2006 United States Senate election in Maryland

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Template:Elections in Maryland sidebar The 2006 United States Senate election in Maryland was held Tuesday, November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democrat Paul Sarbanes, Maryland's longest-serving United States senator, decided to retire instead of seeking a sixth term. Democratic nominee Ben Cardin, a U.S. representative, won the open seat, defeating Republican lieutenant governor Michael Steele.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Campaign

Kweisi Mfume, a former congressman and NAACP President, was the first to announce for the position, in March 2005. Ben Cardin, then a congressman since 1987, was the only other major candidate until September 2005, when former Baltimore County Executive Dennis F. Rasmussen, American University professor Allan Lichtman, and wealthy Potomac businessman Josh Rales entered the contest. Thirteen other candidates subsequently also entered the primary. As of August 2006, Cardin had raised more than $4.8 million and collected endorsements from a number of Democratic politicians, the AFL–CIO, and The Washington Post; Mfume had raised over $1.2 million and collected endorsements from the Maryland State Teachers Association, Progressive Maryland, former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening, the National Organization for Women, and Maryland Congressmen Elijah Cummings and Al Wynn.

On August 31, 2006, Maryland Public Television (MPT) and the League of Women Voters (LWV) sponsored a debate between the two leading Democratic Primary Candidates.[4][5] The LWV of Maryland and MPT arbitrarily excluded most of the FEC qualified candidates from the only televised debates in the primary election. There were 18 candidates in this race, only 2, Ben Cardin and Kweisi Mfume, were allowed to debate, despite the strenuous protests of the excluded candidates. Lichtman, Rales, and Rasmussen petitioned MPT and LWV for inclusion in the debate but received no response. On the day of the debate, Lichtman, his wife, and a campaign aide were arrested for trespassing while protesting during the taping of the debate.[6] They were found not guilty on all charges. The judge in the case said it should never have been brought to court and was a gross violation of the parties' constitutional rights.[7]

Debates

Polling

Source Date Ben
Cardin
A. Robert
Kaufman
Allan
Lichtman
Kweisi
Mfume
Josh
Rales
Dennis F.
Rasmussen
The Washington Post[8] June 25, 2006 26% 2% 4% style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 33% 0% 4%
The Baltimore Sun[9] July 17, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 32% 1% 1% 28% 1% 1%
Public Opinion Strategies[10] August 1–2, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 31% 25% 4% 6%
Gonzales Research[11] August 30, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 43% 30% 6%
SurveyUSA[12] August 31, 2006 38% style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 42% 7%
SurveyUSA[13] September 11, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 47% 38% 7%
File:2006 United States Senate election in Maryland Democratic Primary results map by county.svg
Results by county:Script error: No such module "collapsible list".

Results

Democratic primary results[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Script error: No such module "Political party". Benjamin L. Cardin Script error: No such module "string". 43.67
Script error: No such module "Political party". Kweisi Mfume Script error: No such module "string". 40.52
Script error: No such module "Political party". Josh Rales Script error: No such module "string". 5.21
Script error: No such module "Political party". Dennis F. Rasmussen Script error: No such module "string". 1.86
Script error: No such module "Political party". Mike Schaefer Script error: No such module "string". 1.32
Script error: No such module "Political party". Allan Lichtman Script error: No such module "string". 1.17
Script error: No such module "Political party". Theresa C. Scaldaferri Script error: No such module "string". 0.86
Script error: No such module "Political party". James H. Hutchinson Script error: No such module "string". 0.84
Script error: No such module "Political party". David Dickerson Script error: No such module "string". 0.67
Script error: No such module "Political party". A. Robert Kaufman Script error: No such module "string". 0.66
Script error: No such module "Political party". Anthony Jaworski Script error: No such module "string". 0.59
Script error: No such module "Political party". Thomas McCaskill Script error: No such module "string". 0.59
Script error: No such module "Political party". George T. English Script error: No such module "string". 0.39
Script error: No such module "Political party". Bob Robinson Script error: No such module "string". 0.37
Script error: No such module "Political party". Lih Young Script error: No such module "string". 0.35
Script error: No such module "Political party". Blaine Taylor Script error: No such module "string". 0.31
Script error: No such module "Political party". Joseph Werner Script error: No such module "string". 0.31
Script error: No such module "Political party". Charles Ulysses Smith Script error: No such module "string". 0.29
Total votes Script error: No such module "string". 100

