Massachusetts general election, 2006
Encyclopedia
A Massachusetts general election was held on November 7, 2006 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The election included:
incumbent Ted Kennedy
was re-elected over his Republican
challenger Kenneth Chase.
Deval Patrick
and Tim Murray were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor, respectively, over Green-Rainbow
candidates Grace Ross
and Martina Robinson, independent
candidates Christy Mihos
and John J. Sullivan
, and Republican
candidates Kerry Healey
and Reed Hillman. Patrick and Murray were nominated over gubernatorial candidates Chris Gabrieli
and Tom Reilly
, and lieutenant candidates Deb Goldberg and Andrea Silbert.
(D
), the outgoing Middlesex
District Attorney
who gained national prominence for her role as prosecutor in the Neil Entwistle
murder case, was elected Attorney General, defeating Larry Frisoli
(R
), a trial attorney from Belmont
who was known for his handling of the Jeffery Curley case against NAMBLA and was a former Vice Mayor of Cambridge and Norfolk County
District Attorney
.
incumbent William F. Galvin
was re-nominated over challenger John C. Bonifaz, a voting-rights activist who founded the National Voting Rights Institute, and defeated Green-Rainbow
nominee Jill Stein
, a medical doctor and community activist who ran for governor in 2002.
incumbent Timothy P. Cahill
was re-elected over Green-Rainbow
candidate James O'Keefe, who also ran in 2002. Republican
Ronald K. Davy, a financial analyst and Hull
selectman, was nominated but failed to reach signature requirement to qualify for the ballot.
incumbent and former professional boxer
Joe DeNucci
was re-elected for a sixth term over Working Families
nominee Rand Wilson
, a union organizer and labor communicator. Republican
nominee Earle Stroll, a 52-year-old small-business consultant from Bolton
, also failed to reach signature requirement to qualify for the ballot, and Green-Rainbow
candidate Nathanael Fortune, a physicist from Smith College
and a Whatley School Committee member, dropped out of the race for personal reasons in late March 2006.
Statewide Questions:
Secretary of the Commonwealth
Ballot Questions
Question 1 - Sale of Wine by Food Stores:
Question 2 - Nomination of Candidates for Public Office:
Not on state-wide ballot in 2006:
The election included:
- statewide elections for U.S. SenatorUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, GovernorGovernor of MassachusettsThe Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
, Lieutenant GovernorLieutenant Governor of MassachusettsThe Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts is the first in the line to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor following the incapacitation of the Governor of Massachusetts...
, Attorney GeneralMassachusetts Attorney GeneralThe Massachusetts Attorney General is an elected executive officer of the Massachusetts Government. The office of Attorney-General was abolished in 1843 and re-established in 1849. The current Attorney General is Martha Coakley....
, Secretary of the CommonwealthMassachusetts Secretary of the CommonwealthThe Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth is the principal public information officer of the state government of the U.S...
, Treasurer, and AuditorMassachusetts AuditorThe Massachusetts State Auditor is a statewide elected office in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The current auditor is Suzanne Bump.-List of state auditors of Massachusetts:-External links:*...
; - district elections for U.S. Representatives, State RepresentativesMassachusetts House of RepresentativesThe Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...
, State Senators, and Governor's CouncillorsMassachusetts Governor's CouncilThe Massachusetts Governor's Council is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matters such as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutations to the Governor of Massachusetts...
; and - ballot questions at the state and local levels.
United States Senator
DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
incumbent Ted Kennedy
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
was re-elected over his Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
challenger Kenneth Chase.
Governor & Lieutenant Governor
DemocratsDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Deval Patrick
Deval Patrick
Deval Laurdine Patrick is the 71st and current Governor of Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party, Patrick served as an Assistant United States Attorney General under President Bill Clinton...
and Tim Murray were elected Governor and Lieutenant Governor, respectively, over Green-Rainbow
Green-Rainbow Party
The Green-Rainbow Party is a political party in Massachusetts. It is the Massachusetts state affiliate of the Green Party of the United States.-Establishment of official party status:...
candidates Grace Ross
Grace Ross
Grace Ross, is a Massachusetts activist. Ross was a Democratic candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 2010 until she left the race, citing a lack of signatures. She is from Worcester, Massachusetts...
and Martina Robinson, independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
candidates Christy Mihos
Christy Mihos
Christy P. Mihos is an American politician and businessman from the U.S. commonwealth of Massachusetts. He was an Independent candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 2006 and ran again as a Republican in the 2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial election...
and John J. Sullivan
John J. Sullivan
John J. Sullivan is the town moderator and a former selectman of Winchester, Massachusetts, and a 2006 candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. A lifelong Democrat, he ran as an independent in the 2006 election as running mate to Christy Mihos...
