2006 United States Senate election in Nevada
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The 2006 United States Senate election in Nevada was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican John Ensign defeated Democratic nominee Jack Carter to win re-election to a second term. This was the only U.S. Senate election in Nevada where the incumbent Republican Senator was re-elected since 1980 and the only election for this seat where the incumbent Republican Senator was re-elected since 1952.
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November 7, 2006
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| Turnout | 58.8% (voting eligible) | ||||||||||||||||
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 County results Ensign: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||
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![](#/media/File:John_"Jack"_Carter_2025_(cropped).jpg)
Republican primary
Candidates
Nominee
- John Ensign, incumbent U.S. Senator
Defeated in primary
- Ed Hamilton, businessman
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Ensign (incumbent) | 127,023 | 90.47 | |
| Republican | None of these candidates | 6,754 | 4.81 | |
| Republican | Ed Hamilton | 6,629 | 4.72 | |
| Total votes | 140,406 | 100.00 | ||
Democratic primary
Popular Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman had said in January 2006 that he would probably run,[2] but decisively ruled out a run in late April.[3] Going into the 2006 cycle, many top Nevada Democrats such as State Assembly speaker Richard Perkins indicated that the party would put more efforts into the gubernatorial election than into defeating Ensign.[3]
Candidates
Nominee
- Jack Carter, U.S Navy veteran and son of former President Jimmy Carter
Defeated in primary
- Ruby Jee Tun, middle school science teacher[2]
Declined
- Oscar Goodman, Mayor of Las Vegas[3]
- Frankie Sue Del Papa, Attorney General of Nevada[4]
- Dina Titus, member of the Nevada Senate[4] (ran for Governor)
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Jack Carter | 92,270 | 78.30 | |
| Democratic | None of these candidates | 14,425 | 12.24 | |
| Democratic | Ruby Jee Tun | 11,147 | 9.46 | |
| Total votes | 117,842 | 100.00 | ||
General election
Candidates
- Jack Carter (D), Navy veteran and son of former President Jimmy Carter
- John Ensign (R), incumbent U.S. Senator
- David Schumann (I), retired financial analyst, 2004 nominee, and 2002 state senator nominee
- Brendan Trainor (L), state party chair, airline quality manager, and frequent candidate
Campaign
Carter's advantages included his formidable speaking abilities and kinship with a former U.S. president. On the other hand, Ensign was also considered to be an effective speaker and as of the first quarter of 2006, held an approximately 5–1 advantage over Carter in cash-on-hand.
Endorsements
Jack Carter (D)
- Individuals
- Wesley Clark, General, 2004 democratic presidential candidate[5]
Debates
- Complete video of debate, October 15, 2006
Polling
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
John Ensign(R) |
Jack Carter (D) |
Others | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mason-Dixon (Las Vegas Review-Journal)[6] | October 21–24, 2005 | 625 (RV) | ±4.0% | 59% | 25% | – | 16% |
| Zogby International (Wall Street Journal) | October 25–31, 2005 | ? | ±4.5% | 48% | 33% | – | 19% |
| Zogby International (Wall Street Journal) | December 1–6, 2005 | ? | ±4.3% | 52% | 34% | – | 14% |
| Rasmussen Reports[7] | January 23, 2006 | ? | ±4.5% | 53% | 34% | 7% | 6% |
| Hart Research (D) | March 2–13, 2006 | ? | ±3.1% | 49% | 32% | – | 19% |
| Zogby International (Wall Street Journal)[8] | March 22–27, 2006 | ? | ±4.3% | 52% | 38% | – | 11% |
| Mason-Dixon (Las Vegas Review-Journal)[9] | April 3–5, 2006 | 625 (RV) | ±4.0% | 60% | 27% | – | 13% |
| Research 2000 (Reno Gazette-Journal/News 4)[10] | May 12–15, 2006 | ? | ±4.0% | 52% | 32% | – | 16% |
| Zogby International (Wall Street Journal)[11] | June 13–19, 2006 | ? | ±4.1% | 51% | 36% | – | 13% |