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Republican primary

Candidates

  • Ray Bly, small businessman
  • Earl S. Gordon
  • Thomas J. Hampton, accountant
  • John B. Kimble, behavioral researcher
  • Edward Raymond Madej
  • Daniel Muffoletto, small businessman
  • Richard Shawver, activist
  • Michael S. Steele, Lieutenant Governor and former chairman of the Maryland Republican Party
  • Corrogan R. Vaughn, perennial candidate
  • Daniel "The Wig Man" Vovak, ghostwriter and owner of Greenwich Creations

Campaign

Michael S. Steele was expected to win the Republican primary, and the Baltimore Sun wrote the month before that he faced "only nominal opposition".[15] Among a field of nine other candidates, the only Republican receiving sufficient media coverage was Daniel Vovak.

Results

Republican primary results[14]
Party Candidate Votes %
Script error: No such module "Political party". Michael S. Steele Script error: No such module "string". 86.96
Script error: No such module "Political party". John Kimble Script error: No such module "string". 2.86
Script error: No such module "Political party". Earl S. Gordon Script error: No such module "string". 1.87
Script error: No such module "Political party". Daniel "Wig Man" Vovak Script error: No such module "string". 1.85
Script error: No such module "Political party". Thomas J. Hampton Script error: No such module "string". 1.80
Script error: No such module "Political party". Corrogan R. Vaughn Script error: No such module "string". 1.17
Script error: No such module "Political party". Daniel Muffoletto Script error: No such module "string". 1.06
Script error: No such module "Political party". Richard Shawver Script error: No such module "string". 1.05
Script error: No such module "Political party". Ray Bly Script error: No such module "string". 0.96
Script error: No such module "Political party". Edward Raymond Madej Script error: No such module "string". 0.41
Total votes Script error: No such module "string". 100

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General election

Candidates

Campaign

This was Maryland's first open Senate seat since 1986, when junior Senator Barbara Mikulski was first elected.

Michael Steele won the Republican nomination after facing little competition in the contest for the Republican ticket. With mostly unknown secondary candidates, Steele received 87% of the Republican Primary vote.

Third District Congressional Representative Ben Cardin won the Democratic Party nomination after facing tough competition in the contest for the Democratic ticket from former congressman and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, businessman Josh Rales, former Baltimore County Executive Dennis F. Rasmussen, and several lesser-known candidates. Cardin received 44% of the Democratic Primary vote to 40% for Mfume, his next closest competitor. All other candidates received percentages only in the single digits.

Kevin Zeese, the nominee for the Green, Populist and Libertarian Parties, was also on the ballot.

Though Steele lost the general election by 10% of the vote, a much wider margin than predicted, his was and remains the best showing for a Republican in a Senate race in Maryland since Charles Mathias, Jr. was re-elected in 1980 with 66.17% of the vote.

Controversies

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Both Steele and Cardin made controversial statements and advertising throughout the campaign.

Debates

The first debate of the race was held Tuesday, October 3, 2006. All three candidates were present and participated. The evening was hosted by the Baltimore Urban League and moderated by Charles Robinson from Maryland Public Television and Doni Glover from BMORENEWS.[18]

The first televised debate of the campaign was broadcast on News Channel 8 on the program "News Talk". All three candidates participated in the debate, and were moderated by Bruce DePuyt, the host of the program. There was no audience. This debate was widely reported because of the constant bickering between the three candidates, who often interrupted and talked over one another.[19]

