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2006 New York gubernatorial election

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2006 New York gubernatorial election
← 2002 November 7, 2006 2010 →
Turnout34.9% [1]
 
Nominee Eliot Spitzer John Faso
Party Democratic Republican
Alliance
Parties
 Conservative
Running mate David Paterson C. Scott Vanderhoef
Popular vote 3,086,709 1,274,335
Percentage 65.70% 27.12%
County results
Spitzer:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Faso:      40–50%      50–60%
Governor before election

George Pataki
Republican

Elected Governor

Eliot Spitzer
Democratic

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The 2006 New York gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of New York, concurrently with elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections, then incumbent Republican governor George Pataki chose not to run for re-election in a fourth term. Democrat Eliot Spitzer, the New York Attorney General, won the election over former Republican state Assembly minority leader John Faso. As of 2024, this is the last time the Governor's office in New York changed partisan control. This was the first open-seat election since 1982. Primary elections were held on September 12. This is the last gubernatorial election where any of the following counties voted Democratic: Genesee, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Niagara, Fulton, Steuben, Tioga & Schoharie.

Spitzer was slated to serve between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2010, but he announced his resignation on March 12, 2008 (effective March 17, 2008), amid news of his involvement in a prostitution scandal. Spitzer was succeeded on March 17 by Lieutenant Governor David Paterson.

Republican primary

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Candidates

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  • John Faso, former New York Assembly minority leader (1998–2002) and Republican nominee for Comptroller in 2002
    • Running mate: C. Scott Vanderhoef, Rockland County Executive

Withdrew

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Declined

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Campaign

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Following the early campaign announcement of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in late 2004, attention turned to the state Republican Party, especially the future of three-term governor George Pataki. Polling throughout 2004 and into 2005 consistently showed Spitzer defeating Pataki in theoretical matchups. Pataki announced on July 27, 2005, that he would not seek re-election and would step down at the end of his term in January 2007.

In 2005, John Faso announced his intention to run for governor. He positioned himself early as a conservative upstate candidate, while stressing his childhood roots in Long Island. He initially faced former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld, former Secretary of State Randy Daniels, and Assemblyman Patrick Manning. Weld, a moderate, was supported by party leadership.[2]

On February 14, Faso launched a statewide campaign ad announcing his candidacy for governor. Later that month, he was endorsed by Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long and by Congressman John Sweeney.[3] Daniels and Manning both dropped out and Faso became the primary challenger to Weld. It was reported that in early 2006, Weld offered Faso the chance to join his ticket as a candidate for lieutenant governor, an offer Faso reportedly declined.[4] Faso gained increasing support from party leaders in various counties, including Westchester and Suffolk, both of which had large delegate counts to the state convention.

In late May 2006, Faso received the nomination of the Conservative Party for governor, which guaranteed him a spot on the November ballot. He pledged to continue running for governor on the Conservative line if he lost the Republican primary to Weld.[5] On the day he received the Conservative nomination, Faso announced his selection of Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef as his running mate for lieutenant governor.

On June 1, 2006, the Republican State Convention voted 61% to 39% to endorse Faso. By receiving over 50 percent of the vote, Faso was the designated Republican Party candidate, but Weld still received enough support to force a primary.[2] As The Washington Post put it, "[n]ow it turns out whoever loses the GOP primary will stay in the race—in a position likely to siphon votes from the Republican nominee."[6] For this reason, Weld was under tremendous pressure to drop out of the race. On June 5, Stephen J. Minarik, the chairman of the state Republican Party, who had been Weld's most prominent backer, called on Weld to withdraw in the interest of party unity.[7] Weld formally announced his withdrawal from the race, and his support of Faso, the following day.[8]

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Campaign

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On December 7, 2004, Eliot Spitzer announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the 2006 election for Governor of New York. Spitzer's campaign manager was Ryan Toohey of Global Strategy Group, which Spitzer had hired for his 1998 campaign for attorney general and for the gubernatorial campaign. While long rumored, Spitzer's announcement was nevertheless considered unusually early—nearly two years before the election. Some pundits believed the timing was due to Spitzer's desire to see if Senator Charles Schumer, a more senior Democrat, would run. Schumer, who was largely favored in opinion polls in a hypothetical matchup against Spitzer, announced in November that he would not run for governor, instead accepting an offer to sit on the powerful Finance Committee and head the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. After Schumer announced he would maintain his Senate seat, another Democrat, Andrew Cuomo, announced his plans to run for Spitzer's vacated Attorney General's seat.

Spitzer won an early vote of confidence on January 22, 2005, by gaining the endorsement of the Working Families Party, which has taken advantage of New York's electoral fusion system to act as a kingmaker over Democratic nominees. It is backed heavily by figures from community group ACORN and labor unions, particularly those that broke from the AFL–CIO to form the Change to Win Federation. In the months after the WFP endorsement, several Change to Win unions have announced that they are endorsing Spitzer under their own name, including UNITE HERE, the Teamsters, and the United Food and Commercial Workers. By July 2005, Spitzer had forced Governor Pataki from the race.

