Massachusetts general election, 2006

A Massachusetts general election was held on November 7, 2006 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The election included:

• statewide elections for U.S. Senator, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Treasurer, and Auditor;
• district elections for U.S. Representatives, State Representatives, State Senators, and Governor's Councillors; and
• ballot questions at the state and local levels.

Statewide elections

United States Senator

Further information: Massachusetts United States Senate election, 2006

Democratic incumbent Ted Kennedy was re-elected over his Republican challenger Kenneth Chase.

Governor & Lieutenant Governor

Further information: Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2006

Democrats Deval Patrick and Tim Murray were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor, respectively, over Green-Rainbow candidates Grace Ross and Martina Robinson, independent candidates Christy Mihos and John J. Sullivan, and Republican candidates Kerry Healey and Reed Hillman. Patrick and Murray were nominated over gubernatorial candidates Chris Gabrieli and Tom Reilly, and lieutenant candidates Deb Goldberg and Andrea Silbert.

Attorney General

Martha Coakley (D), the outgoing Middlesex District Attorney who gained national prominence for her role as prosecutor in the Neil Entwistle murder case, was elected Attorney General, defeating Larry Frisoli (R), a trial attorney from Belmont^[1] who was known for his handling of the Jeffery Curley case against NAMBLA and was a former Vice Mayor of Cambridge and Norfolk County District Attorney.

Massachusetts Attorney General Election, 2006[2] (unofficial results)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Martha Coakley	1,542,319	73.02%	-26.22%
	Republican	Larry Frisoli	569,822	26.98%	+26.98%
	Democratic hold		Swing

Source	Date	MoE	Coakley (D)	Frisoli (R)	Und.
Suffolk University	October 20 - 23, 2006	±4.9%	59%	18%	14%
Suffolk University	October 2 - 4, 2006	±4.4%	52%	15%	33%
Suffolk University	August 17 - 21 2006	±4.0%	50%	9%	39%
Suffolk University	June 22 - 26 2006	±4.0%	50%	16%	33%
Suffolk University	May 3, 2006	±4.9%	49%	13%	36%

Secretary of the Commonwealth

Democratic incumbent William F. Galvin was re-nominated over challenger John C. Bonifaz, a voting-rights activist who founded the National Voting Rights Institute, and defeated Green-Rainbow nominee Jill Stein, a medical doctor and community activist who ran for governor in 2002.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Election, 2006[3] (unofficial results)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Bill Galvin	1,635,714	82.31%	+9.86%
	Green-Rainbow	Jill Stein	351,495	17.69%	+17.69%
	Democratic hold		Swing

Source	Date	MoE	Candidates
General Election			Galvin (D)	Stein (GR)	Und.
Suffolk University	October 20 - 23, 2006	±4.9%	57%	13%	31%
Suffolk University	October 2 - 4, 2006	±4.4%	56%	11%	33%
Suffolk University	August 17 - 21 2006	±4.0%	54%	11%	35%
Suffolk University	June 22 - 26 2006	±4.0%	52%	9%	35%
Suffolk University	May 3, 2006	±4.9%	46%	10%	43%
Suffolk University	April 3, 2006	±4.9%	46%	8%	44%

Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth Primary[4]
Candidate		Votes	%	±%
✓	Bill Galvin	633,035	82.84%
	John Bonifaz	129,012	17%
	Write-in	1,997	0.26%
	Blanks	162,358
Turnout		926,402

Source	Date	MoE	Candidates
Democratic Primary			Bill Galvin	John Bonifaz	Und
Suffolk University	August 17 - 21 2006	±5.1%	49%	5%	46%
Suffolk University	June 22 - 26 2006	±4.0%	50%	9%	38%

Treasurer and Receiver-General

Democratic incumbent Timothy P. Cahill was re-elected over Green-Rainbow candidate James O'Keefe, who also ran in 2002. Republican Ronald K. Davy, a financial analyst and Hull selectman, was nominated but failed to reach signature requirement to qualify for the ballot.^[5]

Massachusetts Treasurer Election, 2006[6] (unofficial results)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tim Cahill	1,641,196	83.58%	+32.92%
	Green-Rainbow	James O'Keefe	322,493	16.42%	+8.46%
	Democratic hold		Swing

Source	Date	MoE	Cahill (D)	O'Keefe (GR)	Davy (R)	Und.
Suffolk University	October 20 - 23, 2006	±4.9%	56%	15%		29%
Suffolk University	October 2 - 4, 2006	±4.4%	51%	11%		37%
Suffolk University	August 17 - 21 2006	±4.0%	48%	10%		42%
Suffolk University	June 22 - 26 2006	±4.0%	47%	7%	10%	35%
Suffolk University	May 3, 2006	±4.9%	46%	6%	6%	41%
Suffolk University	April 3, 2006	±4.9%	40%	21%		30%

Auditor

Democratic incumbent and former professional boxer Joe DeNucci was re-elected for a sixth term over Working Families nominee Rand Wilson, a union organizer and labor communicator.^[7] Republican nominee Earle Stroll, a 52-year-old small-business consultant from Bolton^[8], also failed to reach signature requirement to qualify for the ballot, and Green-Rainbow candidate Nathanael Fortune, a physicist from Smith College and a Whatley School Committee member, dropped out of the race for personal reasons in late March 2006.

