Ohio United States Senate election, 2006
Encyclopedia
The 2006 United States Senate election in Ohio was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mike DeWine
was running for re-election. Democratic congressman Sherrod Brown
defeated DeWine.
Republican
Senator, R. Michael DeWine
had approval ratings at 38%http://surveyusa.com/50State2006/100USSenatorApproval061024Net.htm, making him the second most unpopular U.S. Senator, behind Pennsylvania
Republican Rick Santorum
. Pre-election stories in the U.S. media suggested that the national Republican Party may have given up on saving Senator DeWine's senate seat before election date. Sherrod Brown
, former Ohio Secretary of State and former U.S. Representative from Ohio's 13th district was the Democratic
candidate, and the eventual winner.
had a better chance against DeWine. The Plain Dealer (2/18/06) also reported that there had been concerns that Hackett might not have had enough money after the primary to run the statewide advertising customary for a Senate camapaign.
who compromised with Democrats in a dispute about judicial appointments.
On July 14, 2006, DeWine's campaign began airing TV commercials depicting a smoking World Trade Center
. "The senator was notified... by a reporter at U.S. News & World Report
that the image of the burning Twin Towers could not have depicted the actual event because the smoke was blowing the wrong way." DeWine's campaign admitted that the video was actually a still photo of the World Trade Center
with smoke digitally added. He also was criticized for using an emotionally charged image to attack his challenger.
Another of DeWine's ads suggested that opponent Sherrod Brown didn't pay his taxes for thirteen years. This claim led to the Associated Press reporting on October 19 that, "Several Ohio television stations have stopped airing a Republican ad because state documents contradict the ad's accusation that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown didn't pay an unemployment tax bill for 13 years." Brown produced a commercial citing these facts. DeWine's ads were changed to state only that he had failed to pay his unemployment taxes until legal action was taken against him.
According to an article in the October 16, 2006, edition of The New York Times
, top Republican party officials on the national level determined that DeWine would probably be defeated and were moving financial support from his race to other Republican senatorial candidates they felt were more likely to win.
Mike DeWine
Richard Michael "Mike" DeWine is the Attorney General for the state of Ohio. He has held numerous offices on the state and federal level, including Ohio State Senator, four terms as a U.S. Congressman, Ohio Lt. Governor, and was a two-term U.S. Senator, serving from 1995 to 2007.- Biography :Born...
was running for re-election. Democratic congressman Sherrod Brown
Sherrod Brown
Sherrod Campbell Brown is the senior United States Senator from Ohio and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the U.S. Senate, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 13th congressional district from 1993 to 2007...
defeated DeWine.
Background
The incumbentIncumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Senator, R. Michael DeWine
Mike DeWine
Richard Michael "Mike" DeWine is the Attorney General for the state of Ohio. He has held numerous offices on the state and federal level, including Ohio State Senator, four terms as a U.S. Congressman, Ohio Lt. Governor, and was a two-term U.S. Senator, serving from 1995 to 2007.- Biography :Born...
had approval ratings at 38%http://surveyusa.com/50State2006/100USSenatorApproval061024Net.htm, making him the second most unpopular U.S. Senator, behind Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
Republican Rick Santorum
Rick Santorum
Richard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and a former United States Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference -making him the third-ranking Senate Republican from 2001 until his leave in 2007. Santorum is considered both a social...
. Pre-election stories in the U.S. media suggested that the national Republican Party may have given up on saving Senator DeWine's senate seat before election date. Sherrod Brown
Sherrod Brown
Sherrod Campbell Brown is the senior United States Senator from Ohio and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the U.S. Senate, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 13th congressional district from 1993 to 2007...
, former Ohio Secretary of State and former U.S. Representative from Ohio's 13th district was the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
candidate, and the eventual winner.
Candidates
- Sherrod BrownSherrod BrownSherrod Campbell Brown is the senior United States Senator from Ohio and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the U.S. Senate, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 13th congressional district from 1993 to 2007...
