2006 United States House of Representatives elections


The 2006 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 7, 2006, to elect members to the United States House of Representatives. It took place in the middle of President George W. Bush's second term in office. All 435 seats of the House were up for election. Those elected served in the 110th United States Congress from January 3, 2007, until January 3, 2009. The incumbent majority party, the Republicans, had won majorities in the House consecutively since 1994, and were defeated by the Democrats who won a majority in the chamber, ending 12 years of Republican control in the House.
The Republicans had won a 232-seat majority in 2004, but by the time of the 2006 election, they held 229 seats, while the Democrats held 201, plus 1 Independent who caucused with the Democrats. There were also four vacancies. Democrats needed to pick up 15 seats to take control of the House, which had been in Republican control since January 1995. Along with the historical "sixth-year itch" that has plagued many incumbent presidents in midterm elections, the public's perception of George W. Bush, the handling of the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan, and a series of political scandals involving mostly congressional Republicans took their toll on the party at the ballot box.
The final result was a 31-seat pickup for the Democrats, including the pickup of the Vermont at-large seat, previously held by Independent Bernie Sanders, who caucused with the Democrats. Democrats defeated 22 Republican incumbents and won eight open Republican-held seats. For the first time since the party's founding, Republicans won no seats previously held by Democrats and defeated no Democratic incumbents. It was the largest seat gain for the Democrats since the 1974 elections. Among the new Democrats were the first Muslim in Congress and the first two Buddhists. As a result of the Democratic victory, Nancy Pelosi became the first female and the first Californian House Speaker.
, this is the only House election cycle where only one party flipped any seats, the last time Republicans won a House race in Connecticut or more than one House seat in New Mexico, and the last time Democrats won more than one House seat in Kansas.
Several members of the House first elected in 2006 have gone on to receive national attention, including Gabby Giffords, Jim Jordan, and Michele Bachmann; United States senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Dean Heller, Mazie Hirono, and Chris Murphy; senator and ambassador Joe Donnelly; former speaker Kevin McCarthy; Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison; and governor and vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz.

Results

Federal


!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Party
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan="4" | Seats
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" colspan="3" | Popular vote
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | 2004
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | 2006
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | Net
change
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | %
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | Vote
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | %
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" | +/−
!style=text-align:left colspan=10|Voter turnout: 36.8%

Voter demographics

Source: CNN exit poll

Retiring incumbents

27 incumbents did not seek re-election. The four vacancies were, to be filled at the same time as the general election with the winner taking office in November immediately after the votes were certified;, with a separate special election on the same day; and and, which did not have special elections to fill the vacancies before January 2007. had been held by Democrat Bob Menendez, Texas's 22nd congressional district had been held by Republican Tom DeLay, Ohio's 18th congressional district had been held by Republican Robert Ney, and Florida's 16th congressional district had been held by Republican Mark Foley. Democrats won all four races.

Democratic incumbents

Nine Democrats retired, all of whom were replaced by Democrats.
  1. : Jim Davis
  2. : Ed Case
  3. : Lane Evans
  4. : Ben Cardin
  5. : Martin Olav Sabo
  6. : Major Owens
  7. : Ted Strickland
  8. : Sherrod Brown
  9. : Harold Ford Jr.

Republican incumbents

Seventeen Republicans retired, twelve of whom were replaced by Republicans and five replaced by Democrats.
  1. : Jim Kolbe
  2. : Bill Thomas
  3. : Joel Hefley
  4. : Bob Beauprez
  5. : Michael Bilirakis
  6. : Katherine Harris
  7. : Butch Otter
  8. : Henry Hyde
  9. : Jim Nussle
  10. : Mark Kennedy
  11. : Tom Osborne
  12. : Jim Gibbons
  13. : Sherwood Boehlert
  14. : Mike Oxley
  15. : Ernest Istook
  16. : Bill Jenkins
  17. : Mark Andrew Green

Independent incumbent

One independent who caucused with the Democrats retired, and was replaced by a Democrat.
  1. Vermont's at-large: Bernie Sanders

Defeated incumbents

Defeated in primary elections

Two incumbents were defeated in their party's respective primaries, which their respective parties held in the general election.
  1. : Cynthia McKinney
  2. : Joe Schwarz

