Florida gubernatorial election, 2006

Florida gubernatorial election, 2006

November 7, 2006

Candidate Charlie Crist Jim Davis Party Republican Democratic Running mate Jeff Kottkamp Daryl Jones Popular vote 2,519,845 2,178,289 Percentage 52.20% 45.10%

Election results by county

Governor before election Jeb Bush Republican Elected Governor Charlie Crist Republican

The 2006 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Governor Jeb Bush was term-limited, and could not run for re-election. Then Republican Charlie Crist, the state's Attorney General, won the election. The election was notable in that for the first time, the state elected a Republican governor in three consecutive elections.

Turnout for the 2006 election was down 8.5% from 2002 and down 2.7% from 1998.^[1] With Republicans holding the seat, the state avoided the wave in which Democrats netted a gain of six governorships across the nation.^[2]

Democratic primary

Campaign

Jim Davis won the Democratic primary on September 5. Davis was the Congressman from Florida's 11th congressional district and served in the Florida House of Representatives, where he also served as the Majority Leader. On September 13, Davis selected former State Senator and 2002 gubernatorial candidate Daryl Jones of Miami as his running mate.

The Democratic primary turned heated as it approached primary day. Rod Smith attacked Jim Davis for a 1990 legislative vote denying restitution for two black men wrongfully imprisoned for murder.^[3] David countered that Smith was a "pawn" of the sugar industry, and that "big business" and special interests were funding many of Smith's attack ads.^[3]

Candidates

Declared

• Jim Davis, U.S. Representative
• Rod Smith, State Senator
• Carol Castagnero, retired teacher
• Glenn Burkett
• John M. Crotty

Withdrew

• Bud Chiles, son of former Governor Lawton Chiles^[4]
• Scott Maddox, former Mayor of Tallahassee and former Chairman of the Florida Democratic Party^[5]

Declined

• Betty Castor, former Education Commissioner of Florida, former President of the University of South Florida, 2004 Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate^[4]

Endorsements

Jim Davis

U.S. Senators Max Cleland, former U.S. Senator from Georgia[6] Bob Graham, former Governor of Florida and former U.S. Senator from Florida[7] U.S. Representatives Alcee Hastings, U.S. Representative (FL-23)[8] Pete Peterson, former U.S. Representative, former United States Ambassador to Vietnam[9] Debbie Wasserman Schultz, U.S. Representative (FL-20)[8] Robert Wexler, U.S. Representative (FL-19)[8] Statewide officials Buddy MacKay, former Governor of Florida[10] Mayors and other municipal leaders Frank Bruno, Volusia County Council Chairman[11] Steve Feren, Mayor of Sunrise[8] Ilene Lieberman, Broward County Commissioner[8] Scott Maddox, former Mayor of Tallahassee[5] Carl Persis, Volusia County Councilman[11] Diana Wasserman-Rubin, Broward County Commissioner[8] Other individuals Rhea Chiles, former First Lady of Florida[12] Newspapers Tampa Tribune[13] Orlando Sentinel[13] Florida Times-Union[13] Bradenton Herald[13] Organizations Sierra Club[14]

Rod Smith

Statewide officials Bob Butterworth, former Attorney General of Florida[15] Wayne Mixson, former Governor of Florida[15] State legislators Dave Aronberg, State Senator[16] Skip Campbell, State Senator[17] Steven Geller, State Senator[17] Richard Machek, State Representative[16] Matt Meadows, State Representative[17] Nan Rich, State Senator[11] Jack Seiler, State Representative[17] Priscilla Taylor, State Representative[16] Mayors and other municipal leaders Sharon Bock, Palm Beach Clerk of Court and Comptroller[16] Howard Finkelstein, Broward County Public Defender[17] Howard Forman, Broward County Clerk of the Court[17] Addie Greene, Palm Beach County Commissioner[16] Ron Greenstein, State Representative[17] Carey Haughwout, Palm Beach County Public Defender[16] Barry Krischer, Palm Beach County State Attorney[16] Ed Oppel, Port of Palm Beach Commissioner[16] Ari Porth, State Representative Tom Rossin, former State Senator and 2002 Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor[16] Tim M. Ryan, State Representative[17] Mike Satz, Broward County State Attorney David Turner, Gilchrist County Sheriff Lois Wexler, Broward County Commissioner[17] Other individuals Bud Chiles, son of former Governor Lawton Chiles[12] Newspapers St. Petersburg Times[13] Sun-Sentinel[13] The Palm Beach Post[13] The Daytona Beach News-Journal[13] The Ledger[13] The Gainesville Sun[13] Naples Daily News[13]

