Utah United States Senate election, 2006

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The 2006 U.S. Senate election for the state of Utah was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Senator Orrin Hatch won re-election to a sixth term.

In July 2005, Utah house majority whip Steve Urquhart announced that he would challenge Hatch for the Republican nomination. [1] [2]. In September, Urquhart dropped out of the race because of a low level of funding and to spend more time working at his business. [3] As a result, Hatch faced only three unknown challengers in the Republican primary on June 27, 2006. [4].

Opposing Hatch in the general election were Democrat Pete Ashdown, an internet company executive, and several minor party candidates.

The filing deadline for major party candidates was March 17, 2006.

Contents 1 Republican candidates 1.1 Lost in Primary 2 Criticism of Hatch 3 Democratic candidates 4 Other candidates 5 Opinion Polls 6 Election results 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] Republican candidates

• Orrin Hatch, incumbent Senator first elected in 1976.

[edit] Lost in Primary

• Brian Jenkins [5]
• Ronald Levine
• Mike Ridgway [6]

[edit] Criticism of Hatch

Critics cite Hatch's stance on polygamy, complaining that he has not come down hard enough on it, particularly when speaking near areas where it is practiced. [7]

[edit] Democratic candidates

• Pete Ashdown, the founder and CEO of Utah's oldest Internet service provider, XMission.

[edit] Other candidates

• Scott Bradley (Constitution party) - university telecommunications official and businessman [8]
• Julian Hatch (Desert Greens) - disabled veteran and environmental activist, and distant cousin of Senator Hatch. He is running for the Green Party nomination. [9]
• Joe Labonte (Being Human/Personal Choice party) - truck driver and 2004 nominee [10]
• Roger Price (Personal Choice party) - mechanic, Vietnam War veteran, and 2004 county commission candidate [11]
• Dave Starr Seely (Libertarian party) - emergency operations manager, firearms instructor [12]

[edit] Opinion Polls

Source	Date	Hatch (R)	Ashdown (D)	Bradley (C)	Hatch (DG)	Price (PC)	Seely (L)
Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV	September 30, 2006	62%	25%	1%	<1%	0%	1%
Mason-Dixon/Salt Lake Tribune	August 28, 2006	61%	27%	—	—	—	—
Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV	July 26, 2006	63%	21%	3%	<1%	<1%	1%
Mason-Dixon/Salt Lake Tribune	July 3, 2006	67%	23%	—	—	—	—

[edit] Election results

2006 United States Senate election, Utah
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Orrin Hatch (incumbent)	344,541	62.6	-3.0
	Democratic	Pete Ashdown	169,421	30.8	-0.7
	Constitution	Scott Bradley	20,655	3.8	n/a
	Personal Choice	Roger Price	8,965	1.6	n/a
	Libertarian	Dave Seely	4,210	0.8	-0.5
	Desert Green	Julian Hatch	2,374	0.4	n/a
Majority			175,120	31.8
Turnout			550,166
	Republican hold		Swing

[edit] See also

United States Senate elections, 2006

[edit] External links

• Pete Ashdown for United States Senate
• Scott Bradley for Senate
• The Official Orrin Hatch campaign site
• Joe Labonte's website
• Roger I. Price's website
• Libertarian Dave Starr Seely's website