page_title: 2006 United States Senate elections
section_title: Maryland
hierarchical_section_title: 2006 United States Senate elections / Maryland
context_page_description: The 2006 United States Senate elections were held on November 7, 2006, with all 33 Class 1 Senate seats being contested. The term of office for those elected in 2006 ran from January 3, 2007, to January 3, 2013. Prior to the election, the Republican Party controlled 55 of the 100 Senate seats.
  The Senate elections were part of the Democratic sweep of the 2006 elections, in which Democrats made numerous gains and no congressional or gubernatorial seat held by a Democrat was won by a Republican. However, Democratic incumbent Joe Lieberman in Connecticut was defeated in the primary but was reelected as a third party candidate; he continued to caucus with the Democrats. Because of this, this is the first time since the 1970 Senate elections in which a member of a third party, who is not an independent, was elected to the Senate. Independent Jim Jeffords in Vermont retired, but was succeeded by another Independent, Bernie Sanders, retaining their presence in the Senate. Jeffords and Sanders both caucused with Democrats.
context_section_description: Incumbent Democrat Paul Sarbanes, Maryland's longest serving United States senator, decided to retire instead of seeking a sixth term. Democratic nominee Ben Cardin won the open seat.
  Kweisi Mfume, a former congressman and NAACP President, was the first to announce for the position, in March 2005. Ben Cardin, then a congressman since 1987, was the only other major candidate until September 2005, when Dennis F. Rasmussen, a former Baltimore County Executive, American University professor Allan Lichtman, and wealthy Potomac businessman Josh Rales entered the contest. Thirteen other candidates subsequently also entered the primary. As of August 2006, Cardin had raised more than $4.8 million and collected endorsements from a number of Democratic politicians, the AFL-CIO, and The Washington Post; Mfume had raised over $1.2 million and collected endorsements from the Maryland State Teachers Association, Progressive Maryland, former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening, the National Organization for Women, and Maryland Congressmen Elijah Cummings and Al Wynn.
  Michael S. Steele, Lieutenant Governor and former Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, was expected to win the Republican primary, and the Baltimore Sun wrote the month before that he faced "only nominal opposition". Among a field of nine other candidates, the only Republican receiving significant media coverage was Daniel Vovak.
  This was Maryland's first open Senate seat since 1986, when Senator Barbara Mikulski was first elected.
  Kevin Zeese, the nominee for the Green, Populist and Libertarian Parties, was also on the ballot.
  Though Steele lost the general election by 10% of the vote, a much wider margin than predicted, his was and remains the best showing for a Republican in a Senate race in Maryland since Charles Mathias, Jr. was re-elected in 1980 with 66% of the vote.
  Both Steele and Cardin made controversial statements and advertising throughout the campaign.
  Cardin primarily attacked Steele over his close relations with President Bush, including pictures of Bush and Steele in Cardin's TV ads.  Steele focused on low taxes, less government spending, free markets and national security.
  Despite polls days before the election showing the race at a 3% margin, Cardin won by more than 10% with a 178,295-vote margin. Steele conceded defeat at 9:02P.M. EST.
caption: County results