Democratic primary results^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim Davis	405,879	47.32%
	Democratic	Rod Smith	353,161	41.17%
	Democratic	Carol Castagnero	45,161	5.267%
	Democratic	Glenn Burkett	32,984	3.85%
	Democratic	John M. Crotty	20,629	2.40%
Total votes			857,814	100.00%

Republican primary

Charlie Crist, the Republican candidate, won the primary on September 5 with 64% of the vote.^[19] Crist was Florida's Attorney General at the time. Previously he was elected State Education Commissioner, and has served in the Florida Senate. He faced Bob Graham for his seat in the United States Senate in 1998. On September 13, 2006, Crist announced that State Representative Jeff Kottkamp of Cape Coral would be his running mate.^[20]

The GOP primary did not end up being very competitive. Crist touted experience in statewide offices, and a strong fundraising capability. He portrayed himself as relatively moderate on social issues, which created some misgivings among conservative Republicans in the state, but not nearly enough to sway the vote to Tom Gallagher.^[3]

Candidates

Declared

• Charlie Crist, Attorney General of Florida
• Tom Gallagher, Chief Financial Officer of Florida, former State Treasurer-Insurance Commissioner, former Education Commissioner, and candidate for Governor in 1986 and 1994
• Vernon Palmer
• Michael W. St. Jean, minister

Declined

• Toni Jennings, Lieutenant Governor of Florida^[21]

Endorsements

Charlie Crist

U.S. Senators Connie Mack III, former U.S. Senator from Florida[22] Mel Martinez, U.S. Senator from Florida[23] John McCain, U.S. Senator from Arizona[24] State legislators Allan Bense, Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives[25] Victor Crist, State Senator[26] Mike Fasano, State Senator[27] Jeff Kottkamp, State Representative[27] Joe Negron, State Representative[28] Mayors and other municipal leaders Bill Balkwill, Sarasota County Sheriff[29] Kevin Beary, Orange County Sheriff[11] Susan Benton, Highlands County Sheriff[29] Rick Beseler, Clay County Sheriff[29] Jim Coats, Pinellas County Sheriff[29] Robert Crowder, Martin County Sheriff[28] Chris Daniels, Lake County Sheriff[11] John Davenport, Charlotte County Sheriff[29] Don Eslinger, Seminole County Sheriff[11] Bill Farmer, Sumter County Sheriff[29] Donald Fleming, Flagler County Sheriff[29] Heather Fiorentino, Pasco County Superintendent of Schools[26] David Gee, Hillsborough County Sheriff[29] Wendell Hall, Santa Rosa County Sheriff[29] Ben Johnson, Volusia County Sheriff[11] Grady Judd, Polk County Sheriff[29] Ronnie Lee, Hendry County Sheriff[29] Jack Mariano, Pasco County Commissioner[26] Paul May, Okeechobee County Sheriff[29] Ron McNesby, Escambia County Sheriff[29] Charlie Morris, Okaloosa County Sheriff[29] Rich Nugent, Hernando County Sheriff[29] Steve Oelrich, Alachua County Sheriff[29] Jed Pittman, Pasco County Clerk of the Court[26] Rick Roth, Monroe County Sheriff[29] John Rutherford, Duval County Sheriff[29] Mike Scott, Lee County Sheriff[29] Tommy Seagraves, Nassau County Sheriff[29] David Shoar, St. Johns County Sheriff[29] Steve Simon, Pasco County Commissioner[26] Doug Smith, Martin County Commissioner[28] Charlie Wells, Manatee County Sheriff[29] Mike Wells, Pasco County Property Appraiser[26] Bob White, Pasco County Sheriff[29] Newspapers The Daytona Beach News-Journal[30] Florida Times-Union[13] Orlando Sentinel[13] The Palm Beach Post[30] Sun-Sentinel[13] St. Petersburg Times[13] Tampa Tribune[13] Organizations Florida Fraternal Order of Police[11] Florida Medical Political Action Committee[25] Florida Police Benevolent Association[31] National Rifle Association[32] Sierra Club[14]

