2006 Ohio State Auditor election

← 2002 November 7, 2006 2010 →

Nominee Mary Taylor Barbara Sykes Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,940,665 1,891,874 Percentage 50.64% 49.36%

County results Taylor:     50–60%     60–70% Sykes:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

State Auditor before election Betty Montgomery Republican ElectedState Auditor Mary Taylor Republican

The2006 Ohio State Auditor election was held on November 7, 2006. The Republican nominee,Ohio House RepresentativeMary Taylor, very narrowly defeated her Democratic opponent, fellow Ohio House RepresentativeBarbara Sykes, by less than 2 percentage points.

Incumbent Republican Ohio State AuditorBetty Montgomery had previously won the 2002 Ohio State Auditor election by a landslide margin of 28.64 percentage points against Democratic nominee Helen Smith.^[1] She chose not to seek re-election in order to run forGovernor of Ohio, later switching toOhio Attorney General, a race she would ultimately lose.

• Mary Taylor,Ohio House Representative from the 43rd district (2003–2006)

The Republican primary was held on May 2, 2006. Mary Taylor won the Republican nomination unopposed.

• Barbara Sykes,Ohio House Representative from the 44th district (2001–2006)

The Democratic primary was held on May 2, 2006. Sykes was initially challenged for the Democratic nomination byMahoning County Treasurer John Reardon, but he withdrew from the race prior to the primary election.^[3]

• Mary Taylor,Ohio House Representative from the 43rd district (2003–2006) (Republican)
• Barbara Sykes,Ohio House Representative from the 44th district (2001–2006) (Democratic)

The campaign was filled withmudslinging and controversy. Sykes filed a lawsuit against Taylor for conspiracy to incite racism after her campaign polled voters on whether Sykes's presidency of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus would affect their vote. Taylor was additionally attacked for allegedly supporting a building project at theUniversity of Akron that would have rewarded her husband with $331,000 as construction manager.^[5]

The race was extremely close, but in the end, Taylor defeated Sykes by a razor-thin margin of 1.28 percentage points. She did this despite a national Democratic wave in 2006, with Democrats sweeping most of Ohio's top offices. Thus, with her victory, she became the only non-judicial statewide elected Republican official in Ohio.

Official campaign websites (archived)

• Mary Taylor (R) for Ohio State Auditor
• Barbara Sykes (D) for Ohio State Auditor
• John Reardon (D) for Ohio State Auditor

• 2006 Ohio elections
• 2006 United States state auditor elections

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