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 County results Sebelius: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Barnett: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Kansas |
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The 2006 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius, who sported high approval ratings[1] ran for re-election to serve a second and final term. Governor Sebelius was unopposed for the Democratic nomination and she faced the Republican nominee, State Senator Jim Barnett, who emerged from a crowded primary. Sebelius soundly defeated Barnett and cruised to re-election, which was quite a considerable feat for a Democrat in staunchly conservative Kansas. This was Sebelius's second time winning a majority and was part of a trend from 1984 to 2010 where 7 of 8 Kansas gubernatorial elections were won with a majority rather than a simple plurality. No candidate received a majority of votes in 2014, 2018 or 2022.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Kathleen Sebelius (incumbent) | 76,046 | 100.00 | |
| Total votes | 76,046 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Jim Barnett | 70,299 | 36.18 | |
| Republican | Ken R. Canfield | 51,365 | 26.44 | |
| Republican | Robin Jennison | 42,678 | 21.97 | |
| Republican | Timothy V. Pickell | 10,473 | 5.39 | |
| Republican | Rex Crowell | 8,677 | 4.47 | |
| Republican | Dennis Hawver | 6,661 | 3.43 | |
| Republican | Richard "Rode" Rodewald | 4,142 | 2.13 | |
| Total votes | 194,295 | 100.00 | ||
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[3] | Solid D | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[4] | Likely D | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[5] | Safe D | November 2, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics[6] | Likely D | November 6, 2006 |
| Source | Date | Kathleen Sebelius (D) |
Jim Barnett (R) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Survey USA | November 5, 2006 | 57% | 40% |
| Rasmussen | October 27, 2006 | 56% | 37% |
| Survey USA | October 16, 2006 | 55% | 42% |
| Survey USA | September 14, 2006 | 58% | 38% |
| Rasmussen | September 1, 2006 | 48% | 37% |
| Rasmussen Archived 2006-08-22 at the Wayback Machine | July 31, 2006 | 51% | 34% |
| Rasmussen | June 19, 2006 | 49% | 36% |
| Rasmussen | May 3, 2006 | 49% | 37% |
| Rasmussen Archived 2006-06-14 at the Wayback Machine | April 15, 2006 | 50% | 37% |
| Rasmussen | February 13, 2006 | 45% | 37% |
| Rasmussen | January 25, 2006 | 46% | 35% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Kathleen Sebelius (incumbent) | 491,993 | 57.90% | +5.03% | |
| Republican | Jim Barnett | 343,586 | 40.44% | -4.66% | |
| Libertarian | Carl Kramer | 8,896 | 1.05% | +0.08% | |
| Reform | Richard Lee Ranzau | 5,221 | 0.61% | -0.45% | |
| Write-in | 4 | 0.00% | |||
| Majority | 148,407 | 17.47% | +9.68% | ||
| Turnout | 849,700 | ||||
| Democratic hold | Swing | ||||