Massachusetts Auditor Election, 2006[9] (unofficial results)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	A. Joseph DeNucci	1,563,716	80.89%	+3.02%
	Working Families	Rand Wilson	369,513	19.11%	+19.11%
	Democratic hold		Swing

Source	Date	MoE	DeNucci (D)	Wilson (WF)	Und.
Suffolk University	October 20 - 23, 2006	±4.9%	56%	10%	35%
Suffolk University	October 2 - 4, 2006	±4.4%	48%	13%	38%
Suffolk University	August 17 - 21 2006	±4.0%	46%	11%	42%

District elections

U.S. House of Representatives

see Massachusetts United States House election, 2006

State House of Representatives

see Massachusetts House election, 2006

State Senate

see Massachusetts Senate election, 2006

Governor's Council

See Massachusetts Governor's Council election, 2006

Ballot questions

There were three statewide ballot questions, all initiatives, which the Massachusetts voters voted on this election, and all were defeated.^[10][11][12] There were also various local ballot questions around the state.

Statewide Questions:

• Question 1 - Sale of Wine by Food Stores. A law to allow local authorities to license stores selling groceries to sell wine.
• Question 2 - Nomination of Candidates for Public Office. A law to create "more ballot choices" by allowing for fusion voting.
• Question 3 - Family Child Care Providers. A law to allow home-based family child care providers providing state-subsidized care to bargain collectively with the state government.

Question 1: Wine in Food Stores[13]
Candidate		Votes	%	±%
	Yes	915,076	44%
✓	No	1,180,708	56%

Question 2: Fusion Voting[13]
Candidate		Votes	%	±%
	Yes	688,096	35%
✓	No	1,302,143	65%

Question 3: Family Care Worker Unionization[13]
Candidate		Votes	%	±%
	Yes	951,988	48%
✓	No	1,035,707	52%

Source	Date	MoE	Question	Yes	No	Und
UNH/Globe	October 22 - 25, 2006	±4.1%	Wine in food stores	57%	38%	5%
Suffolk University	October 20 - 23, 2006	±4.9%	Wine in food stores	52%	40%	8%
			Fusion voting	26%	51%	23%
			Collective bargaining for childcare providers	34%	36%	30%
Suffolk University	October 10 - 11, 2006	±4.9%	Wine in food stores	50%	41%	9%
Suffolk University	October 2 - 4, 2006	±4.4%	Wine in food stores	47%	44%	9%
			Fusion voting	27%	48%	24%
			Collective bargaining for childcare providers	42%	33%	25%
Suffolk University	August 17 - 21 2006	±4.0%	Wine in food stores	54%	38%	8%
			Fusion voting	35%	48%	18%
			Collective bargaining for childcare providers	46%	32%	22%
Suffolk University	June 27, 2006	±4.0%	Wine in food stores	61%	31%	9%
			Fusion voting	34%	48%	19%
			Collective bargaining for childcare providers	42%	37%	22%

References

1. ^ "Frisoli runs for AG" Belmont Citizen-Herald
2. ^ 2006 Massachusetts General Election Results - Attorney General - Boston Globe Boston.com last updated: 12:48 PM November 8, 2006
3. ^ 2006 Massachusetts General Election Results - Secretary of State - Boston Globe Boston.com last updated: 12:48 PM November 8, 2006
4. ^ State Primary Election Results 2006 Massachusetts Elections Division: Official Results (PDF, 196k)
5. ^ Republican down ballot candidates struggle Boston Globe June 1, 2006
6. ^ 2006 Massachusetts General Election Results - Treasurer - Boston Globe Boston.com last updated: 12:48 PM November 8, 2006
7. ^ "Why I'm Running for Auditor" Posted by Rand Wilson July 7, 2006 at Blue Mass. Group
8. ^ Boston Globe "Bolton consultant plans run for state auditor"
9. ^ 2006 Massachusetts General Election Results - Auditor - Boston Globe Boston.com last updated: 12:48 PM November 8, 2006
10. ^ Secretary of the Commonwealth's ballot questions page
11. ^ CBS News ballot questions page
12. ^ Boston.com Ballot Question Section
13. ^ ^{a b c} 2006 Massachusetts Election Results - Statewide and local ballot questions Boston.com November 8, 2006

External links

• Elections Division, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth- Where to vote, how to register, election information, etc. Official government site.
• table of candidates and campaign links

Campaign sites

Attorney General

• Martha Coakley (D)
• Larry Frisoli (R)

Secretary of the Commonwealth

• John Bonifaz (D)
• Bill Galvin (D)
• Jill Stein (GR)

Ballot Questions
Question 1 - Sale of Wine by Food Stores:

• LWV Question One Summary - includes link to full text
• Yes on 1: Grocery Stores and Consumers for Fair Competition
• No on 1: Wine Merchants and Concerned Citizens for S.A.F.E.T.Y. (Stop Alcohol’s Further Extension to Youth)
• Massachusetts Food Association - supporting Question 1, the selling of wine in grocery stores

Question 2 - Nomination of Candidates for Public Office:

• Massachusetts Ballot Freedom Campaign - supporting Question 2, allowing NY-style party fusion

Not on state-wide ballot in 2006:

• Massachusetts Common Cause - supporting independent redistricting commission
• Home From Iraq Now - supporting withdrawal of Massachusetts National Guard from Iraq
• MassACT: Affordable Care Today! - supporting the "Affordable Health Care Act"
• Vote on Marriage - supporting constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage