2006 Connecticut gubernatorial election
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The 2006 Connecticut gubernatorial election occurred on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Jodi Rell became governor when John G. Rowland resigned on corruption charges in 2004. Rell had an approval rating of 70% as of October 19, 2006,[2] and polls showed her leading the Democratic nominee, New Haven mayor John DeStefano by a near 30-point margin. As expected, she won the election to a full term in a landslide. DeStefano defeated Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy in the Connecticut Democratic gubernatorial primary on August 8. As of 2026, this is the last time a Republican and woman was elected Governor of Connecticut, and the last time any gubernatorial candidate won every county in the state to date.
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November 7, 2006
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| Turnout | 59.87%[1] ( 3.36%) | |||||||||||||||||||
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Rell: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% DeStefano: 50–60% 60–70% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Republican primary
Candidates
- Jodi Rell, incumbent governor
- Running mate: Michael Fedele, State Representative
Results
Governor Rell was unopposed for renomination.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Declared
- John DeStefano, Jr., Mayor of New Haven
- Running mate: Mary Glassman, Simsbury First Selectman
- Dannel Malloy, Mayor of Stamford
Declined
- Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Attorney General
- Chris Dodd, United States Senator
- Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut Secretary of State
Results
Convention
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Dannel Malloy | 799 | 50.13 | |
| Democratic | John DeStefano Jr. | 795 | 49.87 | |
Primary
- 50–60%
- 50–60%
- 60–70%
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | John DeStefano Jr. | 135,431 | 50.78 | |
| Democratic | Dannel Malloy | 131,258 | 49.22 | |
Independents and third parties
Green Party
- Cliff Thornton, retired businessman; drug policy reform advocate; U.S. Army veteran[3]
Concerned Citizens Party
- Joseph A. Zdonczyk, retired businessman; U.S. Army veteran; Concerned Citizens Party founder[4]
Independent
- John M. Joy (write-in candidate)[5]
General election
Predictions
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[6] | Solid R | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[7] | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[8] | Safe R | November 2, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics[9] | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |
Polling
| Source | Date | John DeStefano (D) |
Jodi Rell (R) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rasmussen[10] | October 3, 2006 | 33% | 58% |
| Quinnipiac[11] | August 17, 2006 | 32% | 64% |
| Rasmussen[12] | August 14, 2006 | 35% | 57% |
| Rasmussen[13] | July 23, 2006 | 32% | 54% |
| Quinnipiac[14] | July 20, 2006 | 25% | 62% |
| Rasmussen[15] | June 19, 2006 | 31% | 59% |
| Quinnipiac[16] | June 8, 2006 | 24% | 64% |
| Quinnipiac[16] | May 2, 2006 | 20% | 66% |
| Quinnipiac[17] | February 16, 2006 | 16% | 70% |
| Quinnipiac[18] | January 12, 2006 | 21% | 64% |
| Quinnipiac[19] | July 27, 2005 | 22% | 61% |
| Quinnipiac[20] | April 6, 2005 | 19% | 66% |
| Quinnipiac[21] | November 23, 2004 | 22% | 59% |
Results
The following are the results of the 2006 election:[22] Rell won every county and all but seven towns. Notably, DeStefano won the capital city of Hartford, the largest city of Bridgeport, and his hometown of New Haven.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jodi Rell (incumbent) | 710,048 | 63.22% | +7.11 | |
| Democratic | John DeStefano Jr. | 398,220 | 35.45% | −8.44 | |
| Green | Cliff Thornton | 9,584 | 0.85% | n/a | |
| Concerned Citizens | Joseph A. Zdonczyk | 5,560 | 0.49% | n/a | |
| Write-in | 54 | 0.00% | n/a | ||
| Total votes | 1,123,212 | 100.0 | n/a | ||
| Republican hold | |||||
By county
| County[22] | Jodi Rell Republican |
John DeStefano Democratic |
Various candidates Other parties |
Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Fairfield | 185,037 | 68.7% | 81,676 | 30.3% | 2,582 | 0.9% | 103,361 | 38.5% | 269,295 |
| Hartford | 165,660 | 58.2% | 114,824 | 40.4% | 4,009 | 1.4% | 50,836 | 17.8% | 284,493 |
| Litchfield | 49,368 | 69.8% | 20,358 | 28.8% | 1,039 | 1.4% | 29,010 | 41.0% | 70,765 |
| Middlesex | 39,509 | 61.5% | 23,783 | 37.0% | 918 | 1.5% | 15,726 | 24.5% | 64,210 |
| New Haven | 161,350 | 62.4% | 92,822 | 36.3% | 3,518 | 1.4% | 67,528 | 26.1% | 258,690 |
| New London | 54,469 | 62.3% | 31,623 | 36.2% | 1,325 | 1.5% | 22,846 | 26.1% | 87,417 |
| Tolland | 33,648 | 62.6% | 19,172 | 35.6% | 972 | 1.8% | 14,476 | 27.0% | 53,792 |
| Windham | 21,007 | 60.4% | 12,962 | 37.2% | 835 | 2.4% | 8,045 | 23.2% | 34,804 |
| Totals | 710,048 | 63.2% | 398,220 | 35.4% | 15,144 | 1.3% | 311,828 | 27.8% | 1,123,412 |
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
By congressional district
Rell won all five congressional districts, including four that elected Democrats.[23]
| District | Rell | DeStefano Jr. | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 58% | 41% | John B. Larson |
| 2nd | 63% | 35% | Rob Simmons (109th Congress) |
| Joe Courtney (110th Congress) | |||
| 3rd | 61% | 37% | Rosa DeLauro |
| 4th | 67% | 32% | Christopher Shays |
| 5th | 67% | 32% | Nancy L. Johnson (109th Congress) |
| Chris Murphy (110th Congress) | |||