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Incumbents with a primary challenger in the 2012 state legislative elections

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2012 Competitiveness Overview

Primary competition (state comparison)
Incumbents with no challenges at all in 2012 Incumbents defeated • Victorious challengers • Primary competitiveness
Major party challengers (state comparison)
List of candidates with no competition
Open seats (state comparisons)
Impact of term limits on # of open seats Long-serving senators • Long-serving reps
Chart Comparing 2012 Results
Chart Comparing 2012 Results • Comparisons Between Years
Competitiveness Index • Absolute Index
2012 State Legislative Elections 2012 Competitiveness Tracker
Competitiveness Studies from Other Years
2007 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011

There are 5,984 state legislative districts, in 43 states, with a seat up for election on November 6, 2012. We took a look at each of the 43 states to see how many state legislative incumbents who chose to run for re-election in 2012 faced or will face a primary challenger.

Once a state releases official primary candidate lists, Ballotpedia staff analyzes the data to determine primary competitiveness. Thus far, 18 states have been analyzed.

Our main findings:

The incumbent chose to run for re-election in 1,688 (77.8%) of the 2,169 analyzed districts holding state legislative elections in 2012.
In 1,263 (74.8%) of those 1,688 districts, the incumbent faced no challenger in the primary.
Thus, only 425 (25.2%) of incumbents faced a primary opponent.
Thus far, 2 states have held primaries. In those states, 48 incumbents faced an opponent in a primary.

Of those 48 incumbents who faced a primary, 8 were defeated.

State	Senate at stake	Incumbents w/o primary	House at stake	Incumbents w/o primary	% w/o primary	Primary challenger rank	Overall competitive rank
Arkansas	35	17	100	57	84.1%	16	-
California	20	8	80	28	64.3%	4	-
Idaho	35	13	70	23	51.4%	1	-
Illinois	59	36	118	80	77.9%	11	-
Indiana	25	19	100	69	83.8%	15	-
Iowa	26	13	100	68	83.5%	14	-
Montana	26	11	100	54	79.3%	12	-
Nebraska	25	11	--	--	68.8%	7	-
Nevada	12	5	42	20	66.7%	5	-
New Mexico	42	22	70	41	68.5%	6	-
North Carolina	50	30	120	60	70.3%	10	-
Ohio	17	14	99	72	85.2%	17	-
Oregon	16	11	60	51	93.9%	18	-
Pennsylvania	25	17	203	157	82.4%	13	-
South Dakota	35	20	70	31	68.9%	8	-
Texas	31	21	150	76	69.6%	9	-
Utah	16	5	75	39	59.7%	2	-
West Virginia	17	11	100	47	62.2%	3	-
Totals:	512	281	1657	975	74.8%	NA	NA

v • d • e Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections

Background	A "Competitiveness Index" for capturing competitiveness in state legislative elections • Creating an absolute measure for the "Competitiveness Index" in state legislative elections • Year-by-year comparison of results • Factors Affecting Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections

2012	Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition • States Compared by Competitiveness • Incumbents with no primary or general election opposition • Defeated incumbents • Victorious challengers • List of candidates with no major party opposition • Impact of term limits

2011	Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition • States Compared by Competitiveness • Incumbents with no primary or general election opposition • Defeated incumbents • Victorious challengers • List of candidates with no major party opposition • Impact of term limits

2010	Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats •Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition • States Compared by Competitiveness • Incumbents with no primary or general election opposition • Defeated incumbents • Victorious challengers • List of candidates with no major party opposition • Impact of term limits

2009	Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition

2007	Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition

v • d • e State legislatures

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2013	State legislative elections (2013) • Election Results (2013) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2013 Session Dates

Historical elections	2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2007

Features of state legislatures	How vacancies are filled in state legislatures • States with a full-time legislature • State legislatures with term limits • Comparison of state legislative salaries • When state legislators assume office after a general election • Population represented by state legislators • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures • State legislative sessions • Resign-to-run law • State Legislative Tracker • Official names of state legislatures • State legislative chambers that use multi-member districts • Factors Affecting Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections

State senates	Length of terms of state senators • State senators • Partisan composition of state senates • State senators sorted by year first elected to senate • State senate elections

State houses	Length of terms of state representatives • State representatives • Partisan composition of state houses • State representatives sorted by year first elected • State house elections

Leadership positions	President of the Senate • President Pro Tempore • Senate Majority Leader • Senate Minority Leader • House Majority Leader • House Minority Leader • State Speaker of the House

v • d • e Ballotpedia

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