Florida's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2012
2014 →
|
 |
November 6, 2012 |
August 14, 2012 |
Steve Southerland II |
Steve Southerland II |
 |
 |
The 2nd Congressional District of Florida held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Steve Southerland II was re-elected on November 6, 2012.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Florida was one of 21 states to use a closed primary system.
Voter registration: Voters were required to register to vote in the primary by July 16, 2012, which was 29 days before the primary took place.[2] (Information about registering to vote)
- See also: Florida elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Steve Southerland II (R), who was first elected in 2010.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Florida's 2nd Congressional District consisted of the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle. It included the counties of Washington, Bay, Jackson, Gulf, Calhoun, Liberty, Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Wakulla, Franklin, Taylor and part of Madison county.[3]
Candidates
General election candidates
August 14, 2012, primary results
|
|
|
|
|
- Note:Nancy Argenziano abandoned her campaign for Congress in March 2012. She ran instead for the Florida State House[9][10]
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Steve Southerland II Incumbent |
52.7% | 175,856 | |
| Democratic | Al Lawson | 47.2% | 157,634 | |
| Independent | Floyd Patrick Miller | 0.1% | 228 | |
| Total Votes | 333,718 | |||
| Source: Florida Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Alfred Lawson |
54.6% | 46,900 |
| Leonard Bembry | 26% | 22,357 |
| Alvin Peters | 13.9% | 11,919 |
| Mark Schlakman | 5.4% | 4,653 |
| Total Votes | 85,829 | |
Race background
Freshman incumbent Steve Southerland II faced a challenge from Democrat Al Lawson in a newly redrawn district.[11]
Florida's 2nd District was included in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Red to Blue List," which identified districts that the organization has specifically targeted to flip from Republican to Democratic control.[12]
Blue vs. Red
Possible race ratings are:
Solid Democratic
Likely Democratic
Lean DemocraticTossup
Lean Republican
Likely Republican
Solid Republican
Florida's 2nd District was a likely Republican district.
In June 2012, Sabato's Crystal Ball rated Florida's 2nd as a likely Republican district.[13]
Florida's 2nd was considered to be Leaning Republican according to the New York Times race ratings.[14]
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Florida
Prior to redistricting the 2nd District consisted of the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle along with much of the Big Bend region along the Emerald Coast, and was anchored in the state capital of Tallahassee and included Panama City.
The 2nd District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district was composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[15][16]
- 4 percent from the 1st Congressional District
- 92 percent from the 2nd Congressional District
- 4 percent from the 4th Congressional District
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. Florida's 2nd District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[17]
- 2012: 44D / 56R
- 2010: 42D / 58R
Cook Political Report's PVI
In 2012, Cook Political Report released its updated figures on the Partisan Voter Index, which measured each congressional district's partisanship relative to the rest of the country. Florida's 2nd Congressional District had a PVI of R+3, which was the 204th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 53-47 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 52-48 percent over John Kerry (D).[18]
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, Steve Southerland II won election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Allen Boyd (D), Paul C. McKain (I), Dianne Berryhill (I), Ray Netherwood (I) in the general election.[19]
| U.S. House, Florida District 2 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Steve Southerland II |
53.6% | 136,371 | |
| Democratic | Allen Boyd | 41.4% | 105,211 | |
| Independent | Paul C. McKain | 2.8% | 7,135 | |
| Independent | Dianne Berryhill | 2.2% | 5,705 | |
| Independent | Ray Netherwood | 0% | 16 | |
| Total Votes | 254,438 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Florida, 2012
External links
- Steve Southerland's Campaign Website
- Alvin Peters' Campaign Website
- Jay Liles' Campaign Website
- Nancy Argenziano for U.S. Congress Facebook Page
- Updated Florida Congressional Districts List
- Florida 2012 Redistricting Map
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "2012 General Election Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Florida Department of State, "Register to Vote," accessed April 25, 2012
- ↑ Florida 2012 Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed July 5, 2012
- ↑ Roll Call "State Lawmaker Launches Bid to Take On Southerland" accessed December 2, 2011
- ↑ WJHG.com "Peters to Make Run for Congress" accessed December 2, 2011
- ↑ The Palm Beach Post "Al Lawson to make another bid for Congress," February 9, 2012
- ↑ AP Results "U.S. House Results" accessed August 14, 2012
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Florida Election Board "Candidate List" accessed March 29, 2012
- ↑ Sunshine State News, "Blasting GOP, Nancy Argenziano Will Run for Congress as Independent" accessed December 2, 2011
- ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Argenziano drops congressional bid, will run for state House instead" accessed May 11, 2012
- ↑ Bradenton Herald, "Panhandle GOP congressman in tough re-election bid," October 30, 2012
- ↑ DCCC, "Red to Blue 2012"
- ↑ Center for Politics, "2012 House Ratings," Updated June 27, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Florida's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Florida," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
