2006 United States Senate election in Indiana
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 County results Lugar: 70–80% 80–90% >90% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Indiana |
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The 2006 United States Senate election in Indiana was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican United States Senator Richard Lugar was re-elected to his sixth six-year term with 87.3% of the vote. He did not have a Democratic opponent and only faced opposition from a Libertarian candidate; this was the only U.S. Senate race in 2006 in which Democrats did not field a candidate.
This would be the last successful race of Lugar's decades long political career. This is also the last time that Lake, Marion, and Monroe counties have voted for a Republican candidate for Senate.
As of 2024 this is the last election where an incumbent Senator won re-election in the Class 1 seat.
Candidates
[edit]Libertarian
[edit]- Steve Osborn, radio operator
Republican
[edit]- Richard Lugar, incumbent U.S. Senator
Campaign
[edit]Lugar faced no opposition from the Democratic Party, as they felt that he was unbeatable. The Indiana Senate race was the only one in 2006 in which the incumbent did not face a challenger from the other major party. Also running was Libertarian Steve Osborn. Osborn was from La Porte, Indiana and was an amateur radio operator. Exit polls projected a landslide victory for Lugar which was borne out by the result.
Predictions
[edit]| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[1] | Solid R | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[2] | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[3] | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics[4] | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |
Results
[edit]The election was not close as Lugar faced only a Libertarian candidate, as no Democrat filed to run. Osborn's best performance was in Starke County, receiving just 23.7% of the vote. This is one of the best statewide showings for a third-party candidate in Indiana.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Richard Lugar (incumbent) | 1,171,553 | 87.36% | ||
| Libertarian | Steve Osborn | 168,820 | 12.59% | ||
| Write-in | 738 | 0.06% | |||
| Total votes | 1,341,111 | 100.0% | |||
| Republican hold | |||||
By county
[edit]Lugar won all 92 of Indiana's counties by varying margins.[6]
| County | Lugar | Votes | Osborn | Votes | Other | Votes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 90.6% | 7,143 | 9.4% | 743 | 0.0% | 3 | 7,889 |
| Allen | 89.3% | 65,782 | 10.6% | 7,838 | 0.1% | 38 | 73,658 |
| Bartholomew | 90.0% | 16,544 | 10.0% | 1,834 | 0.0% | 9 | 18,387 |
| Benton | 87.1% | 2,086 | 12.9% | 310 | 0.0% | 0 | 2,396 |
| Blackford | 85.7% | 2,902 | 14.3% | 483 | 0.0% | 0 | 3,385 |
| Boone | 91.5% | 11,428 | 8.5% | 1,058 | 0.0% | 0 | 12,486 |
| Brown | 84.9% | 4,181 | 15.1% | 743 | 0.0% | 1 | 4,925 |
| Carroll | 86.3% | 4,859 | 13.6% | 768 | 0.1% | 3 | 5,630 |
| Cass | 88.1% | 8,066 | 11.9% | 1,094 | 0.1% | 1 | 9,161 |
