Nebraska United States Senate election, 2008

United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2006

The 2006 Minnesota U.S. Senate election took place on November 7, 2006. The incumbent, Senator Mark Dayton, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, announced in February 2005 that he would be retiring from the Senate after his first term ended in early 2007, thus leaving the seat open. Some analysts had predicted that this race would be the costliest and closest Senate election in 2006 (which turned out to be false, as the DFL candidate won with a 20 per cent margin).

The primary election took place on September 12, 2006.

Candidates

Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

Amy Klobuchar, the Hennepin County Attorney, gained the early endorsement of the majority of DFL state legislators in Minnesota. A poll taken of DFL state delegates showed Klobuchar beating her then closest opponent, Patty Wetterling, 66% to 15%. As of June 30, 2005, Klobuchar had more cash on hand than any other candidate, nearly $1,100,000.

Klobuchar was endorsed by EMILY's List on 29 September, 2005. On January 20, 2006, Wetterling dropped out of the race and endorsed Klobuchar.

Former Senate candidate and prominent lawyer Mike Ciresi, who was widely seen as the only other serious potential DFL candidate, indicated on February 7, 2006 that he would not enter the race. That removal of her most significant potential competitor for the DFL nomination was viewed as an important boost for Klobuchar.

The only other serious candidate for the DFL endorsement was veterinarian Ford Bell. Klobuchar won the official DFL endorsement on June 9, 2006. Bell dropped out of the race on July 10 citing inability to compete financially and also endorsed Klobuchar.

Republican Party

Mark Kennedy was the U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 6th congressional district at the time, and was the GOP nominee in this election.

Kennedy had faced potential challenges from former Senator Rod Grams, as well as Representative Gil Gutknecht, but both men were persuaded by national GOP leaders to run for the House instead. (Grams lost to Representative James Oberstar, while Gutknecht lost his reelection bid to Tim Walz.)

Ultimately, Kennedy faced only token opposition; he beat Harold Shudlick, a retired minister and Vietnam veteran and John Ulrich, a business consultant, teacher, and US Marine Corps veteran in the 12 September, 2006 Primary Election.

Constitution Party

Ben Powers - conservative activist

Green Party

Michael Cavlan - a nurse and independent journalist

Independence Party

Robert Fitzgerald - a public access TV show director

Independent

Peter Idusogie- a business consultant and 2004 DFL Congressional candidate

Campaign

Kennedy's routine support of President George W. Bush in House votes appears to be a central issue for Democrats in the senatorial campaign. In June 2006, allegations were made that many references to and photos of Bush had been removed from Kennedy's official house website; in rebuttal, Republicans said that there were 72 references to Bush on the website and that the changes noted by critics had been made some time ago, as part of the normal updating process.

As of 13 October 2006, Ben Powers is the only ballot-qualified candidate not to be invited to appear on Minnesota Public Television's Almanac program.

Polling

After the release of the Minnesota Poll on 17 September, 2006, showing Klobuchar ahead by 24%, Kennedy's campaign issued a statement

from Joe Pally, the campaign's communications director. He claimed that the margin was exaggerated because of bias by the Star Tribune and that the poll "is clearly more about discouraging Kennedy supporters than on reflecting the true status of one of the most closely contested Senate races in the country.. This press release came in the wake of news that the Republican party was scaling back funding for Kennedy's election campaign to shore up campaigns in states seen as winnable. As noted below, the most recent non-partisan poll by Rasmussen Reports shows a similar margin of victory for Klobuchar, and the election on November 7 showed a 20% margin of victory for Klobuchar. Kennedy's campaign has frequently accused the Star Tribune of bias in favor of Klobuchar, whose father was an editorial columnist and sports writer for the "Strib" until his retirement. However, the St.Paul Pioneer Press also showed Klobuchar with a 15% lead in September.

Source	Date	Klobuchar (DFL)	Kennedy (R)	Fitzgerald (IPM)
SurveyUSA	November 6, 2006	56%	40%	2%
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune Minnesota Poll	November 4, 2006	54%	34%	4%
University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute	November 1, 2006	55%	33%	3%
Rasmussen	October 25, 2006	54%	39%
SurveyUSA	October 24, 2006	55%	39%	3%
Zogby/WSJ	October 19, 2006	50.2%	42.7%
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune Minnesota Poll	October 15, 2006	55%	34%	3%
Rasmussen	October 4, 2006	53%	36%	6%
SurveyUSA	September 28, 2006	51%	43%	2%
Minnesota Public Radio/Pioneer Press/Mason-Dixon	September 25, 2006	52%	37%	1%
University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute	September 21, 2006	52%	36%	7%
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune Minnesota Poll	September 17, 2006	56%	32%	3%
Zogby/WSJ	September 11, 2006	49.1%	40.4%
Gallup	September 5, 2006	50%	40%
Rasmussen	August 28, 2006	47%	40%	8%
Zogby/WSJ	August 28, 2006	49.9%	42.3%
Rasmussen	August 7, 2006	50%	38%	5%
SurveyUSA	July 24, 2006	47%	42%	8%
Bennett, Petts, and Blumenthal (D)	July 24, 2006	48%	30%
Zogby/WSJ	July 24, 2006	49.4%	42.9%
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune Minnesota Poll	July 16, 2006	50%	31%
Rasmussen	June 30, 2006	47%	44%
Zogby/WSJ	June 21, 2006	48.6%	41.2%
Rasmussen	May 10, 2006	45%	43%
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Poll	May 9, 2006	50%	42%
Zogby/WSJ	March 31, 2006	49%	41%
Rasmussen	February 28, 2006	45%	42%
Rasmussen	January 28, 2006	43%	42%
Rasmussen	December 23, 2005	48%	41%