| Zogby International (Wall Street Journal)[11] | July 11–19, 2006 | ? | ±4.3% | 50% | 35% | – | 15% |
| Rasmussen Reports[12] | July 31, 2006 | 500 (LV) | ±4.5% | 46% | 39% | 4% | 11% |
| Mason-Dixon (Las Vegas Review-Journal)[13] | August 7–10, 2006 | 625 (RV) | ±4.0% | 54% | 33% | – | 13% |
| Zogby International (Wall Street Journal)[14] | August 15–21, 2006 | ? | ±4.3% | 48% | 45% | – | 7% |
| Zogby International (Wall Street Journal)[14] | August 29–September 5, 2006 | ? | ±4.4% | 52% | 40% | – | 8% |
| Research 2000 (Reno Gazette-Journal)[15] | September 5–7, 2006 | 600 (LV) | ±4.0% | 56% | 35% | – | 9% |
| Rasmussen Reports[16] | September 6, 2006 | 500 (LV) | ±4.5% | 50% | 41% | 3% | 6% |
| Zogby International (Wall Street Journal)[14] | September 19–25, 2006 | ? | ±4.2% | 49% | 42% | – | 9% |
| Mason-Dixon (Las Vegas Review-Journal)[17] | September 19–26, 2006 | 625 (RV) | ±4.0% | 58% | 35% | 1% | 6% |
| Zogby International (Wall Street Journal)[18] | October 10–16, 2006 | 547 (LV) | ±4.2% | 52% | 43% | – | 5% |
| Rasmussen Reports[19] | October 17, 2006 | 500 (LV) | ±4.5% | 50% | 42% | – | 8% |
| Research 2000 (Reno Gazette-Journal)[20] | October 23–25, 2006 | 600 (LV) | ±4.0% | 55% | 41% | – | 4% |
| Zogby International (Wall Street Journal) | October 23–27, 2006 | ? | ±4.4% | 58% | 37% | – | 5% |
| Mason-Dixon (Las Vegas Review-Journal)[21] | October 26–30, 2006 | ? | ±4.0% | 54% | 37% | – | 9% |
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[4] | Solid R | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[22] | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[23] | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics[24] | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |
Results
Ensign won a majority of the votes in every county in the state, with his lowest percentage at 52.5%.[25]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | John Ensign (incumbent) | 322,501 | 55.36 | +0.27 | |
| Democratic | Jack Carter | 238,796 | 40.99 | +1.30 | |
| None of These Candidates | 8,232 | 1.41 | –0.50 | ||
| Independent American | David K. Schumann | 7,774 | 1.33 | +0.91 | |
| Libertarian | Brendan Trainor | 5,269 | 0.90 | +0.01 | |
| Majority | 83,705 | 14.37 | –1.03 | ||
| Turnout | 582,572 | 58.78 | –9.87 | ||
| Republican hold | Swing | –0.5 | |||
By county
| County | John Ensign Republican |
Jack Carter Democratic |
Various candidates Other parties |
Margin | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Carson City | 11,002 | 60.6% | 6,461 | 35.6% | 702 | 3.8% | 4,541 | 25.0% | 18,165 |
| Churchill | 5,777 | 71.3% | 2,000 | 24.7% | 327 | 4.0% | 3,777 | 46.6% | 8,104 |
| Clark | 188,847 | 52.5% | 159,214 | 44.2% | 11,979 | 3.3% | 29,633 | 8.3% | 360,040 |
| Douglas | 12,822 | 66.3% | 5,795 | 30.0% | 716 | 3.7% | 7,027 | 33.3% | 19,333 |
| Elko | 8,218 | 69.6% | 2,941 | 24.9% | 652 | 5.5% | 5,277 | 44.7% | 11,811 |
| Esmeralda | 289 | 66.9% | 91 | 21.1% | 52 | 12.0% | 198 | 45.8% | 432 |
| Eureka | 510 | 70.8% | 128 | 17.8% | 82 | 11.5% | 382 | 53.0% | 720 |
| Humboldt | 3,145 | 70.0% | 1,129 | 25.1% | 216 | 4.8% | 2,016 | 44.9% | 4,490 |
| Lander | 1,252 | 70.1% | 450 | 25.2% | 83 | 4.6% | 802 | 44.9% | 1,785 |
| Lincoln | 1,323 | 71.4% | 415 | 22.4% | 115 | 6.2% | 908 | 49.0% | 1,853 |
| Lyon | 9,876 | 65.5% | 4,522 | 30.0% | 669 | 4.4% | 5,354 | 35.5% | 15,067 |
| Mineral | 1,237 | 58.9% | 728 | 34.7% | 135 | 6.5% | 509 | 24.2% | 2,100 |
| Nye | 6,855 | 57.9% | 4,294 | 36.3% | 688 | 5.8% | 2,561 | 21.6% | 11,837 |
| Pershing | 983 | 63.9% | 462 | 30.0% | 93 | 6.0% | 521 | 33.9% | 1,538 |
| Storey | 1,151 | 61.2% | 635 | 33.8% | 94 | 5.0% | 516 | 27.4% | 1,880 |
| Washoe | 67,262 | 56.0% | 48,385 | 40.3% | 4,440 | 3.7% | 18,877 | 15.7% | 120,087 |
| White Pine | 1,952 | 58.6% | 1,146 | 34.4% | 232 | 6.9% | 806 | 24.2% | 3,330 |
| Totals | 322,501 | 55.4% | 238,796 | 41.0% | 21,275 | 3.7% | 83,705 | 14.4% | 582,572 |
See also
Notes
- Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear