, a former congressman and NAACP President, was the first to announce for the position, in March 2005. Ben Cardin, then a congressman since 1987, was the only other major candidate until September 2005, when Dennis F. Rasmussen, a former Baltimore County Executive, American University professor Allan Lichtman, and wealthy Potomac businessman Josh Rales entered the contest. Thirteen other candidates subsequently also entered the primary. As of August 2006, Cardin had raised more than $4.8 million and collected endorsements from a number of Democratic politicians, the AFL-CIO, and The Washington Post; Mfume had raised over $1.2 million and collected endorsements from the Maryland State Teachers Association, Progressive Maryland, former Maryland Governor Parris Glendening, the National Organization for Women, and Maryland Congressmen Elijah Cummings and Al Wynn. On August 31, 2006, Maryland Public Television and the League of Women Voters sponsored a debate between the two leading Democratic Primary Candidates. The LWV of Maryland and MPT arbitrarily excluded most of the FEC qualified candidates from the only televised debates in the primary election. There were 18 candidates in this race, only 2, Ben Cardin and Kweisi Mfume, were allowed to debate, despite the strenuous protests of the excluded candidates. Lichtman, Rales, and Rasmussen petitioned MPT and LWV for inclusion in the debate, but received no response. On the day of the debate, Lichtman, his wife, and a campaign aide were arrested for trespassing while protesting during the taping of the debate. They were found not guilty on all charges. The judge in the case said it should never have been brought to court and was a gross violation of the parties' constitutional rights.
was expected to win the Republican primary, and the Baltimore Sun wrote the month before that he faced "only nominal opposition". Among a field of nine other candidates, the only Republican receiving sufficient media coverage was Daniel Vovak.
Results
General election
Candidates
Michael S. Steele - Lieutenant Governor
Ben Cardin - U.S. Congressman
Kevin Zeese -. Zeese won the nominations of the Maryland Green Party, the Libertarian Party of Maryland, and the Populist Party of Maryland, the first time all three parties had nominated the same candidate. However, a Maryland law passed in April 2006 prohibited such fusion candidacies, so Zeese, who was a registered GreenParty member, was listed on the ballot as only the Green Party candidate.
Campaign
This was Maryland's first open Senate seat since 1986, when junior Senator Barbara Mikulski was first elected. Michael Steele won the Republican nomination after facing little competition in the contest for the Republican ticket. With mostly unknown secondary candidates, Steele received 87% of the Republican Primary vote. Third District Congressional Representative Ben Cardin won the Democratic Party nomination after facing tough competition in the contest for the Democratic ticket from former congressman and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, businessman Josh Rales, former Baltimore County Executive Dennis F. Rasmussen, and several lesser known candidates. Cardin received 44% of the Democratic Primary vote to 40% for Mfume, his next closest competitor. All other candidates received percentages only in the single digits. Kevin Zeese, the nominee for the Green, Populist and Libertarian Parties, was also on the ballot. Though Steele lost the general election by 10% of the vote, a much wider margin than predicted, his was and remains the best showing for a Republican in a Senate race in Maryland since Charles Mathias, Jr. was reelected in 1980 with 66% of the vote.
Controversies
Both Steele and Cardin made controversial statements and advertising throughout the campaign.
Debates
The first debate of the race was held Tuesday, October 3, 2006. All three candidates were present and participated. The evening was hosted by the Baltimore Urban League, and moderated by Charles Robinson from Maryland Public Television and Doni Glover from BMORENEWS. The first televised debate of the campaign was broadcast on News Channel 8 on the program "News Talk". All three candidates participated in the debate, and were moderated by Bruce DePuyt, the host of the program. There was no audience. This debate was widely reported because of the constant bickering between the three candidates, who often interrupted and talked over one another. Another debate took place between Steele and Cardin on Sunday, October 29, 2006 as a part of the Meet The Press Senatorial debate series. Moderated by Tim Russert, the debate focused primarily on the Iraq War and stem-cell research, amongst other issues. The three candidates all participated in the final debate of the campaign on Friday, November 3, 2006. The event was sponsored by the Collective Banking Group and held at the First Baptist Church of Glenarden.
Tactics
Cardin primarily attacked Steele over his close relations with President Bush, including pictures of Bush and Steele in Cardin's TV ads. Steele focused on low taxes, less government spending, free markets and national security.
Despite polls days before the election showing the race at a 3% margin, Cardin won by more than 10% with a 178,295-vote margin, although as of 2019, this is the closest a Republican has come to winning a U.S. Senate election in Maryland since Charles Mathias was reelected in 1980. Steele conceded defeat at 9:02 P.M. EST. On the same day, incumbent Republican governor Bob Ehrlich lost reelection to Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley.
