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Arizona's 4th Congressional District elections, 2012
2014 →
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November 6, 2012 |
August 28, 2012 |
Paul Gosar  |
Ed Pastor  |
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The 4th Congressional District of Arizona held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Paul Gosar (R) was re-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.[1] He had represented the 1st District before running for the 4th District in 2012.
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Arizona's primary system is considered semi-closed. Unaffiliated voters may choose which party's primary they will vote in, but voters registered with a party can only vote in that party's primary.[2]
Voter registration: Voters were required to register to vote in the primary by July 30. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 9.[3]
- See also: Arizona elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Ed Pastor (D), who was first elected in 1991. As a result of redistricting, Pastor ran for election in the 7th Congressional District.[4]
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. The 4th District covers the entire western portion of Arizona. Mohave, Yavapai, Gila, Pinal, La Paz and Yuma Counties are included in the new district boundaries.[5]
Candidates
General election candidates
August 28, 2012, primary results
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Americans Elect candidate
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Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Paul Gosar Incumbent |
66.8% | 162,907 | |
| Democratic | Johnnie Robinson | 28.4% | 69,154 | |
| Libertarian | Joe Pamelia | 3.8% | 9,306 | |
| Independent | Richard Grayson | 1% | 2,393 | |
| Total Votes | 243,760 | |||
| Source: Arizona Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Arizona
The 3rd District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[10][11]
- 41 percent from the 1st Congressional District
- 25 percent from the 2nd Congressional District
- 22 percent from the 6th Congressional District
- 11 percent from the 7th Congressional District
Registration statistics
As of October 22, 2012, District 4 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the Arizona Secretary of State:
| Arizona Congressional District 4[12] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 4 | 366,297 | 81,646 | 153,708 | 131,643 | Republican | 88.26% | 240.17% |
| "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 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. Arizona's 4th District became more Republican because of redistricting.[13]
- 2012: 31D / 69R
- 2010: 41D / 59R
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. Arizona's 4th Congressional District has a PVI of R+16, which is the 40th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 65-35 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 64-36 percent over John Kerry (D).[14]
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 candidate reports.
Paul Gosar
| Paul Gosar (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[15] | April 15, 2012 | $256,044.18 | $115,078.65 | $(36,759.66) | $334,363.17 | ||||
| July Quarterly[16] | July 15, 2012 | $334,363.17 | $184,444.67 | $(71,726.80) | $447,081.04 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[17] | August 16, 2012 | $447,081.04 | $84,560 | $(181,720.47) | $349,920.57 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $384,083.32 | $(290,206.93) | ||||||||
Ron Gould
| Ron Gould (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[18] | April 14, 2012 | $0 | $116,425 | $(11,591.28) | $104,833.72 | ||||
| July Quarterly[19] | July 16, 2012 | $104,833.72 | $73,570.28 | $(68,539.76) | $109,864.24 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[20] | August 16, 2012 | $109,864.24 | $99,355.32 | $(101,236.52) | $107,983.04 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $289,350.6 | $(181,367.56) | ||||||||
Rick Murphy
| Rick Murphy (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| July Quarterly[21] | July 13, 2012 | $0 | $9,600 | $(5,309.76) | $4,290.24 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[22] | August 16, 2012 | $18,764.06 | $32,900 | $(41,116.42) | $10,547.64 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $42,500 | $(46,426.18) | ||||||||
District history
| Candidate ballot access |
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| Find detailed information on ballot access requirements in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. |
2010
On November 2, 2010, Ed Pastor won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Janet Contreras, Joe Cobb and Rebecca Dewitt in the general election.[23]
| U.S. House, Arizona District 4 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Ed Pastor Incumbent |
66.9% | 61,524 | |
| Republican | Janet Contreras | 27.5% | 25,300 | |
| Libertarian | Joe Cobb | 3% | 2,718 | |
| Green | Rebecca Dewitt | 2.6% | 2,365 | |
| Total Votes | 91,907 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "2012 General Election Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Fair Vote, "Congressional and Presidential Primaries: Open, Closed, Semi-Closed, and 'Top Two,'" accessed January 2, 2014
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "Important Dates," accessed June 29, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Phoenix Business Journal "Gould in, Gosar moves, Quayle ponders as 2012 Arizona races take shape," January 11, 2012
- ↑ Arizona Redistricting, "Map" accessed July 7, 2012
- ↑ The Arizona Republic, "Democrat running in Arizona's District 4," February 12, 2012
- ↑ Roll Call "Paul Gosar to Switch Districts to Seek Re-Election," January 9, 2012
- ↑ Primary candidate list
- ↑ The Hill, "Embattled sheriff drops Arizona House bid," May 11, 12
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Arizona's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ Arizona Secretary of State, "State of Arizona Registration Report," April 23, 2012
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Arizona," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Paul Gosar April Quarterly," accessed August 23, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Paul Gosar July Quarterly," accessed August 23, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Paul Gosar Pre-Primary," accessed August 23, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ron Gould April Quarterly," accessed August 23, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ron Gould July Quarterly," accessed August 23, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ron Gould Pre-Primary," accessed August 23, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Rick Murphy July Quarterly," accessed August 23, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Rick Murphy Pre-Primary," accessed August 23, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
