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  Pawlenty: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Hatch: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Tie: 40–50% 50% No votes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Minnesota |
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The 2006 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Tim Pawlenty was endorsed by the state Republican convention on June 2, 2006, while the state Democratic–Farmer–Labor convention endorsed Mike Hatch on June 10, 2006. The party primaries took place on September 12, 2006, with Hatch defeating DFL challengers Becky Lourey and Ole Savior and incumbent Pawlenty defeating Sue Jeffers. In the November 7 general election, Pawlenty received a plurality of the votes, defeating Hatch by a margin of 1%. As a result, this election was the closest race of the 2006 gubernatorial election cycle.
As of 2024, it is the last time a Republican won a statewide race in Minnesota.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (DFL) | Mike Hatch | 231,643 | 73.20 | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Becky Lourey | 77,430 | 24.47 | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Ole Savior | 7,397 | 2.34 | |
| Total votes | 316,470 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independence | Peter Hutchinson | 7,725 | 66.09 | |
| Independence | Pam Ellison | 3,964 | 33.91 | |
| Total votes | 11,689 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tim Pawlenty (incumbent) | 147,622 | 88.87 | |
| Republican | Sue Jeffers | 18,490 | 11.13 | |
| Total votes | 166,112 | 100.00 | ||
On November 7, 2006, Tim Pawlenty narrowly won the general election, 46.7% to 45.7%, in a four-way race between himself, DFL candidate Mike Hatch, Independence Party candidate Peter Hutchinson, and Green Party candidate Ken Pentel. After Pawlenty opted out of spending limits, Hatch followed suit. Outspending Hatch by $1 million, Pawlenty's campaign set a new spending record for a Minnesota gubernatorial campaign. The race was also affected by negative advertising by 527 groups, as well as issue-oriented groups opposing liberal causes in the state.
A major issue in the campaign that was considered to have hurt the DFL nominees was lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Judi Dutcher's response to a question about E-85. When asked about the impact of the gasoline alternative on the economies of rural Minnesota by then KSAX-TV anchor Corey Poppe, Dutcher was unable to comment, asking Poppe to define E-85.[5] In the subsequent questioning about her response, gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch reportedly called a Forum Communications reporter "a Republican whore" and promptly hung up the phone.[6][7] Hatch claimed he had said "hack", not "whore", but the incident, occurring only three days before the last poll listed in this article, is believed to have swung the race. It put Hatch on the defensive in the campaign's last week.
Additionally, Pawlenty made illegal immigration an issue, running ads accusing Hatch of trying to give illegal immigrants college tuition. Hatch responded with an ad saying that illegal immigration laws had not been enforced under Pawlenty's tenure. Pawlenty also ran ads accusing Hatch of being responsible for raising health care costs, a claim Hatch disputed. Pawlenty campaigned on a record of leading the state through hard times, balancing record budget deficits without raising major state tax rates or diminishing the state's "nation-leading" status on most socioeconomic indicators.
Pawlenty won by piling up large margins in suburban counties as well as in central and southern Minnesota regions anchored by St. Cloud and Rochester. In his victory speech, noting that he would have to deal with a DFL House and Senate, Pawlenty said it was "a time tonight to be humble and time to be grateful." He promised that "the next four years are going to be different than the last four years" and that he would build "a common agenda" with DFLers who swept legislative and constitutional offices.
Hatch ran ahead in Minneapolis, St. Paul and their inner-ring suburbs, and won by large margins around Duluth and the Iron Range. In his concession speech, Hatch advocated that legislators get back to "sitting down and getting to know each other in private" to establish common ground for bipartisan legislation, and called for an end to partisan rancor. Had the Hatch/Dutcher ticket been successful, he stated that this would have been one of his administration's first goals.[8]
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[9] | Tossup | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[10] | Tossup | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[11] | Tossup | November 2, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics[12] | Tossup | November 6, 2006 |
| Source | Date | Mike Hatch (DFL) |
Tim Pawlenty (R) |
Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Minnesota | October 28, 2006 | 45% | 39% | 7% |
| Mason-Dixon | October 27, 2006 | 44% | 43% | 7% |
| St. Cloud State University | October 27, 2006 | 46% | 36% | 7% |
| Rasmussen | October 25, 2006 | 45% | 44% | 2% |
| Zogby/WSJ | October 19, 2006 | 45% | 45% | |
| Rasmussen | October 4, 2006 | 50% | 46% | 2% |
| Zogby/WSJ | September 11, 2006 | 42% | 41% | |
| Gallup | September 5, 2006 | 44% | 43% | |
| Zogby/WSJ | July 24, 2006 | 43% | 43% | |
| Star Tribune Minnesota Poll | July 15, 2006 | 41% | 43% | |
| Rasmussen | June 30, 2006 | 47% | 42% | |
| Zogby/WSJ | June 21, 2006 | 40% | 45% | |
| Rasmussen | May 10, 2006 | 49% | 39% | |
| Rasmussen | February 28, 2006 | 45% | 40% | |
| Rasmussen | January 29, 2006 | 44% | 47% |
| Source | Date | Mike Hatch (DFL) |
Tim Pawlenty (R) |
Peter Hutchinson (IP) |
Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star Tribune Minnesota Poll[permanent dead link] | November 4, 2006 | 45% | 40% | 7% | 7% |
| Star Tribune Minnesota Poll | October 14, 2006 | 46% | 37% | 7% | 6% |
| Survey USA | September 28, 2006 | 44% | 45% | 6% | 3% |
| Pioneer Press/MPR Poll | September 22, 2006 | 39% | 42% | 5% | 11% |
| The Humphrey Institute | September 21, 2006 | 44% | 42% | 6% | 5% |
| Star Tribune Minnesota Poll[permanent dead link] | September 16, 2006 | 42% | 42% | 7% | 5% |
| Rasmussen[permanent dead link] | September 1, 2006 | 39% | 45% | 7% | |
| Zogby/WSJ | August 28, 2006 | 43% | 41% | 5–9% | |
| Rasmussen | August 7, 2006 | 36% | 46% | 6% | |
| Survey USA | July 24, 2006 | 36% | 50% | 8% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Tim Pawlenty (incumbent) | 1,028,568 | 46.69 | |
| Democratic (DFL) | Mike Hatch | 1,007,460 | 45.73 | |
| Independence | Peter Hutchinson | 141,735 | 6.43 | |
| Green | Ken Pentel | 10,800 | 0.49 | |
| Independent | Walt E. Brown | 9,649 | 0.44 | |
| American | Leslie Davis | 3,776 | 0.17 | |
| Write-in | 949 | 0.04 | ||
| Total votes | 2,202,937 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
