Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 3 December 2006 to elect a president for a six-year term to begin on 10 January 2007. The contest was primarily between incumbent President Hugo Chávez, and Zulia Governor Manuel Rosales of the opposition party A New Era.
After winning a recall referendum in 2004, President Chávez positioned himself for re-election in 2006 for a second full term. The opposition did not hold a primary, instead, the candidates reached a consensus into backing the governor of the largest state (Zulia), Manuel Rosales. Chávez benefited from a high popularity, and led most opinion polls throughout the campaign. He went to win re-election by the widest margin by percentage of the popular vote since the 1947 elections, and by the largest margin of votes cast in the history of Venezuela.
Candidates
There were fourteen candidates in total, making the ballot the largest in Venezuelan history. According to El Universal, this was caused by division among adherents to grassroots Chavismo. Hugo Chávez, incumbent president, representing the Fifth Republic Movement Manuel Rosales, governor of Zulia State, representing A New Era Pedro Aranguren of Movimiento Conciencia de País Carolina Contreras, independent Venezuela Portuguesa Da Silva Isquierdo of Nuevo Orden Social Ángel Irigoyen, of Let Us Break Chains (RC) Isbelia León, of the Strength and Peace Institution Luis Alfonso Reyes Castillo of Organización Juventud Organizada de Venezuela (Joven) Homer Rodríguez, of For Love of Venezuela Carmelo Romano Pérez, Liberal United People Movement Yudith Salazar of Hijos de la Patria Alejandro José Suárez Luzardo of the Partido Sentir Nacional José Tineo, Venezuelan Third Millennium National Party Eudes Vera Tovar, independent
Withdrawn candidates
Jesús Caldera Infante the former president of FOGADE, representing the New Progressive Alliance. On 29 November, he withdrew his candidacy and backed Rosales. Benjamín Rausseo a stand-up comedian, endorsed by the newly formed "PIEDRA" party. Three weeks before the election, in accordance with a campaign pledge he had made earlier (to stand down if not placed first or second in the opinion polls), he withdrew his candidacy without endorsing either Chávez or Rosales, telling his supporters to vote for either.
Primary election
Civil society organization Súmate recommended procedures for a primary, to be held on 13 August 2006, to choose the opposition candidate for the December 2006 presidential elections. Teodoro Petkoff, a Chávez critic, said that Súmate's procedure was authoritarian, comparing it to the Carmona Decree. Nine other candidates agreed to the terms for holding a primary, confirming their desire to allow the citizens to choose the opposition candidate. Another candidate condemned Petkoff's remarks against Súmate, saying that Petkoff's statements did not help the country, and explaining that the conditions for holding a primary had been previously discussed between all of the candidates, including Petkoff. On 9 August, Súmate announced that the 13 August primary election would not be held, since the candidates had decided to back Manuel Rosales as the single opposition candidate. Machado said that the primary "initiative accomplished its goal and that Súmate would continue working to ensure clean elections and respect for citizens' rights".
Campaign
Chávez
Chávez's campaign manager Rafael Lacava said that the campaign was to be based on defending Venezuela's national sovereignty and promoting world peace. According to Unión Radio, Lacava added that a campaign theme was to be the "country's freedom to no longer be a North American colony". According to the Associated Press, Chávez launched his campaign "with warnings that Washington is trying to undermine December's presidential vote and destabilize Venezuela", saying "I am the candidate of the revolution and without a doubt I am the candidate of the national majority", dismissing other candidates as "tools of the U.S. government". El Universal reports that Chávez said, "In this electoral process there are two candidates only, namely Hugo Chávez and George W. Bush".
Chávez promised that if elected he would personally convoke a midterm recall referendum in the year 2010 without the need for petition signatures as was the case with the 2004 recall referendum, and that he won that recall referendum, he would then call for a referendum to ask the people for indefinite re-election to be put into the constitution. On 26 November Chávez made his final rally in Caracas. Reuters estimated that hundreds of thousands participated. Chávez supporters packed several streets.