Iowa gubernatorial election, 2006

The Iowa gubernatorial election of 2006 took place November 7, 2006. The incumbent governor, Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, had served two terms and decided not to seek a third term.

A primary election was held on June 6, 2006, to determine who would represent the Democratic and Republican parties in the November 7 general election. Secretary of State Chet Culver (D) and United States Representative Jim Nussle (R) received their party's respective nominations.

In the election, Culver defeated Nussle to win the governorship, by a margin of 54.4 percent to 44.1 percent [cite news |last=Beaumont |first=Thomas |title=Culver sails into victory |publisher=Des Moines Register |date=November 8, 2006 |url=http://www.dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061108/NEWS09/311080011|accessdate=2006-11-09] . Culver's upcoming four-year term marks the third consecutive term that Democrats have controlled the office.

Candidates

Democratic Party

*Chet Culver - Secretary of State, former teacher & son of former United States Senator John Culver
**Culver's running mate was Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Patty Judge.

Defeated in Primary

*Mike Blouin - former director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development and former Congressman, state senator, and state representative
**Blouin's running mate was physician and insurance executive Dr. Andrea McGuire.
*Ed Fallon - seven-term state representative from Des Moines, former director of 1000 Friends of Iowa, and a progressive activist
*Sal Mohamed - chemical engineer from Sioux City & 2004 Congressional candidate

Others

*Gregg Connell - mayor of Shenandoah; also announced his candidacy, but he suspended his campaign on November 9, 2005, after he was involved in a road traffic accident that killed another driver [http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051110/NEWS09/511100391/1001/OPINION01] . On November 18, 2005, he announced that he would drop out of the race [http://www.kcci.com/news/5358692/detail.html] .
*Patty Judge - Iowa Secretary of Agriculture; withdrew from the race on February 15, 2006, instead choosing to be Culver's running mate
*Vernon Weems - Waterloo area lawyer; failed to file for primary by March 17 deadline
*Mark Yackle - mayor; failed to file for the primary by March 17 deadline.

Republican Party

*Jim Nussle - Congressman and former Delaware County attorney
**Nussle's running mate was businessman Bob Vander Plaats.

Others

*Bob Vander Plaats - Sioux City businessman and 2002 candidate for the nomination; announced on February 22, 2006, that he was withdrawing from the race to run as Nussle's lieutenant governor [http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060221/OPINION01/60220012/1035/OPINION]

Green Party

*Wendy Barth - Peace Activist and Software Engineer from Cedar Rapids

Libertarian Party

*Kevin Litten - Pharmacist from Cedar Rapids

Election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Democratic Party (US)
candidate = Chet Culver
votes = 565,657
percentage = 54.0
change = +1.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Republican Party (US)
candidate = Jim Nussle
votes = 466,757
percentage = 44.6
change = +0.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Green Party (United States)
candidate = Wendy Barth
votes = 7,722
percentage = 0.7
change = -0.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Libertarian Party (United States)
candidate = Kevin Litten
votes = 5,621
percentage = 0.5
change = -0.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Socialist Workers Party (United States)
candidate = Mary Martin
votes = 1,957
percentage = 0.2
change = "n/a"Election box majority
votes = 98,900
percentage = 9.4
change = Election box turnout
votes = 1,047,714
percentage =
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Democratic Party (US)
loser =
swing =

Opinion Polling

Internal

*U.S. gubernatorial elections, 2006
*State of Iowa
*Governors of Iowa

References

External links

Candidates

* [http://www.chetculver.com Culver's Campaign Website]
* [http://www.jimnussle.com Nussle's Campaign Website] (Inactive)
* [http://www.votewendy.org Barth's Campaign Website]
* [http://www.shrinkiowagov.org/governor.html Litten's Campaign Website]

Former Candidates

* [http://www.blouinforgovernor.com Blouin for Governor]
* [http://www.fallonforgovernor.net Fallon's Campaign Website]
* [http://www.salmohamedforgoverner.org Mohamed's Campaign Website]
* [http://www.vpforgov.com Plaats' Campaign Website]

Iowa Secretary of State

* [http://www.sos.state.ia.us/pdfs/staff/StatewideSummary.pdf Summary Election Results]