In the latter half of 2005, Spitzer sought to further solidify support for his campaign by touring the state, seeking and giving political endorsements. These included cross endorsements with former-Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer in the New York City Mayoral election, Matthew Driscoll in the Syracuse Mayoral election, and State Senator Byron Brown in the Buffalo Mayoral election. The benefit to Spitzer in these endorsement deals was valuable media attention as he stumped for the candidates. As a result of Spitzer's relative speed in uniting state Democrats to his side, he had gained the respect of Democratic leaders nationwide. Bill Richardson dubbed Spitzer the "future of the Democratic Party", at a fundraiser held in June 2005 for Spitzer's gubernatorial campaign.[citation needed]

With a large polling lead in the Democratic primary,[9] the June 2006 Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll showed him leading Nassau county executive Tom Suozzi 76–13 percent, compared to a 73–13 percent lead in a May 17, 2006, poll.

An additional consideration for Spitzer was the status of billionaire businessman Tom Golisano, a three-time candidate on the Independence Party ballot line. It was rumored that Golisano might run again, and that Republican Party insiders would seek to nominate him on their own party's line, thus fusing the Republican and Independence tickets for the first time in a gubernatorial election. Golisano recently switched his party affiliation to the GOP. However, on February 1, 2006, Golisano announced that he would not run for governor.[10]

Spitzer selected African-American New York State Senate minority leader David Paterson as his choice for Lieutenant Governor and running mate in January 2006. In New York gubernatorial elections, the most important factor in the gubernatorial candidate's choice of a lieutenant governor is the need to "balance the ticket"—that is, to widen the candidate's appeal, whether by reaching out to someone from a different geographic area, ethnic background, or has a different political base. Paterson's father Basil Paterson was also a candidate for Lt. Governor in 1970.

In February 2006, Spitzer received the endorsement of then-Democrat businessman Donald Trump, who had been courted by the Republicans to run against him.

Results

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Results by county:
  Spitzer
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  •   90–100%

In the Democratic primary, held on September 12, 2006, Spitzer handily defeated Suozzi, securing his party's nomination with 82% of the vote.

Democratic gubernatorial primary results[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Eliot Spitzer 624,684 81.88%
Democratic Tom Suozzi 138,263 18.12%
Total votes 762,947 100.00

General election

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Candidates

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  • John Clifton (Libertarian)
    • Running mate: Donald Silberger (withdrew)
    • Running mate: Chris Edes
  • Maura DeLuca, activist (Socialist Workers)
    • Running mate: Ben O'Shaughnessy
  • John Faso, former Minority Leader of the New York Assembly (Republican and Conservative)
    • Running mate: C. Scott Vanderhoef, Rockland County Executive
  • Phoebe Legere, singer and host of Roulette TV (Integrity)
    • Running mate: Nancy Beattie
  • Jennifer Liese (Right to Life)
    • Running mate: Wendy Holibaugh
  • Malachy McCourt, author, actor, talk radio host, and brother of Frank McCourt (Green)
    • Running mate: Alison Duncan
  • Jimmy McMillan, Vietnam War veteran, former letter carrier, and candidate for mayor of New York City in 2005[12] (Rent is Too High)
    • Running mate: None
  • Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General of New York (Democratic, Independence and Working Families)

McMillan sought to run for governor as the candidate of the "My Rent Is Too Damn High Party".[13] The State Board of Elections allowed him on the ballot, but only under the rubric of the "Rent Is Too High Party". That version appeared on Row H.[14]

Predictions

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Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[15] Solid D (flip) November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball[16] Safe D (flip) November 6, 2006
Rothenberg Political Report[17] Likely D (flip) November 2, 2006
Real Clear Politics[18] Safe D (flip) November 6, 2006

Polling

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Spitzer celebrating his victory
Poll source Date Eliot
Spitzer (D) 		John
Faso (R)
Marist College[19] November 1, 2006 69% 24%
Siena Research Institute[20] November 1, 2006 69% 24%
Zogby International Poll[21] September 11, 2006 60.9% 25.8%
Green Papers Poll[22] September 9, 2006 72.5% 26.9
Green Papers Poll[22] September 1, 2006 68.1% 23.6
Zogby International Poll[21] August 28, 2006 60.7% 25.9%
Marist College[19] August 23, 2006 67% 23%
Quinnipiac[23] August 23, 2006 65% 17%
Siena Research Institute[20] August 7, 2006 70% 17%
Rasmussen[24] August 5, 2006 62% 21%
Zogby International Poll[21] July 24, 2006 60.8% 24.8%
Marist College Poll[25] July 19, 2006 69% 20%
Zogby International Poll[21] June 21, 2006 60.6% 24.8%
Quinnipiac[26] June 21, 2006 66% 20%
Siena College Poll[27] June 19, 2006 67% 21%
Quinnipiac[28] May 17, 2006 67% 16%
Marist College Poll[29] May 10, 2006 70% 20%
Siena College Poll[30] May 4, 2006 64% 17%
Strategic Vision[31] April 28, 2006 63% 26%
Quinnipiac[32] March 29, 2006 66% 18%
Strategic Vision[33] March 2, 2006 65% 24%
Marist College Poll[34] February 1, 2006 68% 18%
Zogby International Poll[35] January 26, 2006 54% 17%
Quinnipiac University Poll[36] January 19, 2006 61% 19%
Quinnipiac University Poll[37] December 14, 2005 64% 14%
Siena College Poll[38] October 12, 2005 63% 19%
Quinnipiac University Poll[39] October 4, 2005 60% 14%
Marist College Poll[40] September 30, 2005 64% 20%

