Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Utah Congressional Seats
November 2, 2012
By Ballotpedia's Congressional team
| Utah's Congressional Elections in 2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Senate Election? | U.S. House seats | Possible competitive races? | |
| Yes | 4 | 1 | |
SALT LAKE CITY: Utah: Utah has four U.S. House seats on the ballot in 2012 and one U.S. Senate seat. After the 2010 census, the district map was re-drawn to add a fourth district to the U.S. House, adding a new seat for the 2012 elections. The 1st and 3rd district incumbents are running for re-election in their districts, which are both Republican held seats. The incumbent for the 2nd district decided to run for the newly created 4th district seat instead.
According to the New York Times, the newly created 4th District seat is a toss-up.[1] Real Clear Politics further ranks the seat as the 42nd most competitive race out of 50 races in the U.S. House election.[2]
Currently, the Democratic Party holds one Congressional seat and the Republican Party holds two; one new district was added so the fourth seat is a toss-up. The U.S. Senate seat is currently held by Republican Orrin Hatch.
In Utah, the polls are open at 7 AM and close at 8 PM local time.[3]
See also: State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2012)
U.S. Senate
Incumbent Orrin Hatch (R) is running for re-election and was first elected to the office in 1977. Both Hatch and Democratic nominee Scott Howell (Utah) faced opposition in their primaries which were held on June 26. In addition to Howell, one Constitution Party candidate and two Independent candidates are also seeking the open Senate seat. According to race ratings, Utah's U.S. Senate race is considered a solid Republican seat and Hatch is expected to be re-elected easily.
| State | General Election Candidates | Incumbent | 2012 Winner | Partisan Switch? |
| Utah Class 1 Senate seat |  Scott Howell (Utah) Orrin Hatch Shaun McCausland Bill Barron Daniel Geery |
Orrin Hatch | Pending | Pending |
U.S. House
Republicans are targeting incumbent Jim Matheson (D) in the 4th District. Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love is looking to unseat Matheson. Love raised more than $1 million in the third reporting quarter. She nearly doubled Matheson's total figures for that quarter. Love would be the first minority elected to the U.S. House from Utah. A recent poll showed Love with a double-digit lead heading into the election.[4]
Candidates running by District
| District | General Election Candidates | Incumbent | 2012 Winner | Partisan Switch? |
| 1st | Donna McAleer Rob Bishop Sherry Phipps |
Rob Bishop | Pending | Pending |
| 2nd | Jay Seegmiller Chris Stewart Jonathan Garrard Joseph Andrade Charles Kimball |
Jim Matheson | Pending | Pending |
| 3rd | Soren Simonsen Jason Chaffetz |
Jason Chaffetz | Pending | Pending |
| 4th | Jim Matheson Mia Love Jim Vein |
N/A | Pending | Pending |
Partisan breakdown by district
| Members of the U.S. House from Utah -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 1 | 1 | |
| Republican Party | 2 | 3 | |
| Total | 3 | 4 | |
Comparison of new and old redistricting maps
| Congressional Redistricting Map
For more information, view Redistricting in Utah. |
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Articles
- Challenger Cooke blasts Governor Herbert over lack of transparency September 30
- 2012 elections review: Six incumbents fall in Utah legislative primaries June 27
- 2012 elections preview: Utah voters to select winners in congressional, legislative primaries June 25
See also
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Utah State Legislature
- Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
- November 6, 2012 election results
- United States Congressional election results, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections in Utah, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Utah, 2012
- Utah elections, 2012
- National contested primary average during the 2012 U.S. congressional elections
Footnotes
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