2006 United States Senate election in Indiana
The 2006 United States Senate election in Indiana was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican United States Senator Richard Lugar was re-elected to his sixth six-year term with 87.3% of the vote. He did not have a Democratic opponent and only faced opposition from a Libertarian candidate; this was the only U.S. Senate race in 2006 in which Democrats did not field a candidate. This would be the last successful race of Lugar's decades long political career. This is also the last time that Lake, Marion, Monroe, and Porter counties have voted for a Republican candidate for Senate.
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| Elections in Indiana |
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Candidates
Libertarian
- Steve Osborn, radio operator
Republican
- Richard Lugar, incumbent U.S. Senator
Campaign
Lugar faced no opposition from the Democratic Party, as they felt that he was unbeatable. The Indiana Senate race was the only one in 2006 in which the incumbent did not face a challenger from the other major party. Also running was Libertarian Steve Osborn. Osborn was from La Porte, Indiana and was an amateur radio operator. Exit polls projected a landslide victory for Lugar which was borne out by the result.
Results
Overall
The election was not close as Lugar faced only a Libertarian candidate, as no Democrat filed to run. Osborn's best performance was in Switzerland County where he received just over 22% of the vote. This is one of the best statewide showings for a third party candidate in Indiana.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Richard Lugar (incumbent) | 1,171,553 | 87.3% | ||
| Libertarian | Steve Osborn | 168,820 | 12.6% | ||
| Write-in | 738 | 0.1% | |||
| Total votes | 1,341,111 | 100.0% | |||
| Republican hold | |||||
By county
Lugar won all 92 of Indiana's counties by varying margins.[2]
| County | Lugar | Votes | Osborn | Votes | Other | Votes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 90.6% | 7,143 | 9.4% | 743 | 0.0% | 3 | 7,889 |
| Allen | 89.3% | 65,782 | 10.6% | 7,838 | 0.1% | 38 | 73,658 |
| Bartholomew | 90.0% | 16,544 | 10.0% | 1,834 | 0.0% | 9 | 18,387 |
| Benton | 87.1% | 2,086 | 12.9% | 310 | 0.0% | 0 | 2,396 |
| Blackford | 85.7% | 2,902 | 14.3% | 483 | 0.0% | 0 | 3,385 |
| Boone | 91.5% | 11,428 | 8.5% | 1,058 | 0.0% | 0 | 12,486 |
| Brown | 84.9% | 4,181 | 15.1% | 743 | 0.0% | 1 | 4,925 |
| Carroll | 86.3% | 4,859 | 13.6% | 768 | 0.1% | 3 | 5,630 |
| Cass | 88.1% | 8,066 | 11.9% | 1,094 | 0.1% | 1 | 9,161 |
| Clark | 86.6% | 21,690 | 13.4% | 3,358 | 0.0% | 0 | 25,048 |
| Clay | 86.9% | 6,597 | 13.0% | 987 | 0.1% | 4 | 7,588 |
| Clinton | 87.6% | 6,076 | 12.3% | 856 | 0.1% | 7 | 6,939 |