Another debate took place between Steele and Cardin on Sunday, October 29, 2006, as a part of the Meet The Press Senatorial debate series. Moderated by Tim Russert, the debate focused primarily on the Iraq War and stem-cell research, amongst other issues.[20]

The three candidates all participated in the final debate of the campaign on Friday, November 3, 2006. The event was sponsored by the Collective Banking Group and held at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden.[21]

Cardin primarily attacked Steele over his close relations with President Bush, including pictures of Bush and Steele in Cardin's TV ads.[22] Steele focused on low taxes, less government spending, free markets and national security.[23]

Predictions

Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[24] Template:USRaceRating November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball[25] Template:USRaceRating November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report[26] Template:USRaceRating November 6, 2006
Real Clear Politics[27] Template:USRaceRating November 6, 2006

Polling

Source Date Ben
Cardin (D)
Michael
Steele (R)
Kevin
Zeese (G)
The Baltimore Sun[28] April 2005 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 41% 37%
The Baltimore Sun[29] October 25, 2005 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 47% 38%
Potomac Survey Research[30] November 1, 2005 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 41% 32%
Rasmussen[31] November 21, 2005 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 49% 41%
Rasmussen[32] January 13, 2006 40% style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 45%
Zogby[33] January 20, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 49% 43%
Rasmussen[34] February 22, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 49% 35%
Zogby/The Wall Street Journal[35] March 31, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 49% 39%
Gonzales Research[36] April 18, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 49% 35%
Rasmussen[37] April 25, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 45% 35%
Zogby/The Wall Street Journal[38] June 21, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 51% 40%
The Washington Post[39] June 25, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 49% 39%
The Baltimore Sun/Potomac Inc.[40] July 6–10, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 47% 36%
Rasmussen[41] July 17, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 47% 41%
Zogby/The Wall Street Journal[42] July 24, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 50% 42%
Public Opinion Strategies (R)[43] August 1–2, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 43% 35%
Rasmussen[44] August 18, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 47% 42%
Zogby/The Wall Street Journal[45] August 28, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 50% 41%
Gonzales Research[46] August 30, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 44% 39%
Zogby/The Wall Street Journal[47] September 10, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 49% 40%
Rasmussen[48] September 19, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 50% 43%
SurveyUSA[49] September 20, 2006 47% style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | 48% 4%
The Baltimore Sun/Potomac Inc.[50] September 25, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 51% 40%
VC Research (R)[51] September 27–28, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 44% 39%
Zogby/The Wall Street Journal[52] September 28, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 52% 39%
Mason-Dixon/MSNBC[53] October 2, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 47% 41% 1%
Public Opinion Strategies (R)[54] October 2–4, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 47% 43%
Reuters/Zogby[55] October 5, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 45% 37%
USA Today/Gallup[56] October 6, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 54% 39%
Rasmussen[57] October 16, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 53% 44%
SurveyUSA[58] October 18, 2006 46% 46% 3%
VC Research (R)[59] October 22–23, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 41% 39%
Garin Hart Yang (D)[60] October 23–24, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 52% 40%
Rasmussen[61] October 26, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 49% 42%
The Washington Post[62] October 29, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 54% 43% 1%
Reuters/Zogby[63] November 2, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 49% 44%
The Baltimore Sun/Potomac Inc.[64] November 2, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 49% 43% 2%
SurveyUSA[65] November 3, 2006 47% 47%
Mason-Dixon/MSNBC[66] November 5, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 47% 44% 1%
SurveyUSA[67] November 6, 2006 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | 49% 46% 3%

Results

Despite polls days before the election showing the race at a 3% margin, Cardin won by just over 10% with a 178,295-vote margin, although since 2026Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"., this is the closest a Republican has come to winning a U.S. Senate election in Maryland since Charles Mathias was reelected in 1980. On the same day, incumbent Republican governor Bob Ehrlich lost reelection to Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley.

