Oregon gubernatorial election, 2006

Oregon gubernatorial election, 2006

2002 ← November 7, 2006 → 2010

Nominee Ted Kulongoski Ron Saxton Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 698,562 588,155 Percentage 50.8 42.7

Governor before election Ted Kulongoski Democratic Elected Governor Ted Kulongoski Democratic

The 2006 gubernatorial election in the U.S. state of Oregon took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democrat Ted Kulongoski defeated Republican Ron Saxton, winning his bid for a second term as Governor of Oregon.

The race featured hotly-contested primary elections for both the Republican and Democratic parties, a strong but short-lived run by State Senator Ben Westlund (as an independent), and controversy over the legitimacy of Constitution Party candidate Mary Starrett.

Primary elections

Both the Democratic and Republican primary elections were actively contested.

On the Democratic side, numerous challengers considered running to succeed one-term incumbent Ted Kulongoski. Former Governor John Kitzhaber was discussed widely as a potential challenger, but ultimately declined to run. State Senator Vicki Walker, known for standing up to powerful utilities, also considered a run. Former Treasurer and legislator Jim Hill and former state Senator and Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson ended up running against Kulongoski in the May primary election, which Kulongoski won.

A wide field of Republicans emerged to challenge Kulongoski. 2004 nominee, and party chairman Kevin Mannix was an early favorite. It was widely believed that a highly conservative candidate like Mannix (who has based much of his career on strong advocacy of victims' rights and other conservative social issues) faced an uphill battle in a left-leaning state. State Senator Jason Atkinson won strong support as a relative newcomer, but ultimately 2004 contender Ron Saxton - who had been widely regarded in 2004 as the most moderate Republican contender - emerged with the nomination.

State Senator Ben Westlund, formerly a Republican, dropped his party affiliation to run as an independent candidate. He built a strong campaign, likely gathering enough signatures to qualify for the General Election, but ultimately declined to do so (citing his desire not to run as a "spoiler".)

Three minor parties - Constitution, Green, and Libertarian - also nominated candidates for the November election.

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, who opposed a Columbia Gorge casino, spent over $800,000 in the Democratic and Republican primary races, opposing Kulongoski and Mannix.

Polling

Democratic primary

Poll Source	Date Administered	Ted Kulongoski	Jim Hill	Pete Sorenson
Oregonian	May 16, 2006	54.37%	29.37%	16.27%

Republican primary

Poll Source	Date Administered	Ron Saxton	Kevin Mannix	Jason Atkinson
Oregonian	May 16, 2006	42.17%	30.05%	22.56%

General Election Candidates

Democratic Party

Ted Kulongoski - Incumbent Governor

Republican Party

Ron Saxton - Ex-Portland Public School Board Member, Attorney, and 2002 Gubernatorial Candidate

Constitution Party

Mary Starrett - Ex radio & talk show host.

Pacific Green Party

Joe Keating - Ex director of the Oregon Wildlife Federation, chair of the Oregon Sierra Club from 1999 to 2000

Libertarian Party

Richard Morley

Election results

Results by county:

  Kulongoski

  Saxton

Oregon gubernatorial election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	Percentage
	Democratic	Ted Kulongoski (incumbent)	698,562	50.8%
	Republican	Ron Saxton	588,155	42.7%
	Constitution (Oregon)	Mary Starrett	50,103	3.6%
	Green	Joe Keating	19,978	1.5%
	Libertarian	Richard Morley	16,751	1.2%
		write-ins	2,447	0.2%
Totals			1,375,995	%
	Democratic hold

Outlook and opinion polling

Democratic Governor Ted Kulongoski won a three-candidate primary with 54%, and faced a tough general election against moderate former Portland School Board member Ron Saxton. As of September 21, 2006, Kulongoski's approval rating was 36% according to a poll done by SurveyUSA.

The plus side for Kulongoski is that former moderate Republican-turned-Independent candidate Ben Westlund withdrew from the race for governor on August 10, 2006, explaining that he did not want to be a spoiler ; and that Constitution Party candidate Mary Starrett was expected to take votes primarily away from Republican nominee Saxton. CQPolitics quoted Oregon State University political science professor Bill Lunch as explaining: "I think we’re ... likely to see 5-to-6 or 7-to-8 percent from Starrett. Even so, those numbers come right out of Saxton’s hide."

Poll Source	Date Administered	Kulongoski (D)	Saxton (R)	Starrett (C)	Morley (L)	Keating (G)
KATU/Oregonian	October 31, 2006	45%	38%	6%	1%	1%
Rasmussen	October 31, 2006	51%	44%	—	—	—
Riley Research	October 25, 2006	47%	36%	4%	1%	1%
Riley Research	October 3, 2006	37%	39%	2%	1%	1%
Rasmussen	October 1, 2006	47%	42%	—	—	—
Rasmussen	September 25, 2006	47%	38%	—	—	—
Zogby Interactive Poll	September 11, 2006	47.0%	39.8%	4.5%	1.2%	—
Zogby Interactive Poll	August 28, 2006	49.9%	43.5%	—	—	—
Rasmussen	August 22, 2006	49%	35%	—	—	—
Rasmussen	August 3, 2006	45%	35%	—	—	—
Zogby Interactive Poll	July 24, 2006	49.0%	42.2%	—	—	—
Zogby Interactive Poll	June 21, 2006	47.6%	40.1%	—	—	—
Rasmussen	May 23, 2006	43%	41%	—	—	—
Zogby Interactive Poll	March 22-27, 2006	46%	38.8%	—	—	—
Rasmussen	February 27, 2006	47%	33%	—	—	—

See also

• Oregon statewide elections, 2006
• United States gubernatorial elections, 2006
• List of Oregon Governors