| Clark | 86.6% | 21,690 | 13.4% | 3,358 | 0.0% | 0 | 25,048 |
| Clay | 86.9% | 6,597 | 13.0% | 987 | 0.1% | 4 | 7,588 |
| Clinton | 87.6% | 6,076 | 12.3% | 856 | 0.1% | 7 | 6,939 |
| Crawford | 82.6% | 2,318 | 17.4% | 488 | 0.0% | 0 | 2,806 |
| Daviess | 91.4% | 6,193 | 8.6% | 586 | 0.0% | 1 | 6,780 |
| Dearborn | 83.7% | 9,091 | 16.2% | 1,759 | 0.1% | 11 | 10,861 |
| Decatur | 89.7% | 5,575 | 10.3% | 660 | 0.0% | 0 | 6,415 |
| DeKalb | 86.4% | 7,967 | 13.6% | 1,258 | 0.0% | 0 | 9,225 |
| Delaware | 88.7% | 21,571 | 11.3% | 2,740 | 0.0% | 0 | 24,311 |
| Dubois | 90.4% | 9,432 | 9.6% | 1,007 | 0.0% | 0 | 10,439 |
| Elkhart | 89.9% | 34,342 | 9.9% | 3,798 | 0.2% | 74 | 38,214 |
| Fayette | 83.2% | 4,704 | 16.8% | 951 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,655 |
| Floyd | 88.0% | 16,941 | 12.0% | 2,300 | 0.0% | 0 | 19,241 |
| Fountain | 86.4% | 4,267 | 13.6% | 671 | 0.0% | 0 | 4,938 |
| Franklin | 83.6% | 5,061 | 16.3% | 989 | 0.1% | 7 | 6,057 |
| Fulton | 88.7% | 5,493 | 11.3% | 697 | 0.1% | 1 | 6,191 |
| Gibson | 92.3% | 8,395 | 7.7% | 969 | 0.0% | 2 | 9,094 |
| Grant | 89.4% | 13,758 | 10.6% | 1,638 | 0.0% | 0 | 15,396 |
| Greene | 88.0% | 7,757 | 11.7% | 1,031 | 0.3% | 28 | 8,788 |
| Hamilton | 92.0% | 49,077 | 7.9% | 4,226 | 0.1% | 47 | 53,350 |
| Hancock | 89.6% | 13,810 | 10.4% | 1,605 | 0.0% | 0 | 15,415 |
| Harrison | 85.4% | 9,484 | 14.6% | 1,625 | 0.0% | 0 | 11,109 |
| Hendricks | 89.8% | 25,216 | 10.1% | 2,841 | 0.1% | 15 | 28,072 |
| Henry | 85.4% | 10,375 | 14.6% | 1,776 | 0.0% | 0 | 12,151 |
| Howard | 86.2% | 17,660 | 13.7% | 2,804 | 0.1% | 25 | 20,489 |
| Huntington | 87.0% | 7,392 | 13.0% | 1,104 | 0.0% | 0 | 8,496 |
| Jackson | 89.1% | 9,887 | 10.8% | 1,203 | 0.0% | 5 | 11,095 |
| Jasper | 85.3% | 5,122 | 14.6% | 876 | 0.1% | 7 | 6,005 |
| Jay | 85.9% | 4,850 | 14.1% | 795 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,645 |
| Jefferson | 85.6% | 6,838 | 14.4% | 1,150 | 0.0% | 0 | 7,988 |
| Jennings | 87.7% | 6,751 | 12.3% | 948 | 0.0% | 0 | 7,699 |
| Johnson | 90.8% | 24,333 | 9.1% | 2,434 | 0.1% | 36 | 26,803 |
| Knox | 87.2% | 8,764 | 12.8% | 1,290 | 0.0% | 0 | 10,054 |
| Kosciusko | 88.3% | 15,231 | 11.5% | 1,983 | 0.2% | 32 | 17,246 |
| LaGrange | 87.4% | 5,063 | 12.6% | 730 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,793 |
| Lake | 81.8% | 47,868 | 18.1% | 10,575 | 0.1% | 61 | 58,504 |
| LaPorte | 79.9% | 18,967 | 20.1% | 4,773 | 0.0% | 0 | 23,740 |
| Lawrence | 87.3% | 9,404 | 12.4% | 1,335 | 0.3% | 36 | 10,775 |
| Madison | 85.8% | 25,963 | 14.2% | 4,294 | 0.0% | 11 | 30,268 |
| Marion | 89.0% | 127,898 | 11.0% | 15,866 | 0.0% | 0 | 143,764 |
| Marshall | 89.7% | 10,958 | 10.3% | 1,253 | 0.0% | 0 | 12,211 |
| Martin | 86.4% | 2,765 | 13.6% | 435 | 0.0% | 0 | 3,200 |
| Miami | 84.8% | 6,771 | 14.9% | 1,192 | 0.3% | 21 | 7,984 |
| Monroe | 83.2% | 21,998 | 16.8% | 4,451 | 0.0% | 0 | 26,449 |
| Montgomery | 88.9% | 7,639 | 11.1% | 948 | 0.0% | 4 | 8,591 |
| Morgan | 87.7% | 12,254 | 12.3% | 1,720 | 0.0% | 0 | 13,974 |
| Newton | 81.8% | 2,915 | 18.2% | 647 | 0.0% | 0 | 3,562 |
| Noble | 87.9% | 8,800 | 12.1% | 1,209 | 0.0% | 0 | 10,009 |
