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Notable primary upsets, 2012-2014
Top primary upsets
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Democrats
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This page details individual cases where incumbents seeking re-election were defeated in primary elections from 2012-2014, with an emphasis on cases where the incumbent held a senior leadership position or where their defeat had not been anticipated by political observers heading into the election. With the exception of the five featured entries directly below, entries are arranged in alphabetical order of the incumbent's last name, with Democratic incumbents listed before Republican incumbents. Each entry contains information on the challenger and the context surrounding the primary, as well as a link to Ballotpedia's full coverage of that primary.
Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Name: Eric Cantor (R), Virginia's 7th Congressional District
First elected: Cantor was first elected to the seat in 2000.
Challenger: David Brat (R)
What happened: Cantor was the first-ever sitting House Majority Leader to lose a primary bid. Cantor was second in line in leadership behind then-Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH).
Brat beat Cantor with a margin of victory of more than 10 percent in the 7th District.[1] Brat went on to defeat Jack Trammell (D) and James Carr (L) by a 24 percent margin in the general election.
Neil Abercrombie (D-HI)
Name: Neil Abercrombie (D), Governor of Hawaii
Challenger: David Ige (D)
First elected: Abercrombie was first elected as governor in 2010.
What happened: Sitting Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) was defeated by primary challenger David Ige (D) on August 9, 2014. Ige won the nomination by a 35 percent margin over Abercrombie and went on to defeat Duke Aiona (R), Jeff Davis (L), and Mufi Hannemann (I) by a 12 percent margin in the general election.[2]
Abercrombie, who had been endorsed by sitting President Barack Obama (D), was the second governor in the state's history to unsuccessfully seek re-election, and the first to be defeated in a primary.[3]
Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Name: Richard Lugar (R), U.S. Senate, Indiana
First elected: Lugar was first elected in 1976.
Challenger: Richard Mourdock (R)
What happened: Lugar lost to state Treasurer Richard Mourdock in the 2012 Republican primary. This was the first time Lugar had faced a primary challenge since 1976. Tea Party and national conservative groups spent millions of dollars on the campaign against Lugar, who occasionally voted with Democrats.[4]
According to the University of Minnesota, Lugar's loss made him "just the second six-term U.S. Senator - and the first Republican - to fail in his renomination bid in the direct election era of the past 100 years."[5] Mourdock was defeated by Joe Donnelly (D) in the general election.
Joe Lieberman (D-CT)
Name: Sen. Joe Lieberman (D), U.S. Senate, Connecticut
First elected: Lieberman was first elected in 1988 and served until 2013.
Challenger: Ned Lamont (D)
What happened: In 2006, Lieberman sought the Democratic Party's nomination for U.S. Senate from Connecticut in his bid for re-election, but was defeated by businessman Ned Lamont in the primary.[6]
Lieberman was officially endorsed by the Connecticut Democratic Convention, which met in May. However, Lamont received 33 percent of the delegates' votes, forcing an August primary. After losing the primary, he filed and won as a third-party candidate under the party label "Connecticut for Lieberman."
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Name: Dennis Kucinich (D), Ohio's 9th Congressional District
First elected: Kucinich was first elected in 1996 and served until 2013.
Challenger: Marcy Kaptur (D)
What happened: Two well-known Democratic incumbents faced off in this primary: Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D), who represented the 9th District since 1983 and Dennis Kucinich (D), whose District 10 seat was eliminated by redistricting.[7] Kaptur defeated Kucinich, 56.44%-39.74%.[7]
Other defeated incumbents
Jason Altmire
Name: Jason Altmire (D), Pennsylvania's 4th Congressional District
First elected: Altmire was first elected in 2006.
Challenger: Because of redistricting, Altmire's faced Mark Critz in the newly redrawn 12th District. Altmire lost to Critz in the April 24, 2012, Democratic primary.[8]
Corrine Brown
Name: Corrine Brown (D), Florida's 5th Congressional District
First elected: Brown was first elected in 1992.
Challenger: Brown was challenged by state Sen. Al Lawson (D). Lawson defeated Brown by a 9 percent margin in the August 30, 2016, primary. Lawson went on to defeat Glo Smith (R) by a 28 percent margin in the general election.
Russ Carnahan
Name: Russ Carnahan (D), Missouri's 1st Congressional District
First elected: Carnahan was first elected in 2004.
Challenger: Carnahan filed to run for re-election in the same district as fellow incumbent Lacy Clay (D) after his previous district was eliminated during redistricting.[9] Carnahan was defeated by Clay in the Democratic primary on August 7, 2012.[10]
Hansen Clarke
Name: Hansen Clarke (D), Michigan's 14th Congressional District
First elected: Clarke was first elected in 2010.
