page_title: 2006 United States Senate election in Connecticut
section_title: Connecticut for Lieberman party
hierarchical_section_title: 2006 United States Senate election in Connecticut / General election / Campaign / Connecticut for Lieberman party
caption_attribution_description: Joseph Lieberman during his reelection campaign as a Connecticut Senator on a third party ticket.
context_page_description: The 2006 United States Senate election in Connecticut was held November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman lost the August 8 Democratic primary to Ned Lamont, but then formed his own third party and won a fourth term in the general election. Lieberman and Lamont both faced Alan Schlesinger, a Republican.
  As of 2020, this is the last time someone from a third party in a race which featured also a Republican and Democratic candidate was elected to the Senate.
context_section_description: On June 12, Ned Lamont began running radio ads promising if he lost the primary to endorse Lieberman, challenging Lieberman to abandon consideration of an independent run by making a similar pledge. Lieberman refused to make this pledge; his campaign manager, Sean Smith said, "Are we going to support Ned Lamont?  Ah, no!"
  On July 3 in Hartford, Lieberman announced that he would collect signatures in order to guarantee himself a position on the November ballot. Both Lieberman and Smith said that Lieberman will run as a "petitioning Democrat" and will caucus with Senate Democrats if elected. On July 10, the Lieberman campaign officially filed paperwork allowing him to collect signatures to form a new political party, the Connecticut for Lieberman party.
  Upon Lieberman's announcement, independent polls continued to show him favored to win a plurality or outright majority of the vote in a three-way general election (see below). The petition issue led to charges against the Lieberman campaign of political opportunism and lack of respect for the political process. Lieberman received strong support from many prominent conservative pundits and publications. "[H]is most vocal support came from places like The Weekly Standard, National Review, and Commentary Magazine; Sean Hannity, Bill Kristol and right-wing radio hosts cheered for his victory." Thus, "Lieberman was able to run in the general election as the de facto Republican candidate — every major Republican office-holder in the state endorsed him — and to supplement that GOP base with strong support from independents."
  On August 29, Lieberman began airing an ad, named "Soothing", featuring images of a sunset over an ocean beach, while a female narrator says "you might enjoy a break from Ned Lamont's negative advertising. So just sit back and think about - good stuff." The Lamont campaign stood by their advertisements.
  There was some debate over what impact Lieberman's campaign would have on several tight House races in Connecticut.  Some argued that Lieberman would bring out Republican supporters, who would vote for Lieberman and then cross over to support the Republican House candidates.  Others, such as Rahm Emanuel, argued that having two Democrats running against each other will increase the Democratic turnout, which will then benefit the Democratic House candidates.
caption: Lieberman during his re-election campaign on a third party ticket
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