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Louisiana's 5th congressional district elections, 2012
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| November 6, 2012 |
| December 8, 2012 |
Rodney Alexander  |
Rodney Alexander |
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Primary: Louisiana has a open primary system, in which any registered voter can choose which party's primary to vote in, without having to be a member of that party.
Voter registration: Louisiana does not hold a primary before the November 6 general election. If candidates do not receive a sufficient majority of the vote on that date, they go to a runoff, to be held on December 8. Voters were required to register to vote in the November 6 election by October 9; for the December 8 runoff, the voter registration deadline was November 7.[2]
- See also: Louisiana elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Rodney Alexander (R), who was first elected in 2002.
This was the first election using new district maps based on 2010 Census data. Louisiana's 5th congressional district includes the northeastern portion of the state. Morehouse, W Carroll, E Carroll, Madison, Tensas, Franklin, Richland, Ouachita, Lincoln, Jackson, Winn, La Salle, Catahoula, Concordia, Caldwell, Grant, Rapides, Avoyelles, St. Landry, W Feldana, E Feldana, St. Helenda, Washington, and Tangipahoa parishes are included in the district. [3]
Unlike most states, Louisiana uses the blanket primary - under this system all candidates, regardless of party, run in the same primary. A candidate can be declared the overall winner of the seat by garnering more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary. However, if no candidate reaches this threshold, then a general election will take place on December 8, 2012 between the top-two vote getters.
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.
Nonpartisan Blanket Primary
- Rodney Alexander: Incumbent
Clay Steven Grant[4]
Ron Ceasar[4]
Election Results
| U.S. House, Louisiana, District 5 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Rodney Alexander Incumbent |
77.8% | 202,536 | |
| Libertarian | Ron Ceasar | 14.4% | 37,486 | |
| None | Clay Steven Grant | 7.8% | 20,194 | |
| Total Votes | 260,216 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Louisiana
The redrawn map merged the coastal districts of incumbents Charles Boustany of the now defunct 7th district and Jeff Landry of the 3rd district,[5] while extending Republican incumbent Steve Scalise’s 1st district south from Metairie toward into the state’s Gulf coast.[5] Incumbents John Fleming and Rodney Alexander occupy two northern Louisiana-based districts, the 4th district and 5th district, that are similar to their current seats.[5] The northwestern 4th district, anchored by Shreveport, borders Texas and Arkansas. [5]
Registration statistics
As of October 24, 2012, District 5 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the Louisiana Secretary of State:
| Louisiana Congressional District 5[6] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 5 | 480,847 | 245,406 | 129,370 | 106,071 | Democratic | 89.69% | 91.48% |
| "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. Louisiana's 5th District saw no change in partisanship due to redistricting.[7]
- 2012: 34D / 66R
- 2010: 34D / 66R
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. Louisiana's 5th congressional district has a PVI of R+14, which is the 67th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 62-38 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 62-38 percent over John Kerry (D).[8]
Campaign donors
Rodney Alexander
Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2012 elections season. Below are Alexander's reports.
| Rodney Alexander (2012)[9] Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[10] | April 14, 2012 | $89,850.82 | $134,200 | $(109,566.57) | $114,484.25 | ||||
| July Quarterly[11] | July 14, 2012 | $114,484.25 | $220,936.95 | $(104,955.11) | $230,466.09 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $355,136.95 | $(214,521.68) | ||||||||
District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Alexander won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Tom Gibbs, Jr. (I) in the general election.[12]
| U.S. House of Representatives, Louisiana's 5th Congressional District, General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Rodney Alexander Incumbent |
78.6% | 122,033 | |
| Independent | Tom Gibbs, Jr. | 21.4% | 33,279 | |
| Total Votes | 155,312 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
External links
References
- ↑ Politico "2012 House Race Results"
- ↑ 2012 Elections Schedule "Voter Registration," Accessed July 25, 2012
- ↑ Louisiana Redistricting Map "Map" Accessed July 24, 2012
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedla15 - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Politico "Louisiana map sets up incumbent clash" Accessed February 28, 2012
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Congressional Voter Registration Statistics," July 1, 2012
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Louisiana," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" Accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission "Rodney Alexander Summary Report," Accessed October 1, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission "April Quarterly" Accessed October 1, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission "July Quarterly" Accessed October 1, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010" Accessed November 17, 2011
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