Challenger: He was defeated by fellow incumbent Gary Peters in the Democratic primary.[11]
He made a second run at the 14th Congressional District as a 2014 Democratic candidate seeking election to the open seat in the U.S. House, but was defeated by Brenda Lawrence (D) by a 5 percent margin in the Democratic primary.
Tim Holden
Name: Tim Holden (D), Pennsylvania's 17th Congressional District
First elected: Holden was first elected in 1992 by voters from Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District and served a total of ten terms, the latter five as the Representative for the 17th District.
Challenger: In 2002, Holden defeated a Republican congressman for the 17th District seat, and was able to fend off GOP challengers for the remainder of his tenure. But in 2012, after redistricting, the 17th District became much more Democratic and Holden faced attorney Matt Cartwright in the Democratic primary.[12] Holden lost to Cartwright in the April 24 Democratic primary.
Silvestre Reyes
Name: Silvestre Reyes (D), Texas' 16th Congressional District
First elected: Reyes was first elected in 1996.
Challenger: He was defeated by Beto O'Rourke. O'Rourke presented Reyes' first real primary challenge since he was first elected. O'Rourke portrayed Reyes as unresponsive and entrenched, raised significant funds, and received support from the Campaign for Primary Accountability. Reyes responded by gathering endorsements from Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, as well as pointing out O'Rourke's support of marijuana legalization.[13]
Jennifer Roberts
Name: Jennifer Roberts (D), Mayor of Charlotte
First elected: Roberts was first elected in 2015.
Challenger: Roberts was challenged in her 2017 bid for re-election by City Councillor Vi Lyles (D). In the September 12, 2017, primary election, Lyles defeated Roberts by a 10 percent margin, receiving 46 percent of the vote. Because Lyles received more than 40 percent of the vote, no runoff election was held.[14] Lyles went on to defeat City Councillor Kenny Smith (R) by an 18 percent margin in the November 7, 2017, general election.
Steven Rothman
Name: Steven Rothman (D), New Jersey's 9th Congressional District
First elected: Rothman was first elected in 1996.
Challenger: Due to redistricting, Rothman faced fellow Democratic incumbent Bill Pascrell for the newly redrawn 9th District in 2012. The one-time friends faced off in the Democratic primary. The primary was ranked as one of the five ugliest member vs. member battles by Politico[15] and was labeled one of the most competitive primaries of 2012.[16][17][18]
John Tierney
Name: John Tierney (D), Massachusetts' 6th Congressional District
First elected: Tierney was first elected in 1996.
Challenger: Tierney was challenged in 2014 by Seth Moulton (D), who defeated him by a 10 percent margin in the September 9, 2014, primary election. Moulton went on to defeat Richard Tisei (R) and Chris Stockwell (I) in the November general election.
Sandy Adams
Name: Sandy Adams (R), Florida's 7th Congressional District
First elected: Adams was first elected by voters from Florida's 24th Congressional District in 2010. After being redistricted to Florida's 7th Congressional District, she lost her bid for re-election in the 2012 primary election.
Challenger:She was defeated by incumbent John L. Mica in the Republican primary on August 14, 2012[19][20]
Ralph Hall
Name: Ralph Hall (R), Texas' 4th Congressional District
First elected: Hall was first elected to the U.S. House in 1980.
Challenger: Hall was defeated by primary challenger John Ratcliffe in a primary runoff election on May 27, 2014.[21] Ratcliffe won the runoff by roughly 6 percent of the vote, and was unopposed for the seat in the November general election. Hall, who announced going into the primary election that it would be his last re-election bid, was the first incumbent defeated in the 2014 midterm elections.[22]
Tim Huelskamp
Name: Tim Huelskamp (R), Kansas' 1st Congressional District
First elected: Huelskamp was first elected in 2010.
Challenger: Huelskamp was challenged by physician Roger Marshall (R). Marshall defeated Huelskamp by a 13 percent margin in the August 2, 2016, primary election. Marshall went on to win the November general election, defeating Alan LaPolice (I) and Kerry Burt (L) by a 39 percent margin.
Donald Manzullo
Name: Donald Manzullo (R), Illinois' 16th Congressional District
First elected: Manzullo was first elected in 1992.
Challenger:Manzullo faced freshman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois' 11th Congressional District in the Republican primary. Kinzinger was moved into the 16th District during the redistricting process.[23]
Ben Quayle
Name: Ben Quayle (R), Arizona's 3rd Congressional District
First elected: Quayle was first elected in 2010.
