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The Washington U.S. Senate election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006, with Maria Cantwell elected to serve her second term from January 3, 2007 and January 3, 2013. The filing deadline was July 28, 2006, with the primary held on September 19, 2006 . more...

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Both the Democratic and Republican primaries were decided by overwhelming margins. The incumbent Democratic Senator, Maria Cantwell, won her primary by getting nearly 91%, with the next closest candidate, Hong Tran, getting 5% of the Democratic vote; Mike McGavick was the Republican nominee, who received an unusual pre-primary endorsement from the state party, defeated his closest competitor, Brad Klippert, in the primary with over 85%, to Klippert's less than 7%, of the Republican vote. Facing Cantwell and McGavick on the November general election ballot were Green Party nominee Aaron Dixon, Libertarian Bruce Guthrie and independent candidate Robin Adair.

Cantwell consistently led in opinion polling throughout the race, although political analysts saw Cantwell as vulnerable this election cycle due to her extremely narrow win in 2000 and discontent among progressive voters over her votes on the Iraq War, USA PATRIOT Act, and various others. As of November 1, 2006, The National Journal ranked Cantwell's seat as number 13 of the top 20 races to watch based on the likelihood of switching party control, and the third-highest Democratic seat likely to flip. However, in an election marked by discontent over the Republican leadership in Washington, DC, Cantwell easily won the election by an 16% margin -- 56%-40%.

Background

Statewide politics in Washington have been dominated by the Democratic Party for many years. The governor, lieutenant governor, treasurer, state auditor, and insurance commissioner are Democrats, while only secretary of state, attorney general, and commissioner of public lands are Republican. Of the nine representatives Washington sends to the House of Representatives, six are Democrats. Democrat Patty Murray is the state's senior senator. Cantwell won her initial election to the Senate in 2000 over Slade Gorton by 2,229 votes. Due to the closeness of that race, and the close gubernatorial contest between Democrat Christine Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi in November 2004, many Republicans believe they have a strong chance of capturing Cantwell's seat in 2006.

Finding a Republican challenger

In early hypothetical matchups in 2005 compiled by conservative pollster Strategic Vision , Rossi led Cantwell. Republican leadership reportedly pleaded with Rossi to jump into the ring. Rossi declined.

Speculation next centered on Rick White (who had taken Cantwell's House seat in 1994), state GOP chair Chris Vance, former Seattle television reporter Susan Hutchinson, and former 8th district Congressional candidate and Republican National Committee member Diane Tebelius. None of those chose to enter the race. Republican leaders finally got behind former Safeco Insurance CEO Mike McGavick.

Read more at Wikipedia.org