2006 Massachusetts general election
November 7, 2006
Part of the
2006 United States elections

The 2006 Massachusetts general election was held on November 7, 2006, throughout Massachusetts.

At the federal level, Ted Kennedy was re-elected to the United States Senate, and all ten seats in the United States House of Representatives were won by incumbent Democratic Party candidates.

Incumbent Republican Governor Mitt Romney did not run for re-election and was succeeded by Democrat Deval Patrick. Martha Coakley was elected Attorney General. Democratic incumbents were re-elected Secretary of the Commonwealth, Auditor, and Treasurer.

In the Massachusetts General Court, Democrats gained one seat in the Senate and two seats in the House.

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Incumbent Republican governor Mitt Romney chose not to seek re-election for a second term in office.

Primary elections for Governor and Lieutenant Governor were conducted separately with the Democrats nominating former Assistant U.S. Attorney General Deval Patrick and Mayor of Worcester Tim Murray. The Republicans nominated a ticket of incumbent Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey and former State Representative Reed Hillman.

Patrick and Murray were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor in the general election.

Secretary of the Commonwealth

Incumbent Democratic Secretary William F. Galvin ran for re-election to a fourth term in office. He was opposed in the Democratic primary by John C. Bonifaz, a voting-rights activist who founded the National Voting Rights Institute.

Democratic primary

Polling

Source Date MoE Candidates
Democratic Primary William F. Galvin John Bonifaz Und
Suffolk University August 17–21, 2006 ±5.1% 49% 5% 46%
Suffolk University June 22–26, 2006 ±4.0% 50% 9% 38%

Results

Democratic Secretary of the Commonwealth Primary[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William F. Galvin (incumbent) 633,035 82.84%
Democratic John Bonifaz 129,012 17.00%
Write-in All others 1,997 0.26%
None Blank votes 162,358

General election

2006 election for Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth
November 7, 2006 (2006-11-07)
 
Nominee William F. Galvin Jill Stein
Party Democratic Green
Popular vote 1,635,714 351,495
Percentage 82.31% 17.69%
Secretary of the Commonwealth before election

William F. Galvin
Democratic

 Elected Secretary of the Commonwealth

William F. Galvin
Democratic

In the general election, Galvin's only challenger was Green-Rainbow nominee Jill Stein, a medical doctor and community activist who ran for governor in 2002.

Polling

Source Date MoE Candidates
General Election Galvin (D) Stein (GR) Und.
Suffolk University Archived 2007-03-13 at the Wayback Machine October 20–23, 2006 ±4.9% 57% 13% 31%
Suffolk University October 2–4, 2006 ±4.4% 56% 11% 33%
Suffolk University August 17–21, 2006 ±4.0% 54% 11% 35%
Suffolk University June 22–26, 2006 ±4.0% 52% 9% 35%
Suffolk University May 3, 2006 ±4.9% 46% 10% 43%
Suffolk University April 3, 2006 ±4.9% 46% 8% 44%

Results

2006 Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth Election[2]
(unofficial results)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic William F. Galvin (incumbent) 1,635,714 82.31% Increase9.86
Green-Rainbow Jill Stein 351,495 17.69% Increase17.69
Democratic hold Swing

Attorney General

Incumbent Attorney General Thomas Reilly ran for Governor instead of seeking a third term in office.

Democratic Middlesex County District Attorney Martha Coakley was elected Attorney General, defeating former Norfolk County District Attorney Republican Larry Frisoli, a trial attorney from Belmont[3] who was known for his handling of the Jeffery Curley case against NAMBLA. Both candidates were unopposed for nomination in their parties' primaries.

General election

Polling

Source Date MoE Coakley (D) Frisoli (R) Und.
Suffolk University Archived 2007-03-13 at the Wayback Machine October 20–23, 2006 ±4.9% 59% 18% 14%
Suffolk University October 2–4, 2006 ±4.4% 52% 15% 33%
Suffolk University August 17–21, 2006 ±4.0% 50% 9% 39%
Suffolk University June 22–26, 2006 ±4.0% 50% 16% 33%
Suffolk University May 3, 2006 ±4.9% 49% 13% 36%

Results

2006 Massachusetts Attorney General Election[4]
(unofficial results)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Martha Coakley 1,542,319 73.02% Decrease26.22
Republican Larry Frisoli 569,822 26.98% Increase26.98
Democratic hold Swing

Treasurer and Receiver-General

Incumbent Democrat Timothy P. Cahill was re-elected over Green-Rainbow candidate James O'Keefe, who also ran in 2002. Republican Ronald K. Davy, a financial analyst and Hull selectman, was nominated but failed to reach signature requirement to qualify for the ballot.[5]

