2006 New York state elections#State Senate

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Image:08 30 07 spitzer Clinton.jpg for Governor of New York and Hillary Clinton for US Senator.]]

New York state held various elections on November 7, 2006.{{Cite news |last=Healy |first=Patrick |date=November 7, 2006 |title=In N.Y. Races, a Historic Sweep |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/07/nyregion/08york.html |access-date=2023-05-11 |issn=0362-4331}} Most notably, elections were held for the state governor, attorney general, comptroller, and for the U.S. Senate, all of which saw Democrats win and build on their existing majority. While Democrats had already been a strong force in the New York City area, most of the Democratic gains in 2006 occurred upstate. Former Attorney General Eliot Spitzer won the 2006 gubernatorial election by a record margin, while Andrew Cuomo replaced him as the new attorney general. Alan Hevesi was re-elected as comptroller, despite mounting ethics concerns.{{Cite news |last=Cardwell |first=Diane |date=November 8, 2006 |title=Despite Accusations, Hevesi Is Re-elected New York’s Comptroller |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/nyregion/08hevesi.html |access-date=2023-05-12 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |date=November 8, 2006 |title=Hevesi Stays in Driver's Seat After Huge Victory |url=https://nypost.com/2006/11/08/hevesi-stays-in-drivers-seat-after-huge-victory/ |access-date=2023-05-12 |language=en-US}} Hillary Clinton was re-elected to the Senate.{{Cite news |last=Kornblut |first=Anne E. |last2=Zeleny |first2=Jeff |date=November 21, 2006 |title=Clinton Won Easily, but Bankroll Shows the Toll |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/us/politics/21donate.html |access-date=2023-05-12 |issn=0362-4331}} For the first time in over 50 years, all major statewide elected offices were held by one party. For the first time in over 60 years, they were all held by Democrats.{{Cite web |title=Life and Legacy of Herbert H. Lehman {{!}} Columbia University Libraries |url=https://library.columbia.edu/libraries/rbml/units/lehman/biography.html |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=library.columbia.edu}}{{Cite news |date=March 16, 1964 |title=Ex-Senator Mead Of New York Dies; EX-SENATOR MEAD OF NEW YORK DIES |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/16/archives/exsenator-mead-of-new-york-dies-exsenator-mead-of-new-york-dies.html |access-date=2023-05-12 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |title=U.S. Senate: Robert Wagner: A Featured Biography |url=https://www.senate.gov/senators/FeaturedBios/Featured_Bio_Wagner.htm |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=www.senate.gov}}{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Republicans kept control of the State Senate, but lost the seat of Republican Nicholas Spano in Westchester County.{{Cite news |last=Santos |first=Fernanda |date=November 16, 2006 |title=Spano Concedes in State Senate Race |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/16/nyregion/16cnd-cousins.html |access-date=2023-05-12 |issn=0362-4331}} Soon after, they lost a Long Island seat in a 2007 special election,{{Cite web |date=February 7, 2007 |title=Nassau voters elect Democrat Johnson to state Senate in special election |url=https://longisland.news12.com/nassau-voters-elect-democrat-johnson-to-state-senate-in-special-election-34768558 |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=News 12 – Long Island}} and an upstate seat in 2008.{{Cite news |last=Confessore |first=Nicholas |last2=Hakim |first2=Danny |date=November 5, 2008 |title=Democrats Are Poised to Control Albany |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/nyregion/05york.html |access-date=2023-05-12 |issn=0362-4331}} Democrats also gained three seats to build on their supermajority in the State Assembly.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}} Republicans did gain a seat in the Assembly in 2007 in a special election in upstate New York.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Democrats flipped three Republican-held congressional seats, all in Upstate New York. Democrat Michael Arcuri won the open seat of retiring Republican Sherwood Boehlert in the 24th Congressional District,{{Cite news |last=Hicks |first=Jonathan P. |date=April 2, 2006 |title=A House Seat Won by Republicans Since 1950 Is Now in Play |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/nyregion/a-house-seat-won-by-republicans-since-1950-is-now-in-play.html |access-date=2023-05-12 |issn=0362-4331}} which stretches across Central New York from Utica to Oneonta to the Finger Lakes.{{Cite web |title=In 24th Congressional Race: Arcuri vs. Hanna & Gorton |url=https://democracywise.syr.edu/?p=6077 |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=democracywise.syr.edu}} Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand defeated Republican incumbent John Sweeney{{Cite web |title=20th District in New York – John Sweeney, Kristin Gillibrand – 2006 Midterm Elections – New York Times |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/ref/washington/raceprofile_NEWYORK20.html?scp=1&sq=kickass&st=cse |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=archive.nytimes.com}} in the 20th Congressional District, which includes Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls and takes in most of the upper Hudson Valley.{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Maury |title=Election 06: Kirsten Gillibrand unseats Sweeney; Clinton, Spitzer lead Democrat win |url=https://poststar.com/news/election-06-kirsten-gillibrand-unseats-sweeney-clinton-spitzer-lead-democrat-win/article_1cbbf5fc-e154-5591-8578-c0621f42f577.html |access-date=2023-05-12 |website=Glens Falls Post-Star |language=en}} Democrat John Hall defeated Republican incumbent Sue Kelly in the 19th Congressional district in the Lower Hudson Valley outside New York City.{{Cite news |last=Santos |first=Fernanda |date=November 12, 2006 |title=Upsets in the Making for Two Veterans |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/nyregion/on-politics-upsets-in-the-making-for-two-veterans.html |access-date=2023-05-12 |issn=0362-4331}}