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The2006 United States Senate election in Indiana was held November 7, 2006.Incumbent RepublicanUnited States SenatorRichard Lugar was re-elected to his sixth six-year term with 87.3% of the vote. He did not have aDemocratic opponent and only faced opposition from a Libertarian candidate; this was the only U.S. Senate race in 2006 in which Democrats did not field a candidate.
This would be the last successful race of Lugar's decades-long political career. This is also the last time thatLake,Marion, andMonroe counties have voted for a Republican candidate for Senate.
As of 2026, this is the last election where an incumbent Senator won re-election in this seat.
Lugar faced no opposition from theDemocratic Party, as they felt that he was unbeatable. The Indiana Senate race was the only one in 2006 in which the incumbent did not face a challenger from the other major party. Also running wasLibertarian Steve Osborn. Osborn was fromLa Porte, Indiana and was anamateur radio operator. Exit polls projected a landslide victory for Lugar which was borne out by the result.
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[1] | Solid R | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[2] | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[3] | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics[4] | Safe R | November 6, 2006 |
The election was not close as Lugar faced only a Libertarian candidate, as no Democrat filed to run. Osborn's best performance was inStarke County, receiving just 23.7% of the vote. This is one of the best statewide showings for a third-party candidate inIndiana.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Richard Lugar (incumbent) | 1,171,553 | 87.36% | ||
| Libertarian | Steve Osborn | 168,820 | 12.59% | ||
| Write-in | 738 | 0.06% | |||
| Total votes | 1,341,111 | 100.0% | |||
| Republicanhold | |||||
Lugar won all 92 ofIndiana's counties by varying margins.[6]
| County | Lugar | Votes | Osborn | Votes | Other | Votes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adams | 90.6% | 7,143 | 9.4% | 743 | 0.0% | 3 | 7,889 |
| Allen | 89.3% | 65,782 | 10.6% | 7,838 | 0.1% | 38 | 73,658 |
| Bartholomew | 90.0% | 16,544 | 10.0% | 1,834 | 0.0% | 9 | 18,387 |
| Benton | 87.1% | 2,086 | 12.9% | 310 | 0.0% | 0 | 2,396 |
| Blackford | 85.7% | 2,902 | 14.3% | 483 | 0.0% | 0 | 3,385 |
| Boone | 91.5% | 11,428 | 8.5% | 1,058 | 0.0% | 0 | 12,486 |
| Brown | 84.9% | 4,181 | 15.1% | 743 | 0.0% | 1 | 4,925 |
| Carroll | 86.3% | 4,859 | 13.6% | 768 | 0.1% | 3 | 5,630 |
| Cass | 88.1% | 8,066 | 11.9% | 1,094 | 0.1% | 1 | 9,161 |
| Clark | 86.6% | 21,690 | 13.4% | 3,358 | 0.0% | 0 | 25,048 |
