2006 Connecticut gubernatorial election

For related races, see 2006 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 2006 Connecticut gubernatorial election occurred on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Jodi Rell became governor when John G. Rowland resigned on corruption charges in 2004. Rell had an approval rating of 70% as of October 19, 2006,^[2] and polls showed her leading the Democratic nominee, New Haven mayor John DeStefano by a near 30-point margin. As expected, she won the election to a full term in a landslide. DeStefano defeated Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy in the Connecticut Democratic gubernatorial primary on August 8. As of 2025, this is the last time a Republican and woman was elected Governor of Connecticut, and the last time any gubernatorial candidate won every county in the state to date.

2006 Connecticut gubernatorial election

← 2002 November 7, 2006 2010 →
Turnout	59.87%[1] ( 3.36%)
Nominee Jodi Rell John DeStefano Jr. Party Republican Democratic Running mate Michael Fedele Mary Glassman Popular vote 710,048 398,220 Percentage 63.2% 35.5%
County results Municipality results Congressional district results Rell:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% DeStefano:      50–60%      60–70%
Governor before election Jodi Rell Republican Elected Governor Jodi Rell Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

• Jodi Rell, incumbent governor

• Running mate: Michael Fedele, State Representative

Results

Governor Rell was unopposed for renomination.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• John DeStefano, Jr., Mayor of New Haven

• Running mate: Mary Glassman, Simsbury First Selectman

• Dannel Malloy, Mayor of Stamford

Declined

• Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Attorney General
• Chris Dodd, United States Senator
• Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut Secretary of State

Results

Convention

2006 gubernatorial election, Connecticut

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dannel Malloy	799	50.13
	Democratic	John DeStefano Jr.	795	49.87

Primary

Democratic primary results by county

  DeStefano

•   50-60%

  Malloy

•   50-60%
•   60–70%

2006 gubernatorial election, Connecticut

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John DeStefano Jr.	135,431	50.78
	Democratic	Dannel Malloy	131,258	49.22

Independents and third parties

Green Party

• Cliff Thornton, retired businessman; drug policy reform advocate; U.S. Army veteran^[3]

Concerned Citizens Party

• Joseph A. Zdonczyk, retired businessman; U.S. Army veteran; Concerned Citizens Party founder^[4]

Independent

• John M. Joy (write-in candidate)^[5]

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[6]	Solid R	November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball[7]	Safe R	November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report[8]	Safe R	November 2, 2006
Real Clear Politics[9]	Safe R	November 6, 2006

Polling

Source	Date	John DeStefano (D)	Jodi Rell (R)
Rasmussen[10]	October 3, 2006	33%	58%
Quinnipiac[11]	August 17, 2006	32%	64%
Rasmussen[12]	August 14, 2006	35%	57%
Rasmussen[13]	July 23, 2006	32%	54%
Quinnipiac[14]	July 20, 2006	25%	62%
Rasmussen[15]	June 19, 2006	31%	59%
Quinnipiac[16]	June 8, 2006	24%	64%
Quinnipiac[16]	May 2, 2006	20%	66%
Quinnipiac[17]	February 16, 2006	16%	70%
Quinnipiac[18]	January 12, 2006	21%	64%
Quinnipiac[19]	July 27, 2005	22%	61%
Quinnipiac[20]	April 6, 2005	19%	66%
Quinnipiac[21]	November 23, 2004	22%	59%

Results

The following are the results of the 2006 election:^[22] Rell won every county and all but seven towns. Notably, DeStefano won the capital city of Hartford, the largest city of Bridgeport, and his hometown of New Haven.

^[22]

2006 Connecticut gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jodi Rell (incumbent)	710,048	63.2	+7.1
	Democratic	John DeStefano Jr.	398,220	35.5	−8.4
	Green	Cliff Thornton	9,584	0.9	n/a
	Concerned Citizens	Joseph A. Zdonczyk	5,560	0.5	n/a
	Write-in		54	0.0	n/a
Total votes			1,123,212	100.0	n/a
	Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Windham (largest town: Windham)

By congressional district

Rell won all five congressional districts, including four that elected Democrats.^[23]

District	Rell	DeStefano Jr.	Representative
1st	58%	41%	John B. Larson
2nd	63%	35%	Rob Simmons (109th Congress)
			Joe Courtney (110th Congress)
3rd	61%	37%	Rosa DeLauro
4th	67%	32%	Christopher Shays
5th	67%	32%	Nancy L. Johnson (109th Congress)
			Chris Murphy (110th Congress)

See also

• U.S. gubernatorial elections, 2006
• State of Connecticut
• Governors of Connecticut
• Dan Malloy