2006 Arizona gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2006 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 2006 Arizona gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Governor Janet Napolitano was reelected in a landslide. Napolitano's widespread popularity contributed to her easy reelection; her general approval rating in October 2006, one month before the election, was at 58%.^[2]

2006 Arizona gubernatorial election

← 2002 November 7, 2006 2010 →
Turnout	60.47% 4.14pp [1]
Nominee Janet Napolitano Len Munsil Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 959,830 543,528 Percentage 62.58% 35.44%
County results Napolitano:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Governor before election Janet Napolitano Democratic Elected Governor Janet Napolitano Democratic

This was the last time until 2022 that a Democrat was elected governor of Arizona. It is also the last time that a Democrat swept every county in the state in a statewide election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Janet Napolitano, incumbent governor of Arizona

Results

Democratic primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Janet Napolitano (incumbent)	230,881	100.00%
Total votes			230,881	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Don Goldwater, activist, former board member of the Goldwater Institute and nephew of Barry Goldwater
• Mike Harris, businessman
• Len Munsil, former president of the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP)
• Gary Tupper, contractor

Results

Primary results by county:

  Munsil

•   61–70%
•   51–60%
•   41–50%

  Goldwater

•   51–60%
•   41–50%

Republican primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Len Munsil	155,778	50.56%
	Republican	Don Goldwater	122,283	39.39%
	Republican	Mike Harris	18,734	6.08%
	Republican	Gary Tupper	11,250	3.65%
	Republican	Steve Moore (write-in)	49	0.2%
Total votes			308,094	100.00%

Libertarian primary

Candidates

• Barry Hess, currency speculator and perennial candidate

Results

Libertarian primary results^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Libertarian	Barry Hess	3,063	100.00%
Total votes			3,063	100.00%

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[4]	Solid D	November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball[5]	Safe D	November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report[6]	Safe D	November 2, 2006
Real Clear Politics[7]	Safe D	November 6, 2006

Polling

Source	Date released	Janet Napolitano (D)	Len Munsil (R)
Survey USA[8]	November 3, 2006	57%	38%
Rasmussen[9]	October 19, 2006	58%	37%
Survey USA[10]	October 17, 2006	56%	37%
Rasmussen[11]	September 26, 2006	56%	38%
Survey USA[12]	September 19, 2006	56%	40%
Zogby/WSJ[13]	September 11, 2006	51.3%	41.1%
Rasmussen[14]	August 31, 2006	52%	33%
Zogby/WSJ[13]	August 28, 2006	51.7%	38.0%
Rasmussen[15]	August 2, 2006	53%	35%
Zogby/WSJ[13]	July 24, 2006	49.6%	38.7%
Zogby/WSJ[13]	June 21, 2006	48.7%	32.8%
Rasmussen[16]	June 12, 2006	58%	29%
Rasmussen[17]	April 30, 2006	55%	28%

Results

2006 Arizona gubernatorial election^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Janet Napolitano (incumbent)	959,830	62.58%	+16.40%
	Republican	Len Munsil	543,528	35.44%	−9.78%
	Libertarian	Barry Hess	30,268	1.97%	+0.31%
	Independent	Arthur Ray Arvizu (write-in)	10	0.00%
	Independent	Brian Wright (write-in)	6	0.00%
	Independent	Robert B. Winn (write-in)	3	0.00%
Majority			416,302	27.14%
Total votes			1,533,645	100.00%
	Democratic hold		Swing	+26.18%

By county

County	Janet Napolitano Democratic		Len Munsil Republican		Barry Hess Libertarian		All others Write-in		Margin		Total votes cast[18]
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Apache	14,475	77.02%	3,627	19.30%	692	3.68%	1	0.01%	10,848	57.72%	18,795
Cochise	21,416	58.87%	14,038	38.59%	922	2.53%	1	0.00%	7,378	20.28%	36,377
Coconino	28,551	74.54%	8,879	23.18%	872	2.28%	2	0.01%	19,672	51.36%	38,304
Gila	10,586	63.21%	5,803	34.65%	358	2.14%	0	0.00%	4,783	28.56%	16,747
Graham	4,348	55.64%	3,306	42.30%	161	2.06%	0	0.00%	1,042	13.33%	7,815
Greenlee	1,486	69.70%	588	27.58%	58	2.72%	0	0.00%	898	42.12%	2,132
La Paz	2,353	61.39%	1,342	35.01%	138	3.60%	0	0.00%	1,011	26.38%	3,833
Maricopa	538,383	60.64%	332,570	37.46%	16,888	1.90%	12	0.00%	205,813	23.18%	887,853
Mohave	25,400	55.08%	19,588	42.47%	1,129	2.45%	1	0.00%	5,812	12.60%	46,118
Navajo	17,368	64.97%	8,708	32.57%	658	2.46%	0	0.00%	8,660	32.39%	26,734
Pima	195,305	69.22%	82,052	29.08%	4,794	1.70%	0	0.00%	113,253	40.14%	282,151
Pinal	35,428	61.87%	20,716	36.18%	1,116	1.95%	1	0.00%	14,712	25.69%	57,261
Santa Cruz	6,482	78.32%	1,634	19.74%	160	1.93%	0	0.00%	4,848	58.58%	8,276
Yavapai	40,848	56.23%	30,203	41.58%	1,587	2.18%	1	0.00%	10,645	14.65%	72,639
Yuma	17,401	60.82%	10,474	36.61%	735	2.57%	0	0.00%	6,927	24.21%	28,610
Totals	959,830	62.58%	543,528	35.44%	30,268	1.97%	19	0.00%	416,302	27.14%	1,533,645

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Cochise (largest city: Sierra Vista)
• Graham (largest city: Safford)
• La Paz (largest city: Parker)
• Maricopa (largest city: Phoenix)
• Mohave (largest city: Lake Havasu City)
• Yavapai (largest city: Prescott Valley)
• Yuma (largest city: Yuma)

See also

• 2006 United States gubernatorial elections
• Governors of Arizona