The 2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006. The incumbent Republican governor,

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

, chose not to seek a second term. Polls had been mixed prior to Romney's announcement, with one poll showing Romney slightly leading Democratic

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

Tom Reilly and other polls showing Reilly, who was then the Democratic frontrunner, in the lead. The election was won by the Democratic former United States Assistant Attorney General

Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was the first African Americans, African-American Governor of Massachusetts and the first Democratic Pa ...

, who became the second African-American governor in the United States since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

and the first Democratic governor of Massachusetts since

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis ( ; born November 3, 1933) is an American politician and lawyer who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the s ...

left office in 1991. This was the last time until

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

that the Democratic nominee won a majority. Healey is the only Republican gubernatorial nominee never to be elected governor between 1990 and 2018.

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

* Chris Gabrieli, businessman and lieutenant governor nominee in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, former Assistant United States Attorney General for

Civil Rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

* Thomas Reilly,

Massachusetts Attorney General The Massachusetts attorney general is an elected constitutionally defined executive officer of the Massachusetts government. The officeholder is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The officeholder ...

Endorsements

* Deval Patrick: '' Attleboro Sun Chronicle'', ''

Bay State Banner ''The Bay State Banner'' is a weekly newspaper primarily geared toward the readership interests of the African-American community in Boston, Massachusetts. Distributed free of charge, it was founded in 1965 by Melvin B. Miller, who remained the ...

'', ''

Blue Mass Group Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The term ''blue'' generally des ...

'', ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', '' Brookline Tab'', '' Cambridge Chronicle'', '' Hamilton-Wenham Chronicle'', '' Wellesley Townsman'', ''

Worcester Magazine ''Worcester Magazine'' is a weekly free alternative media magazine in Worcester, Massachusetts. History Established in 1976, the magazine is distributed at more than 400 locations across Central Massachusetts. It is published weekly on Thursda ...

'' * Tom Reilly: ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...

'', ''

Cape Cod Times The ''Cape Cod Times'' is a broadsheet daily newspaper serving Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, which encompasses 15 towns on Cape Cod with a year-round population of about 230,000 and a circulation of about 20,000. It is owned ...

'', '' Springfield Republican''

Campaign

The Democratic state caucuses were held in February in all cities and towns to elect delegates to the state convention. The Patrick campaign organized their supporters, many of whom had never been involved in such party processes before, to win twice as many pledged delegates as the Reilly campaign. (Chris Gabrieli did not join the race until a month later, which played a major role in his difficulty in getting on the ballot.) At the Democratic Convention on June 3 in Worcester, each candidate needed to receive support from 15% of the delegates to be on the primary ballot in September. There was some question as to whether Gabrieli could succeed after entering the race so late. Patrick received the convention's endorsement with 57.98% of the vote, Reilly made it with 26.66%, and Gabrieli narrowly achieved ballot access with 15.36% of the delegates' votes. The campaign was highlighted by numerous debates. The first two debates took place in late April. WBZ-CBS4 News hosted a debate between Democratic candidates Chris Gabrieli, Deval Patrick, and Tom Reilly on April 21 and it aired at 8:30 AM on April 23. A second Democratic candidate debate, moderated by Sy Becker from WWLP TV 22, was held at Agawam Middle School on April 27. The " Campaign to Stop Killer Coke", a group dedicated to holding Coca-Cola accountable for violence in its

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n bottling plant in the mid-1990s, began to attack Patrick and his candidacy. Patrick had resigned from the company and said he'd done so after his attempts to get them to carry out an independent investigation were ignored and undermined. Five Massachusetts unions filed a complaint against the group with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, in an effort to require the group to disclose its donors. On August 11, it was reported that Reilly's campaign had been behind the efforts. The final two televised debates played a key role in the primary campaign, as they took place during the two weeks between

Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...

and Primary Day when the public and the media hold their greatest focus on the election. The first of the two was carried about by the media consortium (which includes the

NECN New England Cable News (NECN) is a regional 24-hour cable news television network owned and operated by NBCUniversal (as part of the NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations division, both ultimately owned by Comcast) serving the New England reg ...

