Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Illinois' 12th Congressional District elections, 2012
2014 →
|
 |
November 6, 2012 |
March 20, 2012 |
William Enyart  |
Jerry F. Costello |
 |
 |
The 12th Congressional District of Illinois held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Democrat William Enyart won the election.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Illinois has a mixed-hybrid primary system. Voters can change parties each year but must declare a party affiliation at the polls. Depending on which party is chosen, the voter will then be counted as registered for that party. Voters may change party affiliation at polls or caucus.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by February 21. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 9. A "grace period" was also available, allowing voter registration until three days before an election.[2][3]
- See also: Illinois elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Jerry F. Costello (D), who was first elected in 1988. Costello retired rather than run for re-election.[4]
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Illinois' 12th Congressional District makes up the southern tip of the state. It includes the counties of Jefferson, Perry, Franklin, Williamson, Union, Alexander, Pulaski, Jackson, Randolph, Monroe, St. Claire and part of Madison County.[5]
Candidates
General election candidates
- William Enyart
Jason Plummer
Paula Bradshaw- Note: Brad Harriman withdrew from the race after the primary and was replaced by William Enyart.
March 20, 2012, primary results
|
|
|
- Note:Teri Newman was removed from the official candidate list on February 2, 2012.[13]
Election results
General Election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William Enyart |
51.7% | 157,000 | |
| Republican | Jason Plummer | 42.7% | 129,902 | |
| Green | Paula Bradshaw | 5.6% | 17,045 | |
| Total Votes | 303,947 | |||
| Source: Illinois Board of Elections "2012 General Election Official Vote Totals" | ||||
Democratic Primary
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Brad Harriman |
69.8% | 27,409 |
| Christopher Miller | 22.6% | 8,874 |
| Kenneth Wiezer | 7.6% | 2,967 |
| Total Votes | 39,250 | |
Republican Primary
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Jason Plummer |
55.7% | 25,280 |
| Rodger Cook | 35.9% | 16,313 |
| Theresa Kormos | 8.4% | 3,811 |
| Total Votes | 45,404 | |
Race background
Competitiveness
Illinois' 12th was considered to be a Tossup according to the New York Times race ratings. Democrats were hoping to hold onto this seat after the retirement of incumbent Jerry Costello. With the withdrawal of their former top candidate, Brad Harriman, it was not easy.[14]
Illinois' 12th District had been included in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Red to Blue List," which identifies districts that the organization had specifically targeted to flip from Republican to Democratic control.[15]
Republican challenger Jason Plummer had been included in the National Republican Congressional Committee's Young Guns program. The program highlighted challengers who represent the GOP's best chances to pick up congressional seats in the general election.[16]
Using the Federal Election Commission's October Quarterly campaign finance filings, the Brennan Center for Justice at The New York University School of Law published a report on October 22nd focusing on the 25 House races rated most competitive by The Cook Political Report, including the race for Illinois' 12th. The report examined the relative spending presence of non-candidate groups, candidates and small donors in these races - "which will likely determine which party will control the House."[17]
| List of 25 Toss Up Races from the Cook Political Report:[18] | |
|---|---|
|
Democratic Toss Ups: Republican Toss Ups: | |
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Illinois
With the 2011 redistricting, Illinois lost 1 of its current 19 House seats because the state's population failed to grow as fast as in other states.[19] Illinois has had 11 Republican congressmen and 8 Democrats since the November 2010 election.[19] The new map, designed by the dominant Democrats, could have flipped that advantage to as many as 12 Democrats and only six Republicans.[19]
The new 12th District was composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[20][21]
- 94 percent from the 12th Congressional District
- 6 percent from the 19th Congressional District
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. Illinois' 12th District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[22]
- 2012: 52D / 48R
- 2010: 51D / 49R
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. Illinois' 12th Congressional District has a PVI of D+2, which is the 174th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 56-44 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, John Kerry (D) won the district 51-49 percent over George W. Bush (R).[23]
Campaign donors
2012
| Brad Harriman (2012)[24] Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| Pre-Primary[25] | March 8, 2012 | $159,596.00 | $56,980.00 | $(64,172.82) | $152,403.18 | ||||
| April Quarterly[26] | April 13, 2012 | $152,403.18 | $141,001.00 | $(94,475.97) | $198,928.21 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $197,981 | $(158,648.79) | ||||||||
| Jason Plummer (2012)[27] Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| Pre-Primary[28] | March 8, 2012 | $126,332.56 | $37,365.00 | $(77,397.30) | $86,300.26 | ||||
| April Quarterly[29] | April 15, 2012 | $86,300.26 | $74,325.00 | $(104,764.35) | $55,860.91 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $111,690 | $(182,161.65) | ||||||||
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, Jerry F. Costello won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Teri Newman (R) and Rodger Jennings (G) in the general election.[30]
| U.S. House, Illinois District 12 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Jerry F. Costello Incumbent |
59.8% | 121,272 | |
| Republican | Teri Newman | 36.5% | 74,046 | |
| Green | Rodger Jennings | 3.6% | 7,387 | |
| Total Votes | 202,705 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
External links
- Campaign finance at OpenSecrets.org
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Illinois"
- ↑ Illinois Board of Elections, "2012 Election Calendar," accessed July 21, 2012
- ↑ Illinois Board of Elections, "Registering to Vote in Illinois," accessed July 21, 2012
- ↑ ksdk.com, "Rep. Jerry Costello won't seek re-election in 2012" accessed December 5, 2011
- ↑ June 2011 Illinois Redistricting, "Map" accessed July 23, 2012
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 ABC News 7 "Election Results Primary 2012" accessed March 20, 2012
- ↑ Belleville News-Democrat "'It's a wide open race right now': Musical chairs continues for 12th Congressional District seat" accessed December 5, 2011
- ↑ The Telegraph.com "Democrat to run for 12th District seat in Congress" accessed December 5, 2011
- ↑ Belleville News-Democrat ""Retired carpenter plans run for Costello's seat in Congress" accessed December 5, 2011
- ↑ Belleville News-Democrat "Roger Cook, former Belleville mayor, plans to run for Congress" accessed December 5, 2011
- ↑ Belleville News-Democrat ""O'Fallon nurse hopes to unseat U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello" accessed December 5, 2011
- ↑ St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Plummer, Callis jumping into fray for Costello's Illinois congressional seat" accessed December 5, 2011
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate List," accessed February 10, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ DCCC, "Red to Blue 2012"
- ↑ NRCC "Young Guns 2012"
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Election Spending 2012: 25 Toss-Up House Races," October 22, 2012
- ↑ The Cook Political Report, "House: Race Ratings," updated October 18, 2012
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Chicago Tribune, "Odd geography in new Illinois congressional map:Millions of constituents will find their representative has changed" accessed February 22, 2012
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Illinois' congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Illinois," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Brad Harriman Summary Reports" accessed July 12, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Pre-Primary" accessed July 12, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "April Quarterly" accessed July 12, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Jason Plummer Summary Reports" accessed July 12, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Pre-Primary" accessed July 12, 2012
- ↑ FEc Reports, "April Quarterly" accessed July 12, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
