United States Congress elections, 2012

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2012 Congress Elections

Election Date
November 6, 2012

Election Results

U.S. Senate Elections by State
Arizona • California • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Hawaii • Indiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Dakota • Ohio • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

U.S. House Elections by State
Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Elections Information
Election DatesVoting in Primaries
Voting on November 6, 2012
Poll Opening and Closing Times

A total of 468 seats in the U.S. Congress were up for election on November 6, 2012.

Heading into the election, Democrats controlled the U.S. Senate while Republicans were the majority in the U.S. House. During the presidential election year, partisan dominance of both chambers of the U.S. Congress was at stake. As a result of the election, Democrats increased their majority in the Senate while chipping away at the Republican majority in the House.

U.S. Senate

See also: United States Senate elections, 2012

The 33 Class 1 U.S. Senate seats were up for election. Of those 33 seats, 23 were held by Democrats and 10 by Republican senators. Democrats needed to win 21 seats to retain their majority while the GOP needed to win 14 seats to win back the chamber.

U.S. Senate Partisan Breakdown
Party As of November 2012 After the 2012 Election
     Democratic Party 51 53
     Republican Party 47 45
     Independent 2 2
Total 100 100

Defeated incumbents

One incumbent was defeated in the general election on November 6, 2012. Republican Scott Brown of Massachusetts lost to Elizabeth Warren (D).

US Senate Margin of victory

There were a total of 33 seats up for election in 2012. The following table shows the margin of victory for each race winner, which is calculated by examining the percentage difference between the top-two vote getters. If the race was uncontested, the margin of victory is listed as 100%. Some general facts:

  • The fewest votes were in Wyoming, with only 244,445 total votes.
  • The most votes were in California, with 12,578,511
  • The average margin of victory was 20 percent.
  • The smallest margin of victory, where Democrat Heidi Heitkamp defeated Rick Berg (R) by 0.9 percent.
  • The largest margin of victory was in Wyoming, where Republican John Barrasso defeated Tim Chesnut (D) by 54.1%
  • 11 races had a margin of victory of less than 10 percent. Of those 11 races, 9 were Democratic winners while 2 were Republican.

U.S. House

See also: United States House of Representatives elections, 2012

All 435 seats of the U.S. House were up for election.

U.S. House Partisan Breakdown
Party As of November 2012 After the 2012 Election
     Democratic Party 193 201
     Republican Party 242 234
Total 435 435

Defeated incumbents

A total of 27 incumbents were defeated in the general election on November 6, 2012. Of those 27 incumbents, 10 were Democrats and 17 were Republicans.

U.S. House incumbents defeated in 2012 general election
Name Party District
Allen B. West Republican Party Republican Florida, District 22
Ann Marie Buerkle Republican Party Republican New York, District 25
Ben Chandler Democratic Party Democratic Kentucky, District 6
Betty Sutton Democratic Party Democratic Ohio, District 13
Robert T. Schilling Republican Party Republican Illinois, District 17
Brian Bilbray Republican Party Republican California, District 50
Charles Bass Republican Party Republican New Hampshire, District 2
Chip Cravaack Republican Party Republican Minnesota, District 8
Dan Lungren Republican Party Republican California, District 3
David Rivera Republican Party Republican Florida, District 25
Francisco Canseco Republican Party Republican Texas, District 23
Frank Guinta Republican Party Republican New Hampshire, District 1
Howard Berman Democratic Party Democratic California, District 28
Jeff Landry Republican Party Republican Louisiana, District 3
Joe Baca Democratic Party Democratic California, District 43
Joe Walsh Republican Party Republican Illinois, District 8
Judy Biggert Republican Party Republican Illinois, District 13
Kathy Hochul Democratic Party Democratic New York, District 26
Larry Kissell Democratic Party Democratic North Carolina, District 8
Laura Richardson Democratic Party Democratic California, District 37
Leonard Boswell Democratic Party Democratic Iowa, District 3
Mark Critz Democratic Party Democratic Pennsylvania, District 12
Mary Bono Mack Republican Party Republican California, District 45
Nan Hayworth Republican Party Republican New York, District 19
Pete Stark Democratic Party Democratic California, District 13
Robert J. Dold Republican Party Republican Illinois, District 10
Roscoe Bartlett Republican Party Republican Maryland, District 6

US House Margin of victory

There were a total of 435 seats up for election in 2012. The following table shows the margin of victory for each race winner, which is calculated by examining the percentage difference between the top-two vote getters. If the race was uncontested, the margin of victory is listed as 100%. Some general facts:

  • 30 races (6.9 percent) had a margin of victory of less than 5 percent. Of those 30 races, 18 were Democratic winners while 12 were Republican.
  • 33 races (7.6 percent) had a margin of victory between 5 and 10 percent. Of those 33 races, 15 were Democratic winners while 18 were Republican.
  • 87 races (20 percent) had a margin of victory between 10 and 20 percent. Of those 87 races, 23 were Democratic winners while 64 were Republican.
  • 285 races (65.5 percent) had a margin of victory of greater than 20 percent. Of those 285 races, 145 were Democratic winners while 140 were Republican.
  • The fewest votes were in Texas' 29th District, with only 95,611 total votes. Incumbent Gene Green (D) faced two third-party candidates in the general election.
  • The most votes were in Montana, with 479,740 votes cast. Montana has a total population of 998,199 -- which is roughly 250,000 above the average district size in states without single districts. Because Montana has only one district for the whole state, its voters per district is higher than the rest of the country. The average size of each district is 709,000. The second-most votes cast came in Colorado's 2nd District, with 421,580 total votes.
  • The smallest margin of victory, was North Carolina's 7th District, where incumbent Democrat Mike McIntyre defeated David Rouzer (R) by 0.2 percent (654 votes).
  • The largest margin of victory where both major parties fielded a general election candidate was in New York's 15th District, where incumbent Democrat Jose Serrano defeated Frank Della Valle (R) by 83%.
  • The average margin of victory of all congressional districts was 31.85%, meaning that on average the winner of each race received nearly twice as many votes as the top opponent. Average MOV for Democratic winners was 35.7%, while the average for Republicans was 28.6%.
  • The average number of votes cast per district was 281,917, yielding an average voter turnout of 39.76%.

Congressional members retired

U.S. Senate

Ballotpedia staff counted 10 total U.S. Senate incumbents who did not run for re-election in the 2012 elections.

  • Democratic Party 6 Democrats
  • Republican Party 4 Republicans
  • Grey.png 0 Independent
Name:Party:Current office:
Ben NelsonElectiondot.png Democratic Nebraska
Daniel AkakaElectiondot.png Democratic Hawaii
Herb KohlElectiondot.png Democratic Wisconsin
Jeff BingamanElectiondot.png Democratic New Mexico
Jim WebbElectiondot.png Democratic Virginia
Joe LiebermanGrey.png Independent Connecticut
Jon KylEnds.png Republican Arizona
Kay Bailey HutchisonEnds.png Republican Texas
Kent ConradElectiondot.png Democratic North Dakota
Olympia SnoweEnds.png Republican Maine

U.S. House

Ballotpedia staff counted 43 total U.S. House incumbents who did not run for re-election in the 2012 elections.

  • Democratic Party 23 Democrats
  • Republican Party 20 Republicans
Name:Party:Current office:
Barney FrankElectiondot.png Democratic Massachusetts, District 4
Bob FilnerElectiondot.png Democratic Mayor of San Diego
Bob TurnerEnds.png Republican New York, District 9
Brad MillerElectiondot.png Democratic North Carolina, District 13
Charles A. "Charlie" GonzalezElectiondot.png Democratic Texas, District 20
Christopher S. MurphyElectiondot.png Democratic Connecticut
Connie MackEnds.png Republican Florida, District 14
Dale E. KildeeElectiondot.png Democratic Michigan, District 5
Dan BorenElectiondot.png Democratic Oklahoma, District 2
Dan BurtonEnds.png Republican Indiana, District 5
David DreierEnds.png Republican California, District 26
Dennis CardozaElectiondot.png Democratic California, District 18
Denny RehbergEnds.png Republican U.S. House, Montana, At-large
Ed TownsElectiondot.png Democratic New York, District 10
Elton GalleglyEnds.png Republican California, District 24
Gary AckermanElectiondot.png Democratic New York, District 5
Geoff Davis (a)Ends.png Republican Kentucky, District 4
Heath ShulerElectiondot.png Democratic North Carolina, District 11
Jay Inslee (b)Electiondot.png Democratic Governor of Washington
Jeff FlakeEnds.png Republican Arizona
Jerry F. CostelloElectiondot.png Democratic Illinois, District 12
Jerry LewisEnds.png Republican California, District 41
Joe DonnellyElectiondot.png Democratic Indiana
John OlverElectiondot.png Democratic Massachusetts, District 1
Lynn WoolseyElectiondot.png Democratic California, District 6
Martin HeinrichElectiondot.png Democratic New Mexico
Maurice HincheyElectiondot.png Democratic New York, District 22
Mazie K. HironoElectiondot.png Democratic Hawaii
Mike PenceEnds.png Republican Vice President of the United States
Mike RossElectiondot.png Democratic Governor of Arkansas
Norm DicksElectiondot.png Democratic Washington, District 6
Rick BergEnds.png Republican U.S. House, North Dakota
Ron PaulEnds.png Republican Texas, District 14
Shelley BerkleyElectiondot.png Democratic Nevada, District 1
Steve AustriaEnds.png Republican Ohio, District 7
Steven C. LaTouretteEnds.png Republican Ohio, District 14
Sue Wilkins MyrickEnds.png Republican North Carolina, District 9
Tammy BaldwinElectiondot.png Democratic Wisconsin
Thaddeus McCotter (c)Ends.png Republican Michigan, District 11
Timothy V. JohnsonEnds.png Republican Illinois, District 15
W. Todd AkinEnds.png Republican Missouri, District 2
Todd Russell PlattsEnds.png Republican Pennsylvania, District 19
Wally HergerEnds.png Republican California, District 2
(a) - After originally announcing he would not seek re-election, Davis subsequently resigned prior to the end of the 112th Congress on July 31, 2012.
(b) - After announcing he would run for governor rather than re-election to Congress, Inslee subsequently resigned from the House of Representatives on March 10, 2012.
(c) - McCotter failed to file enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot for his House seat. He subsequently resigned prior to the end of the 112th Congress on July 6, 2012.

