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.
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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.
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% |
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 |
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]
In a rare move, all twenty-two of Florida's daily newspapers supported Nelson, while none supported Harris in the general election.[11]
Source | Ranking | As of |
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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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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.
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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