Template:Election box winning candidate with party linkTemplate:Election box write-in with party link
Maryland United States Senate election results, 2006[68]
Party Candidate Votes % <templatestyles src="Template:Tooltip/styles.css" />±%Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Script error: No such module "Political party". Michael Steele 787,182 44.19 Script error: No such module "String".
Script error: No such module "Political party". Kevin Zeese 27,564 1.55 Script error: No such module "String".
Majority 178,295 100.00 Script error: No such module "String".
Turnout 1,781,139 Script error: No such module "String".
Script error: No such module "Political party". hold Swing

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

Results by county

County colspan="2" style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Ben Cardin

Democratic

colspan="2" style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Michael Steele

Republican

Kevin Zeese

Green

colspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Write-Ins

Independent

Margin Total

Votes

Cast

style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |# style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |% style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |# style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |% # % Template:Party shading/Independent |# Template:Party shading/Independent |% # %
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Allegany 8396 38.87% 12892 59.69% 309 1.43% 2 0.01% -4496 -20.82% 21599
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Anne Arundel 82687 44.17% 101110 54.01% 3331 1.78% 79 0.04% -18423 -9.84% 187207
style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Baltimore (City) 112805 74.54% 35185 23.25% 3228 2.13% 120 0.08% 77620 51.29% 151338
style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Baltimore (County) 145262 51.55% 131291 46.59% 5117 1.82% 140 0.05% 13971 4.96% 281810
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Calvert 12687 42.46% 16703 55.90% 481 1.61% 10 0.03% -4016 -13.44% 29881
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Caroline 2860 31.74% 5957 66.12% 192 2.13% 1 0.01% -3097 -34.37% 9010
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Carroll 18893 30.19% 42550 67.99% 1114 1.78% 26 0.04% -23657 -37.80% 62583
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Cecil 11600 40.73% 16296 57.21% 577 2.03% 10 0.04% -4696 -16.49% 28483
style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Charles 20938 50.77% 19743 47.87% 539 1.31% 22 0.05% 1195 2.90% 41242
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Dorchester 4183 39.28% 6326 59.40% 134 1.26% 7 0.07% -2143 -20.12% 10650
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Frederick 29398 40.38% 42174 57.93% 1196 1.64% 32 0.04% -12776 -17.55% 72800
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Garrett 2686 27.42% 6995 71.42% 110 1.12% 3 0.03% -4309 -44.00% 9794
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Harford 32590 35.82% 56703 62.32% 1664 1.83% 37 0.04% -24113 -26.50% 90994
style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Howard 56873 53.90% 47015 44.55% 1577 1.49% 59 0.06% 9858 9.34% 105524
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Kent 3484 44.34% 4239 53.95% 134 1.71% 1 0.01% -755 -9.61% 7858
style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Montgomery 205264 67.16% 96619 31.61% 3578 1.17% 152 0.05% 108645 35.55% 305613
style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Prince George's 154798 75.01% 49484 23.98% 1948 0.94% 150 0.07% 105314 51.03% 206380
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Queen Anne's 5935 33.03% 11710 65.17% 318 1.77% 6 0.03% -5775 -32.14% 17969
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | St. Mary's 11614 40.77% 16381 57.50% 482 1.69% 11 0.04% -4767 -16.73% 28488
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Somerset 2651 39.53% 3953 58.95% 99 1.48% 3 0.04% -1302 -19.42% 6706
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Talbot 5844 37.13% 9686 61.55% 200 1.27% 8 0.05% -3842 -24.41% 15738
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Washington 15921 38.56% 24773 59.99% 582 1.41% 17 0.04% -8852 -21.44% 41293
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Wicomico 10571 37.66% 17074 60.83% 405 1.44% 17 0.06% -6503 -23.17% 28067
style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Worcester 7537 37.47% 12326 61.28% 249 1.24% 3 0.01% -4789 -23.81% 20115
Total 965477 54.33% 783185 44.07% 27564 1.55% 916 0.05% 182292 10.26% 1777142
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

References

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  17. John Wagner, Zeese Wins the Triple Crown, The Washington Post, June 13, 2006.
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  31. Rasmussen Template:Webarchive
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