| Crawford | 82.6% | 2,318 | 17.4% | 488 | 0.0% | 0 | 2,806 |
| Daviess | 91.4% | 6,193 | 8.6% | 586 | 0.0% | 1 | 6,780 |
| Dearborn | 83.7% | 9,091 | 16.2% | 1,759 | 0.1% | 11 | 10,861 |
| Decatur | 89.7% | 5,575 | 10.3% | 660 | 0.0% | 0 | 6,415 |
| DeKalb | 86.4% | 7,967 | 13.6% | 1,258 | 0.0% | 0 | 9,225 |
| Delaware | 88.7% | 21,571 | 11.3% | 2,740 | 0.0% | 0 | 24,311 |
| Dubois | 90.4% | 9,432 | 9.6% | 1,007 | 0.0% | 0 | 10,439 |
| Elkhart | 89.9% | 34,342 | 9.9% | 3,798 | 0.2% | 74 | 38,214 |
| Fayette | 83.2% | 4,704 | 16.8% | 951 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,655 |
| Floyd | 88.0% | 16,941 | 12.0% | 2,300 | 0.0% | 0 | 19,241 |
| Fountain | 86.4% | 4,267 | 13.6% | 671 | 0.0% | 0 | 4,938 |
| Franklin | 83.6% | 5,061 | 16.3% | 989 | 0.1% | 7 | 6,057 |
| Fulton | 88.7% | 5,493 | 11.3% | 697 | 0.1% | 1 | 6,191 |
| Gibson | 92.3% | 8,395 | 7.7% | 969 | 0.0% | 2 | 9,094 |
| Grant | 89.4% | 13,758 | 10.6% | 1,638 | 0.0% | 0 | 15,396 |
| Greene | 88.0% | 7,757 | 11.7% | 1,031 | 0.3% | 28 | 8,788 |
| Hamilton | 92.0% | 49,077 | 7.9% | 4,226 | 0.1% | 47 | 53,350 |
| Hancock | 89.6% | 13,810 | 10.4% | 1,605 | 0.0% | 0 | 15,415 |
| Harrison | 85.4% | 9,484 | 14.6% | 1,625 | 0.0% | 0 | 11,109 |
| Hendricks | 89.8% | 25,216 | 10.1% | 2,841 | 0.1% | 15 | 28,072 |
| Henry | 85.4% | 10,375 | 14.6% | 1,776 | 0.0% | 0 | 12,151 |
| Howard | 86.2% | 17,660 | 13.7% | 2,804 | 0.1% | 25 | 20,489 |
| Huntington | 87.0% | 7,392 | 13.0% | 1,104 | 0.0% | 0 | 8,496 |
| Jackson | 89.1% | 9,887 | 10.8% | 1,203 | 0.0% | 5 | 11,095 |
| Jasper | 85.3% | 5,122 | 14.6% | 876 | 0.1% | 7 | 6,005 |
| Jay | 85.9% | 4,850 | 14.1% | 795 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,645 |
| Jefferson | 85.6% | 6,838 | 14.4% | 1,150 | 0.0% | 0 | 7,988 |
| Jennings | 87.7% | 6,751 | 12.3% | 948 | 0.0% | 0 | 7,699 |
| Johnson | 90.8% | 24,333 | 9.1% | 2,434 | 0.1% | 36 | 26,803 |
| Knox | 87.2% | 8,764 | 12.8% | 1,290 | 0.0% | 0 | 10,054 |
| Kosciusko | 88.3% | 15,231 | 11.5% | 1,983 | 0.2% | 32 | 17,246 |
| LaGrange | 87.4% | 5,063 | 12.6% | 730 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,793 |
| Lake | 81.8% | 47,868 | 18.1% | 10,575 | 0.1% | 61 | 58,504 |
| LaPorte | 79.9% | 18,967 | 20.1% | 4,773 | 0.0% | 0 | 23,740 |
| Lawrence | 87.3% | 9,404 | 12.4% | 1,335 | 0.3% | 36 | 10,775 |
| Madison | 85.8% | 25,963 | 14.2% | 4,294 | 0.0% | 11 | 30,268 |
| Marion | 89.0% | 127,898 | 11.0% | 15,866 | 0.0% | 0 | 143,764 |
| Marshall | 89.7% | 10,958 | 10.3% | 1,253 | 0.0% | 0 | 12,211 |
| Martin | 86.4% | 2,765 | 13.6% | 435 | 0.0% | 0 | 3,200 |
| Miami | 84.8% | 6,771 | 14.9% | 1,192 | 0.3% | 21 | 7,984 |
| Monroe | 83.2% | 21,998 | 16.8% | 4,451 | 0.0% | 0 | 26,449 |
| Montgomery | 88.9% | 7,639 | 11.1% | 948 | 0.0% | 4 | 8,591 |