Results

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2006 gubernatorial election in New York[41]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Swing
Democratic Eliot Spitzer 2,740,864 58.34% Increase 26.84%
Independence Eliot Spitzer 190,661 4.06% Decrease 10.22%
Working Families Eliot Spitzer 155,184 3.30% Increase 1.32%
Total Eliot Spitzer David Paterson 3,086,709 65.70% Increase 32.20%
Republican John Faso 1,105,681 23.54% Decrease 22.00%
Conservative John Faso 168,654 3.59% Decrease 0.27%
Total John Faso C. Scott Vanderhoef 1,274,335 27.12% Decrease 22.28%
Green Malachy McCourt Brian Jones 42,166 0.89% Decrease 0.02%
Libertarian John Clifton Chris Edes 14,736 0.31% Increase 0.20%
Rent Is Too Damn High Jimmy McMillan None 13,355 0.28% N/A
Socialist Workers Maura DeLuca Ben O'Shaughnessy 5,919 0.13% N/A
Blank, Void, Scattering 116,622 5.55%
Majority 1,812,374 38.58% Increase 22.68%
Totals 4,437,220 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican Swing

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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Counties that flipped from Independence to Democratic

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See also

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Further reading

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References

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  1. ^ "2010 November General Election Turnout Rates". electproject.org. December 28, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  2. ^ a b Healy, Patrick (June 2, 2006). "State G.O.P. Convention Rebuffs Weld and Backs Faso for Governor". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  3. ^ Hakim, Danny (February 22, 2006). "Weld Suffers Two Setbacks to Candidacy in One Day". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  4. ^ "New York State Democratic Committee". December 13, 2006. Archived from the original on December 13, 2006.
  5. ^ Healy, Patrick D. (February 9, 2006). "In Weld's Bid, G.O.P. Risks Losing Conservative Party Allies". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  6. ^ "Another Stumble for Ralph Reed's Beleaguered Campaign". The Washington Post.
  7. ^ Healy, Patrick (June 5, 2006). "G.O.P. Chief in N.Y. Urges Weld to Quit Governor's Race". The New York Times. Retrieved August 5, 2008.
  8. ^ "Former Mass. Gov. Weld drops out of New York race". washingtonpost.com. June 6, 2006. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  9. ^ "Quinnipiac University | Polling Results". September 9, 2006. Archived from the original on September 9, 2006.
  10. ^ [1][permanent dead link]
  11. ^ "Our Campaigns - NY Governor - R Primary Race - Sep 13, 1994". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  12. ^ Murphy, Jerrett (October 6, 2005). "Papa Smurf Runs for Mayor". The Village Voice.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ The Rent Is Too Damn High Party Official Web Site Archived 2010-01-12 at the Wayback Machine. The Rent Is Too Damn High Party. Accessed 2008-03-14.
  14. ^ "Sample Ballot of Voting Machine, General Election, November 7, 2006" (PDF). New York State Board of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2008.
  15. ^ "2006 Governor Race Ratings for November 6, 2006" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 5, 2008. Retrieved October 1, 2006.
  16. ^ "Election Eve 2006: THE FINAL PREDICTIONS". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  17. ^ "2006 Gubernatorial Ratings". The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  18. ^ "Election 2006". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  19. ^ a b Marist College Archived 2006-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ a b Siena Research Institute
  21. ^ a b c d Zogby International Poll
  22. ^ a b Green Papers Poll
  23. ^ Quinnipiac
  24. ^ Rasmussen Archived 2006-08-20 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ Marist College Poll Archived 2006-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
  26. ^ Quinnipiac
  27. ^ Siena College Poll
  28. ^ Quinnipiac
  29. ^ Marist College Poll Archived 2006-05-20 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ^ Siena College Poll
  31. ^ Strategic Vision
  32. ^ Quinnipiac
  33. ^ Strategic Vision
  34. ^ Marist College Poll Archived 2006-02-04 at the Wayback Machine
  35. ^ Zogby International Poll
  36. ^ Quinnipiac University Poll
  37. ^ Quinnipiac University Poll
  38. ^ Siena College Poll
  39. ^ Quinnipiac University Poll
  40. ^ Marist College Poll Archived 2005-12-10 at the Wayback Machine
  41. ^ "Results" (PDF). www.elections.ny.gov. 2006. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
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Candidates

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