, and WBUR, among others) and moderated by former New Hampshire governor

Jeanne Shaheen Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen ( ; née Bowers, born January 28, 1947) is an American politician and former educator serving since 2009 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New Hampshire. A ...

, while the second and final debate was held by

WBZ-TV WBZ-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent WSBK-TV (channel 38). Bo ...

and moderated by their political analyst, Jon Keller.

Polling

Results

On September 19, Patrick won the Democratic primary with 50% of the vote, ahead of Gabrieli (27%) and Reilly (23%).

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

Deb Goldberg Deborah Beth Goldberg (born May 11, 1954) is an American politician and lawyer. She is the Treasurer of Massachusetts, serving since January 2015. She was a member of the Board of Selectmen for the town of Brookline, Massachusetts from 1998 to 2 ...

, former chair of the Brookline

Board of Selectmen The select board or board of selectmen is commonly the Executive (government), executive arm of the government of New England towns in the United States. The board typically consists of three or five members, with or without staggered terms. Three ...

Tim Murray Timothy Patrick Murray (born June 7, 1968) is an American lawyer and member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who served as the 71st Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, lieutenant governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2 ...

, mayor of

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

* Andrea Silbert, businesswoman

=Withdrew

= * Sam Kelley, MD, child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist, medical director of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and former legislative aide to US Congressman

Jim McDermott James Adelbert McDermott (born December 28, 1936) is an American politician and psychiatrist who was the U.S. representative for from 1989 to 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The 7th district includes most of Seattle, Vashon Is ...

* Marie St. Fleur, State Representative from Dorchester

=Declined

= * Chris Gabrieli (running for Governor)

Campaign

On April 23, 2006, a "virtual debate" between Murray, Silbert, and Sam Kelley was released on SaintKermit.com. On May 21, all four candidates debated in Lowell. Four days later, on May 25, Kelley dropped out of the race and joined the Deval Patrick campaign as a volunteer advisor on

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

issues. At the Democratic convention in Worcester on June 3, Worcester Mayor Tim Murray was endorsed by a voice vote after receiving 49% on the first ballot. Andrea Silbert and

both qualified for the ballot with 29% and 22% respectively.

Endorsements

* Deborah Goldberg: ''

'' * Tim Murray: ''

'', ''

Worcester Telegram & Gazette The ''Telegram & Gazette'' (and ''Sunday Telegram'') is the only daily newspaper of Worcester, Massachusetts. The paper, headquartered at 100 Front Street and known locally as ''the Telegram'' or the ''T & G'', offers coverage of all of Worces ...

'' * Andrea Silbert: ''

'', '' Brookline Tab''

Polling

Results

Tim Murray won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor on September 19 with 43% of the vote.

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

* Kerry Healey, lieutenant governor of Massachusetts

=Declined

= * Christy Mihos, businessman (running as an Independent) *

, incumbent governor ''(endorsed Healey)'' Healey was unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

* Reed Hillman, former State Representative and Massachusetts State Police Colonel As incumbent Kerry Healey ran for governor, the position of lieutenant governor was open. Reed Hillman was unopposed for the Republican nomination.

General election

Candidates

* Kerry Healey, lieutenant governor of Massachusetts (Republican) ** Running mate: Reed Hillman, former State Representative and Massachusetts State Police Colonel * Christy Mihos, businessman and former member of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (Independent) :*Running mate: John Sullivan, former

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

selectman *

, former Assistant United States Attorney General for

(Democratic) ** Running mate:

, mayor of

* Grace Ross, anti-poverty and LGBT activist (Green-Rainbow) :*Running mate: Wendy Van Horne, nurse (withdrew September 1) :*Running mate: Martina Robinson,

disability rights The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all disabled people. It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advocates, around ...