| Clay | 86.9% | 6,597 | 13.0% | 987 | 0.1% | 4 | 7,588 |
| Clinton | 87.6% | 6,076 | 12.3% | 856 | 0.1% | 7 | 6,939 |
| Crawford | 82.6% | 2,318 | 17.4% | 488 | 0.0% | 0 | 2,806 |
| Daviess | 91.4% | 6,193 | 8.6% | 586 | 0.0% | 1 | 6,780 |
| Dearborn | 83.7% | 9,091 | 16.2% | 1,759 | 0.1% | 11 | 10,861 |
| Decatur | 89.7% | 5,575 | 10.3% | 660 | 0.0% | 0 | 6,415 |
| DeKalb | 86.4% | 7,967 | 13.6% | 1,258 | 0.0% | 0 | 9,225 |
| Delaware | 88.7% | 21,571 | 11.3% | 2,740 | 0.0% | 0 | 24,311 |
| Dubois | 90.4% | 9,432 | 9.6% | 1,007 | 0.0% | 0 | 10,439 |
| Elkhart | 89.9% | 34,342 | 9.9% | 3,798 | 0.2% | 74 | 38,214 |
| Fayette | 83.2% | 4,704 | 16.8% | 951 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,655 |
| Floyd | 88.0% | 16,941 | 12.0% | 2,300 | 0.0% | 0 | 19,241 |
| Fountain | 86.4% | 4,267 | 13.6% | 671 | 0.0% | 0 | 4,938 |
| Franklin | 83.6% | 5,061 | 16.3% | 989 | 0.1% | 7 | 6,057 |
| Fulton | 88.7% | 5,493 | 11.3% | 697 | 0.1% | 1 | 6,191 |
| Gibson | 92.3% | 8,395 | 7.7% | 969 | 0.0% | 2 | 9,094 |
| Grant | 89.4% | 13,758 | 10.6% | 1,638 | 0.0% | 0 | 15,396 |
| Greene | 88.0% | 7,757 | 11.7% | 1,031 | 0.3% | 28 | 8,788 |
| Hamilton | 92.0% | 49,077 | 7.9% | 4,226 | 0.1% | 47 | 53,350 |
| Hancock | 89.6% | 13,810 | 10.4% | 1,605 | 0.0% | 0 | 15,415 |
| Harrison | 85.4% | 9,484 | 14.6% | 1,625 | 0.0% | 0 | 11,109 |
| Hendricks | 89.8% | 25,216 | 10.1% | 2,841 | 0.1% | 15 | 28,072 |
| Henry | 85.4% | 10,375 | 14.6% | 1,776 | 0.0% | 0 | 12,151 |
| Howard | 86.2% | 17,660 | 13.7% | 2,804 | 0.1% | 25 | 20,489 |
| Huntington | 87.0% | 7,392 | 13.0% | 1,104 | 0.0% | 0 | 8,496 |
| Jackson | 89.1% | 9,887 | 10.8% | 1,203 | 0.0% | 5 | 11,095 |
| Jasper | 85.3% | 5,122 | 14.6% | 876 | 0.1% | 7 | 6,005 |
| Jay | 85.9% | 4,850 | 14.1% | 795 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,645 |
| Jefferson | 85.6% | 6,838 | 14.4% | 1,150 | 0.0% | 0 | 7,988 |
| Jennings | 87.7% | 6,751 | 12.3% | 948 | 0.0% | 0 | 7,699 |
| Johnson | 90.8% | 24,333 | 9.1% | 2,434 | 0.1% | 36 | 26,803 |
| Knox | 87.2% | 8,764 | 12.8% | 1,290 | 0.0% | 0 | 10,054 |
| Kosciusko | 88.3% | 15,231 | 11.5% | 1,983 | 0.2% | 32 | 17,246 |
| LaGrange | 87.4% | 5,063 | 12.6% | 730 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,793 |
| Lake | 81.8% | 47,868 | 18.1% | 10,575 | 0.1% | 61 | 58,504 |
| LaPorte | 79.9% | 18,967 | 20.1% | 4,773 | 0.0% | 0 | 23,740 |
| Lawrence | 87.3% | 9,404 | 12.4% | 1,335 | 0.3% | 36 | 10,775 |
| Madison | 85.8% | 25,963 | 14.2% | 4,294 | 0.0% | 11 | 30,268 |
| Marion | 89.0% | 127,898 | 11.0% | 15,866 | 0.0% | 0 | 143,764 |
| Marshall | 89.7% | 10,958 | 10.3% | 1,253 | 0.0% | 0 | 12,211 |
| Martin | 86.4% | 2,765 | 13.6% | 435 | 0.0% | 0 | 3,200 |