Tom Gallagher

U.S. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL-18)[33] Statewide officials Bob Martinez, former Governor of Florida[31] James C. Smith, former Attorney General of Florida, Florida Secretary of State, and 1994 Republican candidate for Governor[33] State legislators JD Alexander, State Senator[31] Dick Kravitz, State Representative[31] John E. Thrasher, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives[33] Mayors and other municipal leaders Dottie Berger MacKinnon, former Hillsborough County Commissioner[31] Jack Parker, Brevard County Sheriff[11] Roy Raymond, Indian River County Sheriff[11] Other individuals James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family[34]

Republican primary results^[35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charlie Crist	630,816	63.98%
	Republican	Tom Gallagher	330,165	33.49%
	Republican	Vernon Palmer	13,547	1.37%
	Republican	Michael W. St. Jean	11,458	1.16%
Total votes			985,986	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• Charlie Crist, Florida Attorney General (Republican nominee)
• Jim Davis, United States Representative from Florida's 11th congressional district (Democratic nominee)
• Max Linn, financial planner (Reform Party nominee)
• John Wayne Smith, perennial candidate (No Party Affiliation)
• Richard Paul Dembinsky, perennial candidate (No Party Affiliation)
• Karl C.C. Behm, paintball facility owner (No Party Affiliation)

Opinion polling

Source	Date	Crist (R)	Davis (D)
Survey USA	November 6, 2006	49%	47%
Strategic Vision	November 6, 2006	51%	44%
Orlando Sentinel	November 3, 2006	50%	43%
Mason-Dixon	November 3, 2006	50%	43%
Strategic Vision	November 2, 2006	50%	44%
Zogby/WSJ	October 31, 2006	49.9%	45.1%
St. Petersburg Times	October 28, 2006	48%	42%
Rasmussen	October 26, 2006	52%	41%
Strategic Vision	October 25, 2006	51%	42%
Quinnipiac	October 23, 2006	46%	44%
Zogby/WSJ	October 19, 2006	50.2%	41%
Rasmussen	October 18, 2006	46%	41%
Rasmussen	October 2, 2006	54%	38%
Strategic Vision	September 28, 2006	50%	40%
Zogby/WSJ	September 25, 2006	50.1%	36.6%
Rasmussen	September 19, 2006	45%	40%
Zogby/WSJ	September 11, 2006	50.6%	36.4%
Rasmussen	September 5, 2006	45%	41%
Strategic Vision	August 30, 2006	49%	41%
Zogby/WSJ	August 28, 2006	52.4%	38.5%
Rasmussen	August 1, 2006	47%	42%
Quinnipiac	July 26, 2006	44%	38%
Strategic Vision	July 26, 2006	49%	39%
Mason-Dixon	July 24, 2006	48%	32%
Zogby/WSJ	July 24, 2006	42.8%	39.0%
Quinnipiac	June 29, 2006	41%	39%
Rasmussen	June 29, 2006	49%	35%
Strategic Vision	June 28, 2006	49%	41%
Zogby/WSJ	June 21, 2006	42.5%	39.8%
Strategic Vision	May 25, 2006	48%	40%
Quinnipiac	May 24, 2006	37%	40%
Rasmussen	May 22, 2006	44%	39%
Rasmussen	April 21, 2006	44%	33%
Quinnipiac	April 19, 2006	37%	39%
Quinnipiac	February 22, 2006	40%	36%
Rasmussen	January 6, 2006	36%	35%
Rasmussen	November 16, 2005	38%	41%
Quinnipiac	November 15, 2005	39%	40%

General election results

Charlie Crist won by over 7 points, winning all Republican-leaning areas of Florida, as well as the notable "swing" region along the I-4 corridor (Daytona Beach, Orlando, Tampa/St. Petersburg). Davis performed well in the Democrat-leaning south Florida, Gainesville, and Tallahassee areas. Crist under-performed compared to his predecessor Jeb Bush, but still outpaced Davis, despite the low turnout. Reform Party candidate Max Linn received nearly 2% of the vote, but his sizeable haul of over 92,500 votes was still not enough to sway the election.

Also on the ballot the same day was a constitutional amendment to raise the requirement for all future ballot initiatives to a supermajority (60%). Previously, constitutional amendments put on the ballot required only a simple majority (50% +1) to be approved, and led to some controversial amendments being put on the ballot. Support and opposition for the amendment fell loosely along party lines with Democrats generally opposing its passage. Both Crist and Davis publicly opposed the measure,^[36] but it was passed anyway by the voters with a 55% margin - a higher margin than either candidate received.