, and Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
candidates Kerry Healey
Kerry Healey
Kerry Murphy Healey was the 70th Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. She served from 2003 to 2007 with Governor Mitt Romney. She was the 2006 Republican nominee for Governor of Massachusetts, losing to Democrat Deval Patrick in November 2006...
and Reed Hillman. Patrick and Murray were nominated over gubernatorial candidates Chris Gabrieli
Chris Gabrieli
Chris Gabrieli is an American businessman and a leading national education reformer. He is currently driving the movement to reform the school calendar.-Biography:...
and Tom Reilly
Thomas Reilly
Thomas F. Reilly is an American attorney and politician who served as the 45th Massachusetts Attorney General. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts to Irish immigrant parents....
, and lieutenant candidates Deb Goldberg and Andrea Silbert.
Attorney General
Martha CoakleyMartha Coakley
Martha Mary Coakley is the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Prior to serving as Attorney General, she was District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts from 1999 to 2007....
(D
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
), the outgoing Middlesex
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
-National protected areas:* Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge* Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge* Longfellow National Historic Site* Lowell National Historical Park* Minute Man National Historical Park* Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge...
District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
who gained national prominence for her role as prosecutor in the Neil Entwistle
Neil Entwistle
Neil Entwistle is an English man convicted of murdering his American wife, Rachel, and their infant daughter Lillian on 20 January 2006 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, US.-Early life:...
murder case, was elected Attorney General, defeating Larry Frisoli
Larry Frisoli
Larry Frisoli was the Republican Party candidate for Attorney General in Massachusetts in 2006.Frisoli, who was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and was a Boston University and Suffolk University Law School graduate, was Vice-Mayor of Cambridge and Assistant District Attorney for Norfolk County...
(R
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
), a trial attorney from Belmont
Belmont, Massachusetts
Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. The population was 24,729 at the 2010 census.- History :Belmont was founded on March 18, 1859 by former citizens of, and land from the bordering towns of Watertown, to the south; Waltham, to the west; and Arlington, then...
who was known for his handling of the Jeffery Curley case against NAMBLA and was a former Vice Mayor of Cambridge and Norfolk County
Norfolk County, Massachusetts
-National protected areas:* Adams National Historical Park* Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area * Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site* John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site-Demographics:...
District Attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
.
| Source | Date | MoE Margin of error The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results. The larger the margin of error, the less faith one should have that the poll's reported results are close to the "true" figures; that is, the figures for the whole population... |
Coakley (D) | Frisoli (R) | Und. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk University | October 20 - 23, 2006 | ±4.9% | 59% | 18% | 14% |
| Suffolk University | October 2 - 4, 2006 | ±4.4% | 52% | 15% | 33% |
| Suffolk University | August 17 - 21 2006 | ±4.0% | 50% | 9% | 39% |
| Suffolk University | June 22 - 26 2006 | ±4.0% | 50% | 16% | 33% |
| Suffolk University | May 3, 2006 | ±4.9% | 49% | 13% | 36% |
Secretary of the Commonwealth
DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
incumbent William F. Galvin
William F. Galvin
William Francis Galvin is the 27th and current Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth .-Early life and career:...
was re-nominated over challenger John C. Bonifaz, a voting-rights activist who founded the National Voting Rights Institute, and defeated Green-Rainbow
Green-Rainbow Party
The Green-Rainbow Party is a political party in Massachusetts. It is the Massachusetts state affiliate of the Green Party of the United States.-Establishment of official party status:...
nominee Jill Stein
Jill Stein
Jill Stein is an American physician, activist, co-chair of the Green-Rainbow Party and candidate for President of the United States in 2012. Stein was a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in the 2002 and the 2010 gubernatorial elections. Stein is a resident of Lexington, Massachusetts and a...
