2006 United States Senate election in Hawaii
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The 2006 United States Senate election in Hawaii was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democrat Daniel Akaka won re-election to a third full term.
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November 7, 2006
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 County results Akaka: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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Democratic primary
Source:[1]
Candidates
- Daniel Akaka, incumbent U.S. Senator
- Ed Case, U.S. Representative
Campaign
Case had stated that although he has the deepest respect for Daniel Akaka, Hawaii is in a time of transition with regard to the state's representation in Congress which requires that the state phase in the next generation to provide continuity in that service. He had warned the state would lose all clout in Washington if the state's two US Senators (the other being Daniel Inouye), both of whom are over 80 years old, leave office within a short time of each other.[1] If a Senator were to die, Hawaii election law requires that the governor appoint a replacement of the same party.[2] Case's words would prove prescient, as Akaka would retire just over two weeks after Inouye's death in 2012.
Hawaii's other members of Congress, Inouye and Rep. Neil Abercrombie, pledged their support to Akaka.[3]
Debates
- Complete video of debate, August 31, 2006
Polling
| Source | Date | Daniel Akaka |
Ed Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| QMark Research & Polling[4] | May 15, 2006 | 40% | 38% |
| Honolulu Advertiser/Ward Research[5] | July 2, 2006 | 51% | 40% |
| Rasmussen[6] | August 11, 2006 | 47% | 45% |
| Honolulu Advertiser/Ward Research[7] | September 17, 2006 | 51% | 38% |
Endorsements
- Organizations
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Daniel Akaka (incumbent) | 129,158 | 54.65% | |
| Democratic | Ed Case | 107,163 | 45.35% | |
| Total votes | 236,321 | 100% | ||
Republican primary
Candidates
- Mark Beatty, attorney and businessman
- Jerry Coffee, retired Navy captain, Vietnam War POW, and motivational speaker (withdrew from the race before the Republican primary but his name still appeared on the ballot)
- Charles "Akacase" Collins[10]
- Jay Friedheim, attorney and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1998 and 2004
- Eddie Pirkowski, businessman
- Steve Tataii, conflict resolution teacher and author
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jerry Coffee | 10,139 | 41.01 | |
| Republican | Mark Beatty | 6,057 | 24.50 | |
| Republican | Akacase Collins | 3,146 | 12.72 | |
| Republican | Jay Friedheim | 2,299 | 9.30 | |
| Republican | Steve Tataii | 1,601 | 6.48 | |
| Republican | Eddie Pirkowski | 1,482 | 5.99 | |
| Total votes | 24,724 | 100 | ||
Hawaii State Representative Cynthia Thielen was selected to be the Republican nominee after Jerry Coffee, who had previously withdrawn his candidacy, won the primary.
General election
Candidates
- Daniel Akaka (D), incumbent U.S. Senator
- Cynthia Thielen (R), Hawaii State Representative
- Lloyd Mallan (L), perennial candidate
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[11] | Solid D | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[12] | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[13] | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics[14] | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
Polling
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Daniel Akaka (incumbent) | 210,330 | 61.35% | −11.5% | |
| Republican | Cynthia Thielen | 126,097 | 36.78% | +12.3% | |
| Libertarian | Lloyd Mallan | 6,415 | 1.87% | +1.0% | |
| Majority | 84,233 | 24.57% | |||
| Turnout | 342,842 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
By county
| County | Daniel Akaka Democratic |
Cynthia Thielen Republican |
Jeff Mallan Libertarian |
Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Hawaii | 30,367 | 63.6% | 16,115 | 33.7% | 1,295 | 2.7% | 14,252 | 29.9% | 47,777 |
| Honolulu | 139,330 | 59.1% | 92,762 | 39.3% | 3,802 | 1.6% | 46,568 | 19.8% | 235,894 |
| Kauaʻi | 14,505 | 70.1% | 5,817 | 28.1% | 376 | 1.8% | 8,688 | 42.0% | 20,698 |
| Maui | 25,916 | 67.8% | 11,369 | 29.7% | 932 | 2.4% | 14,547 | 38.1% | 38,217 |
| Totals | 210,330 | 61.3% | 126,097 | 36.8% | 6,415 | 1.9% | 84,233 | 24.5% | 342,842 |