2006election
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> <b>2006 United States elections</b> were held on Tuesday, November 7, 2006 in the middle of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Republican</a> President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">George W. Bush</a>'s second term. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Democrats</a> won control of both houses of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Congress" title="United States Congress" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Congress</a> for the first time since the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_United_States_elections" title="1994 United States elections" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">1994 elections</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate" title="United States Senate" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Senate</a>, Democrats won a net gain of six seats to take a narrow majority in that chamber. Democrats picked up 31 seats in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">House of Representatives</a>, and after the election <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi" title="Nancy Pelosi" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Nancy Pelosi</a> became the first female <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="Speaker of the United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Speaker of the House</a>. In the gubernatorial elections, Democrats won a net gain of six seats. Nationwide, Republicans failed to defeat a single incumbent Democrat running for Congress or governor.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Reasons for the Democratic Party takeover include the decline of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_image_of_George_W.Bush" title="Public image of George W. Bush" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">public image of George W. Bush</a>, the dissatisfaction of his administration's handling of both <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina" title="Hurricane Katrina" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Hurricane Katrina</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Iraq" class="mw-redirect" title="War in Iraq" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">War in Iraq</a>, the beginning of the collapse of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_housing_bubble" title="United States housing bubble" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">United States housing bubble</a>, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Bush's legislative defeat regarding </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_debate(United_States)#Politics_of_the_dispute_over_Bush's_proposal" class="mw-redirect" title="Social Security debate (United States)" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Social Security Privatization</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, the Republican-controlled Congress's unprecedented and unpopular involvement in the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo_case" title="Terri Schiavo case" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Terri Schiavo case</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Republican_party_scandals" class="mw-redirect" title="2006 Republican party scandals" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">series of scandals in 2006 involving Republican politicians</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a></sup></font></p><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); background-color: rgb(248, 249, 250); padding: 7px; display: table;"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="direction: ltr; position: absolute; opacity: 0; z-index: -1; display: none;" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;">
</div><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Background" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Background</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Summary_of_results" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Summary of results</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Federal_elections" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Federal elections</span></font></a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#United_States_Senate" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3.1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">United States Senate</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#United_States_House_of_Representatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">3.2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">United States House of Representatives</span></font></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#State_elections" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">4</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">State elections</span></font></a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Governors" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">4.1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Governors</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#State_legislatures" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">4.2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">State legislatures</span></font></a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Third_parties" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">4.2.1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Third parties</span></font></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Ballot_initiatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">4.3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Ballot initiatives</span></font></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Local_elections" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">5</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Local elections</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Reasons_for_Democratic_win" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">6</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Reasons for Democratic win</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Voting_issues" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">7</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Voting issues</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Ramifications" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Ramifications</span></font></a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Democratic_agenda" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8.1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Democratic agenda</span></font></a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-16" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Six-point_plan" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8.1.1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Six-point plan</span></font></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-17" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Domestic" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8.2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Domestic</span></font></a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-18" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Donald_Rumsfeld" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8.2.1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Donald Rumsfeld</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-19" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Republican_leadership" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8.2.2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Republican leadership</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-20" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Voting_trends" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8.2.3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Voting trends</span></font></a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-21" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#International" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8.3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">International</span></font></a><ul style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: none;"><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-22" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Asia" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8.3.1</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Asia</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-23" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Europe" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8.3.2</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Europe</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-24" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Middle_East" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">8.3.3</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Middle East</span></font></a></li></ul></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-25" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Notes" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">9</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Notes</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-26" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#References" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">10</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">References</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-27" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#Further_reading" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">11</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">Further