Colorado's 6th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
June 26, 2012 |
Mike Coffman |
Mike Coffman |
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The 6th Congressional District of Colorado held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Mike Coffman (Colorado) 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 Mike Coffman (Colorado) (R), who was first elected in 2008.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. The 6th District is one of five located in central Colorado.[3]
Candidates
General election candidates
June 26, 2012 primary results
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Election results
General Election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Joe Miklosi | 45.8% | 156,930 | |
| Republican |  Mike Coffman Incumbent |
47.8% | 163,922 | |
| Libertarian | Patrick Provost | 2.5% | 8,597 | |
| Independent | Kathy Polhemus | 3.9% | 13,442 | |
| Total Votes | 342,891 | |||
| Source: Colorado Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Race background
Colorado's 6th was considered to be Leaning Republican according to the New York Times race ratings. Incumbent Mike Coffman (Colorado)'s district was redrawn to include nearly equivalent amounts of Republicans, Democrats and Independents.[7]
Colorado's 6th District was included in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Red to Blue List," which identified districts that the organization specifically targeted to flip from Republican to Democratic control.[8]
Incumbent Mike Coffman (Colorado) was a part of the National Republican Congressional Committee's Patriot Program, a program to help House Republicans increase their majority in 2012.[9]
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 Colorado's 6th. The report examines the relative spending presence of non-candidate groups, candidates, and small donors in these races - "which will likely determine which party will control the House."[10]
| List of 25 Toss Up Races from the Cook Political Report:[11] | |
|---|---|
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Democratic Toss Ups: Republican Toss Ups: | |
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Colorado
According to the Washington Post, redistricting altered the 6th District from a safe Republican seat into a swing district.[12]
The 6th District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[13][14]
- 1 percent from the 1st Congressional District
- 3 percent from the 2nd Congressional District
- 71 percent from the 6th Congressional District
- 25 percent from the 7th Congressional District
Registration statistics
As of October 22, 2012, District 6 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the Colorado Secretary of State:
| Colorado Congressional District 6[15] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 6 | 305,951 | 98,816 | 118,389 | 90,746 | Republican | 22.28% | -44.10% |
| "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 6th District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[16]
- 2012: 51D / 49R
- 2010: 43D / 57R
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 6th Congressional District has a PVI of R+1, which is the 225th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 54-46 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 54-46 percent over John Kerry (D).[17]
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.
Joe Miklosi
| Joe Miklosi (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[18] | April 13, 2012 | $170,786.68 | $232,474.07 | $(70,446.95) | $332,813.80 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[19] | June 14, 2012 | $332,413.80 | $175,998.97 | $(114,230.34) | $394,182.43 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $408,473.04 | $(184,677.29) | ||||||||
Mike Coffman
| Mike Coffman (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[20] | April 13, 2012 | $961,374.28 | $532,928.76 | $(125,181.77) | $1,369,121.27 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[21] | June 14, 2012 | $1,369,121.27 | $324,968.47 | $(107,916.88) | $1,586,172.86 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $857,897.23 | $(233,098.65) | ||||||||
District history
| Candidate ballot access |
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Mike Coffman (Colorado) won re-election to the United States House. He defeated John Flerlage and Rob McNealy in the general election.[22]
| U.S. House, Colorado District 6 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Mike Coffman Incumbent |
65.7% | 217,368 | |
| Democratic | John Flerlage | 31.5% | 104,104 | |
| Libertarian | Rob McNealy | 2.9% | 9,466 | |
| Total Votes | 330,938 | |||
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
- ↑ "Video: Not your average Joe launches congressional campaign," denverpost.com, July 29, 2011
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State "2012 Candidate List"
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State "2012 Candidate List"
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ DCCC, "Red to Blue 2012"
- ↑ NRCC "Patriot Program 2012"
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Election Spending 2012: 25 Toss-Up House Races," October 22, 2012
- ↑ The Cook Political Report, "House: Race Ratings," updated October 18, 2012
- ↑ Washington Post blog, "The 10 House districts that might surprise you," May 11, 2012
- ↑ 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, "Joe Miklosi April Quarterly," accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Joe Miklosi Pre-Primary," accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Mike Coffman April Quarterly," accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Mike Coffman Pre-Primary," accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
