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2012 United States House of Representatives elections

2012 United States House of Representatives elections

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All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives[a] 218 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	52.0%[1] 11.1 pp
Majority party Minority party   Leader John Boehner Nancy Pelosi Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 3, 2007 January 3, 2003 Leader's seat Ohio 8th California 12th Last election 242 seats, 51.7%[2] 193 seats, 44.9% Seats won 234 201 Seat change 8 8 Popular vote 58,283,314 59,645,531 Percentage 47.7% 48.8% Swing 4.0% 3.9%
Results:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold      Republican gain
Speaker before election John Boehner Republican Elected Speaker John Boehner Republican

The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 6, 2012. It coincided with the reelection of President Barack Obama. Elections were held for all 435 seats representing the 50 U.S. states and also for the delegates from the District of Columbia and five major U.S. territories. The winners of this election cycle served in the 113th United States Congress. This was the first congressional election using districts drawn up based on the 2010 United States census.

Although Democratic candidates received a nationwide plurality of more than 1.4 million votes (1.1%) in the aggregated vote totals from all House elections,^[3] the Republican Party won a 33-seat advantage in seats, thus retaining its House majority by 17 seats. Democrats picked up 27 previously Republican-held seats, but most of these gains were canceled out due to Republican pick-ups of Democratic-held seats, and reapportionment gains that benefited Republicans, leaving the Democrats with a net gain of just eight seats.^[4]

This disparity – common in close elections involving single-member district voting^[5] – has sometimes been attributed to targeted Republican gerrymandering in the congressional redistricting process following the 2010 United States Census.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} "Unintentional gerrymandering," --the high concentration of Democrats in urban centers--leading to "wasted votes" in districts that easily elected Democratic candidates, has also been cited as causing some of the efficiency gap.^[11][9][12] The GOP also benefited from having a greater number of incumbents, who tend to have an advantage in elections^[9] which may have helped Republicans win close elections for individual seats.

In the 20th century, the party with a plurality of the popular vote was unable to receive a majority in the House on four occasions- 1952 and 1996, in which the Republicans held a majority in the House. Meanwhile, the 1914 and 1942 elections were the last time that the Democrats won a majority in the House without winning the popular vote.^[8][13]

As of 2024, this is the last congressional election in which Democrats won a House seat in West Virginia.

Results summary[edit]

Federal[edit]

Summary of the November 6, 2012 United States House of Representatives election results

Parties		Seats				Popular vote
		2010	2012	Net change	Strength	Vote	%	Change
	Republican Party	242	234	8	53.8%	58,283,314	47.7%	−4.0%
	Democratic Party	193	201	8	46.2%	59,645,531	48.8%	+3.9%
	Libertarian Party	–	–	–	–	1,360,925	1.1%	−0.1%
	Independent	–	–	–	–	1,240,672	1.0%	+0.4%
	Green Party	–	–	–	–	373,455	0.3%	–
	Constitution Party	–	–	–	–	111,576	0.1%	−0.1%
	Reform Party	–	–	–	–	70,682	0.1%	+0.1%
	Others	-	-	-	-	1,205,344	1.0%	+0.1%
Totals		435	435	0	100.0%	122,291,499	100.0%	-
Source: Election Statistics – Office of the Clerk (does not include blank or over/under votes)

Per state[edit]

State	Total seats	Democratic		Republican
		Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	7	1		6
Alaska	1	0		1
Arizona	9	5	2	4	1
Arkansas	4	0	1	4	1
California	53	38	4	15	4
Colorado	7	3		4
Connecticut	5	5		0
Delaware	1	1		0
Florida	27	10	4	17	2
Georgia	14	5		9	1
Hawaii	2	2		0
Idaho	2	0		2
Illinois	18	12	4	6	5
Indiana	9	2	1	7	1
Iowa	4	2	1	2
Kansas	4	0		4
Kentucky	6	1	1	5	1
Louisiana	6	1		5	1
Maine	2	2		0
Maryland	8	7	1	1	1
Massachusetts	9	9	1	0
Michigan	14	5	1	9
Minnesota	8	5	1	3	1
Mississippi	4	1		3
Missouri	8	2	1	6
Montana	1	0		1
Nebraska	3	0		3
Nevada	4	2	1	2
New Hampshire	2	2	2	0	2
New Jersey	12	6	1	6
New Mexico	3	2		1
New York	27	21		6	2
North Carolina	13	4	3	9	3
North Dakota	1	0		1
Ohio	16	4	1	12	1
Oklahoma	5	0	1	5	1
Oregon	5	4		1
Pennsylvania	18	5	2	13	1
Rhode Island	2	2		0
South Carolina	7	1		6	1
South Dakota	1	0		1
Tennessee	9	2		7
Texas	36	12	3	24	1
Utah	4	1		3	1
Vermont	1	1		0
Virginia	11	3		8
Washington	10	6	1	4
West Virginia	3	1		2
Wisconsin	8	3		5
Wyoming	1	0		1
Total	435	201	8	234	8

Maps[edit]

• 
  Results shaded by winners share of vote
• 
  Popular vote by states
• 
  House seats by party holding plurality in state

Retiring incumbents[edit]

Forty-one Representatives retired. Thirty-four of those seats were held by the same party, six seats changed party.

