How many U.S. Senate seats changed party in 2006?

7 seats changed party in the 2006 Senate elections: Connecticut (Democrat to Independent), Missouri (Republican to Democrat), Montana (Republican to Democrat), Ohio (Republican to Democrat), Pennsylvania (Republican to Democrat), Rhode Island (Republican to Democrat), Virginia (Republican to Democrat).

Which new senators were elected in 2006?

10 new senators won seats in 2006: Benjamin Cardin (Democrat-MD), Amy Klobuchar (Democrat-MN), Claire McCaskill (Democrat-MO), Jon Tester (Democrat-MT), Sherrod Brown (Democrat-OH), Bob Casey (Democrat-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat-RI), Bob Corker (Republican-TN), Bernie Sanders (Independent-VT), Jim Webb (Democrat-VA).

2006 U.S. Senate Elections: Results

33 Senate seats were decided on Tuesday, November 7, 2006: the 33 Class I seats. 23 incumbents kept their seats, 10 new senators were elected, and 7 seats changed party.

All cycles 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 2030

Seats on the ballot

33 Class I

Held going in

17 Democrat · 15 Republican · 1 Independent

New senators

23 incumbents re-elected

Seats that changed party

CT, MO, MT, OH, PA, RI, VA

Every Seat on the 2006 Ballot

Incumbent is whoever held the seat on election day; the result is who was sworn in for it afterwards.

State ▲	Incumbent ↕	Party ↕	Seat ↕	Since ↕	Age on Election Day ↕	Result ↕
Arizona	Jon Kyl Since 1995	Republican	Class I	1995		Re-elected
California	Dianne Feinstein Since 1992	Democrat	Class I	1992		Re-elected
Connecticut	Joseph Lieberman Since 1989	Democrat	Class I	1989		Re-elected
Delaware	Tom Carper Since 2001 · age 59	Democrat	Class I	2001	59	Re-elected
Florida	Bill Nelson Since 2001	Democrat	Class I	2001		Re-elected
Hawaii	Daniel Akaka Since 1990	Democrat	Class I	1990		Re-elected
Indiana	Richard Lugar Since 1977	Republican	Class I	1977		Re-elected
Maine	Olympia Snowe Since 1995	Republican	Class I	1995		Re-elected
Maryland	Paul Sarbanes Since 1977	Democrat	Class I	1977		Benjamin Cardin (Democrat)
Massachusetts	Ted Kennedy Since 1962	Democrat	Class I	1962		Re-elected
Michigan	Debbie Stabenow Since 2001	Democrat	Class I	2001		Re-elected
Minnesota	Mark Dayton Since 2001	Democrat	Class I	2001		Amy Klobuchar (Democrat)
Mississippi	Trent Lott Since 1989	Republican	Class I	1989		Re-elected
Missouri	James Talent Since 2002	Republican	Class I	2002		Claire McCaskill (Democrat) Party change
Montana	Conrad Burns Since 1989	Republican	Class I	1989		Jon Tester (Democrat) Party change
Nebraska	Ben Nelson Since 2001	Democrat	Class I	2001		Re-elected
Nevada	John Ensign Since 2001	Republican	Class I	2001		Re-elected
New Jersey	Robert Menendez Since 2006	Democrat	Class I Appointed	2006		Re-elected
New Mexico	Jeff Bingaman, Jr. Since 1983	Democrat	Class I	1983		Re-elected
New York	Hillary Clinton Since 2001	Democrat	Class I	2001		Re-elected
North Dakota	Kent Conrad Since 1987	Democrat	Class I	1987		Re-elected
Ohio	Michael DeWine Since 1995	Republican	Class I	1995		Sherrod Brown (Democrat) Party change
Pennsylvania	Rick Santorum Since 1995	Republican	Class I	1995		Bob Casey (Democrat) Party change
Rhode Island	Lincoln Chafee Since 1999	Republican	Class I	1999		Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat) Party change
Tennessee	William Frist Since 1995	Republican	Class I	1995		Bob Corker (Republican)
Texas	Kay Hutchison Since 1993	Republican	Class I	1993		Re-elected
Utah	Orrin Hatch Since 1977	Republican	Class I	1977		Re-elected
Vermont	James Jeffords Since 1989	Independent	Class I	1989		Bernie Sanders (Independent)
Virginia	George Allen Since 2001	Republican	Class I	2001		Jim Webb (Democrat) Party change
Washington	Maria Cantwell Since 2001 · age 48	Democrat	Class I	2001	48	Re-elected
West Virginia	Robert Byrd Since 1959	Democrat	Class I	1959		Re-elected
Wisconsin	Herbert Kohl Since 1989	Democrat	Class I	1989		Re-elected
Wyoming	Craig Thomas Since 1995	Republican	Class I	1995		Re-elected

New Senators Elected in 2006

Benjamin Cardin

Democrat · Maryland

Succeeded Paul Sarbanes

Amy Klobuchar

Democrat · Minnesota

Succeeded Mark Dayton

Claire McCaskill

Democrat · Missouri

Succeeded James Talent (Republican)

Jon Tester

Democrat · Montana

Succeeded Conrad Burns (Republican)

Sherrod Brown

Democrat · Ohio

Succeeded Michael DeWine (Republican)

Bob Casey

Democrat · Pennsylvania

Succeeded Rick Santorum (Republican)

Sheldon Whitehouse

Democrat · Rhode Island

Succeeded Lincoln Chafee (Republican)

Bob Corker

Republican · Tennessee

Succeeded William Frist

Bernie Sanders

Independent · Vermont

Succeeded James Jeffords

Jim Webb

Democrat · Virginia

Succeeded George Allen (Republican)

About this page

Seats, incumbents and results are derived from the Senate's service records (via the congress-legislators dataset): the seats on a year's ballot are the class whose terms end the following January, plus any seat held by appointment pending a special election, and a result is recorded when the winner is sworn in. Incumbent status and candidates for the next election come from FEC candidate filings; a seat is listed as open when the FEC tags its candidates as running for a seat with no incumbent. Election day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. See every cycle since 1990, the seniority list and the voting analysis.