2006 Election Recap

Election Day 2006 saw the Democratic Party regain the majority in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives for the first time since 1994.  For the first time in U.S. history, no Republican candidate was able to defeat a Democrat incumbent.  Looking back, the 2006 elections were a referendum on the ongoing war in Iraq, scandals in the Republican Party, and general dissatisfaction among loyal Republicans with the current state of Congress.  Democrats were able to successfully win the Independent vote and voter turnout was low among registered Republicans.  The stage was set for a Democratic takeover, and they succeeded in pulling it off.

U.S. Senate
As a result of the 2006 election, the U.S. Senate is comprised of 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and 2 Independents who caucus with the Democrats.  This gives Democrats a 2 seat advantage.  The Democratic Party was able to hold all of its seats as well as defeat six Republican incumbents.  In Connecticut, Sen. Joe Lieberman lost in the Democratic primary but won re-election as an Independent.  Democrats successfully defended their two open seats in Minnesota and Maryland, and Republicans were able to hold on to their lone open seat, Tennessee.  The open seat in Vermont was filled by Independent Bernie Sanders who caucuses with the Democrats. 

New Members of the Senate:
Eight Democrats won election to the U.S. Senate for the first time.  :

Democrats:
Claire McCaskill (MO)
Jon Tester (MT)
Jim Webb (VA)
Sherrod Brown (OH)
Bob Casey (PA)
Sheldon Whitehouse (RI)
Ben Cardin (MD)
Amy Klobuchar (MN)

Republicans:
Sen. Bob Corker (TN) is the only freshman Republican in the upper chamber for the 110th Congress.

Aside from the 11 seats specifically mentioned above, all incumbent Senators were re-elected for another term.

New Senate Leadership:
With the switch in majority parties controlling the U.S. Senate, new leadership elections were held resulting in the following new Senate leaders:

Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Democratic Policy Committee Chair Byron Dorgan (D-ND)
Democratic Conference Chair Harry Reid (D-NV)
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-MS)
Republican Policy Committee Chair Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)
Republican Conference Chair Jon Kyl (R-AZ)

Committee Leadership also changed hands as a result of the 2006 elections.  New leadership on Senate Committees of interest is below.

Finance Committee
Chairman-Max Baucus (D-MT)
Ranking Member-Charles Grassley (R-IA)

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Chairman-Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Ranking Member-Michael Enzi (R-WY)

Appropriations
Chairman-Robert Byrd (D-WV)
Ranking Member-Thad Cochran (R-MS)

Judiciary
Chairman-Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Ranking Member-Arlen Specter (R-PA)

U.S. House
As is the case every two years, all 435 seats of the U.S. House of Representatives were up for re-election on November 7, 2006.  Democrats won 233 seats compared to 202 for the Republicans, giving the Democrats the majority in the House for the first time since 1994.  Democrats defeated 22 Republican incumbents and won 9 open seats previously held by Republicans.  Republicans were unable to win any seats previously held by Democrats. 

In 2006, 24 Republicans and 17 Democrats were elected with less than fifty-two percent of the vote.  Furthermore, 19 of these forty-one victories were by first time members of Congress. In total, 2006 saw fifty-four candidates win election to the House for the first time.

A full listing of new members of the House of Representatives may be found here:

New House Leadership:
New leadership elections in the U.S. House resulted in the following party leaders for the 110th Congress:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-8th CA)
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-5th MD)
Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-6th SC)
Democratic Caucus Chair Rahm Emanuel (D-5th IL)
Minority Leader John Boehner (R-8th OH)
Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-7th MO)
Republican Conference Chair Adam Putnam (R-12th FL)
Republican Policy Committee Chair Thaddeus McCotter (R-11th MI)

Ways and Means Committee
Chairman-Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Ranking Member-Wally Herger (R-CA)

Energy and Commerce Committee
Chairman-John Dingell (D-MI)
Ranking Member-Joe Barton (R-TX)

Appropriations Committee
Chairman-David Obey (D-WI)
Ranking Member-Jerry Lewis (R-CA)

Judiciary Committee
Chairman-John Conyers (D-MI)
Ranking Member-James Sensenbrenner (R-WI)

Education and Workforce
Chairman-George Miller (D-CA)
Ranking Member-Howard McKeon (R-CA)