Georgia's 12th Congressional District elections, 2012

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Georgia's 12th Congressional District
General Election Date
November 6, 2012
Primary Date
July 31, 2012
November 6 Election Winner:
John Barrow Democratic Party
Incumbent prior to election:
John Barrow Democratic Party
John Barrow.jpg
Georgia U.S. House Elections
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2012 U.S. Senate Elections
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The 12th Congressional District of Georgia held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent John Barrow won the election.[1]

This is the 12th Congressional District prior to the 2010 redistricting.
Candidate Filing Deadline Primary Election General Election
May 25, 2012
July 31, 2012
November 6, 2012

Primary: Georgia is one of 16 states to use an open primary system. When runoff elections are used, voters must vote in same party's runoff election as they voted for in the first round election.

Voter registration: Voters must have registered to vote by July 2, 2012, to vote in the primary election.[2] (Information about registering to vote)

See also: Georgia elections, 2012

Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was John Barrow (R), who was first elected in 2004.

This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Georgia's 12th Congressional District covers much of the east central parts of the state.[3]

Candidates

General election candidates

Democratic Party John BarrowGreen check mark transparent.png
Republican Party Lee Anderson

August 11, 2012, Republican primary runoff candidates


July 31, 2012, primary results

Democratic Party Democratic Primary

Republican Party Republican Primary

Election results

U.S. House, Georgia District 12 General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Barrow Incumbent 53.7% 139,148
     Republican Lee Anderson 46.3% 119,973
Total Votes 259,121
Source: Georgia Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"
U.S. House, Georgia District 12 Republican Primary, 2012
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngLee Anderson 34.2% 20,551
Rick Allen 25.7% 15,436
Wright McLeod 24.7% 14,856
Maria Sheffield 15.3% 9,207
Total Votes 60,050

Race background

Competitiveness

Blue vs. Red

Possible race ratings are:

     Solid Democratic
     Likely Democratic
     Lean Democratic

     Tossup

     Lean Republican
     Likely Republican
     Solid Republican

     Georgia's 6th District is a leaning Republican district.

In June 2012, Sabato's Crystal Ball rated Georgia's 6th District as a leaning Republican.[8]

Georgia's 12th was considered to be a Tossup according to the New York Times race ratings. Incumbent John Barrow's potential Republican opponents were listed as "On the Radar" by the National Republican Campaign Committee.[9]

Republican challenger Lee Anderson was included in the National Republican Congressional Committee's Young Guns program. The program highlights challengers who represent the GOP's best chances to pick up congressional seats in the general election.[10]

Using the Federal Election Commission's October Quarterly campaign finance filings, the Brennan Center for Justice at The New York University School of Law published a report on October 22nd focusing on the 25 House races rated most competitive by The Cook Political Report, including the race for Georgia's 12th. The report examines the relative spending presence of non-candidate groups, candidates, and small donors in these races.[11]

Department of Justice lawsuit

On June 29, 2012, the Department of Justice filed a suit in federal court against the state of Georgia, alleging that service members, their family members and overseas civilian voters wouldn’t have time to vote by absentee ballot in runoff elections, if they are required.[13] According to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (dead link) (UOCAVA), states must transmit all validly requested ballots to UOCAVA voters at least 45 days before an election, unless a hardship exemption is obtained, for which Georgia failed to file.[13] However, this conflicted with the timeline for runoff elections, in which the primary runoff, by law, must be held 21 days after the regular or special primary election, and if a runoff is required after the Nov. 6 general election, it must be held 28 days later, on December 4, which also wouldn’t provide the required 45 days.[13]

As part of the lawsuit, the Department of Justice asked Georgia to "extend the ballot receipt deadline to Aug. 31 for these voters, to send ballots by express delivery as soon as possible before the Aug. 21 runoff election, and inform UOCAVA voters no later than July 7 of their right to request a state write-in absentee ballot or their official absentee ballot for any runoff election by downloading it from the Internet, by email, or by fax."[13]

Impact of redistricting

See also: Redistricting in Georgia

On August 22, 2011, Georgia Republican leadership released their proposed Congressional redistricting map. Due to population growth, Georgia gained a 14th Congressional district following the 2010 census. The new district, according to the plan, was located in the northwestern part of the state.[14] U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R) was drawn into the new district, leaving his former 9th District seat open in 2012. The new 9th District leaned Republican.[14] In addition, the plan displaced US Rep. John Barrow (D), but Barrow (who had been displaced before) planned to move in order to remain in the 12th District.[14] US Rep. Sanford Bishop's (D) district became a majority-minority district. Also, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey's (R) 11th District picked up part of Atlanta. Atlanta Journal-Constitution said the redistricting plan was expected to increase the Republican majority in the state's Congressional delegation.[14]

The new 12th District was composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[15][16]

District partisanship

FairVote's Monopoly Politics 2012

See also: FairVote's Monopoly Politics 2012

In 2012, FairVote did a study on partisanship in the congressional districts, giving each a percentage ranking (D/R) based on the new 2012 maps and comparing that to the old 2010 maps. Georgia's 12th District became more Republican as a result of redistricting.[17]

  • 2012: 41D / 59R
  • 2010: 51D / 49R

Cook Political Report's PVI

See also: Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

In 2012, Cook Political Report released its updated figures on the Partisan Voter Index, which measures each congressional district's partisanship relative to the rest of the country. Georgia's 12th Congressional District had a PVI of R+9, which was the 119th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 56-44 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush won the district 60-40 percent over John Kerry (D).[18]

Campaign contributions

The race attracted $2.6 million in satellite from Labor Day to mid-October. $707,127 had been spent helping Democrat John Barrow while $1,922,724 was spent to aid Republican Lee Anderson.[19]

Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2012 elections season. Below are candidate reports.