Defeated in general election

22 Republican incumbents were defeated by Democrats.
  1. J. D. Hayworth
  2. Richard Pombo
  3. Rob Simmons
  4. Nancy Johnson
  5. E. Clay Shaw
  6. Chris Chocola
  7. John Hostettler
  8. Mike Sodrel
  9. Jim Leach
  10. Jim Ryun
  11. Anne Northup
  12. Gil Gutknecht
  13. Jeb Bradley
  14. Charles Bass
  15. Sue Kelly
  16. John E. Sweeney
  17. Charles H. Taylor
  18. Melissa Hart
  19. Curt Weldon
  20. Mike Fitzpatrick
  21. Don Sherwood
  22. Henry Bonilla

Open seats that changed parties

Five Republicans who retired were replaced by Democrats.
  1. : Jim Kolbe was replaced by Gabby Giffords.
  2. : Bob Beauprez was replaced by Ed Perlmutter.
  3. : Jim Nussle was replaced by Bruce Braley.
  4. : Sherwood Boehlert was replaced by Mike Arcuri.
  5. : Mark Andrew Green was replaced by Steve Kagan.
One independent who caucused with the Democrats retired, and was replaced by a Democrat.
  1. Vermont's at-large: Bernie Sanders was replaced by Peter Welch.

Closest races

Sixty races were decided by 10% or lower.
DistrictWinnerMargin
data-sort-value=-1 0.04%
data-sort-value=-1 0.16%
data-sort-value=-1 0.28%
data-sort-value=-1 0.40%
data-sort-value=-1 0.48%
data-sort-value=-1 0.53%
data-sort-value=-1 0.60%
data-sort-value=-1 0.61%
data-sort-value=-1 1.06%
data-sort-value=-1 1.09%
data-sort-value=-1 1.32%
data-sort-value=-1 1.48%
data-sort-value=-1 1.57%
data-sort-value=-1 1.89%
data-sort-value=-1 1.89%
data-sort-value=-1 2.14%
data-sort-value=-1 2.43%
data-sort-value=-1 2.44%
data-sort-value=-1 2.49%
data-sort-value=-1 2.63%
data-sort-value=-1 2.70%
data-sort-value=-1 2.82%
data-sort-value=-1 2.86%
data-sort-value=-1 2.92%
data-sort-value=-1 2.92%
data-sort-value=-1 3.18%
data-sort-value=-1 3.38%
data-sort-value=-1 3.46%
data-sort-value=-1 3.75%
data-sort-value=-1 3.85%
data-sort-value=-1 3.95%
data-sort-value=-1 3.96%
data-sort-value=-1 3.97%
data-sort-value=-1 4.50%
data-sort-value=-1 4.52%
data-sort-value=-1 5.14%
data-sort-value=-1 5.34%
data-sort-value=-1 5.40%
data-sort-value=-1 5.41%
data-sort-value=-1 5.62%
data-sort-value=-1 5.90%
data-sort-value=-1 6.20%
data-sort-value=-1 6.54%
data-sort-value=-1 6.76%
data-sort-value=-1 6.89%
data-sort-value=-1 7.06%
data-sort-value=-1 7.10%
data-sort-value=-1 7.52%
data-sort-value=-1 7.58%
data-sort-value=-1 7.96%
data-sort-value=-1 7.98%
data-sort-value=-1 8.30%
data-sort-value=-1 8.31%
data-sort-value=-1 8.56%
data-sort-value=-1 8.56%
data-sort-value=-1 8.68%
data-sort-value=-1 8.94%
data-sort-value=-1 9.32%
data-sort-value=-1 9.64%
data-sort-value=-1 9.98%

Special elections

There were two special elections in 2006 to the 109th United States Congress, listed here by date and district.
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!

Arkansas

Delaware

Georgia

Georgia's delegation was redistricted in 2005.

Indiana

Louisiana

Michigan

Montana

New Jersey

North Dakota

Pennsylvania

Tennessee

Texas

Texas's 22nd district was held by Tom DeLay who had resigned. The Democratic Party sued to prevent the Republican Party from replacing Tom DeLay with another candidate. The courts agreed with the Democratic Party and the Supreme Court has refused to hear the appeal. On August 8, 2006, Tom DeLay officially withdrew his name as the Republican candidate.
Texas's 23rd district was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States, which ordered the district re-drawn. This affected the 15th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, and 28th districts, which had a blanket primary on Election Day, followed by a runoff on December 6 in District 23, where no candidate got a majority of the vote.

Washington

Non-voting delegates

DistrictIncumbentPartyFirst
elected		ResultsCandidates
Eni Faleomavaega1988Incumbent re-elected.
Eleanor Holmes Norton1990Incumbent re-elected.
Madeleine Bordallo2002Incumbent re-elected.
Donna Christian-Christensen1996Incumbent re-elected.