Florida gubernatorial election, 2006^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Republican	Charlie Crist	2,519,845	52.20%	-3.81%
	Democratic	Jim Davis	2,178,289	45.10%	+1.94%
	Reform	Max Linn	92,595	1.90%	+1.90%
	Independent	John Wayne Smith	15,987	0.30%
	Independent	Richard Paul Dembinsky	11,921	0.20%
	Independent	Karl C.C. Behm	10,487	0.20%
	Write-ins		147	0.00%	0
Majority			341,556	7.10%	-5.75%
Turnout			4,829,271
	Republican hold		Swing

See also

• U.S. gubernatorial elections, 2006
• Governor of Florida
• List of Governors of Florida
• Florida United States Senate election, 2006

References

1. Florida Department of State – Division of Elections (Election Results)
2. Clark, Amy (November 8, 2006). "Democrats Retake Majority Of Governorships". CBS News. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
3. Goodnough, Abby (September 6, 2006). "In Days Before Primary, Hackles Start Rising in Race for Florida Governor". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2014.
4. Bousquet, Steve (March 5, 2005). "Castor won't run for governor". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
5. Garcia, Jason (October 8, 2005). "Maddox Drops Out Of Governor's Race". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
6. Hooper, Ernest (August 29, 2006). "'Slime' attacks outrage Cleland". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
7. Smith, Adam C. (June 2, 2005). "Donors' early take on Jim Davis: If Bob Graham likes him, so do I". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
8. Smith, Adam C. (October 19, 2005). "Dueling Endorsements". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
9. Smith, Adam C. (November 28, 2005). "Pete Peterson Backs Davis". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
10. Smith, Adam C. (November 22, 2005). "MacKay Endorses Davis". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
11. "Sheriff endorses Crist for Governor". Orlando Sentinel. April 10, 2006. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
12. Dunkelberger, Lloyd (August 18, 2006). "Governor Primary Splits Chiles Family". The Ledger. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
13. Smith, Adam C. (August 21, 2006). "Papers pick Crist, Smith for primary". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
14. Dunkelberger, Lloyd (July 8, 2006). "Sierra Club is for Davis and Crist". The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
15. Smith, Adam C. (October 17, 2005). "Butterworth Boosts Rod Smith". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
16. Smith, Adam C. (August 16, 2005). "Palm Beachers for Smith". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
17. Smith, Adam C. (September 7, 2005). "Broward Democrats Back Smith". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
18. "September 5, 2006 Primary Election, Democratic Primary, Governor". Florida Department of State Division of Elections. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
19. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2006/by_state/FL_Page_0905.html?SITE=WFTSELN&SECTION=POLITICS
20. http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15508247.htm
21. Kennedy, John; Garcia, Jason (May 14, 2006). "Toni Jennings makes it clear--no plans to seek another office". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
22. Smith, Adam C. (July 30, 2006). "Joke about Crist's tan, you may get burned". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
23. Bousquet, Steve (June 10, 2006). "Martinez calls Crist 'perfect' for Governor". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
24. Farrington, Brendan (January 31, 2008). "Gov. Crist could benefit from McCain win". USA Today. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
25. Follick, Joe (July 16, 2006). "3 polls put Crist far ahead of Gallagher". The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
26. Smith, Adam C. (January 30, 2006). "Crist's Pasco Team". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
27. "Jeb's frustration simmered in 2000". St. Petersburg Times. July 16, 2006. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
28. Andreassi, George (August 28, 2006). "Treasure Coast Opens Wallet For Gop Candidates". Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
29. Smith, Adam C. (March 21, 2006). "Sheriffs For Crist". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
30. "Gallagher: Crist can have the newspaper endorsements". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. August 14, 2006. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
31. "Gallagher taps heavyweights". St. Petersburg Times. September 18, 2005. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
32. Silva, Cristina (July 14, 2010). "Crist stands firm on gun rights". PolitiFact. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
33. "Six-member team to lead Gallagher's campaign". St. Petersburg Times. June 14, 2005. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
34. Smith, Adam (August 14, 2006). "Dobson Endorses Gallagher". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
35. "September 5, 2006 Primary Election, Republican Primary, Governor". Florida Department of State Division of Elections. Retrieved June 30, 2016.
36. Solidarity
37. "November 7, 2006 General Election, Governor and Lieutenant Governor". Florida Department of State Division of Elections. Retrieved June 30, 2016.