# 2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election

"none" is preferred when the title is already sufficiently detailed; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
Elections in South Carolina :
Federal government
U.S. President
1788-89
1792
1796
1800
1804
1808
1812
1816
1820
1824
1828
1832
1836
1840
1844
1848
1852
1856
1860
1868
1872
1876
1880
1884
1888
1892
1896
1900
1904
1908
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
Rep
Dem
2004
Dem
2008
Dem
Rep
2012
Rep
2016
Dem
2020
Dem
2024
Dem
Rep
U.S. Senate
1897
sp 1898
1902
1903
1907
1908
1909
1913
1914
1918
sp 1918
1920
1924
1926
1930
1932
1936
1938
sp 1941
1942
1944
1948
1950
1954
1956
1960
1962
1966
sp 1966
1968
1972
1974
1978
1980
1984
1986
1990
1992
1996
1998
2002
2004
2008
2010
2014
sp 2014
2016
2020
2022
2026
2028
U.S. House of Representatives
1788
1790
1793
1794
1796
1798
1800
1803
1804
1806
1808
1810
1812
1814
1816
1818
1820
1823
1824
1826
1828
1830
1833
1834
1836
1838
1840
1843
1844
1846
1848
1850
1853
1854
1856
1858
1860
1868
1870
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
7th 1901
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
4th 1915
1916
1918
6th 1919
7th 1919
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
4th 1953
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1st 1971
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2nd 2001
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
1st 2013
2014
2016
5th 2017
2018
2020
2022
2024
List of specials :
State offices
General elections
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
Gubernatorial elections
1865
1868
1870
1872
1874
1876
1878
1880
1882
1884
1886
1888
1890
1892
1894
1896
1898
1900
1902
1904
1906
1908
1910
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1930
1934
1938
1942
1946
1950
1954
1958
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
State Senate elections
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
State House elections
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
Ballot measures
2006
Amendment 1
2008
2010
2012
2014 :
Charleston
Mayoral elections
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023 :
Columbia
Mayoral elections
2005
2009
2010
2013
2017
2021 :
Rock Hill
Mayoral elections
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023 :
Greenville
Mayoral elections
2007
2011
2015
2019
2023 :
vte :
The 2006 South Carolina gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Republican Governor Mark Sanford won re-election against Democratic State Senator Tommy Moore, becoming only the third Republican governor in South Carolina to win a second term (Robert Kingston Scott and Carroll A. Campbell Jr. were the others). Sanford started the campaign with a double-digit edge over Moore and he maintained that lead to election day. During the campaign, Sanford's approval rating averaged in the mid-fifties. In Sanford's re-election victory, he also garnered 22% of the African American vote.

## Democratic primary

Tommy Moore, a State Senator from western South Carolina, emerged with Florence Mayor Frank Willis as the major candidates in the Democratic primary election for governor. Rumors circulated that Superintendent of Education and former U.S. Senate candidate, Inez Tenenbaum, might enter the race, but she ultimately chose not to run for governor nor seek re-election to her position. Kenneth Holland, a former U.S. Representative from the 5th congressional district, briefly entered the race, but dropped out a month later after failing to raise enough financial contributions.
Moore and Willis traded barbs over campaign contributions made by Willis and his wife to prominent Republicans, including President George W. Bush and Senator Lindsey Graham. Attorney C. Dennis Aughtry entered the campaign at the eleventh hour and floated the idea of legalizing casinos statewide to raise money for public schools. Moore garnered more than 50% of the vote in the Democratic primary held on June 13 and thus avoided a runoff election.
Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Tommy Moore | 88,092 | 63.68 |
| | Democratic | Frank Willis | 42,317 | 30.59 |
| | Democratic | C. Dennis Aughtry | 7,934 | 5.74 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 138,343 | 100 |

