% 39%
Gallup September 5, 2006 46% 40%
Zogby/WSJ September 11, 2006 45% 41%
Rasmussen September 13, 2006 47% 41%
Quinnipiac September 20, 2006 45% 44%
University of Cincinnati September 20, 2006 51% 47%
SurveyUSA September 21, 2006 52% 42%
Columbus Dispatch September 24, 2006 47% 42%
Zogby/WSJ September 28, 2006 45% 41%
University of Akron September 29, 2006 42% 42%
Mason-Dixon October 1, 2006 45% 43%
Reuters/Zogby October 5, 2006 41% 41%
Rasmussen October 5, 2006 49% 41%
SurveyUSA October 12, 2006 54% 40%
Rasmussen October 13, 2006 48% 42%
Quinnipiac October 17, 2006 53% 41%
University of Cincinnati October 17, 2006 52% 45%
CBS News/New York Times October 17, 2006 49% 35%
Mason-Dixon/MSNBC October 24, 2006 48% 40%
Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg October 24, 2006 47% 39%
Rasmussen October 26, 2006 53% 41%
SurveyUSA October 26, 2006 57% 37%
Opinion Consultants October 22–30, 2006 51% 44%
CNN/Opinion Research Corporation October 31, 2006 54% 43%
Reuters/Zogby International November 2, 2006 56% 42%
Rasmussen November 4, 2006 54% 43%
Mason-Dixon/MSNBC-McClatchy November 5, 2006 50% 44%
Columbus Dispatch November 5, 2006 62% 38%
University of Cincinnati Ohio Poll November 6, 2006 56% 44%
SurveyUSA November 6, 2006 54% 42%

Results[]

Brown was declared the winner right when the polls closed in Ohio at 7:30. DeWine had the second worst performance of a Republican incumbent in 2006; only Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum had a worse performance. While DeWine was able to win rural counties in western Ohio, Brown managed to win most eastern Ohio counties, especially in heavily populated areas. DeWine's narrow 2,000 vote victory in Hamilton County which is home to Cincinnati, came nowhere close to making a dent in Brown's lead. Brown would go on to be reelected to a second term in 2012, and a third term in 2018. Also in 2018, both Brown and DeWine were on the ballot but this time for different races; DeWine would be elected Governor of Ohio.

2006 United States Senate election in Ohio
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Sherrod Brown 2,257,369 56.16% +20.0
Republican Mike DeWine (incumbent) 1,761,037 43.82% -15.8
Independent Richard Duncan 830 0.02% N/A
Total votes 4,019,236 100.00% N/A
Democratic gain from Republican

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Democrats Score First Senate Win". CBS News. November 7, 2006.
  2. ^ www.surveyusa.com.
  3. ^ "2006 Election Results". June 13, 2006. Archived from the original on June 13, 2006. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  4. ^ Collins, Michael (February 23, 2006). "Bush visit all politics this time". The Kentucky Post. Covington, Kentucky: E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on August 28, 2006.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Nation & World: DeWine blunder adds fuel to controversial September 11 ad - U.S. News & World Report Archived October 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "Washington Post".[dead link]
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 6, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ Adam Nagourney, "In Final Weeks, G.O.P. Focuses on Best Bets", The New York Times, October 16, 2006.
  9. ^ "Sen. Mike DeWine: Campaign Finance/Money - Summary - Senator 2006 | OpenSecrets". www.opensecrets.org. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  10. ^ "Rep. Sherrod Brown: Campaign Finance/Money - Summary - Representative 2006 | OpenSecrets". www.opensecrets.org. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  11. ^ "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  12. ^ "2006 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  13. ^ "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.

External links[]

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