Lincoln Chafee Republican Sheldon Whitehouse Democratic The 2006 United States Senate election in Rhode Island was held on November 7, 2006.

After the election, when asked by a reporter if he thought his defeat would help the country by giving Democrats control of Congress, Chafee replied, "to be honest, yes.

Sheldon Whitehouse's inauguration or swearing-in marked the first time since the resignation of John Pastore in 1976 that Democrats held both Senate seats from Rhode Island.

In early 2006, the Club for Growth, a pro-tax cut political action committee, sent a series of mailings to Rhode Island Republicans attacking Chafee's positions and voting record.

On July 10, 2006, the National Republican Senatorial Committee filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Laffey, saying that he had included a political communication in tax bills mailed to residents of Cranston.

Rhode Islanders' historically large disapproval ratings for President George W. Bush and the Republican Party as a whole was another major hurdle for Chafee.

As a testament to how Democratic Rhode Island has become, this marks the last Senate election where a Republican received more than 40% of the vote or won a county.