## Republican primary

Portending a sign of trouble, incumbent Governor Mark Sanford faced a primary challenge from Oscar Lovelace, a physician from the Midlands. When former Governor David Beasley ran for re-election in 1998, he faced a primary challenge and went on to lose the general election to Jim Hodges. Sanford's veto of a heart center for Lexington County and theatrics such as bringing pigs to the Statehouse to show his displeasure of pork barrel spending by the General Assembly angered and annoyed many Republicans. However, Sanford's strategy of avoiding Lovelace and refusal to debate worked as the governor scored a decisive victory in the primary on June 13.
Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Mark Sanford (incumbent) | 160,238 | 64.80 |
| | Republican | Oscar Lovelace | 87,043 | 35.20 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 247,281 | 100 |

## Campaign

Governor Mark Sanford proposed three major issues in his campaign for re-election, chief among them being the restructuring of state government. He wanted to reduce the number of statewide elected officials from nine to three and eliminate the state's Budget and Control Board. The governor insisted that these measures would reduce the number of redundant positions and make state government both more efficient and less costly. Sanford's three major issues for the campaign were:
* Restructuring state government.
* School choice through tuition tax credits.
* Tax cuts and spending restraint.
State Senator Tommy Moore ran as a good manager of state government. He held socially conservative and fiscally moderate positions, which put him squarely at odds with the libertarian incumbent. Moore disagreed with what he believed was Sanford's condescending and combative approach of dealing with the General Assembly. The senator also believed that Sanford lacked leadership skills, and that lack of leadership had brought South Carolina to a standstill over the past four years in his view. The main policy proposals that he developed were:
* A rural infrastructure bank to help undeveloped counties.
* A governor's office that actively recruits new businesses to the state.
* A 30-cent tax increase on cigarettes to offset small business tax credits for employee health insurance.
On July 7, several weeks after the primary election, Lexington County State Senator Jake Knotts launched a last-minute effort to place his name on the ballot as a petition candidate for governor. He had feuded with Governor Sanford over a number of issues, including the heart center for Lexington County, and supported Lovelace in the Republican primary. In order to be on the ballot in November, Knotts needed to collect 10,000 signatures of registered voters by July 17, which he failed to do. Knotts's political consultant publicly stated that he could not have raised enough money to have run a successful candidacy.
There were two trains of thought on the effects of a candidacy by Knotts. It was generally believed that had Knotts entered the race, it would have split the Republican vote and helped elect Tommy Moore. However, because those who supported Knotts went on to support Moore, it was also argued that a Knotts candidacy would have in fact deprived Moore of both votes and money.

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| The Cook Political Report | Likely R | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report | Safe R | November 2, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |

### Polling

| Source | Date | Tommy Moore (D) | Mark Sanford (R) |
| Survey USA | November 5, 2006 | 40% | 57% |
| Palmetto Poll | October 26, 2006 | 31% | 58% |
| Rasmussen | October 25, 2006 | 34% | 57% |
| Survey USA | October 17, 2006 | 41% | 56% |
| Survey USA | September 28, 2006 | 46% | 50% |
| Survey USA | September 20, 2006 | 41% | 54% |
| Rasmussen | September 10, 2006 | 38% | 51% |
| Rasmussen | August 4, 2006 | 38% | 47% |
| Rasmussen | June 23, 2006 | 39% | 51% |
| Rasmussen | May 10, 2006 | 33% | 52% |
| Rasmussen | February 17, 2006 | 36% | 49% |

### Results

South Carolina Gubernatorial Election, 2006 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Mark Sanford (incumbent) | 601,868 | 55.12% | +2.2% |
| | Democratic | Tommy Moore | 489,076 | 44.79% | −2.2% |
| | Independent | Write-ins | 1,008 | 0.1% | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 112,792 | 10.3% | +4.4% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,091,952 | 44.5% | −9.6% |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Colleton (largest city: Walterboro)
* Lancaster (Largest city: Lancaster)
* Darlington (largest city: Hartsville)

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Newberry (Largest city: Newberry)
* Saluda (Largest city: Saluda)
* Edgefield (Largest city: Edgefield)