Competitive races

New York Times

The New York Times rated the U.S. House races. There were five possible designations:

     Solid Democratic
     Lean Democratic
     Tossup
     Lean Republican
     Solid Republican

New York Times Political Report Race Rating -- U.S. House Competitive Districts
Month Solid D Lean D Tossup Lean R Solid R Total Seats in Play
July 25, 2012[1] 156 23 25 32 199 80
Note: A total of 218 seats are needed for the majority

Cook Political Report

Each month the Cook Political Report released race ratings for President, U.S. Senate, U.S. House (competitive only) and Governors. The races detailed below were considered competitive. There were six possible designations:[2]

     Likely Democratic
     Lean Democratic
     D Tossup

     R Tossup
     Lean Republican
     Likely Republican

Congressional retirements by month, 2011-2020

See also: Congressional retirements by month, 2011-2020

Between January 2011 and August 2024, Ballotpedia tracked 354 announcements from members of the U.S. House and Senate who announced they would not run for re-election. January had the highest number of members announcing they would not run for re-election at 67. Forty-seven of those took place during election years and 20 during odd-number years. The fewest announcements took place in June at 12—nine during off years and three during election years.

Hover over the bars in the chart below to see the number of even- and odd-year announcements by month.

November had the second-highest total announcements at 46. Five November announcements occurred during an election year and 41 occurred during an off year.

August saw the second-fewest announcements after June at 15. All but one occurred during off years.

Announcements by month and year

The following table shows the number of members who announced they would not run for re-election by month and by year. Click on a month to sort the table in ascending or descending order by that month.


See also

Footnotes

  1. New York Times "Race Ratings Table," accessed July 25, 2012
  2. Cook Political Report, "Our Accuracy," accessed December 12, 2011 (dead link)
  3. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," October 30, 2012
  4. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," October 25, 2012
  5. [http://cookpolitical.com/house/charts/race-ratings/4736 Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," October 18, 2012]
  6. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," October 11, 2012
  7. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," October 5, 2012
  8. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," September 27, 2012
  9. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," September 20, 2012
  10. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," September 13, 2012
  11. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," September 6, 2012
  12. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," August 20, 2012
  13. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," August 15, 2012
  14. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," August 12, 2012
  15. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," August 2, 2012
  16. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," July 26, 2012
  17. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," July 12, 2012
  18. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," June 28, 2012
  19. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," June 14, 2012
  20. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," June 7, 2012
  21. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," May 31, 2012
  22. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," May 24, 2012
  23. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," May 17, 2012
  24. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," May 3, 2012
  25. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," April 26, 2012
  26. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," April 19, 2012
  27. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," April 12, 2012
  28. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," April 5, 2012
  29. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," March 23, 2012
  30. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," March 15, 2012
  31. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," March 8, 2012
  32. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," March 6, 2012
  33. Cook Political Report "2012 HOUSE RACE RATINGS," March 5, 2012