2006 Minnesota gubernatorial election

2006 Minnesota gubernatorial election
	County results; Pawlenty: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%; Hatch: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%
Governor before election; Tim Pawlenty; Republican	Elected Governor ; Tim Pawlenty; Republican

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way

The 2006 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Tim Pawlenty was endorsed by the state Republican convention on June 2, 2006, while the state Democratic–Farmer–Labor convention endorsed Mike Hatch on June 10, 2006. The party primaries took place on September 12, 2006, with Hatch defeating DFL challengers Becky Lourey and Ole Savior and incumbent Pawlenty defeating Sue Jeffers. In the November 7 general election, Pawlenty received a plurality of the votes, defeating Hatch by a margin of 1%. As a result, this election was the closest race of the 2006 gubernatorial election cycle.

As of 2022, it is the last time a Republican won a statewide race in Minnesota.

Discover more about 2006 Minnesota gubernatorial election related topics

Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary

Candidates

Declared

Mike Hatch, 28th Minnesota Attorney General since 1999, former Minnesota Commissioner of Commerce (1983–89), and former State Party Chair of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (1980–83). Hatch received the strongest support of all candidates in the statewide caucus straw poll, and continued to hold his lead into the party convention, in which he received the endorsement after seven ballots. Hatch's running mate was 18th Minnesota State Auditor (since 1995) Judi Dutcher.
Becky Lourey, State Senator from senate district 8 since 1997, former State Representative from legislative districts 8B (1993–97) and 14B (1991–93), businesswoman, activist, and homemaker. Lourey lost the DFL endorsement race to Mike Hatch, but continued to seek the DFL nomination in the primary election. Her running mate was businessman, former NFL defensive back (1976–79), and former Minneapolis Planning Commission member (1992–2001) Tim Baylor.
Ole Savior, artist and perennial candidate. At the DFL state convention, Savior was eliminated on the first ballot for the party endorsement, after winning just one vote out of 1,500, but he continued to seek the nomination in the primary. Savior's running mate was Dan Fischer.

Withdrawn

Kelly Doran, real estate developer. Doran withdrew his candidacy on March 24, 2006.
Steve Kelley, State Senator from senate district 44 since 1997, former State Representative from legislative district 44A (1993–97), and attorney. Kelley withdrew his candidacy on June 10, 2006, after failing to defeat Hatch in the endorsement fight, throwing his support behind Hatch's campaign.
Bud Philbrook, former State Representative from legislative district 48B (1975–77), non-profit executive director, and attorney. Philbrook withdrew his candidacy on October 24, 2005.

Results

Democratic–Farmer–Labor gubernatorial primary election, 2006^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic (DFL)	Mike Hatch	231,643	73.20
	Democratic (DFL)	Becky Lourey	77,430	24.47
	Democratic (DFL)	Ole Savior	7,397	2.34
Total votes			316,470	100.00

Discover more about Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary related topics

Independence primary

Candidates

Pam Ellison, 2000 congressional candidate, former gubernatorial aide, and consultant. Ellison's running mate was Kari Johnson.
Peter Hutchinson, former Minnesota Commissioner of Finance (1989–91), former Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools (1993–97), and consultant. Hutchinson won the Independence Party straw poll in March, and was endorsed at the June 24 convention. Hutchinson's running mate was physician and former University of Minnesota Board of Regents member (1997–2005) and chair (2001–03) Maureen Reed.

Results

Independence gubernatorial primary election, 2006^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independence	Peter Hutchinson	7,725	66.09
	Independence	Pam Ellison	3,964	33.91
Total votes			11,689	100.00

Discover more about Independence primary related topics

Republican primary

Candidates

Sue Jeffers, Minneapolis bar owner and noted opponent of smoking bans and non-public use of eminent domain. A self-described Libertarian Republican, Jeffers was also endorsed by the Libertarian Party (which later withdrew its endorsement, as Minnesota law does not allow fusion candidates) and the Minnesota and National chapters of the Republican Liberty Caucus. Though included in neither the statewide caucus straw poll nor the party endorsement process, Jeffers challenged Governor Pawlenty for the Republican nomination in the September primary. Her running mate was Ruth Hendrycks.
Tim Pawlenty, incumbent 39th Governor of Minnesota since 2003, former Majority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives (1999–2003), former State Representative from legislative district 38B (1993–2003), former Eagan City Councilor (1989–93), former member of the Eagan Planning Commission, attorney, and businessman. Pawlenty was endorsed by the state Republican party after winning the first ballot, unopposed. His running mate was incumbent 46th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota (since 2003) Carol Molnau.