| Miami | 84.8% | 6,771 | 14.9% | 1,192 | 0.3% | 21 | 7,984 |
| Monroe | 83.2% | 21,998 | 16.8% | 4,451 | 0.0% | 0 | 26,449 |
| Montgomery | 88.9% | 7,639 | 11.1% | 948 | 0.0% | 4 | 8,591 |
| Morgan | 87.7% | 12,254 | 12.3% | 1,720 | 0.0% | 0 | 13,974 |
| Newton | 81.8% | 2,915 | 18.2% | 647 | 0.0% | 0 | 3,562 |
| Noble | 87.9% | 8,800 | 12.1% | 1,209 | 0.0% | 0 | 10,009 |
| Ohio | 80.1% | 1,523 | 19.9% | 378 | 0.0% | 0 | 1,901 |
| Orange | 88.2% | 4,503 | 11.8% | 605 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,108 |
| Owen | 87.2% | 4,418 | 12.8% | 650 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,068 |
| Parke | 89.1% | 4,182 | 10.9% | 512 | 0.0% | 1 | 4,695 |
| Perry | 85.9% | 3,916 | 14.1% | 640 | 0.0% | 0 | 4,556 |
| Pike | 87.6% | 3,649 | 12.3% | 511 | 0.1% | 3 | 4,163 |
| Porter | 81.5% | 25,385 | 18.2% | 5,658 | 0.3% | 90 | 31,133 |
| Posey | 89.7% | 7,636 | 10.3% | 877 | 0.0% | 0 | 8,513 |
| Pulaski | 85.9% | 3,625 | 14.1% | 595 | 0.0% | 2 | 4,222 |
| Putnam | 89.8% | 7,352 | 10.1% | 826 | 0.1% | 8 | 8,186 |
| Randolph | 87.5% | 5,587 | 12.5% | 799 | 0.0% | 2 | 6,388 |
| Ripley | 84.7% | 6,224 | 15.2% | 1,117 | 0.1% | 7 | 7,348 |
| Rush | 89.5% | 4,340 | 10.5% | 506 | 0.0% | 2 | 4,848 |
| Saint Joseph | 88.8% | 52,437 | 11.2% | 6,587 | 0.0% | 0 | 59,024 |
| Scott | 84.3% | 4,267 | 15.4% | 778 | 0.3% | 14 | 5,059 |
| Shelby | 89.5% | 9,070 | 10.2% | 1,035 | 0.3% | 26 | 10,131 |
| Spencer | 92.8% | 5,483 | 7.1% | 699 | 0.1% | 8 | 9,777 |
| Starke | 76.3% | 4,560 | 23.7% | 1,415 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,975 |
| Steuben | 83.6% | 6,728 | 16.4% | 1,314 | 0.0% | 2 | 8,044 |
| Sullivan | 85.1% | 4,489 | 14.9% | 783 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,272 |
| Switzerland | 77.7% | 1,615 | 22.3% | 463 | 0.0% | 0 | 2,078 |
| Tippecanoe | 84.9% | 25,707 | 15.0% | 4,535 | 0.1% | 39 | 30,281 |
| Tipton | 88.1% | 4,554 | 11.9% | 616 | 0.0% | 0 | 5,170 |
| Union | 85.1% | 1,913 | 14.9% | 336 | 0.0% | 0 | 2,249 |
| Vanderburgh | 87.9% | 39,898 | 12.1% | 5,474 | 0.0% | 0 | 45,372 |
| Vermillion | 82.9% | 3,380 | 17.1% | 696 | 0.0% | 0 | 4,076 |
| Vigo | 86.4% | 19,242 | 13.6% | 3,025 | 0.0% | 10 | 22,277 |
| Wabash | 86.9% | 5,653 | 13.1% | 855 | 0.0% | 0 | 6,508 |
| Warren | 87.2% | 2,221 | 12.7% | 325 | 0.0% | 0 | 2546 |
| Warrick | 89.5% | 15,038 | 10.4% | 1,748 | 0.1% | 11 | 16,797 |
| Washington | 85.7% | 6,494 | 14.0% | 1,060 | 0.3% | 19 | 7,575 |
| Wayne | 80.5% | 10,846 | 19.5% | 2,631 | 0.0% | 0 | 13,477 |
| Wells | 87.9% | 7,389 | 12.1% | 1,011 | 0.0% | 2 | 8,402 |
| White | 86.4% | 5,930 | 13.6% | 935 | 0.0% | 0 | 6,865 |
| Whitley | 87.5% | 7,855 | 12.5% | 1,123 | 0.0% | 0 | 8,978 |
Official campaign websites (archived)
