2006 Texas elections

2006 Texas Agriculture Commissioner election
← 2002 2010 →
	County results ; Staples: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%; Gilbert: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90%
Agriculture Commissioner before election; Todd Staples; Republican	Elected Agriculture Commissioner ; Todd Staples; Republican

The 2006 Texas General Election was held on Tuesday, 7 November 2006, in the U.S. state of Texas. Voters statewide elected the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, Commissioner of Agriculture, and one Railroad Commissioner. Statewide judicial offices up for election were the chief justice and four justices of the Texas Supreme Court, and the presiding judge and two judges of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Elections were additionally held for the United States Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Texas Senate, and Texas House.

Democratic and Republican candidates were selected in party primaries held 7 March 2006. In races without a majority, the runoff elections were held on 11 April 2006.

Libertarian candidates were selected at the Texas Libertarian Convention 10 June 2006 in Houston (the Libertarian Party does not use a primary system to select candidates).

Independent candidates had 60 days after the primaries are over (from 8 March, one day after the primary election, to 11 May 2006) to collect the necessary signatures to secure a place on the ballot. For statewide elections, state law proscribes the collection of one percent of voters casting ballots in the prior gubernatorial election (for 2006, this equates to 45,540 signatures) from registered voters that did not vote in either primary or any runoffs. If there was a primary runoff for the office an independent candidate is seeking, the petition process shrank to only 30 days, from 12 April (one day after the runoff elections) to 11 May 2006.[1]

United States Senator

2006 United States Senate election, Texas
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Kay Bailey Hutchison (inc.)	2,661,789	61.7	−3.3
	Democratic	Barbara Ann Radnofsky	1,555,202	36.0	+3.6
	Libertarian	Scott Jameson	97,672	2.3	+1.1
Majority			1,106,587	25.7
Turnout			4,314,663
	Republican hold		Swing

Governor

Texas general election, 2006: Governor^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Rick Perry (incumbent)	1,716,803	39.03	−18.78
	Democratic	Chris Bell	1,310,353	29.79	−10.17
	Independent	Carole Keeton Strayhorn	797,577	18.13
	Independent	Richard "Kinky" Friedman	546,869	12.43
	Libertarian	James Werner	26,748	0.61	−0.86
	Write-in	James "Patriot" Dillon	718	0.02
Majority			406,450	9.24
Turnout			4,399,068		−3.40
	Republican hold

Lieutenant governor

2006 election for Lieutenant Governor
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David Dewhurst (inc.)	2,513,530	58.19
	Democratic	Maria Luisa Alvarado	1,617,490	37.44
	Libertarian	Judy Baker	188,206	4.35
Majority			896,040	20.75
Turnout			4,319,226
	Republican hold		Swing

Attorney general

Incumbent Attorney general Greg Abbott ran for re-election, winning by a 22% margin.

2006 election for Attorney General
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Greg Abbott (inc.)	2,556,063	59.51
	Democratic	David Van Os	1,599,069	37.23
	Libertarian	Jon Roland	139,668	3.25
Majority			956,994	22.28
Turnout			4,294,800
	Republican hold		Swing

Comptroller of Public Accounts

2006 election for Comptroller of Public Accounts
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Susan Combs	2,547,323	59.47
	Democratic	Fred Head	1,585,362	37.01
	Libertarian	Mike Burris	150,565	3.51
Majority			961,961	22.46
Turnout			4,283,250
	Republican hold		Swing

Commissioner of the General Land Office

2006 election for Commissioner of the General Land Office
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jerry E. Patterson (inc.)	2,317,554	55.13
	Democratic	VaLinda Hathcox	1,721,964	40.96
	Libertarian	Michael A. French	164,098	3.90
Majority			595,590	14.17
Turnout			4,203,616
	Republican hold		Swing

Commissioner of Agriculture

Texas general election, 2006: Texas Commissioner of Agriculture^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Todd Staples	2,307,406	54.77	−4.77
	Democratic	Hank Gilbert	1,760,402	41.79	+3.97
	Libertarian	Clay Woolam	144,989	3.44	+2.26
Majority			547,004	12.98	−8.74
Turnout			4,212,797		−4.85
	Republican hold

Railroad Commissioner

2006 election for Railroad Commissioner
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Elizabeth Ames Jones (inc.)	2,269,743	54.03
	Democratic	Dale Henry	1,752,947	41.73
	Libertarian	Tabitha Serrano	177,648	4.22
Majority			516,796	12.3
Turnout			4,200,338
	Republican hold		Swing

Texas Supreme Court

Chief Justice, Unexpired term

Republican: Wallace Jefferson, Incumbent
Libertarian: Tom Oxford
Green (Write-in): Charles E. Waterbury

Justice, Place 2

Republican: Don Willett, Incumbent
Democrat: William E. Moody
Libertarian: Wade Wilson

Justice, Place 4

Republican: David M. Medina, Incumbent
Libertarian: Jerry Adkins

Justice, Place 6

Republican

Nathan Hecht, Incumbent

Libertarian

Todd Phillipp

Independent (declared)

Petition deadline has passed for ballot access, but may run as write-in candidate

William W. McNeal

Justice, Place 8, Unexpired term

Republican: Phil Johnson, Incumbent
Libertarian: Jay H. Cookingham

Texas Court of Criminal Appeals

Presiding Judge

Republican: Sharon Keller, Incumbent
Democrat: J.R. Molina

Judge, Place 7

Republican: Barbara Parker Hervey, Incumbent
Libertarian: Quanah Parker

Judge, Place 8

Republican: Charles Holcomb, Incumbent
Libertarian: Dave Howard

Legislative elections

Sixteen Texas Senate seats and all 150 Texas House of Representatives seats are up for election in 2006. The senators and representatives elected in 2006 served in the Eightieth Texas Legislature, while the senators also served in the Eighty-first Texas Legislature.

Texas Senate

Fifteen of the sixteen elections for the Texas Senate were contested to some extent. In the District 3 race, Robert Nichols won his Republican primary and will be unopposed in the fall election.

Texas House of Representatives

In the Texas House of Representatives, 118 of the 150 seats were be contested in the November 2006 election. Thirty races will be uncontested after the primary elections on 7 March 2006; the remaining two will be determined in the primary runoffs on 11 April 2006.