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Virginia's 8th congressional district elections, 2012
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Jim Moran  |
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Jim Moran was re-elected on November 6, 2012.[1]
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Primary: Virginia has an open primary system, in which any registered voter may choose which party's primary to vote in.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by May 21. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 15.[2]
- See also: Virginia elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Jim Moran (D), who was first elected to the House in 1990.
This was the first election which used new district maps based on 2010 Census data. Virginia's 8th congressional district is located in the northeastern portion of the state, and includes Arlington County.[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
June 12, 2012 primary results
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Election Results
General Election
| U.S. House, Virginia, District 8 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Jim Moran Incumbent |
64.6% | 226,847 | |
| Republican | Patrick Murray | 30.6% | 107,370 | |
| Independent | Jason Howell | 2.9% | 10,180 | |
| Green | Janet Murphy | 1.7% | 5,985 | |
| Write-In | N/A | 0.2% | 805 | |
| Total Votes | 351,187 | |||
| Source: Virginia State Board of Elections "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Virginia
Following the 2010 Census, Virginia was redistricted. The state remained at 11 congressional seats. Redistricting plans were not solidified by the end of the 2011 session of the Virginia General Assembly.
The 8th district was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[6][7]
- 85 percent from the 8th congressional district
- 4 percent from the 10th congressional district
- 11 percent from the 11th 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. Virginia's 8th District became less Democratic because of redistricting.[8]
- 2012: 65D / 35R
- 2010: 66D / 34R
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. Virginia's 8th congressional district has a PVI of D+15, which is the 70th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 69-31 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, John Kerry (D) won the district 64-36 percent over George W. Bush (R).[9]
Campaign contributions
Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2012 elections season. Below are the candidate's reports.
Jim Moran
| Jim Moran Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[10] | April 15, 2012 | $470,740.52 | $123,007.60 | $(181,191.54) | $412,556.58 | ||||
| July Quarterly[11] | July 15, 2012 | $448,733.34 | $92,537.45 | $(233,567.90) | $307,702.89 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $215,545.05 | $(414,759.44) | ||||||||
Patrick Murray
| Patrick Murray Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
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| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[12] | April 14, 2012 | $5,496.74 | $33,815.87 | $(10,816.76) | $28,495.85 | ||||
| July Quarterly[13] | July 15, 2012 | $31,979.92 | $26,945.68 | $(3,538.30) | $55,387.30 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $60,761.55 | $(14,355.06) | ||||||||
News
Democratic primary candidates
When Democratic challenger Bruce Shuttleworth submitted candidate filing paperwork to the Virginia board of elections, the board initially declared that Shuttleworth had not gathered enough valid signatures to be placed on the ballot. The candidate filed suit, but the elections board reversed their decision without further legal action. Shuttleworth was defeated by incumbent Jim Moran in the Democratic primary for Virginia's 8th district.[14]
District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Jim Moran won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating J. Patrick Murray (R), J. Ron Fisher (Independent Green), and a write-in.[15]
| U.S. House of Representatives General Election, 2010, Congressional District 8, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | James P. Moran Incumbent |
61% | 116,404 | |
| Republican | J. Patrick Murray | 37.3% | 71,145 | |
| Independent Green | J. Ron Fisher | 1.4% | 2,707 | |
| Write-in | Unlisted | 0.3% | 492 | |
| Total Votes | 190,748 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Virginia, 2012
References
- ↑ ABC News "2012 General Election Results"
- ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections "2012 November Election Calendar," Accessed July 7, 2012
- ↑ Virginia Redistricting Map "Map" Accessed July 24, 2012
- ↑ Washington Post blog "UPDATE: After initial rejection, Moran challenger will be on primary ballot," April 9, 2012
- ↑ ARL Now "Patrick Murray: Rematch With Jim Moran in 2012," Accessed December 6, 2011
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer "Virginia's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Virginia," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" Accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, Jim Moran's April Quarterly report," Accessed September 20, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Jim Moran's July Quarterly report," Accessed September 20, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, Patrick Murray's April Quarterly report," Accessed September 26, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Patrick Murray's July Quarterly report," Accessed September 26, 2012
- ↑ Washington Post blog "UPDATE: After initial rejection, Moran challenger was on primary ballot," April 9, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010"
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