, U.S. congressman - Paul Hackett, an Iraq War veteran who has been critical of President Bush's foreign policy
- Merrill Keiser Jr., a trucking business owner/operator and Vietnam veteran
Campaign
Hackett announced on February 13, 2006 that he would withdraw from the race, because national party leaders had decided that Sherrod BrownSherrod Brown
Sherrod Campbell Brown is the senior United States Senator from Ohio and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the U.S. Senate, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 13th congressional district from 1993 to 2007...
had a better chance against DeWine. The Plain Dealer (2/18/06) also reported that there had been concerns that Hackett might not have had enough money after the primary to run the statewide advertising customary for a Senate camapaign.
Results
Brown won with 78.05% of the vote.http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/ElectionsVoter/results2006.aspx?Section=1694Candidates
- Mike DeWineMike DeWineRichard Michael "Mike" DeWine is the Attorney General for the state of Ohio. He has held numerous offices on the state and federal level, including Ohio State Senator, four terms as a U.S. Congressman, Ohio Lt. Governor, and was a two-term U.S. Senator, serving from 1995 to 2007.- Biography :Born...
, incumbent - William G. Pierce, engineer
- David Smith, an unsuccessful candidate in 2005 in Ohio's 2nd Congressional District
Campaign
Both candidates campaigned as conservative alternatives to DeWine, citing DeWine's support for legal abortion and his role as one of the Republican members of the Gang of 14Gang of 14
The Gang of 14 was a term coined to describe the bipartisan group of Senators in the 109th United States Congress who successfully negotiated a compromise in the spring of 2005 to avoid the deployment of the so-called nuclear option over an organized use of the filibuster by Senate...
who compromised with Democrats in a dispute about judicial appointments.
Results
DeWine won 71.82% of the votes.http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/ElectionsVoter/results2006.aspx?Section=1695Candidates
- Sherrod BrownSherrod BrownSherrod Campbell Brown is the senior United States Senator from Ohio and a member of the Democratic Party. Before his election to the U.S. Senate, he was a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Ohio's 13th congressional district from 1993 to 2007...
(D), U.S. congressman - Mike DeWineMike DeWineRichard Michael "Mike" DeWine is the Attorney General for the state of Ohio. He has held numerous offices on the state and federal level, including Ohio State Senator, four terms as a U.S. Congressman, Ohio Lt. Governor, and was a two-term U.S. Senator, serving from 1995 to 2007.- Biography :Born...
(R), incumbent U.S. Senator - Richard Duncan (I) - 2004 write-in candidate for President http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=MOH01056
Campaign
Because this race was targeted by Democrats, it made it all the more important to the GOP, who desired to retain Senate control. John McClelland, a spokesman for the Ohio Republican Party said, "It's vitally important to the Republican Party as a whole, so I think that's why you see the president coming to Ohio to support Mike DeWine. Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said, "Mike DeWine Senior is in for the fight of his life, make no mistake about it".On July 14, 2006, DeWine's campaign began airing TV commercials depicting a smoking World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
. "The senator was notified... by a reporter at U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine published from Washington, D.C. Along with Time and Newsweek it was for many years a leading news weekly, focusing more than its counterparts on political, economic, health and education stories...
that the image of the burning Twin Towers could not have depicted the actual event because the smoke was blowing the wrong way." DeWine's campaign admitted that the video was actually a still photo of the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
with smoke digitally added. He also was criticized for using an emotionally charged image to attack his challenger.
Another of DeWine's ads suggested that opponent Sherrod Brown didn't pay his taxes for thirteen years. This claim led to the Associated Press reporting on October 19 that, "Several Ohio television stations have stopped airing a Republican ad because state documents contradict the ad's accusation that Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sherrod Brown didn't pay an unemployment tax bill for 13 years." Brown produced a commercial citing these facts. DeWine's ads were changed to state only that he had failed to pay his unemployment taxes until legal action was taken against him.
According to an article in the October 16, 2006, edition of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, top Republican party officials on the national level determined that DeWine would probably be defeated and were moving financial support from his race to other Republican senatorial candidates they felt were more likely to win.
