Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Review Articles: Minnesota Congressional Seats

December 6, 2012

By Ballotpedia's Congressional team

MADISON, Wisconsin: Minnesota had eight U.S. House seats on the ballot in 2012. All eight incumbents ran for re-election on November 6, 2012, and seven were victories.

The exception was district 8 Republican incumbent Chip Cravaack, who lost by 9 percentage points to Democratic challenger Rick Nolan in the general election.

Here are the candidates who won election.

Members of the U.S. House from Minnesota -- Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	4	5
	Republican Party	4	3
Total		8	8

Margin of victory for winners

There were a total of 8 seats up for election in 2012 in Minnesota. 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, Minnesota District 1 General Election	Tim Walz	15.2%	335,880	Allen Quist
U.S. House, Minnesota District 2 General Election	John Kline	8.2%	358,446	Mike Obermueller
U.S. House, Minnesota District 3 General Election	Erik Paulsen	16.3%	382,705	Brian Barnes
U.S. House, Minnesota District 4 General Election	Betty McCollum	30.8%	347,991	Tony Hernandez
U.S. House, Minnesota District 5 General Election	Keith Ellison	49.3%	351,969	Chris Fields
U.S. House, Minnesota District 6 General Election	Michele Bachmann	1.2%	355,153	Jim Graves
U.S. House, Minnesota District 7 General Election	Collin Peterson	25.5%	327,576	Lee Byberg
U.S. House, Minnesota District 8 General Election	Rick Nolan	8.9%	353,663	Chip Cravaack

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.

U.S. Senate Partisan Breakdown Party As of November 2012 After the 2012 Election      Democratic Party 51 53      Republican Party 47 45      Independent 2 2 Total 100 100

U.S. House Partisan Breakdown Party As of November 2012 After the 2012 Election      Democratic Party 193 201      Republican Party 242 234 Total 435 435

See also

• Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
• November 6, 2012 election results
• United States Congressional election results, 2012
• United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, 2012
  • Minnesota's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012
  • Minnesota's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2012
  • Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District elections, 2012
  • Minnesota's 4th Congressional District elections, 2012
  • Minnesota's 5th Congressional District elections, 2012
  • Minnesota's 6th Congressional District elections, 2012
  • Minnesota's 7th Congressional District elections, 2012
  • Minnesota's 8th Congressional District elections, 2012
• Minnesota elections, 2012
• National contested primary average during the 2012 U.S. congressional elections