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2006 United States House of Representatives elections

House elections for the 110th U.S. Congress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2006 United States House of Representatives elections
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The 2006 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 7, 2006, to elect members to the United States House of Representatives. It took place in the middle of President George W. Bush's second term in office. All 435 seats of the House were up for election. Those elected served in the 110th United States Congress from January 3, 2007, until January 3, 2009. The incumbent majority party, the Republicans, had won majorities in the House consecutively since 1994, and were defeated by the Democrats who won a majority in the chamber, ending 12 years of Republican control in the House.

Quick Facts All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority, Majority party ...
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The Republicans had won a 232-seat majority in 2004, but by the time of the 2006 election, they held 229 seats, while the Democrats held 201, plus 1 Independent (Bernie Sanders) who caucused with the Democrats. There were also four vacancies. Democrats needed to pick up 15 seats to take control of the House, which had been in Republican control since January 1995. Along with the historical "sixth-year itch" that has plagued many incumbent presidents in midterm elections, the public's perception of George W. Bush, the handling of the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan, and a series of political scandals involving mostly congressional Republicans took their toll on the party at the ballot box.[1]

The final result was a 31-seat pickup for the Democrats, including the pickup of the Vermont at-large seat, previously held by Independent Bernie Sanders (who ran instead for U.S. Senate), who caucused with the Democrats. Democrats defeated 22 Republican incumbents and won eight open Republican-held seats. For the first time since the party's founding, Republicans won no seats previously held by Democrats and defeated no Democratic incumbents.[2] It was the largest seat gain for the Democrats since the 1974 elections. Among the new Democrats were the first Muslim in Congress (Keith Ellison) and the first two Buddhists (Mazie Hirono and Hank Johnson). As a result of the Democratic victory, Nancy Pelosi became the first female and the first Californian House Speaker.[3]

As of 2025, this is the only House election cycle where only one party flipped any seats, the last time Republicans won a House race in Connecticut or more than one House seat in New Mexico, and the last time Democrats won more than one House seat in Kansas.

Several members of the House first elected in 2006 have gone on to receive national attention, including Gabby Giffords and Michele Bachmann; United States senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Dean Heller, Mazie Hirono, and Chris Murphy; senator and ambassador Joe Donnelly; former speaker Kevin McCarthy; Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison; and governor and vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz.

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Results

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Federal

233 202
Democratic Republican
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President Bush met with Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer (then House Minority Leader and Minority Whip, respectively) at the Oval Office in the White House. The President congratulated Pelosi and Hoyer on their newfound majority and vowed to work with them until his presidency was over. Regarding Pelosi's elevation to Speaker of the House, Bush commented, "This is a historic moment".
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Voter demographics

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Source: CNN exit poll[4]

Maps

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Retiring incumbents

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27 incumbents did not seek re-election. The four vacancies were New Jersey's 13th congressional district, to be filled at the same time as the general election with the winner taking office in November immediately after the votes were certified; Texas's 22nd congressional district, with a separate special election on the same day; and Ohio's 18th congressional district and Florida's 16th congressional district, which did not have special elections to fill the vacancies before January 2007. New Jersey's 13th congressional district had been held by Democrat Bob Menendez, Texas's 22nd congressional district had been held by Republican Tom DeLay, Ohio's 18th congressional district had been held by Republican Robert Ney, and Florida's 16th congressional district had been held by Republican Mark Foley. Democrats won all four races.

Democratic incumbents

Nine Democrats retired, all of whom were replaced by Democrats.

  1. Florida's 11th congressional district: Jim Davis
  2. Hawaii's 2nd congressional district: Ed Case
  3. Illinois's 17th congressional district: Lane Evans
  4. Maryland's 3rd congressional district: Ben Cardin
  5. Minnesota's 5th congressional district: Martin Olav Sabo
  6. New York's 11th congressional district: Major Owens
  7. Ohio's 6th congressional district: Ted Strickland
  8. Ohio's 13th congressional district: Sherrod Brown
  9. Tennessee's 9th congressional district: Harold Ford Jr.

Republican incumbents

Seventeen Republicans retired, twelve of whom were replaced by Republicans and five replaced by Democrats.

  1. Arizona's 8th congressional district: Jim Kolbe
  2. California's 22nd congressional district: Bill Thomas
  3. Colorado's 5th congressional district: Joel Hefley
  4. Colorado's 7th congressional district: Bob Beauprez
  5. Florida's 9th congressional district: Michael Bilirakis
  6. Florida's 13th congressional district: Katherine Harris
  7. Idaho's 1st congressional district: Butch Otter
  8. Illinois's 6th congressional district: Henry Hyde
  9. Iowa's 1st congressional district: Jim Nussle
  10. Minnesota's 6th congressional district: Mark Kennedy
  11. Nebraska's 3rd congressional district: Tom Osborne
  12. Nevada's 2nd congressional district: Jim Gibbons
  13. New York's 24th congressional district: Sherwood Boehlert
  14. Ohio's 4th congressional district: Mike Oxley
  15. Oklahoma's 5th congressional district: Ernest Istook
  16. Tennessee's 1st congressional district: Bill Jenkins
  17. Wisconsin's 8th congressional district: Mark Andrew Green

Independent incumbent

One independent who caucused with the Democrats retired, and was replaced by a Democrat.

