California's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2012
From Ballotpedia
2014 → |
California's 2nd Congressional District |
| General Election Date November 6, 2012 |
| Primary Date June 5, 2012 |
| November 6 Election Winner: Jared Huffman 
|
| Incumbent prior to election: Wally Herger 
|
|
| California U.S. House Elections
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 • District 15 • District 16 • District 17 • District 18 • District 19 • District 20 • District 21 • District 22 • District 23 • District 24 • District 25 • District 26 • District 27 • District 28 • District 29 • District 30 • District 31 • District 32 • District 33 • District 34 • District 35 • District 36 • District 37 • District 38 • District 39 • District 40 • District 41 • District 42 • District 43 • District 44 • District 45 • District 46 • District 47 • District 48 • District 49 • District 50 • District 51 • District 52 • District 53 |
| 2012 U.S. Senate Elections |
|
The 2nd Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Jared Huffman (D) won the election.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
| March 9, 2012 | June 5, 2012 | November 6, 2012 |
Primary: California has a top-two primary system, in which the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, go on to the general election.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by May 21. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 22.[2]
- See also: California elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Wally Herger (R), who was first elected in 1986. Herger was redrawn into the 1st District and chose to retire rather than seek re-election. No incumbent ran in the new 2nd District.[3]
This was the first election which used new district maps based on 2010 Census data. California's 2nd Congressional District is located in the northwestern portion of the state and includes the counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity, Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin.[4]
Blanket primary
This was the first election year in which California's Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act was in effect. Because of this, all candidates for a seat competed in one blanket primary. The two candidates who received the most votes then advanced to the general election on November 6.
The proposition's intent was to encourage primary competition, which backers of the act said would lead to more moderate legislators being elected. The primary results did reflect an increase in competition, with California's percentage of contested primaries being much higher than the nationwide average.[5]
The increase in competition also led to an increase in campaign spending, due to the fact that competition within political parties lasted for the entire year rather than ending after the primary. Raphael J. Sonenshein, executive director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A., said the following, "It's hard to argue it's a better system where the incumbent congressman has a huge war chest and nobody else has any money... At least now we can make him spend it."[5]
As a result of the blanket primary, nine congressional districts had same-party candidates battling in the November 6 general election. Of those, seven were between Democrats.[6]
There were also over a dozen same-party races in the state legislature in November.[6]
Candidates
General election candidates
June 5, 2012, primary results
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Jared Huffman |
71.2% | 226,216 | |
| Republican | Daniel W. Roberts | 28.8% | 91,310 | |
| Total Votes | 317,526 | |||
| Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" |
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Jared Huffman (D) |
37.5% | 63,922 |
| Daniel Roberts (R) |
15% | 25,635 |
| Norman Solomon (D) | 14.9% | 25,462 |
| Stacey Lawson (D) | 9.9% | 16,946 |
| Susan Adams (D) | 8.2% | 14,041 |
| Mike Halliwell (R) | 5.9% | 10,008 |
| Brooke Clarke (NPP) | 2.2% | 3,715 |
| Tiffany Renee (D) | 1.8% | 3,033 |
| John Lewallen (NPP) | 1.5% | 2,488 |
| William Courtney (D) | 1.4% | 2,385 |
| Andy Caffrey (D) | 1% | 1,737 |
| Larry Fritzlan (D) | 0.7% | 1,151 |
| Total Votes | 170,523 |
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in California
The 2nd District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[10][11]
- 41 percent from the 1st Congressional District
- 2 percent from the 2nd Congressional District
- 57 percent from the 6th Congressional District
Registration statistics
As of October 23, 2012, District 2 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the California Secretary of State:
| California Congressional District 2[12] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 2 | 395,395 | 195,079 | 89,131 | 111,185 | Democrat | 118.87% | 151.75% |
| "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. California's 2nd District became more Republican because of redistricting.[13]
- 2012: 70D / 30R
- 2010: 73D / 27R
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. California's 2nd Congressional District has a PVI of D+19, which is the 48th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 74-26 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, John Kerry (D) won the district 68-32 percent over George W. Bush (R).[14]
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.
Jared Huffman
| Jared Huffman (2012)[15] Campaign Finance Reports | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand |
| April Quarterly[16] | March 31, 2012 | $444,519.01 | $281,847.60 | $(165,011.10) | $561,355.51 |
| Pre-Primary[17] | May 16, 2012 | $561,355.51 | $136,947.73 | $(269,827.43) | $428,475.81 |
| Running totals | |||||
| $418,795.33 | $(434,838.53) |
Daniel Roberts
| Daniel Roberts (2012)[18] Campaign Finance Reports | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand |
| April Quarterly[19] | April 5, 2012 | $101,933.60 | $63,941.39 | $(18,052.93) | $147,822.06 |
| Pre-Primary[20] | May 24, 2012 | $147,822.06 | $6,267.97 | $(101,446.70) | $52,643.33 |
| Running totals | |||||
| $70,209.36 | $(119,499.63) |
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, Wally Herger won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Jim Reed in the general election.[21]
| U.S. House, California District 2 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Wally Herger Incumbent |
57.2% | 130,837 | |
| Democratic | Jim Reed | 42.8% | 98,092 | |
| Total Votes | 228,929 |
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
External links
- Susan Adams campaign website
- Andy Caffrey campaign website
- William Courtney campaign website
- Jared Huffman campaign website
- Stacey Lawson campaign website
- Tiffany Renée campaign website
- Norman Solomon campaign website
- Dan Roberts campaign website
Footnotes
- ↑ CNN, "California Districts Race - 2012 Election Center," accessed December 1, 2012
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Elections FAQ," accessed July 20, 2012
- ↑ Record Searchlight, "UPDATED: Herger announces retirement; backs LaMalfa to run for his seat," January 9, 2012
- ↑ California Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed September 25, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Los Angeles Times, "Few centrists advance in California's new primary system," June 7, 2012
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Reuters, "Democrats face Democrats in new California election system," June 6, 2012
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "Lawson jumps into race for North Bay congressional seat", pressdemocrat.com, August 25, 2011
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "San Rafael businesswoman running for Congress raises big bucks in a hurry", marinij.com, October 18, 2011
- ↑ "Who Should Represent us in Congress? Take Our Poll", Novato.Patch.com, October 19, 2011
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "California's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Congressional Voter Registration Statistics," May 21, 2012
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in California," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Jared Huffman Summary Report," accessed June 26, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "April Quarterly Jared Huffman" accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Pre-Primary Jared Huffman" accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Daniel Roberts Summary Report," accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "April Quarterly Daniel Roberts" accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Pre-Primary Daniel Roberts" accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
Senators
Representatives
Democratic Party (45)
Republican Party (9)