Challenger: Due to redistricting, Quayle sought re-election in Arizona's 6th District. He was defeated by fellow GOP incumbent David Schweikert in the Republican primary on August 28, 2012.[24]
According to the Club for Growth, the primary match-up between incumbents Quayle and Schweikert was the "most watched Republican congressional primary race in the country." Quayle appeared to be the favorite of Republican leadership, while Schweikert stood as a Tea Party favorite. Both representatives were new to the House and were running for re-election to their 2nd term in 2012.[25]
Jean Schmidt
Name: Jean Schmidt (R), Ohio's 2nd Congressional District
First elected: Schmidt was first elected in a special election on August 2, 2005.
Challenger:She lost to Army veteran Brad Wenstrup in the March 6, 2012 primary.[26][27]
Cliff Stearns
Name: Cliff Stearns (R), Florida's 3rd Congressional District
First elected: Stearns was first elected by voters from Florida's 6th Congressional District in 1988. He lost his bid for re-election in the 2012 primary election.
Challenger: Due to redistricting, Stearns ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Florida's 3rd District. Stearns lost to Ted Yoho in the Republican primary.[28]
John Sullivan
Name: John Sullivan (R), Oklahoma's 1st Congressional District
First elected: Sullivan was first elected in 2002.
Challenger:Sullivan was defeated by challenger Jim Bridenstine in the Republican primary on June 26, 2012.[29][30] The day of the primary, Sullivan said he had made a mistake by ignoring the primary challenge for too long. "I never had a race like this in all my life," he said.[31]
See also
- Competitiveness of United States House of Representatives primary elections, 2012
- List of U.S. Congress incumbents not running for re-election in 2014
- Special elections to the 113th United States Congress (2013-2014)
- United States Congress elections, 2014
- BP News: House Majority Leador Cantor defeated in stunning upset
Footnotes
- ↑ Smart Politics, "Eric Cantor 1st House Majority Leader to Lose Renomination Bid in History," June 10, 2014
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "'Self-inflicted' wounds led to Hawaii governor's defeat, analysts say," August 10, 2014
- ↑ USA Today, "Hawaii Gov. Abercrombie ousted by Ige in primary," August 10, 2014
- ↑ New York Times, "Lugar Loses Primary Challenge in Indiana," May 8, 2012
- ↑ University of Minnesota Smart Politics, "Lugar Could Become Just 2nd 6-Term Senator to Lose Renomination Bid in 100 Years" accessed May 7, 2012
- ↑ Boston Globe, "Lieberman campaign files forms to run as petitioning candidate," accessed June 11, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ohio Secretary of State, "Unofficial election results," accessed March 6, 2012
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2012 General Primary Unofficial Returns," April 24, 2012
- ↑ Washington Post, "Rep. Russ Carnahan files for primary against Rep. Lacy Clay in Missouri ," February 28, 2012
- ↑ AP Results, "U.S. House in Missouri Results" accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ Associated Press, "2012 primary results," accessed August 8, 2012
- ↑ Roll Call, "Redistricting Makes Blue Dog Holden an Underdog" accessed April 22, 2012
- ↑ Politico, "5 incumbents facing primary fight," May 3, 2012
- ↑ Charlotte Business Journal, "Incumbent Charlotte mayor stunned in primary upset," September 12, 2017
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedpolitico - ↑ North Jersey.com, "Harrison: New Jersey's competitive primaries," April 22, 2012
- ↑ WYNC "Live! NJ Election Results," June 5, 2012
- ↑ New Jersey Secretary of State "2012 Primary Results"
- ↑ AP Results, "U.S. House Results," accessed August 14, 2012
- ↑ Sunshine State News, "Familiar Faces Lining Up to Run for Congress in 2012" accessed December 3, 2011
- ↑ Associated Press, "Texas Primary runoff - Summary Vote Results," accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑ Rockwell Herald Banner, "Hall announces final re-election bid," December 20, 2013
- ↑ ABC News 7, "Election Results Primary 2012," accessed March 20, 2012
- ↑ Associated Press, "Primary results," August 28, 2012
- ↑ Enterstageright.com, "The hottest Republican congressional primary race in the country," May 21, 2012
- ↑ cincinnati.com, "Super-PAC targets 'out of step' Schmidt," accessed January 31, 2012
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedconcede - ↑ Florida Times Union, "Cliff Stearns was outworked by challenger Ted Yoho, many say," August 15, 2012
- ↑ Oklahoma Elections Division, "Election Results" accessed June 26, 2012
- ↑ Fox 23 "Jim Bridenstine defeats John Sullivan in primary," June 26, 2012
- ↑ Politico, "An incumbent caught sleeping?" June 26, 2012
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