November 7, 2006 2010 → 52.2% 45.1% | 2,519,845 2,178,289 | |
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The 2006 Florida gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Governor Jeb Bush was term-limited, and could not run for re-election. Then Republican Charlie Crist, the state's Attorney General, won the election. The election was notable in that for the first time, the state elected a Republican governor in three consecutive elections.
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Turnout for the 2006 election was down 8.5% from 2002 and down 2.7% from 1998. With Republicans holding the seat, the state avoided the wave in which Democrats netted a gain of six governorships across the nation.
Campaign
Jim Davis won the Democratic primary on September 5. Davis was the Congressman from Florida's 11th congressional district and served in the Florida House of Representatives, where he also served as the Majority Leader. On September 13, Davis selected former State Senator and 2002 gubernatorial candidate Daryl Jones of Miami as his running mate.
The Democratic primary turned heated as it approached primary day. Rod Smith attacked Jim Davis for a 1990 legislative vote denying restitution for two black men wrongfully imprisoned for murder. David countered that Smith was a "pawn" of the sugar industry, and that "big business" and special interests were funding many of Smith's attack ads.
Declared
Withdrew
Declined
Republican primary
Charlie Crist, the Republican candidate, won the primary on September 5 with 64% of the vote. Crist was Florida's Attorney General at the time. Previously he was elected State Education Commissioner, and has served in the Florida Senate. He faced Bob Graham for his seat in the United States Senate in 1998. On September 13, 2006, Crist announced that State Representative Jeff Kottkamp of Cape Coral would be his running mate.
The GOP primary did not end up being very competitive. Crist touted experience in statewide offices, and a strong fundraising capability. He portrayed himself as relatively moderate on social issues, which created some misgivings among conservative Republicans in the state, but not nearly enough to sway the vote to Tom Gallagher.
Declared
Declined
Candidates
General election results
Charlie Crist won by over 7 points, winning all Republican-leaning areas of Florida, as well as the notable "swing" region along the I-4 corridor (Daytona Beach, Orlando, Tampa/St. Petersburg). Davis performed well in the Democrat-leaning south Florida, Gainesville, and Tallahassee areas. Crist under-performed compared to his predecessor Jeb Bush, but still outpaced Davis, despite the low turnout. Reform Party candidate Max Linn received nearly 2% of the vote, but his sizeable haul of over 92,500 votes was still not enough to sway the election.
Also on the ballot the same day was a constitutional amendment to raise the requirement for all future ballot initiatives to a supermajority (60%). Previously, constitutional amendments put on the ballot required only a simple majority (50% +1) to be approved, and led to some controversial amendments being put on the ballot. Support and opposition for the amendment fell loosely along party lines with Democrats generally opposing its passage. Both Crist and Davis publicly opposed the measure, but it was passed anyway by the voters with a 55% margin - a higher margin than either candidate received.