| Morgan | 87.7% | 12,254 | 12.3% | 1,720 | 0.0% | 0 | 13,974 |
| Newton | 81.8% | 2,915 | 18.2% | 647 | 0.0% | 0 | 3,562 |
| Noble | 87.9% | 8,800 | 12.1% | 1,209 | 0.0% | 0 | 10,009 |
| Ohio | 80.1% | 1,523 | 19.9% | 378 | 0.0% | 0 | 1,901 |
| Orange | 88.2% | 4,503 | 11.8% | 605 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,108 |
| Owen | 87.2% | 4,418 | 12.8% | 650 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,068 |
| Parke | 89.1% | 4,182 | 10.9% | 512 | 0.0% | 1 | 4,695 |
| Perry | 85.9% | 3,916 | 14.1% | 640 | 0.0% | 0 | 4,556 |
| Pike | 87.6% | 3,649 | 12.3% | 511 | 0.1% | 3 | 4,163 |
| Porter | 81.5% | 25,385 | 18.2% | 5,658 | 0.3% | 90 | 31,133 |
| Posey | 89.7% | 7,636 | 10.3% | 877 | 0.0% | 0 | 8,513 |
| Pulaski | 85.9% | 3,625 | 14.1% | 595 | 0.0% | 2 | 4,222 |
| Putnam | 89.8% | 7,352 | 10.1% | 826 | 0.1% | 8 | 8,186 |
| Randolph | 87.5% | 5,587 | 12.5% | 799 | 0.0% | 2 | 6,388 |
| Ripley | 84.7% | 6,224 | 15.2% | 1,117 | 0.1% | 7 | 7,348 |
| Rush | 89.5% | 4,340 | 10.5% | 506 | 0.0% | 2 | 4,848 |
| Saint Joseph | 88.8% | 52,437 | 11.2% | 6,587 | 0.0% | 0 | 59,024 |
| Scott | 84.3% | 4,267 | 15.4% | 778 | 0.3% | 14 | 5,059 |
| Shelby | 89.5% | 9,070 | 10.2% | 1,035 | 0.3% | 26 | 10,131 |
| Spencer | 92.8% | 5,483 | 7.1% | 699 | 0.1% | 8 | 9,777 |
| Starke | 76.3% | 4,560 | 23.7% | 1,415 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,975 |
| Steuben | 83.6% | 6,728 | 16.4% | 1,314 | 0.0% | 2 | 8,044 |
| Sullivan | 85.1% | 4,489 | 14.9% | 783 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,272 |
| Switzerland | 77.7% | 1,615 | 22.3% | 463 | 0.0% | 0 | 2,078 |
| Tippecanoe | 84.9% | 25,707 | 15.0% | 4,535 | 0.1% | 39 | 30,281 |
| Tipton | 88.1% | 4,554 | 11.9% | 616 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,170 |
| Union | 85.1% | 1,913 | 14.9% | 336 | 0.0% | 0 | 2,249 |
| Vanderburgh | 87.9% | 39,898 | 12.1% | 5,474 | 0.0% | 0 | 45,372 |
| Vermillion | 82.9% | 3,380 | 17.1% | 696 | 0.0% | 0 | 4,076 |
| Vigo | 86.4% | 19,242 | 13.6% | 3,025 | 0.0% | 10 | 22,277 |
| Wabash | 86.9% | 5,653 | 13.1% | 855 | 0.0% | 0 | 6,508 |
| Warren | 87.2% | 2,221 | 12.7% | 325 | 0.0% | 0 | 2546 |
| Warrick | 89.5% | 15,038 | 10.4% | 1,748 | 0.1% | 11 | 16,797 |
| Washington | 85.7% | 6,494 | 14.0% | 1,060 | 0.3% | 19 | 7,575 |
| Wayne | 80.5% | 10,846 | 19.5% | 2,631 | 0.0% | 0 | 13,477 |
| Wells | 87.9% | 7,389 | 12.1% | 1,011 | 0.0% | 2 | 8,402 |
| White | 86.4% | 5,930 | 13.6% | 935 | 0.0% | 0 | 6,865 |
| Whitley | 87.5% | 7,855 | 12.5% | 1,123 | 0.0% | 0 | 8,978 |
See also
References
- "United States Senator". Indiana of Secretary of State. November 7, 2006. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
- "United States Senator by County". Indiana Secretary of State. November 7, 2006. Retrieved November 8, 2008.