The New Mexico gubernatorial election of 2006 was a race for the Governor of New Mexico. The winner of the election held on November 7, 2006, will serve between 2007 and 2011. Current incumbent, Democrat Bill Richardson was running for re-election. He faced Republican John Dendahl

John Dendahl

John Dendahl is a retired business executive. After retirement from business, he became a Republican politician in New Mexico and, later, a syndicated columnist. He and his wife Jackie now live near Denver, Colorado. While attending the University of Colorado, he led two NCAA champion skiing...

 in the general election.

Democratic

• Bill Richardson
  Bill Richardson (politician)
  William Blaine "Bill" Richardson III is an American politician, who served as the 30th Governor of New Mexico from 2003 to 2011. Before being elected governor, Richardson served in the Clinton administration as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Energy Secretary. Richardson has also served...
  
   - incumbent
  Incumbent
  The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
  
   Governor; former Congressman
  United States House of Representatives
  The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
  
  , United States Secretary of Energy
  United States Secretary of Energy
  The United States Secretary of Energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was formed on October 1, 1977 with the creation of the Department of Energy when President Jimmy...
  
   and United States Ambassador to the United Nations
  United States Ambassador to the United Nations
  The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador...
  
  

Republican

• John Dendahl
  John Dendahl
  John Dendahl is a retired business executive. After retirement from business, he became a Republican politician in New Mexico and, later, a syndicated columnist. He and his wife Jackie now live near Denver, Colorado. While attending the University of Colorado, he led two NCAA champion skiing...
  
   - a former state Republican party chair and cross-country skier in the 1968 Olympic Games, Dendahl was appointed by the Republican State Central Committee to replace the withdrawn candidate, their original nominee, J.D. Damron — a first-time candidate who won the June 6 Republican primary, but withdrew from the race after he failed to gain traction in fundraising and in the polls. Dendahl headed the New Mexico Republicans from 1994 to 2003, after finishing third in a four-way primary for governor in 1994.

Former candidates

• James Damron - a physician with no prior political experience, Damron was unopposed in the primary, but withdrew from the race on June 17, 2006, due to a lack of fundraising.

Polling

Governor Richardson's approval rating as of December 2006 was 74%. http://www.surveyusa.com/50State2006/Approval50StateGovernor061120.htm

Source	Date	Richardson (D)	Dendahl (R)
Rasmussen	June 26, 2006	56%	32%
Research & Polling Inc. of Albuquerque	August 25-31, 2006	57%	28%
Rasmussen	September 7, 2006	61%	26%
Research & Polling Inc. of Albuquerque	September 25-28, 2006	60%	28%

Election results