The 2006 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 7, 2006. One-term incumbent DFL U.S. Senator

Mark Dayton Mark Brandt Dayton (born January 26, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Minnesota from 2011 to 2019. He was a United States Senator for Minnesota from 2001 to 2007, and the Minnesota State Auditor from 1991 to ...

announced in February 2005 that he would retire instead of seeking a second term. The primary elections took place on September 12, 2006. DFL nominee Amy Klobuchar won the open seat.

DFL primary

Candidates

* Amy Klobuchar, Hennepin County Attorney * Darryl Stanton, businessman

Campaign

Klobuchar gained the early endorsement of the majority of DFL state legislators in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. A poll taken of DFL state delegates showed Klobuchar beating her then closest opponent,

Patty Wetterling Patricia Lynn "Patty" Wetterling (born November 2, 1949) is an American advocate of children's safety and chair of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Her advocacy particularly focuses on protecting children from abduction and ...

, 66% to 15%. As of June 30, 2005, Klobuchar had more cash on hand than any other candidate, nearly $1,100,000. Klobuchar was endorsed by

EMILY's List EMILY's List is an American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "Early Money ...

on September 29, 2005. On January 20, 2006, Wetterling dropped out of the race and endorsed Klobuchar. Former Senate candidate and prominent lawyer

Mike Ciresi Michael "Mike" V. Ciresi ( ) is a prominent trial attorney and was a Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party candidate for the United States Senate from Minnesota. He dropped out on March 10, 2008. Ciresi gained his public reputation by litigating seve ...

, who was widely seen as the only other serious potential DFL candidate, indicated on February 7, 2006 that he would not enter the race. That removal of her most significant potential competitor for the DFL nomination was viewed as an important boost for Klobuchar. The only other serious candidate for the DFL endorsement was

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...

Ford Bell. Bell, a staunch liberal, ran on a platform of implementing

single-payer healthcare Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from ...

and immediate withdrawal from Iraq. Klobuchar won the official DFL endorsement on June 9, 2006. Bell dropped out of the race on July 10 citing inability to compete financially and also endorsed Klobuchar.

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

* Mark Kennedy,

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from

Minnesota's 6th congressional district Minnesota's 6th congressional district includes most or all of Benton, Carver, Sherburne, Stearns, Wright, Anoka, and Washington counties. Many of the Twin Cities' northern and northwestern suburbs are included within the boundaries of t ...

* Harold Shudlick, military veteran * John Ulrich, military veteran

Campaign

Kennedy had faced potential challenges from former U.S. Senator

Rod Grams Rodney Dwight Grams (February 4, 1948 – October 8, 2013) was an American politician and television news anchor who served in both the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. A local news anchor, Grams became well-known ...

, as well as U.S. Representative

Gil Gutknecht Gilbert William Gutknecht Jr. (born March 20, 1951) is an American politician. Gutknecht was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives first elected in 1994 to represent Minnesota's 1st congressional district. Gutknec ...

, but both men were persuaded by national GOP leaders to run for the House instead. (Grams lost to Representative

Jim Oberstar James Louis Oberstar (September 10, 1934 – May 3, 2014) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2011. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, he represented nor ...

, while Gutknecht lost his reelection bid to

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz ( ; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician and retired educator. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he has served as the 41st governor of Minnesota since 2019. Born in West Point, Nebraska, Wal ...

Results

Independence primary

Candidates

* Robert Fitzgerald, public-access television executive * Miles W. Collins * Stephen Williams, salesman

Results

General election

Candidates

Major

* Mark Kennedy (R), U.S. Congressman * Amy Klobuchar (D), Hennepin County Attorney * Robert Fitzgerald (IPM),

public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

cable TV show director

Minor

Michael Cavlan Michael Cavlan (born 1959) is a Minnesota political activist and registered nurse living in Minneapolis. Personal life Cavlan was born in San Jose, California, but spent most of his childhood and adolescence in Northern Ireland with his Roman Cat ...

(G), nurse and independent journalist * Ben Powers (C), quality control technician * Peter Idusogie (I), businessman (write-in)

Campaign

Kennedy's routine support of President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

in House votes appeared to be a central issue for Democrats in the campaign. In June 2006, allegations were made that many references to and photos of Bush had been removed from Kennedy's official U.S. House website; in rebuttal, Republicans said that there were 72 references to Bush on the website and that the changes noted by critics had been made some time ago, as part of the normal updating process

Ben Powers Alton Adelbert Powers (July 5, 1950 – April 6, 2015), known professionally as Ben Powers, was an American actor. Powers was best known for his role as Keith Albert Anderson, the husband of Thelma Evans, during the sixth and final season of th ...

was the only ballot-qualified candidate not invited to appear on

Minnesota Public Television The Minnesota Public Television Association (MPTA), also commonly known as Minnesota Public Television, is a not-for-profit trade organization of public television stations in the state of Minnesota that operates an interconnecting statewide educa ...

's ''

Almanac An almanac (also spelled ''almanack'' and ''almanach'') is an annual publication listing a set of current information about one or multiple subjects. It includes information like weather forecasts, farmers' planting dates, tide tables, and othe ...

'' program, despite Powers's offer to fill the space left unfilled by Klobuchar's decision not to appear with Kennedy and Fitzgerald on the program. Green candidate Michael Cavlan appeared on the program twice during the campaign as a special guest.

Debates

Complete video of debate
September 19, 2006
Complete video of debate
October 15, 2006
Complete video of debate
October 29, 2006

Predictions

Polling

After the release of th

on September 17, 2006, showing Klobuchar ahead by 24%, Kennedy's campaign issued a statemen

from Joe Pally, the campaign's communications director. He claimed that the margin was exaggerated because of Media bias, bias by the Star Tribune and that the poll "is clearly more about discouraging Kennedy supporters than on reflecting the true status of one of the most closely contested Senate races in the country.".Mark Kennedy for Senate
This press release came in the wake of news that the Republican party was scaling back funding for Kennedy's election campaign to shore up campaigns in states seen as winnable. Kennedy's campaign frequently accused the Star Tribune of bias in favor of Klobuchar, whose

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

was an editorial columnist and sportswriter for the paper until his retirement. A subsequent poll by

Rasmussen Reports Rasmussen Reports is an American polling company founded in 2003. The company engages in political commentary and the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information. Rasmussen Reports conducts nightly tracking, ...

showed a similar lead for Klobuchar and the St. Paul Pioneer Press also showed Klobuchar with a 15% lead in September. Klobuchar won the November 7 election by more than 20 percentage points.

Results

The race was, as expected, not close, with Klobuchar winning decisively. She did well in major cities, such as

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

and

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, while Kennedy did well only in smaller, less populated counties. The turnout was high, although not unusual for

, one of the highest voter turnout states. Official turnout came in at 70.64%.

References

External links

Klobuchar's campaign website

Kennedy's campaign website

Fitzgerald's campaign website

Powers' campaign website

Pro-Kennedy weblog covering the MN Senate Race

DFL website covering the MN Senate race

Full list of U.S. Senate Candidates in Minnesota
- From E-Democracy.Org

Debate, October 15
{{United States elections, 2006 Minnesota United States Senator 2006 2006 Minnesota elections Amy Klobuchar

DFL primary

Candidates

Campaign

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

Results

Independence primary

Candidates

Results

General election

Candidates

Major

Minor

Campaign

Debates

Predictions

Polling

Results

See also

References

External links