Elections for the United States Senate will be held on November 7, 2006, with 33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate being contested. Since Senators are elected for six-year terms, those elected will serve from January 3, 2007 until January 3, 2013. Those Senators who were elected in 2000 will be seeking reelection or retiring in 2006. The Seante Elections will be conducted using the first past the post voting system.

The House of Representatives election is scheduled for the same date as the Senate election, as well as many state and local elections, including those for 36 state governors.

Major PartiesEdit

Of the seats being contested, 17 are held by Democrats, 15 are held by Republicans, and 1 by an independent who votes with the Democratic caucus.

The Senate is currently composed of 55 Republicans, who have been in the majority since 2003, 44 Democrats, and 1 independent. (The independent, former Republican Jim Jeffords of Vermont, began voting with the Democratic caucus in 2001, but will not seek re-election.)

To gain a majority in the Senate, Democrats will need 51 seats, holding their 17 seats at risk and acquiring a gain of 6 or 7 seats depending on whether the open Vermont seat is won by a Republican. With only 50 seats, the Democrats would remain in the minority as Vice President Dick Cheney as President of the Senate, breaks all tie votes.

To gain a "working majority" of 60 members, the number of votes required to break a filibuster, Republicans will need to gain five seats and hold their 15 seats at risk.

Legend: D = Democratic, R = Republican, I = Independent, G = Green, C = Constitution, DFL = Democratic-Farmer-Labor

Senate contests in 2006Edit

State	Incumbent	Main Article	Party	Status	Possible candidates
Arizona	Jon Kyl	Main Article	Republican	Running for 3rd term	Jim Pederson (D), Leonard Clark (D)
California	Dianne Feinstein	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 3rd full term	Darrell Issa (R), Bill Mundell (R)
Connecticut	Joe Lieberman	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 4th term	Kevin O'Connor (R), Ralph Ferrucci (G)
Delaware	Tom Carper	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 2nd term	Colin Bonini (R), Mike Protack (R), Jim Ursomarso (R)
Florida	Bill Nelson	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 2nd term	Katherine Harris (R), Mark Foley (R), Belinda Noah (R), Floyd Ray Frazier (I)
Hawaii	Daniel Akaka	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 3rd full term	James "Duke" Aiona Jr. (R)
Indiana	Dick Lugar	Main Article	Republican	Running for 6th term	Kathy Davis (D), David Lewis (D), Graham Richard (D), Jonathan Weinzapfel (D)
Maine	Olympia Snowe	Main Article	Republican	Running for 3rd term	Jean Hay Bright (D), Tom Allen (D), Steven Rowe (D)
Maryland	Paul Sarbanes	Main Article	Democratic	Retiring	Ben Cardin (D), Anthony Brown (D), A. Robert Kaufman (D), Allan Lichtman (D), Kweisi Mfume (D), Josh Rales (D), Dennis Rasmussen (D), Lise Van Susteren (D), Tom Hampton (R), John Kimble (R), Dan Muffoletto (R), Michael Steele (R), Corrogan Vaughn (R), Kevin Zeese (G)
Massachusetts	Ted Kennedy	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 8th full term	Wayne Budd (R), Gloria Larson (R), Kevin Scott (R)
Michigan	Debbie Stabenow	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 2nd term	Keith Butler (R), Jerry Zandstra (R), Bret McAtee (C)
Minnesota	Mark Dayton	Main Article	Democratic-Farmer-Labor	Retiring	Ford Bell (DFL), Amy Klobuchar (DFL), Patty Wetterling (DFL), Mark Kennedy (R), Harold Shudlick (R), Michael Cavlan (G), Robert Fitzgerald (I)
Mississippi	Trent Lott	Main Article	Republican	Considering Options	Erik Fleming (D)
Missouri	Jim Talent	Main Article	Republican	Running for 1st full term	Claire McCaskill (D)
Montana	Conrad Burns	Main Article	Republican	Running for 4th term	John Morrison (D), Jon Tester (D), Paul Richards (D), Clint Wilkes (D)
Nebraska	Ben Nelson	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 2nd term	Don Stenberg (R), David Kramer (R), Pete Ricketts (R)
Nevada	John Ensign	Main Article	Republican	Running for 2nd term
New Jersey	Robert Menendez	Main Article	Democratic	Running for first full senate term	Thomas Kean, Jr. (R)
New Mexico	Jeff Bingaman	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 5th term
New York	Hillary Rodham Clinton	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 2nd term	Ed Cox (R/Conservative), Jeanine Pirro (R), Bill Brenner (R/Conservative), John Spencer (R/Conservative)
North Dakota	Kent Conrad	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 4th full term
Ohio	Mike DeWine	Main Article	Republican	Running for 3rd term	John Mitchel (R), Paul Hackett (D)
Pennsylvania	Rick Santorum	Main Article	Republican	Running for 3rd term	Bob Casey, Jr. (D), Chuck Pennacchio (D), Alan Sandals (D), John Featherman (R), Dave Baker (G)
Rhode Island	Lincoln Chafee	Main Article	Republican	Running for 2nd full term	Sheldon Whitehouse (D), Matt Brown (D), Carl Sheeler (D), Steve Laffey (R)
Tennessee	Bill Frist	Main Article	Republican	Retiring	Ed Bryant (R), Van Hilleary (R), Bob Corker (R), Harold Ford, Jr. (D), Rosalind Kurita (D), John Jay Hooker (I)
Texas	Kay Bailey Hutchison	Main Article	Republican	Running for 3rd full term	Barbara Ann Radnofsky (D), C. Vince Couch (I)
Utah	Orrin Hatch	Main Article	Republican	Running for 6th term	Steve Urquhart (R), Pete Ashdown (D)
Vermont	Jim Jeffords	Main Article	Independent	Retiring	Bernie Sanders (I), Greg Parke (R), Brian Dubie (R), Mark Shepard (R), Craig Hill (G), Cris Ericson (Marijuana)
Virginia	George Allen	Main Article	Republican	Running for 2nd term
Washington	Maria Cantwell	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 2nd term	Mike McGavick (R), Mark Wilson (D)
West Virginia	Robert Byrd	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 9th term	Hiram Lewis (R), Zane Lawhorn (R), Rick Snuffer (R)
Wisconsin	Herb Kohl	Main Article	Democratic	Running for 4th term	Robert Gerald Lorge (R), Rae Vogeler (G)
Wyoming	Craig Thomas	Main Article	Republican	Running for 3rd term