Results

Republican gubernatorial primary election, 2006^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tim Pawlenty (incumbent)	147,622	88.87
	Republican	Sue Jeffers	18,490	11.13
Total votes			166,112	100.00

Discover more about Republican primary related topics

Other candidates

Nominated by petition

Walt E. Brown (Independent; used the ballot designation "Quit Raising Taxes"). Brown's running mate was Wesley C. Nelson.
Leslie Davis (American). Davis's running mate was Gregory K. Soderberg.
Ken Pentel (Green). Pentel's running mate was Danene Provencher.

Former candidates

Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey (VWP) – Self-proclaimed vampire. Sharkey's campaign was jeopardized on January 30, 2006, when he was arrested in Princeton, Minnesota on felony charges stemming from allegations of stalking and flight, in Indiana.^[2] Sharkey's campaign website was taken down. It was discovered that the stalking charge had been dismissed on September 29, 2003,^[3] when Sharkey pleaded guilty to two counts of invasion of privacy and was ordered to submit to mental health treatment.^[4] At his trial on July 18, 2006, he was found not guilty of the felony escape charge. Nevertheless, Sharkey's arrest and jailing effectively terminated his campaign.

Discover more about Other candidates related topics

General election

On November 7, 2006, Tim Pawlenty narrowly won the general election, 46.7% to 45.7%, in a four-way race between himself, DFL candidate Mike Hatch, Independence Party candidate Peter Hutchinson, and Green Party candidate Ken Pentel. After Pawlenty opted out of spending limits, Hatch followed suit. Outspending Hatch by $1 million, Pawlenty's campaign set a new spending record for a Minnesota gubernatorial campaign. The race was also affected by negative advertising by 527 groups, as well as issue-oriented groups opposing liberal causes in the state.

A major issue in the campaign that was considered to have hurt the DFL nominees was lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Judi Dutcher's response to a question about E-85. When asked about the impact of the gasoline alternative on the economies of rural Minnesota by then KSAX-TV anchor Corey Poppe, Dutcher was unable to comment, asking Poppe to define E-85.^[5] In the subsequent questioning about her response, gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch reportedly called a Forum Communications reporter "a Republican whore" and promptly hung up the phone.^[6]^[7] Hatch claimed he had said "hack", not "whore", but the incident, occurring only three days before the last poll listed in this article, is believed to have swung the race. It put Hatch on the defensive in the campaign's last week.

Additionally, Pawlenty made illegal immigration an issue, running ads accusing Hatch of trying to give illegal immigrants college tuition. Hatch responded with an ad saying that illegal immigration laws had not been enforced under Pawlenty's tenure. Pawlenty also ran ads accusing Hatch of being responsible for raising health care costs, a claim Hatch disputed. Pawlenty campaigned on a record of leading the state through hard times, balancing record budget deficits without raising major state tax rates or diminishing the state's "nation-leading" status on most socioeconomic indicators.

Pawlenty won by piling up large margins in suburban counties as well as in central and southern Minnesota regions anchored by St. Cloud and Rochester. In his victory speech, noting that he would have to deal with a DFL House and Senate, Pawlenty said it was "a time tonight to be humble and time to be grateful." He promised that "the next four years are going to be different than the last four years" and that he would build "a common agenda" with DFLers who swept legislative and constitutional offices.