John Barrow

John Barrow (2012) Campaign Finance Reports
ReportDate FiledBeginning BalanceTotal Contributions
for Reporting Period		ExpendituresCash on Hand
April Quarterly[20]March 31, 2012$0$1,406,284$(432,337)$1,044,340
July Quarterly[21]July 15, 2012$1,044,339.94$406,769.19$(96,168.60)$1,354,940.53
Pre-Primary[22]July 19, 2012$1,354,940.53$42,950$(9,779.30)$1,388,111.23
October Quarterly[23]October 15, 2012$1,388,111.23$648,100.62$(839,408.25)$1,196,803.60
Running totals
$2,504,103.81$(1,377,693.15)

Lee Anderson

Lee Anderson (2012) Campaign Finance Reports
ReportDate FiledBeginning BalanceTotal Contributions
for Reporting Period		ExpendituresCash on Hand
April Quarterly[24]March 31, 2012$83,809.56$70,340$(106,348.47)$47,801.09
July Quarterly[25]July 15, 2012$47,801.09$297,361.33$(89,339.99)$255,822.43
Pre-Primary[26]July 19, 2012$255,822.43$7,626$(105,351.83)$158,096.6
Pre-Runoff[27]August 9, 2012$158,096.60$14,300$(55,337.18)$117,059.42
October Quarterly[28]October 15, 2012$117,059.42$334,337.37$(277,099.14)$174,297.65
Running totals
$723,964.7$(633,476.61)

Rick Allen

Wright McLeod

Maria Sheffield

District history

Candidate ballot access
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2010

On November 2, 2010, John Barrow won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Raymond McKinney (R) in the general election.[32]

U.S. House, Georgia District 12 General Election, 2010
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngJohn Barrow Incumbent 56.6% 92,459
     Republican Raymond McKinney 43.4% 70,938
Total Votes 163,397

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Politico, "2012 House Race Results," accessed November 6, 2012
  2. ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Election Dates," accessed April 25, 2012
  3. ↑ Georgia Redistricting, "Map" accessed July 2012
  4. ↑ Savannah Morning News "Congressman John Barrow discloses prostate cancer" accessed December 4, 2011
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Georgia Secretary of State Elections Division "Candidate List" accessed May 28, 2012
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 ajc.com "Maria Sheffield considers a move to south Georgia for 12th District contest" accessed December 4, 2011
  7. ↑ The Augusta Chronicle "McLeod joins 12th Congressional District race" accessed December 4, 2011
  8. ↑ Center for Politics, "2012 House Ratings," Updated June 27, 2012
  9. ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 7, 2012
  10. ↑ NRCC "Young Guns 2012"
  11. ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Election Spending 2012: 25 Toss-Up House Races," October 22, 2012
  12. ↑ The Cook Political Report, "House: Race Ratings," updated October 18, 2012
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Marine Corps Times, "Justice sues Georgia over voting deadlines" accessed July 24, 2012
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Atlanta Journal Constitution, "GOP redistricting plan would tighten grip on congressional delegation," August 22, 2011
  15. ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Georgia's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
  16. ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
  17. ↑ FairVote, "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Georgia," September 2012
  18. ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
  19. ↑ The New York Times, "Outside Spending in Key House Races," October 25, 2012
  20. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "John Barrow Summary Report," accessed June 26, 2012
  21. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "John Barrow July Quarterly Report," accessed October 18, 2012
  22. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "John Barrow Pre-Primary Report," accessed October 18, 2012
  23. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "John Barrow October Quarterly Report," accessed October 18, 2012
  24. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Lee Anderson Summary Report," accessed June 26, 2012
  25. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "John Barrow July Quarterly Report," accessed October 18, 2012
  26. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "John Barrow Pre-Primary Report," accessed October 18, 2012
  27. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "John Barrow Pre-Runoff Report," accessed October 18, 2012
  28. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "John Barrow October Quarterly Report," accessed October 18, 2012
  29. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Richard Allen Summary Report," accessed June 26, 2012
  30. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Wright McLeod Summary Report," accessed June 26, 2012
  31. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Maria Sheffield April Quarterly Report," accessed June 26, 2012
  32. ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
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Georgia's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Jon Ossoff (D)
Raphael Warnock (D)
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
Republican Party (9)
Democratic Party (7)

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