Does your state lean blue or lean red? Check out our new report, highlighting partisan control of state government from 1992-2013.
Georgia's 2nd congressional district elections, 2012
| 2014 →
|
 |
| November 6, 2012 |
| July 31, 2012 |
Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.  |
Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. |
 |
| |
| |
 |
Contents |
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
| |
|
|
Primary: Georgia is one of 19 states to use an open primary system. When runoff elections are used, voters must vote in same party's runoff election as they voted for in the first round election.
Voter registration: Voters must have registered to vote by July 2, 2012 to vote in the primary election.[3] (Information about registering to vote)
- See also: Georgia elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (D), who was first elected in 1992.
This was the first election using new district maps based on 2010 Census data. Georgia's 2nd congressional district is one of the largest districts by size, and it takes in most of the southwestern fourth of the state of Georgia.[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
August 11, 2012 Republican primary runoff candidates
July 31, 2012 primary results
|
|
|
Election results
General election
| U.S. House, Georgia, District 2 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Sanford Bishop Incumbent |
63.8% | 162,751 | |
| Republican | John House | 36.2% | 92,410 | |
| Total Votes | 255,161 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Race background
Endorsements
John House received endorsements from the Georgia Right to Life[9] and Georgia representative Mike Keown.[10]
Race rating
Blue vs. Red
Possible race ratings are:
Solid Democratic
Likely Democratic
Lean DemocraticTossup
Lean Republican
Likely Republican
Solid Republican
Georgia's 2nd district is a solidly Democratic district.
In June 2012, Sabato's Crystal Ball rated Georgia's 2nd district as solidly Democratic.[11]
Department of Justice lawsuit
On June 29, 2012 the Department of Justice filed a suit in federal court against the state of Georgia, alleging that service members, their family members and overseas civilian voters wouldn’t have time to vote by absentee ballot in run-off elections, if they are required.[12] According to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), states must transmit all validly requested ballots to UOCAVA voters at least 45 days before an election, unless a hardship exemption is obtained, for which Georgia failed to file.[12] However, this conflicted with the timeline for runoff elections, in which the primary runoff, by law, must be held 21 days after the regular or special primary election, and if a run-off is required after the Nov. 6 general election, it must be held 28 days later, on Dec. 4, which also wouldn’t provide the required 45 days.[12]
As part of the lawsuit, the Department of Justice asked Georgia to "extend the ballot receipt deadline to Aug. 31 for these voters, to send ballots by express delivery as soon as possible before the Aug. 21 run-off election, and inform UOCAVA voters no later than July 7 of their right to request a state write-in absentee ballot or their official absentee ballot for any run-off election by downloading it from the Internet, by email, or by fax."[12]
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Georgia
On August 22, 2011, Georgia Republican leadership released their proposed Congressional redistricting map. Due to population growth, Georgia gained a 14th Congressional district following the 2010 census. The new district, according to the plan, was located in the northwestern part of the state.[13] U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R) was drawn into the new district, leaving his former 9th District seat open in 2012. The new 9th District leans Republican.[13] In addition, the plan displaced US Rep. John Barrow (D), but Barrow (who had been displaced before) planned to move in order to remain in the 12th District.[13] US Rep. Sanford Bishop's (D) district became a majority-minority district. Also, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey's (R) 11th District picked up part of Atlanta. Overall, the plan was expected to bolster the Republican majority in the state's Congressional delegation.[13]
The new 2nd district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[14][15]
- 77 percent from the 2nd congressional district
- 6 percent from the 3rd congressional district
- 16 percent from the 8th congressional district
District partisanship
FairVote's Monopoly Politics 2012
- 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. Georgia's 2nd District became more Democratic as a result of redistricting.[16]
- 2012: 55D / 45R
- 2010: 50D / 50R
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. Georgia's 2nd congressional district had a PVI of D+4, which was the 155th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 58-42 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, John Kerry (D) won the district 53-47 percent over George W. Bush.[17]
District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Mike Keown (R) in the general election.[18]
| U.S. House of Representatives, Georgia's 2nd Congressional District, General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. Incumbent |
51.4% | 86,520 | |
| Republican | Mike Keown | 48.6% | 81,673 | |
| Total Votes | 168,193 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
External links
References
- ↑ Politico "2012 House Race Results"
- ↑ Savannah Now "Kingston & Stephens"
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State "Election Dates," Accessed April 25, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Redistricting Map "Map" Accessed July 5, 2012
- ↑ AP Results "Georgia U.S. House Runoff Results" Accessed August 21, 2012
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Georgia Secretary of State "Candidate List" Accessed May 28, 2012
- ↑ Albany Herald "Rick Allen to run against Sanford Bishop" Accessed February 16, 2012
- ↑ WTVM "Army veteran running against Bishop for Congress" Accessed February 16, 2012
- ↑ John House for Congress "John House receives key endorsement from Georgia Right to Life" Accessed July 26, 2012
- ↑ John House for Congress "Mike Keown endorses John House for Congress" Accessed July 26, 2012
- ↑ Center for Politics "2012 House Ratings," Updated June 27, 2012
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Marine Corps Times "Justice sues Georgia over voting deadlines" Accessed July 24, 2012
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Atlanta Journal Constitution, "GOP redistricting plan would tighten grip on congressional delegation," August 22, 2011
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer "Georgia's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ FairVote, "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Georgia," 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"
| |||||||||||||
