United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana, 2006

The 2006 congressional elections in Indiana were elections for Indiana's delegation to the United States House of Representatives, which occurred along with congressional elections nationwide on November 7, 2006. Indiana played a key role in helping Democrats sweep Congress, when three Republican incumbents were defeated; (Chris Chocola, John Hostettler and Mike Sodrel), giving the Democrats a majority of the delegation again.^[1] Republicans held a majority of Indiana's delegation, 7-2, before the elections.

Overview

United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana, 2006[2]
Party		Votes	Percentage	Seats	+/–
	Republican	831,785	49.90%	4	-3
	Democratic	812,496	48.74%	5	+3
	Libertarian	17,324	1.04%	0	-
	Independents	5,317	0.32%	0	-
Totals		1,666,922	100.00%	9	-

District 1

This district is located in Northwest Indiana and borders Chicago. The district has been one of the most Democratic in Indiana.

Indiana's 1st congressional district election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Pete Visclosky (inc.)	104,195	69.65
	Republican	Mark Leyva	40,146	26.83
	Independent	Charles E. Barman	5,266	3.52
Total votes			149,607	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 2

This district is centered on South Bend, Indiana and the Indiana portion of the Michiana region.

Chocola defeated Tony Zirkle, an attorney, Navy veteran, and frequent candidate, in the Republican primary on May 2, 2006 by 70% to 30%. Zirkle, who said he was "willing to debate the idea of returning the guillotine and lynch mob for those who prey on children under the age of 12", was unable to get Chocola to debate him on that or any other subject.^[3]

Donnelly raised about $1.5 million to Chocola's $3.2 million.^[4][5] In mid-August, in a report on National Republican Congressional Committee planned spending, the Associated Press reported that "the GOP has not reserved advertising time to aid Rep. Chris Chocola in Indiana even though Democrats plan to spend at least $700,000 to win the district. House Republicans have told Chocola that he must fend for himself, given his personal wealth and his ability to raise large amounts of money."^[6]

A poll released in mid-June by the Donnelly campaign showed Donnelly leading 48% to 38% with 14% undecided. The campaign did not release all of the poll findings.^[7] A poll released six days later, taken by the South Bend Tribune, showed the race to be at the margin of error with Donnelly at 46% and Chocola at 41%. The telephone poll interviewed 400 likely voters who were asked who they would vote for "if the election were held now".^[8]

On August 16, the Cook Political Report changed the rating for the race from "Lean Republican" to "Toss-Up", saying "Despite a significant fundraising advantage over Democrat Joe Donnelly, which has helped fuel a barrage of negative attack ads, incumbent GOP Rep. Chris Chocola looks more like an underdog than the frontrunner." Also in August 2006, Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball, a Web site run by the University of Virginia Center for Politics, added the race to their "Ferocious Forty" list of the 40 most competitive House races in the nation.^[9]

On November 7, 2006, Chocola lost his congressional seat to Democratic candidate Joe Donnelly, whom Chocola had defeated in 2004. The final tally showed Chocola losing by a 54-46 margin, almost an identical reversal of his fortunes in 2004. The election had a much lower turnout than the previous campaign, and the difference appeared to come in St. Joseph County. Historically a Democratic stronghold, Chocola lost it by only a few hundred votes while cruising to victory in 2004. In 2006, however, Donnelly won the county by nearly 14,000 votes, garnering 58% of the vote in what is by far the most populous county of the district.^[10]

Indiana's 2nd congressional district election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joe Donnelly	103,561	53.98
	Republican	Chris Chocola (inc.)	88,300	46.02
Total votes			191,861	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 3

This district is located in the northeast corner of Indiana and has a large population center in Fort Wayne.

Indiana's 3rd congressional district election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mark Souder (inc.)	95,421	54.28
	Democratic	Tom Hayhurst	80,357	45.72
Total votes			175,778	100.00
	Republican hold

District 4

This district is located in west-central Indiana. Located within the district is the city of West Lafayette and many suburban towns.

Indiana's 4th congressional district election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Steve Buyer (inc.)	111,057	62.38
	Democratic	David Sanders	66,986	37.62
Total votes			178,043	100.00
	Republican hold

District 5

This district located mostly north of Indianapolis, including the largest suburbs of Indianapolis in Hamilton County.

Indiana's 5th congressional district election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dan Burton (inc.)	133,118	64.96
	Democratic	Katherine Fox Carr	64,362	31.41
	Libertarian	Sheri Conover Sharlow	7,431	3.63
	Write-ins		18	0.01
Total votes			204,929	100.00
	Republican hold

District 6

This district takes in a large portion of eastern Indiana, including the cities of Muncie, Anderson, and Richmond.

Indiana's 6th congressional district election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Pence (inc.)	115,266	60.01
	Democratic	Barry A. Welsh	76,812	39.99
Total votes			192,078	100.00
	Republican hold

District 7

This election pitted five-term incumbent Democrat Julia Carson against Republican Eric Dickerson.

Automobile dealer Eric Dickerson^[11] is a native of Detroit, Michigan and a graduate of Western Michigan University where he received his B.S. in engineering. Dickerson is a former U.S. Marine Corps officer and served with the HMA 269 Attack Squadron in Jacksonville, North Carolina. He later served in the Indiana National Guard.

Julia Carson had held this Congressional seat based in urban Indianapolis since 1997, and had always won by comfortable margins. Republicans hoped to take the seat in the 2006 elections after redistricting made the 7th slightly more Republican, though Democrats still held the advantage.

Dickerson ran an aggressive grass-roots campaign, defeating the party-endorsed candidate, Ronald Franklin, and two other candidates in the Republican primary on May 2, 2006. He gained further support as the campaign progressed, with an October poll shocking observers of both parties when it showed Dickerson narrowly leading Carson 45% to 42%. Carson dismissed the poll, saying that she always polled more strongly than expected on election day. She was proven correct, winning her sixth term on November 7, 2006.

Republican primary

Eric Dickerson	54%
Ronald Franklin	22%
John Bauer	18%
Michael Simpson	6%

Democratic primary

Julia Carson	81.2%
Kris Kiser	11%
Bob Hidalgo	4.6%
Joseph 'Hippie Joe' Stockett	2.0%
Pierre Quincy Pullins	0.8%

This district is in the heart of Central Indiana and encompasses most of Marion County/Indianapolis.

Indiana's 7th congressional district election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Julia Carson (inc.)	74,750	53.76
	Republican	Eric Dickerson	64,304	46.24
Total votes			139,054	100.00
	Democratic hold

District 8

Population centers of Evansville and Terre Haute are located within its limits along with numerous other small towns.

Indiana's 8th congressional district election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Brad Ellsworth	131,019	61.02
	Republican	John Hostettler (inc.)	83,704	38.98
Total votes			214,723	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

District 9

This district is located in southeast Indiana. Suburbs of Cincinnati and Louisville are located within the district. The largest city is Bloomington followed by; Columbus, New Albany, Jeffersonville, and Clarksville.

Indiana's 9th congressional district election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Baron Hill	110,454	50.01
	Republican	Mike Sodrel (inc.)	100,469	45.49
	Libertarian	D. Eric Schansberg	9,893	4.48
	Write-ins		33	0.01
Total votes			220,849	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections, 2006
• Indiana's 7th congressional district election, 2006
• United States Senate election in Indiana, 2006

References

1. "Democrats Take House by a Wide Margin". NPR. 2006-11-08. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
2. http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/2006/2006Stat.htm#14
11. Dickerson is not related to the football player also named Eric Dickerson.