, a medical doctor and community activist who ran for governor in 2002.
| Source | Date | MoE Margin of error The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results. The larger the margin of error, the less faith one should have that the poll's reported results are close to the "true" figures; that is, the figures for the whole population... |
Candidates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Election | Galvin (D) | Stein (GR) | Und. | ||
| Suffolk University | October 20 - 23, 2006 | ±4.9% | 57% | 13% | 31% |
| Suffolk University | October 2 - 4, 2006 | ±4.4% | 56% | 11% | 33% |
| Suffolk University | August 17 - 21 2006 | ±4.0% | 54% | 11% | 35% |
| Suffolk University | June 22 - 26 2006 | ±4.0% | 52% | 9% | 35% |
| Suffolk University | May 3, 2006 | ±4.9% | 46% | 10% | 43% |
| Suffolk University | April 3, 2006 | ±4.9% | 46% | 8% | 44% |
| Source | Date | MoE Margin of error The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results. The larger the margin of error, the less faith one should have that the poll's reported results are close to the "true" figures; that is, the figures for the whole population... |
Candidates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Primary | Bill Galvin | John Bonifaz | Und | ||
| Suffolk University | August 17 - 21 2006 | ±5.1% | 49% | 5% | 46% |
| Suffolk University | June 22 - 26 2006 | ±4.0% | 50% | 9% | 38% |
Treasurer and Receiver-General
DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
incumbent Timothy P. Cahill
Timothy P. Cahill
Timothy P. Cahill is a former Massachusetts Treasurer and Receiver-General and was an independent candidate in the 2010 Massachusetts Gubernatorial Election.-Early political career:...
was re-elected over Green-Rainbow
Green-Rainbow Party
The Green-Rainbow Party is a political party in Massachusetts. It is the Massachusetts state affiliate of the Green Party of the United States.-Establishment of official party status:...
candidate James O'Keefe, who also ran in 2002. Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Ronald K. Davy, a financial analyst and Hull
Hull, Massachusetts
Hull is a peninsula town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 10,293 at the 2010 census. Hull is the smallest town by land area in Plymouth County and the fourth smallest in the state...
selectman, was nominated but failed to reach signature requirement to qualify for the ballot.
| Source | Date | MoE Margin of error The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results. The larger the margin of error, the less faith one should have that the poll's reported results are close to the "true" figures; that is, the figures for the whole population... |
Cahill (D) | O'Keefe (GR) | Davy (R) | Und. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk University | October 20 - 23, 2006 | ±4.9% | 56% | 15% | 29% | |
| Suffolk University | October 2 - 4, 2006 | ±4.4% | 51% | 11% | 37% | |
| Suffolk University | August 17 - 21 2006 | ±4.0% | 48% | 10% | 42% | |
| Suffolk University | June 22 - 26 2006 | ±4.0% | 47% | 7% | 10% | 35% |
| Suffolk University | May 3, 2006 | ±4.9% | 46% | 6% | 6% | 41% |
| Suffolk University | April 3, 2006 | ±4.9% | 40% | 21% | 30% |
Auditor
DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
incumbent and former professional boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
Joe DeNucci
A. Joseph DeNucci
A. Joseph "Joe" DeNucci is a former middle-weight boxer and former Auditor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.-Early Life and career:...
was re-elected for a sixth term over Working Families
Working Families Party
The Working Families Party is a minor political party in the United States founded in New York in 1998. There are "sister" parties to the New York WFP in Connecticut, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Oregon, but there is as yet no national WFP...
nominee Rand Wilson
Rand Wilson
Rand Wilson has worked as a union organizer and labor communicator in the United States since the 1980s.Wilson started in the labor movement as a member of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union...
, a union organizer and labor communicator. Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
nominee Earle Stroll, a 52-year-old small-business consultant from Bolton
Bolton, Massachusetts
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,148 people, 1,424 households, and 1,201 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,476 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.76% White, 0.19% African American, 0.05% Native American, 1.30%...