Hatch ran ahead in Minneapolis, St. Paul and their inner-ring suburbs, and won by large margins around Duluth and the Iron Range. In his concession speech, Hatch advocated that legislators get back to "sitting down and getting to know each other in private" to establish common ground for bipartisan legislation, and called for an end to partisan rancor. Had the Hatch/Dutcher ticket been successful, he stated that this would have been one of his administration's first goals.^[8]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[9]	Tossup	November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[10]	Tossup	November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report^[11]	Tossup	November 2, 2006
Real Clear Politics^[12]	Tossup	November 6, 2006

Polling

Two-way

Source	Date	Mike Hatch (DFL)	Tim Pawlenty (R)	Undecided
University of Minnesota	October 28, 2006	45%	39%	7%
Mason-Dixon	October 27, 2006	44%	43%	7%
St. Cloud State University	October 27, 2006	46%	36%	7%
Rasmussen	October 25, 2006	45%	44%	2%
Zogby/WSJ	October 19, 2006	45%	45%
Rasmussen	October 4, 2006	50%	46%	2%
Zogby/WSJ	September 11, 2006	42%	41%
Gallup	September 5, 2006	44%	43%
Zogby/WSJ	July 24, 2006	43%	43%
Star Tribune Minnesota Poll	July 15, 2006	41%	43%
Rasmussen	June 30, 2006	47%	42%
Zogby/WSJ	June 21, 2006	40%	45%
Rasmussen	May 10, 2006	49%	39%
Rasmussen	February 28, 2006	45%	40%
Rasmussen	January 29, 2006	44%	47%

Three-way

Source	Date	Mike Hatch (DFL)	Tim Pawlenty (R)	Peter Hutchinson (IP)	Undecided
Star Tribune Minnesota Poll	November 4, 2006	45%	40%	7%	7%
Star Tribune Minnesota Poll	October 14, 2006	46%	37%	7%	6%
Survey USA	September 28, 2006	44%	45%	6%	3%
Pioneer Press/MPR Poll	September 22, 2006	39%	42%	5%	11%
The Humphrey Institute	September 21, 2006	44%	42%	6%	5%
Star Tribune Minnesota Poll	September 16, 2006	42%	42%	7%	5%
Rasmussen	September 1, 2006	39%	45%	7%
Zogby/WSJ	August 28, 2006	43%	41%	5–9%
Rasmussen	August 7, 2006	36%	46%	6%
Survey USA	July 24, 2006	36%	50%	8%

Results

County Results for the Independence Party:

Hutchinson

4-5%
5-6%
6-7%
7-8%
8%

Minnesota gubernatorial election, 2006^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tim Pawlenty (incumbent)	1,028,568	46.69
	Democratic (DFL)	Mike Hatch	1,007,460	45.73
	Independence	Peter Hutchinson	141,735	6.43
	Green	Ken Pentel	10,800	0.49
	Independent	Walt E. Brown	9,649	0.44
	American	Leslie Davis	3,776	0.17
	Write-in		949	0.04
Total votes			2,202,937	100.00
	Republican hold

Discover more about General election related topics

Source: "2006 Minnesota gubernatorial election", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, January 6th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Minnesota_gubernatorial_election.

Enjoying Wikiz?

Get our FREE extension now!

Download Extension

^ ^a ^b ^c "MN Election Results". electionresults.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
^ "wcco.com - 'Impaler' Claims He Did Nothing Wrong". Archived from the original on July 16, 2006. Retrieved June 18, 2006.
^ Scanned copy of Prosecutor's Motion to Dismiss Archived March 24, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
^ "Sharkey v. Indiana, Ind. App. (2006)" (PDF). in.gov. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
^ "GOP jumps on Dutcher's E85 misstep". November 14, 2006. Archived from the original on November 14, 2006. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
^ http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/articles/index.cfm?id=27509&freebie_check&CFID=4612252&CFTOKEN=43846502&jsessionid=8830d400afe52687c441
^ http://www.startribune.com/blogs/kersten/?p=37
^ "Hatch concedes to Pawlenty". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved November 8, 2006.
^ "2006 Governor Race Ratings for November 6, 2006" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2008. 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.
^ "MN Election Results". electionresults.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved April 6, 2018.