activist

Campaign

On April 25, Republican Kerry Healey called for four debates, each involving all four candidates, between the September primaries and November general election, and this proposition was seconded by Patrick. The general election campaign kicked off on primary day, September 19, after Tom Reilly and Chris Gabrieli conceded and Kerry Healey accepted her uncontested nomination. Deval Patrick followed with his acceptance speech, appearing with his new running mate Tim Murray and former opponent Chris Gabrieli. The general election campaign was very heated and was referred to by

as "the dirtiest gubernatorial campaign in my memory". The Healey campaign released attack ads implying that Deval Patrick supports sexual assault or murder of police (culminating in the now infamous "parking lot rape" ad). Healey supporters also protested at the homes of Patrick and Patrick campaign manager John E. Walsh, and documents leaked anonymously to media about Patrick's brother-in-law's criminal history. After the final debate, WRKO talk radio host John DePetro came under scrutiny for referring to Grace Ross as a "fat lesbian". DePetro had been suspended earlier in the year for calling Turnpike Authority chief Matt Amorello a "fag".

Debates

The first televised debate of the general election was held by

WFXT WFXT (channel 25) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network and owned by Cox Media Group. Its studios are located on Fox Drive (near the Boston-Providence Turnpi ...

and the ''

''] on September 25 on

. Moderated by Fox News' Chris Wallace (journalist), Chris Wallace on the day after his Bill Clinton interview. The second debate was held in Springfield and broadcast on WGBH and

Endorsements

* Kerry Healey: ''

'', '' Springfield Republican'', ''

The Eagle-Tribune ''The Eagle-Tribune'' (and ''Sunday Eagle-Tribune'') is a morning daily newspaper covering the Merrimack Valley and Essex County, Massachusetts, and southern New Hampshire. It is the largest-circulation daily newspaper owned by Community Newspa ...

'', ''

Sentinel & Enterprise The ''Sentinel & Enterprise'' is a morning daily newspaper published in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, with a satellite news bureau in Leominster, Massachusetts. The newspaper covers local news in Fitchburg, Leominster and several nearby towns in nor ...

'', ''

Lowell Sun ''The Sun'', also known as ''The Lowell Sun'', is a daily newspaper based in Lowell, Massachusetts, United States, serving towns in Massachusetts around the Greater Lowell area and beyond. As of 2011, its average daily circulation was about 42, ...

'', ''

'' * Christy Mihos: '' Walpole Gazette'' * Deval Patrick: ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', ''

'', '' MetroWest Daily News'', ''

Providence Journal ''The Providence Journal'', colloquially known as the ''ProJo'', is a daily newspaper serving the metropolitan area of Providence, the largest newspaper in Rhode Island, US. The newspaper was first published in 1829. The newspaper had won four ...

'', ''

The Berkshire Eagle ''The Berkshire Eagle'' is an American daily newspaper published in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and covering all of Berkshire County, as well as four New York communities near Pittsfield. It is considered a newspaper of record for Berkshire Coun ...

'', ''

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the now defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', '' ...

'', ''Newton Tab'', '' West Roxbury & Roslindale Transcript''Editorial: Patrick is our pick
''West Roxbury & Roslindale Transcript'', October 26, 2006 * Grace Ross: ''In City Times''

Predictions

Polling

Results

Official results certified by the Massachusetts Secretary of State, as of December 6, 2006, with all 2,166 precincts reporting.

By county

;Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic * Barnstable (largest municipality: Barnstable) *

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

(largest municipality: Lynn) * Hampden (largest municipality: Springfield) *

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

(largest municipality:

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

) *

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

(largest municipality: Quincy) *

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

(largest municipality: Brockton) *

(largest municipality:

)

References

External links

Kerry Healey for Governor & Reed Hillman for Lt. Governor

Christy Mihos for Governor & John Sullivan for Lt. Governor

Deval Patrick for Governor

Tim Murray for Lt. Governor

Grace Ross for Governor & Martina Robinson for Lt. Governor

Chris Gabrieli for Governor

Deborah Goldberg for Lieutenant Governor

Tom Reilly for Governor

Andrea Silbert for Lieutenant Governor
{{US Third Party Election

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Democratic primary

Governor

Candidates

Endorsements

Campaign

Polling

Results

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

=Withdrew

=Declined

Campaign

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Governor

Candidates

=Declined

Lieutenant governor

Candidates

General election

Candidates

Campaign

Debates

Endorsements

Predictions

Polling

Results

By county

See also

References

External links