Finances
DeWine continued to double Brown in cash on hand. Mays has yet to file a campaign report with the FEC. Totals through June 30.| Candidate | Funds Raised http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/cancomsrs/ | Cash On-Hand http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/cancomsrs/ |
|---|---|---|
| Mike DeWine (R) | $7,772,534 | $6,635,440 |
| Sherrod Brown (D) | $3,712,862 | $3,718,577 |
Polling
| Source | Date | Brown (D) | DeWine (R) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SurveyUSA | November 6, 2006 | 54% | 42% |
| University of Cincinnati Ohio Poll | November 6, 2006 | 56% | 44% |
| Columbus Dispatch | November 5, 2006 | 62% | 38% |
| Mason-Dixon/MSNBC-McClatchy | November 5, 2006 | 50% | 44% |
| Rasmussen | November 4, 2006 | 54% | 43% |
| Reuters/Zogby International | November 2, 2006 | 56% | 42% |
| CNN/Opinion Research Corporation | October 31, 2006 | 54% | 43% |
| Opinion Consultants | October 22-30, 2006 | 51% | 44% |
| SurveyUSA | October 26, 2006 | 57% | 37% |
| Rasmussen | October 26, 2006 | 53% | 41% |
| Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg | October 24, 2006 | 47% | 39% |
| Mason-Dixon/MSNBC | October 24, 2006 | 48% | 40% |
| CBS News/New York Times | October 17, 2006 | 49% | 35% |
| University of Cincinnati | October 17, 2006 | 52% | 45% |
| Quinnipiac | October 17, 2006 | 53% | 41% |
| Rasmussen | October 13, 2006 | 48% | 42% |
| SurveyUSA | October 12, 2006 | 54% | 40% |
| Rasmussen | October 5, 2006 | 49% | 41% |
| Reuters/Zogby | October 5, 2006 | 41% | 41% |
| Mason-Dixon | October 1, 2006 | 45% | 43% |
| University of Akron | September 29, 2006 | 42% | 42% |
| Zogby/WSJ | September 28, 2006 | 45% | 41% |
| Columbus Dispatch | September 24, 2006 | 47% | 42% |
| SurveyUSA | September 21, 2006 | 52% | 42% |
| University of Cincinnati | September 20, 2006 | 51% | 47% |
| Quinnipiac | September 20, 2006 | 45% | 44% |
| Rasmussen | September 13, 2006 | 47% | 41% |
| Zogby/WSJ | September 11, 2006 | 45% | 41% |
| Gallup | September 5, 2006 | 46% | 40% |
| Zogby/WSJ | August 28, 2006 | 47% | 39% |
| Rasmussen | August 26, 2006 | 45% | 42% |
| SurveyUSA | August 5, 2006 | 49% | 41% |
| Rasmussen | August 1, 2006 | 44% | 42% |
| Zogby/WSJ | July 24, 2006 | 45% | 37% |
| Columbus Dispatch | July 23, 2006 | 45% | 37% |
| Rasmussen | June 27, 2006 | 39% | 46% |
| Zogby/WSJ | June 21, 2006 | 47% | 34% |
| Survey USA | June 13, 2006 | 48% | 39% |
| University of Cincinnati | May 25, 2006 | 42% | 52% |
| Rasmussen | May 15, 2006 | 44% | 41% |
| Rasmussen | April 24, 2006 | 41% | 43% |
| Zogby/WSJ | March 31, 2006 | 46% | 37% |
| Rasmussen | March 31, 2006 | 42% | 45% |
| Rasmussen | February 18, 2006 | 37% | 46% |
| Rasmussen | January 7, 2006 | 40% | 45% |
| Rasmussen | December 2, 2005 | 41% | 43% |
| Zogby | October 31, 2005 | 40% | 37% |
Results
External links
- Mike DeWine for Senate
- Sherrod Brown for Senate
- 2006 Ohio Senate race profile, analysis of campaign finances by the Center for Responsive PoliticsCenter for Responsive PoliticsThe Center for Responsive Politics is a non-profit, nonpartisan research group based in Washington, D.C. that tracks money in politics and the effect of money and lobbying activity on elections and public policy and maintains a public online database of its information.Their database...
. - Senator Mike DeWine, positions and voting record, an analysis by Project Vote SmartProject Vote SmartProject Vote Smart is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States...
. - Representative Sherrod Brown positions and voting record, an analysis by Project Vote SmartProject Vote SmartProject Vote Smart is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States...
.