Colorado's 4th Congressional District elections, 2012
2014 →
|
 |
November 6, 2012 |
June 26, 2012 |
Cory Gardner |
Cory Gardner |
 |
 |
The 4th Congressional District of Colorado held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Cory Gardner won the election.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Colorado has a closed primary system, in which the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by March 5. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 9.[2]
- See also: Colorado elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Cory Gardner (R), who was first elected in 2010.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. The 4th District is located in eastern Colorado and includes Las Animas, Otero, Crowley, Lincoln, Douglas, Elbett, Bent, Prowers, Baca, Kioawa, Cheyenne, Kit Carson, Yuma, Washington, Morgan, Weld, Logan, Phillips, Arapshoe and Sedgwick counties.[3]
Candidates
General election candidates
June 26, 2012 primary results
|
|
|
|
|
|
Election results
General Election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Brandon Shaffer | 36.8% | 125,715 | |
| Republican |  Cory Gardner Incumbent |
58.4% | 199,842 | |
| Libertarian | Josh Gilliland | 3.1% | 10,674 | |
| Constitution | Doug Aden | 1.7% | 5,845 | |
| Total Votes | 342,076 | |||
| Source: Colorado Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Colorado
The 4th District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[5][6]
- 5 percent from the 2nd Congressional District
- 4 percent from the 3rd Congressional District
- 54 percent from the 4th Congressional District
- 35 percent from the 6th Congressional District
- 1 percent from the 7th Congressional District
Registration statistics
As of October 22, 2012, District 4 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the Colorado Secretary of State:
| Colorado Congressional District 4[7] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 4 | 319,356 | 74,690 | 148,311 | 96,355 | Republican | 98.57% | 54.08% |
| "Party advantage" is the percentage gap between the two major parties in registered voters. "Change in advantage" is the spread in difference of party advantage between 2010 and 2012 based on the congressional district number only. | |||||||
District partisanship
FairVote's Monopoly Politics 2012 study
- 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. Colorado's 4th District became more Republican because of redistricting.[8]
- 2012: 39D / 61R
- 2010: 46D / 54R
Cook Political Report's PVI
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. Colorado's 4th Congressional District has a PVI of R+12, which is the 81st most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 57-43 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 65-35 percent over John Kerry (D).[9]
Campaign contributions
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.
Brandon Shaffer
| Brandon Shaffer (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[10] | April 15, 2012 | $165,221.58 | $114,368.91 | $(70,874.69) | $208,715.80 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[11] | June 14, 2012 | $208,715.80 | $64,810.96 | $(49,761.83) | $223,764.93 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $179,179.87 | $(120,636.52) | ||||||||
Cory Gardner
| Cory Gardner (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[12] | April 14, 2012 | $737,959.51 | $282,561.83 | $(145,633.86) | $874,887.48 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[13] | June 14, 2012 | $874,887.48 | $120,453.03 | $(112,121.22) | $883,219.29 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $403,014.86 | $(257,755.08) | ||||||||
District history
| Candidate ballot access |
|---|
 |
| Find detailed information on ballot access requirements in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. |
2010
On November 2, 2010, Cory Gardner won election to the United States House. He defeated Betsy Markey and Doug Aden in the general election.[14]
| U.S. House, Colorado District 4 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Cory Gardner |
53.3% | 138,634 | |
| Democratic | Betsy Markey Incumbent | 42% | 109,249 | |
| American Constitution | Doug Aden | 4.7% | 12,312 | |
| Total Votes | 260,195 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 House Race Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Go Vote Colorado," accessed July 21, 2012
- ↑ Colorado November 2011 Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed July 23, 2012
- ↑ "Shaffer: I will run for Congress," TimesCall.com, July 4, 2011
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Colorado's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "2012 Voter Registration Statistics," February 1, 2012
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Colorado," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Brandon Shaffer April Quarterly," accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Brandon Shaffer Pre-Primary," accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Cory Gardner April Quarterly," accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Cory Gardner Pre-Primary," accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