Democrats[edit]

Twenty-two Democrats retired. Fourteen of those seats were held by Democrats, five were won by Republicans, and three seats were eliminated in redistricting.

Democratic held[edit]

1. California 6: Lynn Woolsey,^[14] was succeeded by Jared Huffman (with district being renumbered as California 2).
2. California 51: Bob Filner, to run for Mayor of San Diego,^[15] was succeeded by Juan Vargas.
3. Connecticut 5: Chris Murphy, to run for U.S. Senate,^[16] was succeeded by Elizabeth Esty.
4. Hawaii 2: Mazie Hirono, to run for U.S. Senate,^[17] was succeeded by Tulsi Gabbard.
5. Illinois 12: Jerry Costello,^[18] was succeeded by William Enyart.
6. Massachusetts 4: Barney Frank,^[19] was succeeded by Joseph P. Kennedy III.
7. Michigan 5: Dale Kildee,^[20] was succeeded by Dan Kildee.
8. Nevada 1: Shelley Berkley, to run for U.S. Senate,^[21] was succeeded by Dina Titus.
9. New Mexico 1: Martin Heinrich, to run for U.S. Senate,^[22] was succeeded by Michelle Lujan Grisham.
10. New York 5: Gary Ackerman,^[23] was succeeded by Grace Meng (with district being renumbered as New York 6).
11. New York 10: Edolphus Towns,^[24] was succeeded by Hakeem Jeffries (with district being renumbered as New York 8).
12. Texas 20: Charlie Gonzalez,^[25] was succeeded by Joaquín Castro.
13. Washington 6: Norm Dicks,^[26] was succeeded by Derek Kilmer.
14. Wisconsin 2: Tammy Baldwin, to run for U.S. Senate,^[27] was succeeded by Mark Pocan.

Republican gain[edit]

1. Arkansas 4: Mike Ross, was succeeded by Tom Cotton.
2. Indiana 2: Joe Donnelly, to run for U.S. Senate, was succeeded by Jackie Walorski.
3. North Carolina 11: Heath Shuler, was succeeded by Mark Meadows.
4. North Carolina 13: Brad Miller, was succeeded by George Holding.
5. Oklahoma 2: Dan Boren, was succeeded by Markwayne Mullin.

Seats eliminated in redistricting[edit]

1. California 18: Dennis Cardoza.^[28]
2. Massachusetts 1: John Olver.^[29]
3. New York 22: Maurice Hinchey.^[30]

Republicans[edit]

Nineteen Republicans retired. Fifteen of those seats were held by Republicans, one was won by a Democrat, and three seats were eliminated in redistricting.

Republican held[edit]

1. Arizona 6: Jeff Flake, to run for U.S. Senate,^[31] was succeeded by Matt Salmon (with district being renumbered as Arizona 5).
2. California 2: Wally Herger,^[32] was succeeded by Doug LaMalfa (with district being renumbered as California 1).
3. California 41: Jerry Lewis,^[33] was succeeded by Paul Cook (with district being renumbered as California 8).
4. Florida 14: Connie Mack IV, to run for U.S. Senate,^[34] was succeeded by Trey Radel (with district being renumbered as Florida 19).
5. Illinois 15: Tim Johnson,^[35] was succeeded by Rodney L. Davis (with district being renumbered as Illinois 13).
6. Indiana 5: Dan Burton,^[36] was succeeded by Susan Brooks.
7. Indiana 6: Mike Pence, to run for Governor of Indiana,^[37] was succeeded by Luke Messer.
8. Missouri 2: Todd Akin, to run for U.S. Senate,^[38] was succeeded by Ann Wagner.
9. Michigan 11: Thaddeus McCotter: failed to make the ballot for renomination due to fraudulent signatures,^[39] was succeeded by Kerry Bentivolio.
10. Montana at-large: Denny Rehberg, to run for U.S. Senate,^[40] was succeeded by Steve Daines.
11. North Carolina 9: Sue Myrick,^[41] was succeeded by Robert Pittenger.
12. North Dakota at-large: Rick Berg, to run for U.S. Senate,^[42] was succeeded by Kevin Cramer.
13. Ohio 14: Steve LaTourette,^[43] was succeeded by David Joyce.
14. Pennsylvania 19: Todd Russell Platts,^[44] was succeeded by Scott Perry (with district being renumbered as Pennsylvania 4).
15. Texas 14: Ron Paul, to run for U.S. President,^[45] was succeeded by Randy Weber.

Democratic gain[edit]

1. California 24: Elton Gallegly,^[46] was succeeded by Julia Brownley (with district being renumbered as California 26).

Seats eliminated in redistricting[edit]

1. California 26: David Dreier.
2. New York 9: Bob Turner, who ran for U.S. Senate.^[47]
3. Ohio 7: Steve Austria.^[48]

Incumbents defeated[edit]

As a result of redistricting, many incumbents were forced to compete against each other in the same district, which resulted in a larger number of incumbents being defeated in primaries.

