2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota

2006 Minnesota's 2nd congressional district election
← 2004 2008 →
	Precinct results; Kline: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%; Rowley: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% >90%; No votes
U.S. Representative before election; John Kline; Republican	Elected U.S. Representative ; John Kline; Republican

2006 Minnesota's 1st congressional district election
← 2004 2008 →
	; Walz: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Gutknecht: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Tie: 50%; No votes
U.S. Representative before election; Gil Gutknecht; Republican	Elected U.S. Representative ; Tim Walz; Democratic (DFL)

2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota
All 8 Minnesota seats to the United States House of Representatives
Democratic 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%	Republican 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

Map of Minnesota showing all eight districts

The 2006 congressional elections in Minnesota were held on November 7, 2006, to determine who would represent the state of Minnesota in the United States House of Representatives.

Minnesota had eight seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the 110th Congress from January 3, 2007, until January 3, 2009. The election coincided with the Senate election and the gubernatorial election.

Overview

Statewide

Party		Candidates	Votes^[1]^[2]		Seats
Party		Candidates	No.	%	No.	+/–	%
	Democratic-Farmer-Labor	8	1,152,621	52.90	5	1	62.50
	Republican	8	924,636	42.43	3	1	37.50
	Independence	3	85,815	3.94	0		0.0
	Unity	1	5,508	0.25	0		0.0
	Green	1	4,792	0.23	0		0.0
	Constitution	1	3,303	0.15	0		0.0
	Write-in	8	2,299	0.11	0		0.0
Total		30	2,178,974	100.0	8		100.0

Popular vote

Democratic			52.90%
Republican			42.43%
Independence			3.94%
Other			0.73%

House seats

Democratic			62.50%
Republican			37.50%

By district

Results of the 2006 United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota by district:

District	Democratic		Republican		Others		Total		Result
					Others		Total
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
District 1	141,556	52.74%	126,486	47.12%	379	0.14%	268,421	100.0%	Democratic gain
District 2	116,343	40.04%	163,269	56.20%	10,928	3.76%	290,540	100.0%	Republican hold
District 3	99,588	35.04%	184,333	64.85%	323	0.11%	284,244	100.0%	Republican hold
District 4	172,096	69.54%	74,797	30.23%	573	0.23%	247,466	100.0%	Democratic hold
District 5	136,060	55.56%	52,263	21.34%	56,582	23.10%	244,905	100.0%	Democratic hold
District 6	127,144	42.07%	151,248	50.05%	23,796	7.88%	302,188	100.0%	Republican hold
District 7	179,164	69.66%	74,557	28.99%	3,473	1.35%	257,194	100.0%	Democratic hold
District 8	180,670	63.61%	97,683	34.39%	5,663	1.99%	284,016	100.0%	Democratic hold
Total	1,152,621	52.90%	924,636	42.43%	101,717	4.67%	2,178,974	100.0%

District 1

Incumbent Republican Gil Gutknecht, who had represented the district since 1995, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 59.6% of the vote in 2004 and the district had a PVI of R+1.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Gil Gutknecht, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

Gregory Mikkelson

Results

Republican Primary Election ^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Gil Gutknecht (Incumbent)	24,725	87.3
	Republican	Gregory Mikkelson	3,600	12.7
Total votes			28,325	100.0

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Tim Walz, high school teacher and retired Army National Guard NCO

Results

Democratic Primary Election ^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic (DFL)	Tim Walz	26,475	100.0
Total votes			26,475	100.0

General election

Debate

Complete video of debate, October 26, 2006

Campaign

In his bid for a seventh term in Congress, incumbent Republican Congressman Gil Gutknecht faced off against Tim Walz, a high school teacher and the DFL nominee in this swing district based in southern Minnesota.

Endorsements

Tim Walz (D)

Individuals

Wesley Clark, retired Army General, 2004 democratic presidential candidate^[4]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[5]	Tossup	November 6, 2006
Rothenberg^[6]	Tossup	November 6, 2006
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[7]	Tilt R	November 6, 2006
Real Clear Politics^[8]	Lean R	November 7, 2006
CQ Politics^[9]	Lean R	November 7, 2006

Results

Walz upset Gutknecht by a margin of 5.6%.

Minnesota's 1st Congressional district election, 2006^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic (DFL)	Tim Walz	141,556	52.7
	Republican	Gil Gutknecht (Incumbent)	126,486	47.1
	Write-in		379	0.1
Total votes			268,421	100.00
	Democratic (DFL) gain from Republican

District 2

This district spans the width of the entire southern metro area and contains all of Carver, Scott, Le Sueur, Goodhue and Rice Counties and most of Dakota County. Incumbent Republican John Kline, who had represented the district since 2003, ran for re-election. He was re-elected with 56.4% of the vote in 2004. The district had a PVI of R+3.