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United States House of Representatives elections in Mississippi, 2012
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Mississippi's 2012 elections U.S. Senate • U.S. House • Candidate ballot access |
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March 13, 2012 |
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The 2012 U.S. House of Representatives elections in Mississippi took place on November 6, 2012. Voters elected four candidates to serve in the U.S. House, one from each of the state's four congressional districts.
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Mississippi has an open primary system, meaning any registered voter can vote in any party's primary.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by February 11. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 6.[1]
- See also: Mississippi elections, 2012
The Center for Voting and Democracy (Fairvote) projected that Democrats would win one district while Republicans would win three seats.[2]
Primary competitiveness
Mississippi tied with Missouri, Nevada, and Ohio for having the 15th most competitive congressional primaries in 2012, with 62.5% of major party primaries having been contested (5 out of 8). The national average was 54.31%.
Four U.S. House incumbents ran for re-election in Mississippi in 2012. 4 of those 4 (100%) faced a primary challenger. Nationwide, 200 out of the 386 incumbents seeking re-election faced a primary challenger (51.81%).
Partisan breakdown
Heading into the November 6 election, the Republican Party held three of the four Congressional seats from Mississippi.
| Members of the U.S. House from Mississippi -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 1 | 1 | |
| Republican Party | 3 | 3 | |
| Total | 4 | 4 | |
Incumbents
Heading into the 2012 election, the incumbents for the four congressional districts were:
| Name | Party | District |
|---|---|---|
| Alan Nunnelee |  Republican |
1 |
| Bennie Thompson |  Democratic |
2 |
| Gregg Harper | Republican |
3 |
| Steven Palazzo | Republican |
4 |
Margin of victory for winners
There were a total of 4 seats up for election in 2012 in Mississippi. The following table shows the margin of victory for each district winner, which is calculated by examining the percentage difference between the top-two vote getters. If the race was uncontested, the margin of victory is listed as 100%.
| District | Winner | Margin of Victory | Total Vote | Top Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi, District 1 |  Alan Nunnelee |
23.5% | 309,177 | Brad Morris |
| Mississippi, District 2 |  Bennie Thompson |
36.2% | 320,244 | Bill Marcy |
| Mississippi, District 3 | Gregg Harper |
60% | 293,322 | John Luke Pannell |
| Mississippi, District 4 | Steven Palazzo |
35.3% | 285,432 | Matthew Moore |
General election candidates
| District | General Election Candidates | Incumbent | 2012 Winner | Partisan Switch? |
| 1st | Brad Morris Alan Nunnelee  Jim R. Bourland  Danny Bedwell  Chris Potts |
Alan Nunnelee | Alan Nunnelee |
No |
| 2nd | Bennie Thompson Bill Marcy  Cobby Williams Lajena Williams |
Bennie Thompson | Bennie Thompson |
No |
| 3rd | Vicki Slater Gregg Harper John Luke Pannell |
Gregg Harper | Gregg Harper |
No |
| 4th | Matthew Moore Steven Palazzo Ron Williams Robert W. Claunch |
Steven Palazzo | Steven Palazzo |
No |
Candidates
Note: Election results were added on election night as races were called. Vote totals were added after official election results had been certified. Click here for more information about Ballotpedia's election coverage plan. Please contact us about errors in this list.
1st Congressional District
General election candidates
March 13, 2012 primary results
Democratic Primary
- Brad Morris:11,120
[3]
- Brad Morris:11,120
Republican Primary
- Alan Nunnelee:43,487 Incumbent
- Henry Ross:21,944 2010 US House candidate[4]
- Robert Estes:10,390[4]
- Alan Nunnelee:43,487 Incumbent
Constitution Party candidate
Libertarian Party candidate
Reform Party candidate
2nd Congressional District
General election candidates
Democratic Primary
- Bennie Thompson:49,083 Incumbent [6]
- Heather McTeer:7,040 Mayor of Greenville[6]
- Bennie Thompson:49,083 Incumbent
Republican Primary
- Bill Marcy:26,041 Security Director [5]
- Bill Marcy:26,041 Security Director
Nonpartisan candidate
- Cobby Williams: Independent
- Cobby Williams: Independent
Reform Party candidate
- Lajena Williams: Reform [5]
- Lajena Williams: Reform
3rd Congressional District
General election candidates
- Gregg Harper
- John Luke Pannell
- Note: Crystal C. Biggs (D) withdrew from the race in September 2012 after winning the primary, citing an illness. Vicki Slater was set to replace her on the ballot but declined to enter the race.[7]
Democratic Primary
- Crystal C. Biggs:15,291 [8]
- Crystal C. Biggs:15,291
Republican Primary
- Gregg Harper:78,667 Incumbent
- Robert Allen:7,025[8]
- Gregg Harper:78,667 Incumbent
Reform Party candidate
- John Luke Pannell: Reform [9]
- John Luke Pannell: Reform
4th Congressional District
General election candidates
- Matthew Moore
- Steven Palazzo
- Ron Williams
- Robert W. Claunch
- Note: Michael Herrington (D) withdrew from the race in September 2012 after winning the primary, citing an illness in the family.[10]
Democratic Primary
- Michael Herrington:8,988 a service manager [11]
- Jason Vitosky:1,743[8]
- Michael Herrington:8,988 a service manager
Republican Primary
- Steven Palazzo:60,722 Incumbent
- Cindy Burleson:6,081[8]
- Ron Vincent:15,378 a retired engineer.[12]
- Steven Palazzo:60,722 Incumbent
Libertarian Party candidate
- Ron Williams: Libertarian [8]
- Ron Williams: Libertarian
Reform Party candidate
- Robert W. Claunch Reform [13]
- Robert W. Claunch Reform
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Mississippi, 2012
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2012 Elections Calendar," accessed July 25, 2012
- ↑ , "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Mississippi," September 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sun Herald "Fields fill up for Mississippi congressional races" accessed January 16, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Majority in Mississippi "Henry Ross Goes After Alan Nunnelee," January 9, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Mississippi Secretary of State "2012 Candidate Qualifying List" accessed January 23, 2012 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "mslist" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 6.0 6.1 Thompson's Primary Unlikely to Get Nasty in Mississippi" August 4, 2011
- ↑ Fox 10 TV "Democrats pick 2 for Congress races," September 6, 2012
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 "Fields fill up for Mississippi congressional races" January 13, 2012
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State "2012 Candidate Qualifying List" accessed January 24, 2012
- ↑ Fox 10 TV "Democrats pick 2 for Congress races," September 6, 2012
- ↑ "Dem wants to oust Palazzo" January 5, 2012
- ↑ "Congressional candidates campaign here, cite reasons for running" January 7, 2012
- ↑ Candidate Qualiying List_AF.pdf Mississippi Secretary of State "2012 Candidate Qualifying List" accessed January 24, 2012
