2006 United States Senate election in Nevada

The 2006 United States Senate election in Nevada was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican John Ensign defeated Democratic nominee Jack Carter to win re-election to a second term. This election was the only Senate election in Nevada where the incumbent Republican Senator was re-elected or won re-election since 1980 and the only Senate election in Nevada for this seat where the incumbent Republican Senator was re-elected or won re-election since 1952.

2006 United States Senate election in Nevada

← 2000 November 7, 2006 2012 →

Nominee John Ensign Jack Carter Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 322,501 238,796 Percentage 55.36% 40.99%

County results Ensign:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election John Ensign Republican Elected U.S. Senator John Ensign Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• John Ensign, incumbent U.S. Senator

Defeated in primary

• Ed Hamilton, businessman

Results

Republican primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Ensign (incumbent)	127,023	90.47
	Republican	None of these candidates	6,754	4.81
	Republican	Ed Hamilton	6,629	4.72
Total votes			140,406	100.00

Democratic primary

Popular Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman had said in January 2006 that he would probably run,^[2] but decisively ruled out a run in late April.^[3] Going into the 2006 cycle, many top Nevada Democrats such as State Assembly speaker Richard Perkins indicated that the party would put more efforts into the gubernatorial election than into defeating Ensign.^[3]

Candidates

Nominee

• Jack Carter, U.S Navy veteran and son of former President Jimmy Carter

Defeated in primary

• Ruby Jee Tun, middle school science teacher^[2]

Declined to run

• Oscar Goodman, Mayor of Las Vegas^[3]
• Frankie Sue Del Papa, Attorney General of Nevada^[4]
• Dina Titus, member of the Nevada Senate^[4] (ran for Governor)

Results

Democratic primary vote^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jack Carter	92,270	78.30
	Democratic	None of these candidates	14,425	12.24
	Democratic	Ruby Jee Tun	11,147	9.46
Total votes			117,842	100.00

General election

Candidates

• Jack Carter (D), Navy veteran and son of former President Jimmy Carter
• John Ensign (R), incumbent U.S. Senator
• David Schumann (I), retired financial analyst, 2004 nominee, and 2002 state senator nominee
• Brendan Trainor (L), state party chair, airline quality manager, and frequent candidate

Campaign

Carter's advantages included his formidable speaking abilities and kinship with a former U.S. president. On the other hand, Ensign was also considered to be an effective speaker and as of the first quarter of 2006, held an approximately 5–1 advantage over Carter in cash-on-hand.

Debates

• Complete video of debate, October 15, 2006

Endorsements

Jack Carter (D)

Individuals

• Wesley Clark, General, 2004 democratic presidential candidate^[5]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[4]	Solid R	November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball[6]	Safe R	November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report[7]	Safe R	November 6, 2006
Real Clear Politics[8]	Safe R	November 6, 2006

Polling

Source	Date	Ensign (R)	Carter (D)
Zogby/WSJ[9]	March 31, 2006	52%	38%
Las Vegas Review-Journal/Mason-Dixon[10]	April 3–5, 2006	60%	27%
Reno Gazette-Journal/News 4[11]	May 12–15, 2006	52%	32%
Zogby/WSJ[12]	June 21, 2006	51%	36%
Zogby/WSJ[12]	July 24, 2006	50%	35%
Rasmussen[13]	July 31, 2006	46%	39%
Las Vegas Review-Journal/Mason-Dixon[14]	August 12, 2006	54%	33%
Zogby/WSJ[15]	August 28, 2006	48%	45%
Zogby/WSJ[15]	September 11, 2006	52%	40%
Reno Gazette-Journal/Research 2000[16]	September 15, 2006	56%	35%
Rasmussen[17]	September 22, 2006	50%	41%
Las Vegas Review-Journal/Mason-Dixon[18]	September 26, 2006	58%	35%
Zogby/WSJ[15]	September 28, 2006	49%	42%
Rasmussen[19]	October 17, 2006	50%	42%
Zogby/WSJ[20]	October 19, 2006	52%	43%
Reno Gazette-Journal/Research 2000[21]	October 29, 2006	55%	41%

Results

General election results^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Ensign (incumbent)	322,501	55.36%	+0.27%
	Democratic	Jack Carter	238,796	40.99%	+1.30%
	None of These Candidates		8,232	1.41%	-0.50%
	Independent American	David K. Schumann	7,774	1.33%	+0.91%
	Libertarian	Brendan Trainor	5,269	0.90%	+0.01%
Majority			83,705	14.37%	−1.03%
Turnout			582,572
	Republican hold		Swing

Ensign won a majority of the votes in every county in the state, with his lowest percentage at 53%.^[23]

See also

• 2006 United States Senate elections