  1. Vermont's at-large: Bernie Sanders
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Defeated incumbents

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Defeated in primary elections

Two incumbents were defeated in their party's respective primaries, which their respective parties held in the general election.

  1. Georgia's 4th congressional district: Cynthia McKinney (D)
  2. Michigan's 7th congressional district: Joe Schwarz (R)

Defeated in general election

22 Republican incumbents were defeated by Democrats.

  1. Arizona's 5th congressional district J. D. Hayworth
  2. California's 11th congressional district Richard Pombo
  3. Connecticut's 2nd congressional district Rob Simmons
  4. Connecticut's 5th congressional district Nancy Johnson
  5. Florida's 22nd congressional district E. Clay Shaw
  6. Indiana's 2nd congressional district Chris Chocola
  7. Indiana's 8th congressional district John Hostettler
  8. Indiana's 9th congressional district Mike Sodrel
  9. Iowa's 2nd congressional district Jim Leach
  10. Kansas's 2nd congressional district Jim Ryun
  11. Kentucky's 3rd congressional district Anne Northup
  12. Minnesota's 1st congressional district Gil Gutknecht[5]
  13. New Hampshire's 1st congressional district Jeb Bradley
  14. New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district Charles Bass
  15. New York's 19th congressional district Sue Kelly
  16. New York's 20th congressional district John E. Sweeney[6]
  17. North Carolina's 11th congressional district Charles H. Taylor[7]
  18. Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district Melissa Hart
  19. Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district Curt Weldon[8]
  20. Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district Mike Fitzpatrick
  21. Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district Don Sherwood
  22. Texas's 23rd congressional district Henry Bonilla

Open seats that changed parties

Five Republicans who retired were replaced by Democrats.

  1. Arizona's 8th congressional district: Jim Kolbe was replaced by Gabby Giffords.
  2. Colorado's 7th congressional district: Bob Beauprez was replaced by Ed Perlmutter.
  3. Iowa's 1st congressional district: Jim Nussle was replaced by Bruce Braley.
  4. New York's 24th congressional district: Sherwood Boehlert was replaced by Mike Arcuri.
  5. Wisconsin's 8th congressional district: Mark Andrew Green was replaced by Steve Kagan.

One independent who caucused with the Democrats retired, and was replaced by a Democrat.

  1. Vermont's at-large: Bernie Sanders was replaced by Peter Welch.
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Closest races

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Sixty races were decided by 10% or lower.[9]

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Election ratings

Special elections

There were two special elections in 2006 to the 109th United States Congress, listed here by date and district.

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Alabama

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Alaska

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Arizona

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Arkansas

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California

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Colorado

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Connecticut

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Delaware

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Florida

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Georgia

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Georgia's delegation was redistricted in 2005.[citation needed]

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Hawaii

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Idaho

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Illinois

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Indiana

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Iowa

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Kansas

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Kentucky

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Louisiana

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Maine

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Maryland

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Massachusetts

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Michigan

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Minnesota

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Mississippi

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Missouri

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Montana

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Nebraska

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Nevada

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New Hampshire

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New Jersey

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New Mexico

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New York

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North Carolina

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North Dakota

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Ohio

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Oklahoma

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Oregon

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Pennsylvania

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Rhode Island

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South Carolina

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South Dakota

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Tennessee

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Texas

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Texas's 22nd district was held by Tom DeLay who had resigned. The Democratic Party sued to prevent the Republican Party from replacing Tom DeLay (who was determined to be the candidate in March 2006) with another candidate. The courts agreed with the Democratic Party and the Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal. On August 8, 2006, Tom DeLay officially withdrew his name as the Republican candidate. (The court decision did not allow the Republican Party from changing its candidate, however it did not prevent Tom DeLay from withdrawing altogether.)[14]

Texas's 23rd district was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States, which ordered the district re-drawn. This affected the 15th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, and 28th districts, which had a blanket primary on Election Day, followed by a runoff on December 6 in District 23, where no candidate got a majority of the vote.

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Utah

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Vermont

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Virginia

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Washington

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West Virginia

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Wisconsin

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Wyoming

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Non-voting delegates

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See also

Notes

  1. In addition, four of the five non-voting delegates in the U.S. House of Representatives were elected.
  2. This seat was the tipping point seat
  3. Deal was originally elected as a Democrat. He switched parties in April 1995.
  4. Alexander was first elected as a Democrat. He became a Republican in August 2004.
  5. Hall was first elected as a Democrat. He became a Republican in January 2004.
  6. Goode was elected as Democrat. He left the party in January 2000 and became a Republican in August 2002.

References

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