External links

Campaign Websites (Archived)

Other

Minnesota Governor Candidates Directory and E-Debate- from E-Democracy.Org

v t e (2005 ←) 2006 United States elections (→ 2007)
U.S. Senate	Arizona California Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia (shadow) Florida Hawaii Indiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York North Dakota Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
U.S. House	Alabama Alaska Arizona 8th Arkansas California 50th sp Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia delegate shadow Florida Georgia 4th Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota 5th 6th Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio 2nd Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas 22nd and 22nd sp Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Governors	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Lt. Gov Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Iowa Kansas Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Lt. Gov Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Vermont Wisconsin Wyoming
State Attorneys General	California Florida Maryland Michigan Minnesota New York
State officials	California Insurance Commissioner Secretary of State Controller Treasurer Superintendent of Public Instruction Florida Chief Financial Officer Commissioner of Agriculture Maryland Comptroller Michigan Secretary of State Minnesota Auditor New York Comptroller
State legislatures	Arizona California Assembly Senate Connecticut Senate Iowa Senate House Maryland House Senate Massachusetts House Senate Michigan House Senate Minnesota House Senate Montana House North Carolina House Senate Pennsylvania House Senate Texas
Mayors	Anaheim, CA Anchorage, AK Austin, TX Chandler, AZ Fort Lauderdale, FL Irvine, CA Long Beach, CA Newark, NJ New Orleans, LA Richmond, CA San Bernardino, CA San Jose, CA Norfolk, VA Oakland, CA Providence, RI Tallahassee, FL Tulsa, OK Washington, DC
States	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

v t e Notable third party performances in United States elections
* Third party is endorsed by a major party
Presidential (since 1832)	1832 1848 1856 1860 1872* 1892 1912 1924 1948 1960 1968 1980 1992 1996
Senatorial (since 1940)	California 1940 Minnesota 1940 North Dakota 1940 Wisconsin 1940 Minnesota 1942 Minnesota 1942 Nebraska 1942 Virginia 1942 North Dakota 1944 Wisconsin 1944 California 1946 (Republican write-in) North Dakota 1946 North Dakota 1946 Tennessee 1946 Arkansas 1948 Alabama 1950 New Hampshire 1950 California 1952 Maine 1952 New York 1952 North Dakota 1952 Virginia 1952 South Carolina 1954 (Democratic write-in) Virginia 1954 Utah 1958 Virginia 1958 Virginia 1960 Virginia 1964 Mississippi 1966 Virginia 1966 Virginia 1966 Alabama 1968 Alaska 1968 Maryland 1968 New York 1968 Connecticut 1970 Mississippi 1970 New York 1970 Virginia 1970 Louisiana 1972 Florida 1974 Hawaii 1974 Nevada 1974 New York 1974 Utah 1974 Minnesota 1976 Virginia 1976 Alabama 1978 Arkansas 1978 Maine 1978 Mississippi 1978 New York 1980 Washington 1982 Tennessee 1984 Virginia 1990 Alaska 1992 Arizona 1992 Hawaii 1992 Louisiana 1992 Ohio 1992 Arizona 1994 Minnesota 1994 Ohio 1994 Vermont 1994 Virginia 1994 Alaska 1996 Minnesota 1996 Arizona 2000 Massachusetts 2000 Minnesota 2000 Alaska 2002 Kansas 2002 Massachusetts 2002 Mississippi 2002 Oklahoma 2002 Virginia 2002 Oklahoma 2004 Connecticut 2006 Indiana 2006 Maine 2006 Vermont 2006* Arkansas 2008 Idaho 2008 Minnesota 2008 Oregon 2008 Alaska 2010 (Republican write-in) Florida 2010 Indiana 2010 South Carolina 2010 Utah 2010 Indiana 2012 Maine 2012 Maryland 2012 Missouri 2012 Montana 2012 Vermont 2012* Kansas 2014 South Dakota 2014 Wyoming 2014 Alaska 2016 Arizona 2016 Idaho 2016 Indiana 2016 Kansas 2016 Maine 2018 New Mexico 2018 Vermont 2018* Alaska 2020* Arkansas 2020 Minnesota 2020 Nebraska 2020 Idaho 2022 North Dakota 2022 Utah 2022*
Gubernatorial (since 1940)	Minnesota 1940 Wisconsin 1940 Connecticut 1942 Minnesota 1942 New York 1942 Wisconsin 1942 North Dakota 1944 Wisconsin 1944 California 1946 Tennessee 1950 Maine 1952 Vermont 1952 Tennessee 1954 Nebraska 1956 Texas 1956 Utah 1956 Oklahoma 1958 Tennessee 1958 North Dakota 1960 Tennessee 1962 Virginia 1965 Alabama 1966 Georgia 1966 Idaho 1966 Maryland 1966 New York 1966 Tennessee 1966 Alabama 1970 Arkansas 1970 New Hampshire 1970 New York 1970 Mississippi 1971 New Hampshire 1972 Texas 1972 Washington 1972 Virginia 1973 Maine 1974 Nebraska 1974 Nevada 1974 Texas 1974 Vermont 1974 Vermont 1976 Alaska 1978 California 1978 Maine 1978 Rhode Island 1978 Alaska 1982 Arizona 1982 Hawaii 1982 Alaska 1986 Arizona 1986 Illinois 1986 Maine 1986 Oklahoma 1986 Vermont 1986 Utah 1988 Alaska 1990 Connecticut 1990 Kansas 1990 Maine 1990 New York 1990 Oklahoma 1990 Oregon 1990 Utah 1992 West Virginia 1992 Alaska 1994 Connecticut 1994 Hawaii 1994 Maine 1994 New Mexico 1994 Oklahoma 1994 Pennsylvania 1994 Rhode Island 1994 Vermont 1994 Alaska 1998 Maine 1998 Minnesota 1998 New York 1998 Pennsylvania 1998 Rhode Island 1998 Kentucky 1999 New Hampshire 2000 Vermont 2000 Arizona 2002 California 2002 Maine 2002 Minnesota 2002 New Mexico 2002 New York 2002 Oklahoma 2002 Vermont 2002 Wisconsin 2002 Alaska 2006 Illinois 2006 Maine 2006 Massachusetts 2006 Minnesota 2006 Texas 2006 Louisiana 2007 Vermont 2008 New Jersey 2009 Colorado 2010 Idaho 2010 Maine 2010 Massachusetts 2010 Minnesota 2010 Rhode Island 2010 Wyoming 2010 Kentucky 2011 Virginia 2013 Alaska 2014* Hawaii 2014 Maine 2014 Rhode Island 2014 Wyoming 2014 Maine 2018 Kansas 2018 Indiana 2020 Vermont 2020* Alaska 2022 Idaho 2022 Oregon 2022
Portal:Politics Third party (United States) Third party officeholders in the United States Third-party members of the United States House of Representatives