, also failed to reach signature requirement to qualify for the ballot, and Green-Rainbow
Green-Rainbow Party
The Green-Rainbow Party is a political party in Massachusetts. It is the Massachusetts state affiliate of the Green Party of the United States.-Establishment of official party status:...
candidate Nathanael Fortune, a physicist from Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
and a Whatley School Committee member, dropped out of the race for personal reasons in late March 2006.
| Source | Date | MoE Margin of error The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results. The larger the margin of error, the less faith one should have that the poll's reported results are close to the "true" figures; that is, the figures for the whole population... |
DeNucci (D) | Wilson (WF) | Und. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suffolk University | October 20 - 23, 2006 | ±4.9% | 56% | 10% | 35% |
| Suffolk University | October 2 - 4, 2006 | ±4.4% | 48% | 13% | 38% |
| Suffolk University | August 17 - 21 2006 | ±4.0% | 46% | 11% | 42% |
Ballot questions
There were three statewide ballot questions, all initiatives, which the Massachusetts voters voted on this election, and all were defeated. There were also various local ballot questions around the state.Statewide Questions:
- Question 1 - Sale of Wine by Food Stores. A law to allow local authorities to license stores selling groceries to sell wine.
- Question 2 - Nomination of Candidates for Public Office. A law to create "more ballot choices" by allowing for fusion votingElectoral fusionElectoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate...
. - Question 3 - Family Child Care Providers. A law to allow home-based family child care providers providing state-subsidized care to bargain collectively with the state government.
| Source | Date | MoE Margin of error The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in a survey's results. The larger the margin of error, the less faith one should have that the poll's reported results are close to the "true" figures; that is, the figures for the whole population... |
Question | Yes | No | Und |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNH/Globe | October 22 - 25, 2006 | ±4.1% | Wine in food stores | 57% | 38% | 5% |
| Suffolk University | October 20 - 23, 2006 | ±4.9% | Wine in food stores | 52% | 40% | 8% |
| Fusion voting | 26% | 51% | 23% | |||
| Collective bargaining for childcare providers | 34% | 36% | 30% | |||
| Suffolk University | October 10 - 11, 2006 | ±4.9% | Wine in food stores | 50% | 41% | 9% |
| Suffolk University | October 2 - 4, 2006 | ±4.4% | Wine in food stores | 47% | 44% | 9% |
| Fusion voting | 27% | 48% | 24% | |||
| Collective bargaining for childcare providers | 42% | 33% | 25% | |||
| Suffolk University | August 17 - 21 2006 | ±4.0% | Wine in food stores | 54% | 38% | 8% |
| Fusion voting | 35% | 48% | 18% | |||
| Collective bargaining for childcare providers | 46% | 32% | 22% | |||
| Suffolk University | June 27, 2006 | ±4.0% | Wine in food stores | 61% | 31% | 9% |
| Fusion voting | 34% | 48% | 19% | |||
| Collective bargaining for childcare providers | 42% | 37% | 22% |
External links
- Elections Division, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth- Where to vote, how to register, election information, etc. Official government site.
- table of candidates and campaign links
Campaign sites
Attorney General- Martha Coakley (D)
- Larry Frisoli (R)
Secretary of the Commonwealth
- John Bonifaz (D)
- Bill Galvin (D)
- Jill Stein (GR)
Ballot Questions
Question 1 - Sale of Wine by Food Stores:
- LWV Question One Summary - includes link to full text
- Yes on 1: Grocery Stores and Consumers for Fair Competition
- No on 1: Wine Merchants and Concerned Citizens for S.A.F.E.T.Y. (Stop Alcohol’s Further Extension to Youth)
- Massachusetts Food Association - supporting Question 1, the selling of wine in grocery stores
Question 2 - Nomination of Candidates for Public Office:
- Massachusetts Ballot Freedom Campaign - supporting Question 2, allowing NY-style party fusion
Not on state-wide ballot in 2006:
- Massachusetts Common Cause - supporting independent redistricting commission
- Home From Iraq Now - supporting withdrawal of Massachusetts National Guard from Iraq
- MassACT: Affordable Care Today! - supporting the "Affordable Health Care Act"
- Vote on Marriage - supporting constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriageSame-sex marriageSame-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....