reading</span></font></a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-28" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#External_links" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="tocnumber" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0.5em;">12</span><span class="toctext" style="display: table-cell; text-decoration: inherit;">External links</span></font></a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Background">Background</span></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In March 2003, President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W.Bush" title="George W. Bush" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">George W. Bush</a> ordered an invasion of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq" title="Iraq" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Iraq</a>, a state which the Bush administration claimed was linked to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks" title="September 11 attacks" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">September 11 attacks</a> in 2001, and claimed was producing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapons_of_mass_destruction" class="mw-redirect" title="Weapons of mass destruction" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">weapons of mass destruction</a>. That May, just two months after the initial invasion, Bush announced the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Mission_Accomplished_Speech" class="mw-redirect" title="2003 Mission Accomplished Speech" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">end of major combat operations in Iraq</a>. In the following months, insurgents began resisting the American occupation. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Additionally, religious tensions between majority </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiite" class="mw-redirect" title="Shiite" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Shiite</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and minority </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunni_Muslims" class="mw-redirect" title="Sunni Muslims" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Sunni Muslims</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, tensions which had been suppressed under the grip of the Hussein regime, began to result in violence. By the end of 2003, despite the war being initially popular, the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-invasion_Iraq,2003%E2%80%93present" class="mw-redirect" title="Post-invasion Iraq, 2003–present" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">post-war occupation</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> was losing support from the American public.<b> A November 2003 Gallup poll showed that Bush's job approval rating had fallen to 50% from a high of 71% at the outset of the wa</b>r.</span><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The next year, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_U.S.Presidential_Election" class="mw-redirect" title="2004 U.S. Presidential Election" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Bush won reelection</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> over Democratic nominee </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate" title="United States Senate" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Senator</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kerry" title="John Kerry" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">John Kerry</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> with less than 51% of the popular vote and 286 </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_votes" class="mw-redirect" title="Electoral votes" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">electoral votes</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> (only 16 votes ahead of the 270 votes needed.)</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">,</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> the smallest winning margin for an incumbent president since <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson" title="Woodrow Wilson" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Woodrow Wilson</a> in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1916_United_States_presidential_election" title="1916 United States presidential election" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">1916 </a></span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1916_United_States_presidential_election" title="1916 United States presidential election" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Presidential Election</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. It was, however, the first time since 1988 that a winner garnered a popular majority. Terrorism and the war in Iraq dominated the election, with domestic issues taking a secondary role. Bush began his second term with a continuation of the occupation and a push to overhaul Social Security with his privatization plan. Both policies proved unpopular, and violence in Iraq continued to increase. Compounding the unpopularity of the war was that no weapons of mass destruction were found. August 2005 was the last time any major public opinion poll recorded majority approval of Bush's job.</span><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Negative perceptions of Bush following the slow governmental response to </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina" title="Hurricane Katrina" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;">Hurricane Katrina</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> further weighed on his popularity.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Simultaneously, the Republican-controlled <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/109th_United_States_Congress" title="109th United States Congress" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">109th Congress</a>'s popularity was declining as well. A series of notable congressional scandals also took place in Washington, D.C., including the ongoing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff_lobbying_scandal" class="mw-redirect" title="Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal</a> as well as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Foley_scandal" title="Mark Foley scandal" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mark Foley scandal</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunningham_scandal" title="Cunningham scandal" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Cunningham scandal</a>, both in October 2006. Throughout 2006, sectarian violence was ongoing in Baghdad and other areas of Iraq; many<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a></sup> claimed that the conflict was evolving into a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_war" title="Civil war" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">civil war</a>. President Bush's job approval rarely rose above 40%. Perceptions of Congress and Republicans in general remained highly negative. Additionally, the Congress had a smaller than average list of major accomplishments (considering that the Party in charge of both the House and Senate also had control of the White House) and was not in session for a larger than average number of days, allowing Democrats and others to characterize it as a "Do-Nothing" congress and blame the Republican leadership for the lack of progress.</font></p><h2 style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Summary_of_results">Summary of results</span></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Democratic Party</a> won a majority of the state governorships<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">[6]</a></sup> and the U.S. House and Senate seats each for the first time since <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_elections,1994" class="mw-redirect" title="United States House elections, 1994" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">1994</a>, an election-year commonly known as the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Revolution" title="Republican Revolution" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">Republican Revolution</a>." For the first time since the creation of the Republican party in 1854, no Republican captured any House, Senate, or Gubernatorial seat previously held by a Democrat</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><sup id="cite_ref-David_R.Jones_7-0" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-David_R.Jones-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Democrats took a 233–202 advantage in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">House of Representatives</a>, and achieved a 49–49 tie in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate" title="United States Senate" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">United States Senate</a>.</b> The Senate figure is sometimes quoted in the media as 51-49, which includes two members who ran as independent candidates <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders" title="Bernie Sanders" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Bernie Sanders</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Lieberman" title="Joe Lieberman" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Joe Lieberman</a>, who promised to caucus with the Democrats.