He faced Republican John Dendahl in the general election and won by a landslide.

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 in 1964.

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.