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Arizona's 8th congressional district elections, 2012

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Arizona's 8th Congressional District

General Election Date
November 6, 2012

Primary Date
August 28, 2012

November 6 Election Winner:
Trent Franks Republican Party
Incumbent prior to election:
Ron Barber Democratic Party (United States)
Ron Barber.jpg

Arizona U.S. House Elections
District 1District 2District 3District 4District 5District 6District 7District 8District 9

2012 U.S. Senate Elections

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Contents

The 8th congressional district of Arizona held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.

Trent Franks (District 2 incumbent) was re-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.[1]

Candidate Filing Deadline Primary Election General Election
May 30, 2012
August 28, 2012
November 6, 2012

Primary: Arizona has a closed primary system, in which the selection of a party's candidates in a primary election is limited to registered members of that party.

Voter registration: Voters were required to register to vote in the primary by July 30. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 9.[2]

See also: Arizona elections, 2012

Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Ron Barber (D), who won a special election to fill the vacancy left by Gabrielle Giffords in June 2012.[3]

This was the first election which used new district maps based on 2010 Census data. The 8th district is one of five primarily urban districts centered around Phoenix, Arizona.[4]

Candidates

Note: Election results were added on election night as races were called. Vote totals will be added when official election results are certified. For more information about Ballotpedia's election coverage plan, click here. If you find any errors in this list, please email: Geoff Pallay.

General election candidates

Democratic Party (United States) Gene Scharer
Republican Party Trent FranksGreen check mark.jpg
Independent Stephen Dolgos



August 28, 2012 primary results

Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Primary

Republican Party Republican Primary

Americans Elect candidate

Election results

U.S. House, Arizona, District 8 General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark.jpgTrent Franks 63.3% 172,809
     Democratic Gene Scharer 35.1% 95,635
     Libertarian Stephen Dolgos 1.6% 4,347
Total Votes 272,791
Source: Arizona Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Impact of redistricting

See also: Redistricting in Arizona

The 3rd district was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[6][7]

Registration statistics

As of October 22, 2012, District 8 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the Arizona Secretary of State:

Arizona Congressional District 8[8]
Congressional District District Total Democrats Republicans Other & Unaffiliated Advantage Party Advantage Change in Advantage from 2010
District 8 391,675 97,681 162,805 131,189 Republican 66.67% 53.16%
"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. Arizona's 8th District saw no change in partisanship because of redistricting.[9]

  • 2012: 35D / 65R
  • 2010: 35D / 65R

Cook Political Report's PVI

See also: Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

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. Arizona's 8th congressional district has a PVI of R+13, which is the 74th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 61-39 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 62-38 percent over John Kerry (D).[10]

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.

Trent Franks

Trent Franks (2012) Campaign Finance Reports
ReportDate FiledBeginning BalanceTotal Contributions
for Reporting Period
ExpendituresCash on Hand
April Quarterly[11]April 13, 2012$11,694.81$70,728.83$(26,211.52)$56,212.12
July Quarterly[12]July 14, 2012$56,212.12$74,220.72$(63,964.88)$66,467.96
Pre-Primary[13]August 15, 2012$66,467.96$7,636$(51,705.03)$22,398.93
Running totals
$152,585.55$(141,881.43)

Tony Passalacqua

Tony Passalacqua (2012) Campaign Finance Reports
ReportDate FiledBeginning BalanceTotal Contributions
for Reporting Period
ExpendituresCash on Hand
July Quarterly[14]July 11, 2012$0$2,465$(1,333.32)$1,131.68
Pre-Primary[15]August 10, 2012$1,131.68$1,125$(2,193.05)$63.63
Running totals
$3,590$(3,526.37)

District history

2012

The 8th congressional district of Arizona held a special election for the U.S. House of Representatives on June 12, 2012. The election was to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D). The general election was held on June 12, 2012, following a primary on April 17th. Ron Barber (D) won the general election to replace Giffords.[16]

2010

On November 2, 2010, Gabrielle Giffords won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Jesse Kelly and Steven Stoltz in the general election.[17]

This is the 8th congressional district prior to the 2010 redistricting.
U.S. House, Arizona District 8 General Election, 2010
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark.jpgGabrielle Giffords Incumbent 48.8% 138,280
     Republican Jesse Kelly 47.3% 134,124
     Libertarian Steven Stoltz 3.9% 11,174
Total Votes 283,578

See also

External links

References

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