2006 Minnesota gubernatorial election

Discover more about 2006 Minnesota gubernatorial election related topics

Tim Pawlenty

Mike Hatch

Becky Lourey

Sue Jeffers

2006 United States gubernatorial elections

Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrawn

Results

Discover more about Democratic–Farmer–Labor primary related topics

Mike Hatch

Minnesota Department of Commerce

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party

Minnesota State Auditor

Judi Dutcher

Becky Lourey

Minnesota Senate

Minnesota House of Representatives

National Football League

Defensive back

Kelly Doran

Attorney at law

Independence primary

Candidates

Results

Discover more about Independence primary related topics

Peter Hutchinson

Minnesota Department of Revenue

Independence Party of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

Maureen Reed

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Discover more about Republican primary related topics

Minneapolis

Eminent domain

Libertarian Republican

Libertarian Party of Minnesota

Republican Liberty Caucus

Governor of Minnesota

Minnesota House of Representatives

Eagan, Minnesota

Attorney at law

Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

Carol Molnau

Republican Party of Minnesota

Other candidates

Nominated by petition

Former candidates

Discover more about Other candidates related topics

American Party (1969)

Green Party of Minnesota

Jonathon Sharkey

Vampire

Princeton, Minnesota

Stalking

General election

Predictions

Polling

Two-way

Three-way

Results

Discover more about General election related topics

Peter Hutchinson

Judi Dutcher

Mike Hatch

Health care prices in the United States

Rochester, Minnesota

85th Minnesota Legislature

Minneapolis

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Duluth, Minnesota

Iron Range

Sabato's Crystal Ball

Republican Party of Minnesota

Enjoying Wikiz?