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 County results Richardson: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Dendahl: 50–60% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in New Mexico |
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The2006 New Mexico gubernatorial election was a race for thegovernor of New Mexico held on November 7, 2006. IncumbentDemocratic GovernorBill Richardson was running for re-election. He faced RepublicanJohn Dendahl in the general election and won by a landslide. As of 2026, this was the last time a male candidate was elected Governor of New Mexico.
The scale of Richardson's lopsided victory was nearly unprecedented in the traditionally competitive state. Richardson's 68.82% share of the vote is the highest achieved by any gubernatorial candidate in the state by a wide margin, beating the previous record of 60.21% set in1964. Richardson came within six votes of sweeping every county the state, a feat that has never been achieved in any gubernatorial (or presidential) election in the state.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Richardson (incumbent) | 107,720 | 99.64% | |
| Democratic | Anselmo A. Chávez (write-in) | 388 | 0.36% | |
| Total votes | 108,108 | 100.00% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | James R. Damron | 52,888 | 99.58% | |
| Republican | George Bailey (write-in) | 225 | 0.42% | |
| Total votes | 53,113 | 100.00% | ||
James R. Damron easily won the Republican primary, but withdrew from the race on June 17, 2006, due to a lack of fundraising. John Dendahl was appointed by the Republican State Central Committee to replace him. There were no general election debates between the two candidates.
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| The Cook Political Report[2] | Solid D | November 6, 2006 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[3] | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
| Rothenberg Political Report[4] | Safe D | November 2, 2006 |
| Real Clear Politics[5] | Safe D | November 6, 2006 |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Bill Richardson (D) | John Dendahl (R) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research & Polling Inc. of Albuquerque[6] | September 25–28, 2006 | — | — | 60% | 28% | — | — |
| Rasmussen Reports[7] | September 7, 2006 | — | — | 61% | 26% | — | — |
| Research & Polling Inc. of Albuquerque[6] | August 25–31, 2006 | — | — | 57% | 28% | — | — |
| Rasmussen Reports[8] | June 26, 2006 | — | — | 56% | 32% | — | — |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Richardson (incumbent) | 384,806 | 68.82% | +13.33% | |
| Republican | John Dendahl | 174,364 | 31.18% | −7.86% | |
| Majority | 210,442 | 37.63% | |||
| Total votes | 559,170 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratichold | Swing | +21.19% | |||
Richardson was the first Democrat to winLincoln County sinceJohn E. Miles in1940. He was also the first Democrat to carryChaves County,Los Alamos County, andSan Juan County sinceJack M. Campbell in1964.
This is the most recent election in which a Democrat has carriedChaves County,Colfax County,Curry County,De Baca County,Eddy County,Harding County,Hidalgo County,Lea County,Lincoln County,Luna County,Otero County,Quay County,Roosevelt County,San Juan County,Sierra County,Torrance County,Union County, andValencia County.
| County | Bill Richardson Democratic | John Dendahl Republican | Margin | Total votes cast | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Bernalillo | 133,195 | 68.17% | 62,205 | 31.83% | 70,990 | 36.33% | 195,400 |
| Catron | 857 | 49.83% | 863 | 50.17% | -6 | -0.35% | 1,720 |
| Chaves | 9,060 | 57.49% | 6,700 | 42.51% | 2,360 | 14.97% | 15,760 |
| Cibola | 4,698 | 75.97% | 1,486 | 24.03% | 3,212 | 51.94% | 6,184 |
| Colfax | 3,125 | 64.39% | 1,728 | 35.61% | 1,397 | 28.79% | 4,853 |
| Curry | 5,771 | 63.35% | 3,339 | 36.65% | 2,432 | 26.70% | 9,110 |
| De Baca | 559 | 62.67% | 333 | 37.33% | 226 | 25.34% | 892 |
| Doña Ana | 27,510 | 70.82% | 11,335 | 29.18% | 16,175 | 41.64% | 38,845 |
| Eddy | 8,539 | 60.25% | 5,633 | 39.75% | 2,906 | 20.51% | 14,172 |
| Grant | 7,502 | 72.55% | 2,838 | 27.45% | 4,664 | 45.11% | 10,430 |
| Guadalupe | 1,546 | 84.30% | 288 | 15.70% | 1,258 | 68.59% | 1,834 |
| Harding | 433 | 72.65% | 163 | 27.35% | 270 | 45.30% | 596 |
| Hidalgo | 1,037 | 71.12% | 421 | 28.88% | 616 | 42.25% | 1,458 |
| Lea | 6,473 | 55.13% | 5,268 | 44.87% | 1,205 | 10.26% | 11,741 |
| Lincoln | 4,017 | 59.91% | 2,688 | 40.09% | 1,329 | 19.82% | 6,705 |
| Los Alamos | 5,670 | 65.94% | 2,929 | 34.06% | 2,741 | 31.88% | 8,599 |
| Luna | 4,284 | 70.33% | 1,807 | 29.67% | 2,477 | 40.67% | 6,091 |
| McKinley | 14,973 | 86.05% | 2,427 | 13.95% | 12,546 | 72.10% | 17,400 |
| Mora | 1,738 | 73.80% | 617 | 26.20% | 1,121 | 47.60% | 2,355 |
| Otero | 8,271 | 57.80% | 6,039 | 42.20% | 2,232 | 15.60% | 14,310 |
| Quay | 2,134 | 65.86% | 1,106 | 34.14% | 1,028 | 31.73% | 3,240 |
| Rio Arriba | 8,621 | 81.46% | 1,962 | 18.54% | 6,659 | 62.92% | 10,583 |
| Roosevelt | 2,350 | 57.32% | 1,750 | 42.68% | 600 | 14.63% | 4,100 |
| San Juan | 18,846 | 60.08% | 12,521 | 39.92% | 6,325 | 20,16% | 31,367 |
| San Miguel | 6,884 | 78.85% | 1,847 | 21.15% | 5,037 | 57.69% | 8,731 |
| Sandoval | 24,722 | 67.69% | 11,803 | 32.31% | 12,919 | 35.37% | 36,525 |
| Santa Fe | 37,649 | 79.07% | 9,965 | 20.93% | 27,684 | 58.14% | 47,614 |
| Sierra | 2,445 | 57.49% | 1,808 | 42.51% | 637 | 14.98% | 4,253 |
| Socorro | 4,551 | 72.78% | 17,02 | 27.22% | 2,849 | 45.56% | 6,253 |
| Taos | 9,937 | 86.70% | 1,524 | 13.30% | 8,413 | 73.41% | 11,461 |
| Torrance | 3,280 | 60.67% | 2,126 | 39.33% | 1,154 | 21.35% | 5,406 |
| Union | 907 | 62.42% | 546 | 37.58% | 361 | 24.85% | 1,453 |
| Valencia | 13,222 | 66.71% | 6,597 | 33.29% | 6,625 | 33.43% | 19,819 |
| Total | 384,806 | 68.82% | 174,364 | 31.18% | 210,442 | 37.63% | 559,170 |
Campaign websites (Archived)
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