General election

Polling

Source Date MoE Cahill (D) O'Keefe (GR) Davy (R) Und.
Suffolk University Archived 2007-03-13 at the Wayback Machine October 20–23, 2006 ±4.9% 56% 15% 29%
Suffolk University October 2–4, 2006 ±4.4% 51% 11% 37%
Suffolk University August 17–21, 2006 ±4.0% 48% 10% 42%
Suffolk University June 22–26, 2006 ±4.0% 47% 7% 10% 35%
Suffolk University May 3, 2006 ±4.9% 46% 6% 6% 41%
Suffolk University April 3, 2006 ±4.9% 40% 21% 30%

Results

2006 Massachusetts Treasurer Election[6]
(unofficial results)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Tim Cahill (incumbent) 1,641,196 83.58% Increase32.92
Green-Rainbow James O'Keefe 322,493 16.42% Increase8.46
Democratic hold Swing

Auditor

Incumbent Democrat Joe DeNucci was re-elected for a sixth term over Working Families nominee Rand Wilson, a union organizer and labor communicator. Republican candidate Earle Stroll, a 52-year-old small-business consultant from Bolton,[7] also failed to reach signature requirement to qualify for the ballot. Green-Rainbow candidate Nathanael Fortune, a physicist from Smith College and a Whatley School Committee member, dropped out of the race for personal reasons in late March 2006.

General election

Polling

Source Date MoE DeNucci (D) Wilson (WF) Und.
Suffolk University Archived 2007-03-13 at the Wayback Machine October 20–23, 2006 ±4.9% 56% 10% 35%
Suffolk University October 2–4, 2006 ±4.4% 48% 13% 38%
Suffolk University August 17–21, 2006 ±4.0% 46% 11% 42%

Results

2006 Massachusetts Auditor Election[8]
(unofficial results)
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic A. Joseph DeNucci (incumbent) 1,563,716 80.89% Increase3.02
Working Families Rand Wilson 369,513 19.11% Increase19.11
Democratic hold Swing

U.S. House of Representatives

see 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts

Massachusetts Senate

see 2006 Massachusetts Senate election

Massachusetts House of Representatives

see 2006 Massachusetts House of Representatives elections

Governor's Council

See 2006 Massachusetts Governor's Council election

Ballot questions

There were three statewide ballot questions, all initiatives, which the Massachusetts voters voted on this election, and all were defeated.[9][10][11] There were also various local ballot questions around the state.

Statewide Questions:

  • Question 1 - Sale of Wine by Food Stores. A law to allow local authorities to license stores selling groceries to sell wine.
  • Question 2 - Nomination of Candidates for Public Office. A law to create "more ballot choices" by allowing for fusion voting.
  • Question 3 - Family Child Care Providers. A law to allow home-based family child care providers providing state-subsidized care to bargain collectively with the state government.

Polling

Source Date MoE Question Yes No Und
UNH/Globe October 22–25, 2006 ±4.1% Wine in food stores 57% 38% 5%
Suffolk University Archived 2007-03-13 at the Wayback Machine October 20–23, 2006 ±4.9% Wine in food stores 52% 40% 8%
Fusion voting 26% 51% 23%
Collective bargaining for childcare providers 34% 36% 30%
Suffolk University October 10–11, 2006 ±4.9% Wine in food stores 50% 41% 9%
Suffolk University October 2–4, 2006 ±4.4% Wine in food stores 47% 44% 9%
Fusion voting 27% 48% 24%
Collective bargaining for childcare providers 42% 33% 25%
Suffolk University August 17–21, 2006 ±4.0% Wine in food stores 54% 38% 8%
Fusion voting 35% 48% 18%
Collective bargaining for childcare providers 46% 32% 22%
Suffolk University June 27, 2006 ±4.0% Wine in food stores 61% 31% 9%
Fusion voting 34% 48% 19%
Collective bargaining for childcare providers 42% 37% 22%

Results

Question 1: Wine in Food Stores[12]
Candidate Votes  % ±
Yes 915,076 44%
✓ No 1,180,708 56%
Question 2: Fusion Voting[12]
Candidate Votes  % ±
Yes 688,096 35%
✓ No 1,302,143 65%
Question 3: Family Care Worker Unionization[12]
Candidate Votes  % ±
Yes 951,988 48%
✓ No 1,035,707 52%

References

  • Elections Division, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth- Official government site.
  • "Nov 7, 2006 general election", PD43+ Massachusetts Election Statistics, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Campaign sites

Attorney General

Secretary of the Commonwealth

Ballot Questions
Question 1 - Sale of Wine by Food Stores:

Question 2 - Nomination of Candidates for Public Office:

Not on statewide ballot in 2006:

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.