United States Senate elections in Wisconsin, 2012
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Wisconsin's 2012 elections U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State Senate • State Assembly • Candidate ballot access |
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Tammy Baldwin  |
Herb Kohl |
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Tossup (Prior to election) |
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Voters in Wisconsin elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the November 6, 2012 elections.
Tammy Baldwin (D) won election on November 6, 2012.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Wisconsin has an 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: Voter registration requirements may vary by municipality, although voters with valid ID must be granted a provisional ballot at the polls.[2]
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2012
Incumbent: The election filled the Class 1 Senate seat, which was held by Herb Kohl (D). First elected in 1988, Kohl did not run for re-election in 2012.
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Tammy Baldwin |
51.5% | 1,547,104 | |
| Republican | Tommy Thompson | 45.9% | 1,380,126 | |
| Libertarian | Joseph Kexel | 2.1% | 62,240 | |
| Independent | Nimrod Allen III | 0.5% | 16,455 | |
| N/A | Write-ins | 0% | 113 | |
| Total Votes | 3,006,038 | |||
| Source: U.S. House Clerk "2012 Election Statistics" | ||||
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.
General election candidates
August 14, 2012, primary results
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Race rating
Cook Political Report
Each month the Cook Political Report released race ratings for President, U.S. Senate, U.S. House (competitive only) and Governors. There were seven possible designations:[8]
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Solid Democratic
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Tossup |
Lean Republican
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| Cook Political Report Race Rating -- Wisconsin Senate | |
|---|---|
| Month | Rating |
| October 4, 2012[9] | |
| September 13, 2012[10] | |
| August 21, 2012[11] | |
| July 12, 2012[12] | |
| May 31, 2012[13] | |
| May 10, 2012[14] | |
| March 22, 2012[15] | |
| March 1, 2012[16] | |
| January 26, 2012[17] | |
| December 22, 2011[18] | |
| December 1, 2011[19] | |
Sabato's Crystal Ball
The University of Virginia's Center for Politics published an article called Sabato's Crystal Ball on March 22, 2012, detailing the eight races in the Senate in 2012 that would decide the political fate of which party ended up with control in 2013.[20] The seat rated a toss-up that the Sabato's Crystal Ball believed could be decided by the party's nomination is the Senate seat in Wisconsin. According to the article, "Given the current state of these toss ups, it was not a stretch to think that a Thompson victory in Wisconsin could have ended up giving Republicans their 51st Senate seat."[20]
Race background
Campaign Spending
The primary race generated money from political action committees outside of Wisconsin. $4.5 million was spent on ads concerning Democrats and $3.4 million was spent on ads concerning the Republican candidates.[21]
Polls
Tammy Baldwin vs. Tommy Thompson
| Tammy Baldwin vs. Tommy Thompson | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Tommy Thompson | Tammy Baldwin | Another Candidate | Not sure | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Rasmussen Poll (July 25, 2012) | 41% | 48% | 5% | 6% | +/-4.5 | 500 | |||||||||||||
| Rasmussen Poll (August 15, 2012) | 54% | 43% | 1% | 3% | +/-4.5 | 500 | |||||||||||||
| Quinnipiac University (August 23,2012) | 50% | 44% | 1% | 4% | +/-2.8 | 1,190 | |||||||||||||
| Rasmussen Poll (October 28,2012) | 48% | 47% | 2% | 4% | +/-4.5 | 500 | |||||||||||||
| Rasmussen Reports (November 2, 2012 | 48% | 48% | 1% | 2% | +/-4 | 750 | |||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 48.2% | 46% | 2% | 3.8% | +/-4.06 | 688 | |||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Election history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Ron Johnson (R) won election to the U.S. Senate, defeating incumbent Russ Feingold (D), Rob Taylor (Constitution Party of Wisconsin), Ernest J. Pagels, Jr. (Write-in Republican), and Michael D. LaForest (Write-in Independent).[22]
| U.S. Senate, Wisconsin, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Ron Johnson |
51.9% | 1,125,999 | |
| Democratic | Russell D. Feingold Incumbent | 47% | 1,020,958 | |
| Constitution | Rob Taylor | 1.1% | 23,473 | |
| Write-in | Ernest J. Pagels, Jr. | 0% | 134 | |
| Write-in | Michael D. LaForest | 0% | 129 | |
| None | Scattering | 0% | 638 | |
| Total Votes | 2,171,331 | |||
2006
On November 7, 2006, Herb Kohl (D) won re-election to the U.S. Senate, defeating Robert Gerald Lorge (R), Ben J. Glatzel (I), and Rae Vogeler (Green).[23]
| U.S. Senate, Wisconsin, 2006 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Herb Kohl Incumbent |
67.3% | 1,439,214 | |
| Republican | Robert Gerald Lorge | 29.5% | 630,299 | |
| Independent | Ben J. Glatzel | 1.2% | 25,096 | |
| Green | Rae Vogeler | 2% | 42,434 | |
| None | Scattering | 0.1% | 1,254 | |
| Total Votes | 2,138,297 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, 2012
- United States Senate elections, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "2012 General Election Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Registration and Voting," accessed July 27, 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "Tammy Baldwin enters race for open Senate seat," accessed January 6, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Governing, "Ex-Wis. Gov. Thompson Launches GOP Bid for Senate" accessed April 25, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates Registered by Office," accessed June 9, 2012
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hudson, WI Patch, "Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson Files Senate Papers With Federal Election Commission," accessed January 6, 2012
- ↑ John Schiess, "John Schiess 2012" July 30, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Our Accuracy," accessed December 12, 2011 (dead link)
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 SENATE RACE RATINGS," October 4, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 SENATE RACE RATINGS," September 13, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 SENATE RACE RATINGS," August 21, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 SENATE RACE RATINGS," July 12, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 SENATE RACE RATINGS," May 31, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 SENATE RACE RATINGS," May 10, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 SENATE RACE RATINGS," March 22, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 SENATE RACE RATINGS," March 1, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 SENATE RACE RATINGS," January 26, 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 SENATE RACE RATINGS," December 27, 2011
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "2012 SENATE RACE RATINGS," December 1, 2011
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Center for Politics, "Tilting the Toss Ups – the Eight Races That Will Decide the Senate" accessed April 9, 2012
- ↑ iWatch News, "Outside spending helps make Wisconsin Senate primary a tossup" accessed August 16, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2006," accessed March 28, 2013
