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Maryland's 1st congressional district elections, 2012
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| November 6, 2012 |
| April 3, 2012 |
Andrew Harris  |
Andrew Harris |
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Incumbent Andrew Harris (R) won re-election on November 6, 2012.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
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Primary: Maryland has a closed primary system, in which the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by March 13. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 16.[2]
- See also: Maryland elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Andy Harris (R), who was first elected in 2010. He won re-election on November 6, 2012.
This was the first election using new district maps based on 2010 Census data. Maryland's 1st congressional district encompassed Carolina, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico and Worcester counties. Additionally, the district included parts of Baltimore, Carroll and Harford counties.[3]
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
- Andy Harris
John LaFerla (Write-in)
Michael Calpino
Muir Boda
- Douglas Dryden Rae (Write-in)
- Note: Wendy Rosen withdrew from the race following allegations of voter fraud.[4]
April 3, 2012 primary results
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Election Results
General Election
| U.S. House, Maryland, District 1 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Wendy Rosen | 27.5% | 92,812 | |
| Republican | Andy Harris Incumbent |
63.4% | 214,204 | |
| Libertarian | Muir Boda | 3.8% | 12,857 | |
| Democratic | John LaFerla (Write-in) | 4.4% | 14,858 | |
| Independent | Michael Calpino (Write-in) | 0% | 71 | |
| Independent | Douglas Dryden Rae (Write-in) | 0% | 26 | |
| N/A | Other Write-ins | 0.9% | 2,932 | |
| Total Votes | 337,760 | |||
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections "Representative in Congress" | ||||
Democratic Primary
| U.S House of Representatives-Maryland, District 1 Democratic Primary, 2012 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|
Wendy Rosen |
43.1% | 10,907 |
| John LaFerla | 42.8% | 10,850 |
| Kim Letke | 14.1% | 3,564 |
| Total Votes | 25,321 | |
Race background
According to the Maryland Elections Guide 2012, published by The Baltimore Sun, Maryland "remains an overwhelmingly Democratic state, with only the 1st congressional district as a safe bet for the GOP."[8]
Wendy Rosen won the Democratic primary, however runner-up John LaFerla is now being backed by Democrats as a write-in candidate after Rosen withdrew from the race following voter fraud allegations. Specifically, it is alleged that she voted in both Maryland and Florida in 2006 and 2008.[9]
Campaign donors
2012
Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2012 elections season. Below are Harris' reports.
| Andrew Harris (2012)[10] Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[11] | April 13, 2012 | $565,300.43 | $73,295.59 | $(12,287.58) | $626,308.44 | ||||
| July Quarterly[12] | July 13, 2012 | $626,308.44 | $245,865.75 | $(137,230.58) | $734,943.61 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $319,161.34 | $(149,518.16) | ||||||||
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Maryland
The new maps after the 2011 redistricting were expected keep congressional Democrats safe in six of the state’s eight districts and give the party its best chance in two decades to unseat Republican Roscoe Bartlett in the 6th district.[13] However, the 1st district's new map was expected to strengthen the Republican hold in the district, which covers the entire Eastern Shore and was redrawn this year to include more of conservative northern Maryland.[13] The "safer" district for Republicans is largely a byproduct of changes made to Roscoe Bartlett’s western Maryland district, which was redrawn to include "the western half of liberal-leaning Montgomery County."[13]
Redistricting also took conservative sections of Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick and Harford counties from the 6th district, and moved many of the Baltimore, Carroll and Harford voters into the 1st district.[13]
The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[14][15]
- 83 percent from the 1st congressional district
- 1 percent from the 2nd congressional district
- 16 percent from the 6th 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. Maryland's 1st District became more Republican because of redistricting.[16]
- 2012: 36D / 64R
- 2010: 37D / 63R
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. Maryland's 1st congressional district has a PVI of R+14, which is the 61st 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 65-35 percent over John Kerry (D).[17]
Registration statistics
As of October 24, 2012, District 1 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the Maryland State Board of Elections:
| Maryland Congressional District 1[18] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 1 | 382,767 | 178,614 | 194,484 | 9,669 | Republican | 8.89% | 8.77% |
| "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 history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Harris won election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Frank Kratovil, Jr. (D), Richard James Davis (L), Jack N. Wilson (I), and Michael Kennedy (I) in the general election.[19]
| U.S. House of Representatives, Maryland's 1st Congressional District, General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Andy Harris |
54.1% | 155,118 | |
| Democratic | Frank Kratovil, Jr. Incumbent | 42% | 120,400 | |
| Libertarian | Richard James Davis | 3.8% | 10,876 | |
| Independent | Write-In | 0.1% | 242 | |
| Independent | Jack N. Wilson | 0.1% | 158 | |
| Independent | Michael Kennedy | 0% | 18 | |
| Total Votes | 286,812 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Maryland, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
External links
References
- ↑ Politico "2012 Election Map, Maryland"
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections " 2012 Presidential Election Calendar," Accessed July 25, 2012
- ↑ Maryland Redistricting Map "Map" Accessed September 25, 2012
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Democrat drops challenge to Harris after allegations she voted in two states," September 10, 2012
- ↑ The Daily Times "Challengers to face off before taking on Harris" Accessed January 4, 2012
- ↑ Gazette.Net "Baltimore County businesswoman enters 1st Congressional District race" Accessed January 4, 2012
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Maryland State Board of Elections "Candidate List" Accessed January 19, 2012
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun "Maryland Election Guide 2012" Accessed March 25, 2012
- ↑ Baltimore Sun "Democrat withdraws...," Accessed October 3, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission "Andrew Harris Summary Report," Accessed September 28, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission "April Quarterly" Accessed September 28, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission "July Quarterly" Accessed September 28, 2012
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 The Washington Times "Redistricting leaves Harris sitting atop GOP stronghold" Accessed February 16, 2012
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer "Maryland's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Maryland," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" Accessed October 2012
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "Congressional Voter Registration Statistics," May 18, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010" Accessed November 29, 2011
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