In primary elections[edit]

Thirteen representatives lost renomination: Eight were lost in redistricting battles pitting incumbents against each other, and five incumbents lost nomination to non-incumbent challengers.

Democrats[edit]

Seven Democrats lost renomination: five in redistricting and two to a non-incumbent challenger.

Seat held by a Democrat[edit]

These primary winners later won the general election.

1. Michigan 14: Hansen Clarke lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Gary Peters
2. Missouri 1: Russ Carnahan lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Lacy Clay
3. New Jersey 9: Steve Rothman lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Bill Pascrell
4. Ohio 9: Dennis Kucinich lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Marcy Kaptur
5. Pennsylvania 17: Tim Holden lost to challenger Matt Cartwright^[49]
6. Texas 16: Silvestre Reyes lost to challenger Beto O'Rourke^[50]

Seat lost to a Republican[edit]

1. Pennsylvania 12: Jason Altmire lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Mark Critz,^[49] who later lost the general election

Republicans[edit]

Six Republicans lost renomination: three in redistricting races and three to a non-incumbent challenger. All the seats were held by Republicans.

1. Arizona 6: Ben Quayle lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent David Schweikert
2. Florida 3: Cliff Stearns lost to challenger Ted Yoho
3. Florida 7: Sandy Adams lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent John Mica
4. Illinois 16: Don Manzullo lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Adam Kinzinger
5. Ohio 2: Jean Schmidt lost to challenger Brad Wenstrup
6. Oklahoma 1: John Sullivan lost to challenger Jim Bridenstine

In general elections[edit]

Democrats[edit]

Ten incumbent Democrats lost re-election; four to fellow Democrats and six to Republicans. Four losses were in California: two due to redistricting putting two incumbents together (resulting in a net loss of two for the Democrats) and two due to the state's top two primary. Two incumbents outside of California lost to Republican incumbents after being redistricted to the same district.

Seat held by a Democrat[edit]

1. California 15: Pete Stark lost to Eric Swalwell
2. California 30: Howard Berman lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Brad Sherman
3. California 35: Joe Baca lost to Gloria Negrete McLeod
4. California 44: Laura Richardson lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Janice Hahn

Seat lost to a Republican incumbent[edit]

1. Iowa 3: Leonard Boswell lost a redistricting race to Tom Latham
2. Ohio 16: Betty Sutton lost a redistricting race to Jim Renacci

Seat lost to a Republican challenger[edit]

1. Kentucky 6: Ben Chandler lost to Andy Barr.
2. New York 27: Kathy Hochul lost to Chris Collins.
3. North Carolina 8: Larry Kissell lost to Richard Hudson.
4. Pennsylvania 12: Mark Critz lost to Keith Rothfus.

Republicans[edit]

Seventeen incumbent Republicans lost re-election.

Seat held by a Republican[edit]

One incumbent Republican lost re-election to a fellow incumbent Republican.

1. Louisiana 3: Jeff Landry lost to Charles Boustany

Seat lost to a Democratic challenger[edit]

Sixteen incumbent Republicans, ten of whom were first elected in 2010, lost re-election to Democrats.

1. California 7: Dan Lungren lost to Ami Bera.
2. California 36: Mary Bono Mack lost to Raul Ruiz.
3. California 52: Brian Bilbray lost to Scott Peters.
4. Florida 18: Allen West lost to Patrick Murphy.
5. Florida 26: David Rivera lost to Joe Garcia.
6. Illinois 8: Joe Walsh lost to Tammy Duckworth.
7. Illinois 10: Robert Dold lost to Brad Schneider.
8. Illinois 11: Judy Biggert lost to Bill Foster
9. Illinois 17: Bobby Schilling lost to Cheri Bustos.
10. Maryland 6: Roscoe Bartlett lost to John K. Delaney.
11. Minnesota 8: Chip Cravaack lost to Rick Nolan
12. New Hampshire 1: Frank Guinta lost to Carol Shea-Porter
13. New Hampshire 2: Charles Bass lost to Ann Kuster.
14. New York 18: Nan Hayworth lost to Sean Patrick Maloney.
15. New York 24: Ann Marie Buerkle lost to Dan Maffei
16. Texas 23: Quico Canseco lost to Pete Gallego.

Reapportionment[edit]

The 2010 United States census determined how many of the 435 congressional districts each state receives for the 2010 redistricting cycle. Due to population shifts, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania each lost one seat; and New York and Ohio each lost two seats. Conversely, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington each gained one seat; Florida gained two seats; and Texas gained four seats.^[51]

Newly created seats[edit]

Of the 435 districts created in the 2010 redistricting, nineteen had no incumbent representative.

Closest races[edit]

Sixty-four races were decided by 10% or lower.

Election ratings[edit]

Special elections[edit]

There were six special elections in 2012. Winners would have a seniority advantage over other freshmen. Two elections were held separate from the November elections and four elections were held concurrent with the November elections.

Alabama[edit]

Alaska[edit]

Arizona[edit]

Arizona gained one seat in reapportionment. A second open seat was created when a pair of Republicans were redistricted into the same district.^[54] Primary elections were August 28, 2012.