United States House of Representatives elections in Utah, 2012
From Ballotpedia
The 2012 U.S. House of Representatives elections in Utah took place on November 6, 2012. Voters elected four candidates to serve in the U.S. House, one from each of the state's four congressional districts.
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
| March 16, 2012 | June 26, 2012 | November 6, 2012 |
Primary: Utah has a mixed primary system, with Republicans having a closed primary and Democrats having an open one. Both parties hold conventions prior to the primaries.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by October 7, or October 22 in-person. For the general election, voter registration deadlines were October 7, and October 22 in-person.[1]
- See also: Utah elections, 2012
According to the New York Times race ratings in October 2012, one of the four districts was considered to be in play, District 4.[2]
The Center for Voting and Democracy (Fairvote) projected that Republicans would win three seats. It did not make a projection for the remaining district.[3]
Primary competitiveness
Utah tied with Maryland for having the 7th most competitive congressional primaries in 2012, with 87.5% of major party primaries having been contested (7 out of 8). The national average was 54.31%.
Three U.S. House incumbents sought re-election in Utah in 2012. 2 of those 3 (66.67%) faced a primary challenger. Nationwide, 200 out of the 386 incumbents seeking re-election faced a primary challenger (51.81%).
Partisan breakdown
Heading into the November 6 election, the Republican Party held two of the three Congressional seats from Utah. However, the state gained one seat after the 2010 census and elected four representatives.
| Members of the U.S. House from Utah -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 1 | 1 | |
| Republican Party | 2 | 3 | |
| Total | 3 | 4 |
Incumbents
Heading into the 2012 election, the incumbents for the three congressional districts were:
| Name | Party | District |
|---|---|---|
| Jason Chaffetz |  Republican |
3 |
| Jim Matheson |  Democratic |
2 |
| Rob Bishop | Republican |
1 |
Margin of victory for winners
There were a total of 4 seats up for election in 2012 in Utah. The following table shows the margin of victory for each district winner, which is calculated by examining the percentage difference between the top-two vote getters. If the race was uncontested, the margin of victory is listed as 100%.
| District | Winner | Margin of Victory | Total Vote | Top Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utah, District 1 |  Rob Bishop |
46.8% | 245,528 | Donna M. McAleer |
| Utah, District 2 | Chris Stewart |
28.7% | 248,545 | Jay Seegmiller |
| Utah, District 3 | Jason Chaffetz |
53.2% | 259,547 | Soren D. Simonsen |
| Utah, District 4 |  Jim Matheson |
0.3% | 245,277 | Mia B. Love |
General election candidates
| District | General Election Candidates | Incumbent | 2012 Winner | Partisan Switch? |
| 1st | Donna McAleer Rob Bishop Sherry Phipps |
Rob Bishop | Rob Bishop |
No |
| 2nd | Jay Seegmiller Chris Stewart Jonathan Garrard Joseph Andrade Charles Kimball |
Jim Matheson | Chris Stewart |
Yes |
| 3rd | Soren Simonsen Jason Chaffetz |
Jason Chaffetz | Jason Chaffetz |
No |
| 4th | Jim Matheson Mia Love Jim Vein |
N/A | Jim Matheson |
No |
Candidates
Note: Election results were added on election night as races were called. Vote totals were added after official election results had been certified. Click here for more information about Ballotpedia's election coverage plan. Please contact us about errors in this list.
1st Congressional District
General election candidates
Democratic primary
Republican convention candidates
- Rob Bishop: Incumbent[4]
- Leonard Fabiano[4]
- Jacqueline Smith[4]
- Rob Bishop: Incumbent[4]
Constitution Party
2nd Congressional District
General election candidates
Party convention results
3rd Congressional District
General election candidates
4th Congressional District
General election candidates
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Utah Lieutenant Governor, "Voting Registration Deadlines," accessed July 6, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed July 25, 2012
- ↑ , "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Utah," September 2012
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office: Elections "2012 Candidate Filings," accessed March 16, 2012
- ↑ Jason Buck for Congress "NFL Star and Conservative Republican Builds Competitive Campaign To Win Back This Current Democratic Seat," January 17, 2012
- ↑ Deseret News "Clark running for Congress, expected to resign from Legislature," accessed December 3, 2011
- ↑ Deseret News "Cherilyn Eagar announces congressional campaign," accessed December 3, 2011
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Deseret News "Author Chris Stewart running for 2nd District seat," accessed December 3, 2011 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "dn" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Salt Lake Tribune "Republican announces he will challenge Matheson," accessed December 3, 2011
- ↑ Deseret News "Redistricting squabble has GOP congressional hopefuls wondering where to line up," accessed December 3, 2011
- ↑ Deseret News "Rep. Jason Chaffetz running again, but not against Sen. Orrin Hatch," accessed December 4, 2011
