Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Review Articles: Arizona Congressional Seats
December 6, 2012
By Ballotpedia's Congressional team
MADISON, Wisconsin: Arizona had nine U.S. House seats on the ballot in 2012, including a brand new seat created by redistricting. Seven incumbents sought re-election to the U.S House, all to different seats, and six were victorious on November 6, 2012. As for the other two incumbents:
- District 3 incumbent Benjamin Quayle ran for re-election in the 6th District and was defeated by 5th District incumbent David Schweikert in the Republican primary.
- District 6 incumbent Jeff Flake (R) ran successfully for election to the U.S. Senate.
According to the New York Times race ratings in October 2012, three of the nine districts were considered to be in play. Those were the 1st, 2nd and 9th Districts. Indeed, those races were the last to be called out of the group. In the end, Democrats Ann Kirkpatrick and Ron Barber won the previously Republican-owned 1st and 2nd Districts, and the newly created district 9 seat was won by Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.
Here are the candidates who won election.
| District | General Election Candidates | Incumbent | 2012 Winner | Partisan Switch? |
| 1st |  Ann Kirkpatrick Jonathan Paton Kim Allen |
Paul Gosar | Ann Kirkpatrick |
Yes |
| 2nd | Ron Barber Martha McSally Anthony Powell (Write-in) |
Trent Franks | Ron Barber |
Yes |
| 3rd | Raul Grijalva Gabriela Saucedo Mercer Blanca Guerra |
Benjamin Quayle | Raul Grijalva |
Yes |
| 4th | Johnnie Robinson Paul Gosar Joe Pamelia Richard Grayson |
Ed Pastor | Paul Gosar |
Yes |
| 5th | Morgan Spencer Matt Salmon |
David Schweikert | Matt Salmon |
No |
| 6th | Matt Jette David Schweikert Jack Anderson Mark Salazar |
Jeff Flake | David Schweikert |
No |
| 7th | Ed Pastor Joe Cobb |
Raul Grijalva | Ed Pastor |
No |
| 8th | Gene Scharer Trent Franks Stephen Dolgos |
Ron Barber | Trent Franks |
Yes |
| 9th | Kyrsten Sinema Vernon Parker Powell Gammill |
N/A | Kyrsten Sinema |
N/A |
| Members of the U.S. House from Arizona -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 3 | 5 | |
| Republican Party | 5 | 4 | |
| Total | 8 | 9 | |
Margin of victory for winners
There were a total of 9 seats up for election in 2012 in Arizona. The following table shows the margin of victory for each district winner, which is calculated by examining the percentage difference between the top-two vote getters. If the race was uncontested, the margin of victory is listed as 100%.
| District | Winner | Margin of Victory | Total Vote | Top Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. House, Arizona District 1 General Election | Ann Kirkpatrick | 3.6% | 251,595 | Jonathon Paton |
| U.S. House, Arizona District 2 General Election | Ron Barber | 0.8% | 292,279 | Martha McSally |
| U.S. House, Arizona District 3 General Election | Raul Grijalva | 21.2% | 168,698 | Gabriela Saucedo Mercer |
| U.S. House, Arizona District 4 General Election | Paul Gosar | 38.5% | 243,760 | Johnnie Robinson |
| U.S. House, Arizona District 5 General Election | Matt Salmon | 34.4% | 273,059 | Spencer Morgan |
| U.S. House, Arizona District 6 General Election | David Schweikert | 28% | 293,177 | Matt Jette |
| U.S. House, Arizona District 7 General Election | Ed Pastor | 63.5% | 127,827 | Joe Cobb |
| U.S. House, Arizona District 8 General Election | Trent Franks | 28.3% | 272,791 | Gene Scharer |
| U.S. House, Arizona District 9 General Election | Kyrsten Sinema | 4.1% | 250,141 | Vernon B. Parker |
National picture
Both chambers of the United States Congress remain split after the November 6, 2012 election. Democrats increased their majority in the U.S. Senate while cutting into the Republicans majority in the U.S. House.
Of the 435 candidates who won election to the U.S. House, 85 of them were challengers, which represents 19.5 percent of U.S. House members. Of those 85, 50 are Democratic and 35 are Republican. A total of 27 incumbents were defeated -- 10 Democratic and 17 Republican.
| 2012 United States House General Election Results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Total Winners | Incumbent Winners | Defeated Incumbents | Incumbent Re-Election Rate** | Non-Incumbent Winners |
| Democratic | 201 | 151 | 10 | 93.8% | 50 |
| Republican | 234 | 198 | 17 | 92.1% | 35 |
| TOTALS | 435 | 349 | 27 | 92.8% | 85 |
| **Note: The incumbent re-election rate is calculated by dividing the total incumbents winners by the total incumbents who appeared on the general election ballot. | |||||
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See also
- Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
- November 6, 2012 election results
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Preview Articles: Southwest Regional State Executive Officials
- United States Congressional election results, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona, 2012
- Arizona's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012
- Arizona's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2012
- Arizona's 3rd Congressional District elections, 2012
- Arizona's 4th Congressional District elections, 2012
- Arizona's 5th Congressional District elections, 2012
- Arizona's 6th Congressional District elections, 2012
- Arizona's 7th Congressional District elections, 2012
- Arizona's 8th Congressional District elections, 2012
- Arizona's 9th Congressional District elections, 2012
- Arizona elections, 2012
- National contested primary average during the 2012 U.S. congressional elections
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