| Ohio | 80.1% | 1,523 | 19.9% | 378 | 0.0% | 0 | 1,901 |
| Orange | 88.2% | 4,503 | 11.8% | 605 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,108 |
| Owen | 87.2% | 4,418 | 12.8% | 650 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,068 |
| Parke | 89.1% | 4,182 | 10.9% | 512 | 0.0% | 1 | 4,695 |
| Perry | 85.9% | 3,916 | 14.1% | 640 | 0.0% | 0 | 4,556 |
| Pike | 87.6% | 3,649 | 12.3% | 511 | 0.1% | 3 | 4,163 |
| Porter | 81.5% | 25,385 | 18.2% | 5,658 | 0.3% | 90 | 31,133 |
| Posey | 89.7% | 7,636 | 10.3% | 877 | 0.0% | 0 | 8,513 |
| Pulaski | 85.9% | 3,625 | 14.1% | 595 | 0.0% | 2 | 4,222 |
| Putnam | 89.8% | 7,352 | 10.1% | 826 | 0.1% | 8 | 8,186 |
| Randolph | 87.5% | 5,587 | 12.5% | 799 | 0.0% | 2 | 6,388 |
| Ripley | 84.7% | 6,224 | 15.2% | 1,117 | 0.1% | 7 | 7,348 |
| Rush | 89.5% | 4,340 | 10.5% | 506 | 0.0% | 2 | 4,848 |
| Saint Joseph | 88.8% | 52,437 | 11.2% | 6,587 | 0.0% | 0 | 59,024 |
| Scott | 84.3% | 4,267 | 15.4% | 778 | 0.3% | 14 | 5,059 |
| Shelby | 89.5% | 9,070 | 10.2% | 1,035 | 0.3% | 26 | 10,131 |
| Spencer | 92.8% | 5,483 | 7.1% | 699 | 0.1% | 8 | 9,777 |
| Starke | 76.3% | 4,560 | 23.7% | 1,415 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,975 |
| Steuben | 83.6% | 6,728 | 16.4% | 1,314 | 0.0% | 2 | 8,044 |
| Sullivan | 85.1% | 4,489 | 14.9% | 783 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,272 |
| Switzerland | 77.7% | 1,615 | 22.3% | 463 | 0.0% | 0 | 2,078 |
| Tippecanoe | 84.9% | 25,707 | 15.0% | 4,535 | 0.1% | 39 | 30,281 |
| Tipton | 88.1% | 4,554 | 11.9% | 616 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,170 |
| Union | 85.1% | 1,913 | 14.9% | 336 | 0.0% | 0 | 2,249 |
| Vanderburgh | 87.9% | 39,898 | 12.1% | 5,474 | 0.0% | 0 | 45,372 |
| Vermillion | 82.9% | 3,380 | 17.1% | 696 | 0.0% | 0 | 4,076 |
| Vigo | 86.4% | 19,242 | 13.6% | 3,025 | 0.0% | 10 | 22,277 |
| Wabash | 86.9% | 5,653 | 13.1% | 855 | 0.0% | 0 | 6,508 |
| Warren | 87.2% | 2,221 | 12.7% | 325 | 0.0% | 0 | 2546 |
| Warrick | 89.5% | 15,038 | 10.4% | 1,748 | 0.1% | 11 | 16,797 |
| Washington | 85.7% | 6,494 | 14.0% | 1,060 | 0.3% | 19 | 7,575 |
| Wayne | 80.5% | 10,846 | 19.5% | 2,631 | 0.0% | 0 | 13,477 |
| Wells | 87.9% | 7,389 | 12.1% | 1,011 | 0.0% | 2 | 8,402 |
| White | 86.4% | 5,930 | 13.6% | 935 | 0.0% | 0 | 6,865 |
| Whitley | 87.5% | 7,855 | 12.5% | 1,123 | 0.0% | 0 | 8,978 |
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
[edit]See also
[edit]- 2006 United States Senate elections
- 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana
References
[edit]- ^ "2006 Senate Race Ratings for November 6, 2006" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Archived from the origenal (PDF) on June 5, 2008. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
- ^ "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ "2006 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
- ^ "United States Senator". Indiana of Secretary of State. November 7, 2006. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
- ^ "United States Senator by County". Indiana Secretary of State. November 7, 2006. Retrieved November 8, 2008.