<sup id="cite_ref-Lieberman:Call_me_a_Democrat_8-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-Lieberman:Call_me_a_Democrat-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a></sup> The final Senate result was decided when Democrat <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Webb" title="Jim Webb" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">James Webb</a> was declared the winner in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_United_States_Senate_election,2006" class="mw-redirect" title="Virginia United States Senate election, 2006" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Virginia</a> against <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incumbent" title="Incumbent" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">incumbent</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Allen(U.S.politician)" class="mw-redirect" title="George Allen (U.S. politician)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">George Allen</a>, as reported by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Associated_Press" title="Associated Press" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Associated Press</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a></sup> On November 9, 2006, Allen and fellow Republican incumbent Sen. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conrad_Burns" title="Conrad Burns" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Conrad Burns</a> (Mont.) both conceded defeat, ceding effective control of the Senate to the Democrats.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[10]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-11" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[11]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The election made <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Pelosi" title="Nancy Pelosi" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Nancy Pelosi</a> (D-California) the first-ever female, first-ever Italian-American, and first-ever <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California" title="California" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Californian</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_of_the_United_States_House_of_Representatives" title="Speaker of the United States House of Representatives" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Speaker of the House</a></b><sup id="cite_ref-cnn.com_12-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-cnn.com-12" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[12]</a></sup> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Reid" title="Harry Reid" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Harry Reid</a> (D-Nevada) the first <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon" class="mw-redirect" title="Mormon" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mormon</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senate_Majority_Leader" class="mw-redirect" title="Senate Majority Leader" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Senate Majority Leader</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-13" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[13]</a></sup> <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Ellison(politician)" class="mw-redirect" title="Keith Ellison (politician)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Keith Ellison</a> (D-Minnesota) became the first Muslim </b>ever elected to the U.S. Congress<sup id="cite_ref-ReferenceA_14-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-ReferenceA-14" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[14]</a></sup> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazie_Hirono" title="Mazie Hirono" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mazie Hirono</a> (D-Hawaii) and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hank_Johnson" title="Hank Johnson" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Hank Johnson</a> (D-Georgia) became the first Buddhists in a United States governing body.<sup id="cite_ref-Scripps_Howard_News_Service_15-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-Scripps_Howard_News_Service-15" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[15]</a></sup> Although seven states banned recognition of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States" title="Same-sex marriage in the United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">same-sex marriage</a>, Arizona became the first state to reject such a ballot initiative.<sup id="cite_ref-advocate.com_16-0" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-advocate.com-16" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[16]</a></sup> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Dakota" title="South Dakota" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">South Dakota</a> rejected a ban on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_the_United_States" title="Abortion in the United States" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">abortion</a> under almost any circumstances, which was intended to overturn federal constitutional abortion-rights nationwide by setting up a strong <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_case" title="Test case" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">test case</a> that proponents hoped would lead to the overruling of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_v.Wade" title="Roe v. Wade" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Roe v. Wade</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_United_States_elections#cite_note-17" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[17]</a></sup></font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some of the Republican House and Senate seats lost by the Republicans belonged to members of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Revolution" title="Republican Revolution" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Republican Revolution</a> of 1994. Senator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Santorum" title="Rick Santorum" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Rick Santorum</a> (R-Pennsylvania), Senator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_DeWine" title="Mike DeWine" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mike DeWine</a> (R-Ohio), Representatives <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bass" title="Charles Bass" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Charlie Bass</a> (R-New Hampshire), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hostettler" title="John Hostettler" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">John Hostettler</a> (R-Indiana), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Gutknecht" title="Gil Gutknecht" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Gil Gutknecht</a> (R-Minnesota), and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.D.Hayworth" title="J. D. Hayworth" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">J. D. Hayworth</a> (R-Arizona) all were elected in Democrat held seats in the 1994 elections and defeated in 2006. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_Kelly" class="mw-redirect" title="Sue Kelly" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Sue Kelly</a> (R-New York), also elected in 1994, was defeated as well. The Democrats also won back the Kansas 2nd and Ohio 18th, both lost to them in 1994.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Democratic Party also claimed a majority of state governorships in the 2006 elections, gaining control of Republican-held governorships in New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, Arkansas, Maryland and Ohio, to give the party a 28–22 advantage in governorships.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Scandals, including the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Foley_scandal" title="Mark Foley scandal" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Mark Foley congressional page scandal</a>, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff#Overview_of_criminal_and_political_investigations" title="Jack Abramoff" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Jack Abramoff scandal</a>, and various allegations of marital infidelity and abuse doomed certain candidates, especially incumbents in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvania%27s_10th_congressional_district_election,2006" class="mw-redirect" title="Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district election, 2006" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">PA-10</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York%27s_20th_congressional_district_election,2006" class="mw-redirect" title="New York's 20th congressional district election, 2006" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">NY-20</a>, which hosted one of the most negative campaigns in the country. Virginia Senator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Allen(U.S.politician)" class="mw-redirect" title="George Allen (U.S. politician)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">George Allen</a>, a potential <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party(United_States)" title="Republican Party (United States)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Republican</a> 2008 Presidential candidate, saw his chances for reelection disappear when he was caught on video using a racial slur to describe a young <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian-American" class="mw-redirect" title="Indian-American" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Indian-American</a> who worked for his opponent's campaign.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font></div>