Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Review Articles: Central Regional State Executive Officials
December 13, 2012
By Jennifer Springer and Maresa Strano
MADISON, Wisconsin: It's an off-year for gubernatorial elections in Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Texas, which means the region had all eyes fixed on the state executive races for public service commissioners, corporation commissioners, public utilities commissioners and railroad commissioners.
Seven of the eight state executive incumbents up for election ran and won in the general election on November 6, 2012. The only incumbent who did not seek re-election was Buddy Garcia (R) of the Texas Railroad Commission.[1] Christi Craddick (R) will succeed him as commissioner, having been elected to a six-year term in the general election.[2]
Incumbent Texas railroad commissioner Barry Smitherman (R) was elected to a full six year term on November 6, 2012. Smitherman was originally appointed to serve out the remaining two years of the term left by commissioner of Michael Williams, who resigned to run for Congress.[2]
Nebraska public service commission incumbents Frank Landis (R) and Tim Schram (R) ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections.[3]
For Oklahoma's short-term corporation commission seat, Patrice Douglas was elected to fill out the remainder of her predecessor's term, expiring in 2015. She faced neither primary nor general election opposition and won election to the remainder of her term.
For Oklahoma's full-term corporation commission seat, incumbent Bob Anthony won the June 26th primary and faced no Democratic challenger in the November 6 general election, winning re-election.[4]
Both of the incumbents who sought election in 2012 to the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission were successful. Chris Nelson (R) defeated Nick Nemec (D), and Kristie Fiegen (R) overtook Matt McGovern (D) and Russel Clarke (L) to win the general election on November 6, 2012.[5]
(See official vote totals below)
National picture
There were 94 total seats up for election across 22 states this year, including 11 Governors, 9 Lt. Governors, 10 Attorneys General, 7 Secretaries of State and 57 down ballot seats.
- Before the election, 51 of these offices were held by Democrats, 38 were held by Republicans, and the remaining 4 positions were held by non partisan or Independent officers . After the election, Democrats hold 49 (net loss of 2 seats), Republicans 42 (net gain of 4 seats), and Independents/non partisans only 1 (loss of 3).
- Of the 69 incumbents who ran for election in 2012, 7 were defeated-6 Democrat and 1 Republican. Democratic Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau narrowly escaped that fate, having had to wait for her challenger to cancel a self-financed recount on December 11, 2012 before being named the official winner.[6]
- Out of 25 total open seats, 13 were won by Democrats, 11 went to Republican, and 1 went to an Independent (nonpartisan) candidate. In all, there are 34 new state executives as a result of the election. That number could become 35 if the Montana recount results show Juneau's challenger, Republican Sandy Welch, is the winner.
| 2012 State Executive Election Partisan Breakdown | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Before 2012 Election | After 2012 Election | Net Change | ||||||||
| Democratic | 51 | 50 | -1 | ||||||||
| Republican | 38 | 43 | +5 | ||||||||
| Independent (Nonpartisan) | 4 | 1 | -3 | ||||||||
| TOTALS | 931 vacant | 94 | |||||||||
| 2012 State Executive Election Analysis | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Open Seat Winners | Defeated Incumbents | New State Executives | ||||||||
| Democratic | 13 | 6 | 15 | ||||||||
| Republican | 11 | 1 | 18 | ||||||||
| Independent (Nonpartisan) | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| TOTALS | 25 | 7 | 34 | ||||||||
Official results
Nebraska
| Nebraska Public Service Commission District 1 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Frank Landis Incumbent |
100% | 114,019 | |
| Total Votes | 114,019 | |||
| Election results via Nebraska Secretary of State | ||||
| Nebraska Public Service Commission District 3 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Tim Schram Incumbent |
100% | 127,390 | |
| Total Votes | 127,390 | |||
| Election results via Nebraska Secretary of State | ||||
Oklahoma
| Oklahoma Corporation Commission Short-term seat General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Patrice Douglas Incumbent |
100%% | 0 | |
| Total Votes | 0 | |||
| Election results via Oklahoma State Board of Elections | ||||
South Dakota
| South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Seat 1 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Chris Nelson Incumbent |
67% | 226,508 | |
| Democratic | Nick Nemec | 33% | 111,405 | |
| Total Votes | 337,913 | |||
| Election results via South Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
| South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Seat 2 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Matt McGovern | 40.4% | 140,443 | |
| Republican | Kristie Fiegen Incumbent |
53.9% | 187,383 | |
| Libertarian | Russell Clarke | 5.7% | 19,696 | |
| Total Votes | 347,522 | |||
| Election results via South Dakota Secretary of State | ||||
Texas
| Texas Railroad Commissioner 2 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Christi Craddick |
56.2% | 4,336,499 | |
| Democratic | Dale Henry | 39.6% | 3,057,733 | |
| Libertarian | Vivekananda Wall | 2.2% | 173,001 | |
| Green | Chris Kennedy | 2% | 153,664 | |
| Total Votes | 7,720,897 | |||
| Election results via Texas Secretary of State | ||||
| Texas Railroad Commissioner 3 General Election, 2012 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Barry Smitherman Incumbent |
73.8% | 4,537,625 | |
| Libertarian | Jaime Perez | 18.3% | 1,127,074 | |
| Green | Josh Wendel | 7.9% | 486,485 | |
| Total Votes | 6,151,184 | |||
| Election results via Texas Secretary of State | ||||
See also
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Review Articles: Nebraska Congressional Seats
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Review Articles: Oklahoma Congressional Seats
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Review Articles: South Dakota Congressional Seats
- Ballotpedia's 2012 General Election Review Articles: Texas Congressional Seats
- Ballotpedia:2012 general election preview articles
- November 6, 2012 election results
- State executive official elections, 2012
- Ballotpedia:Statewide projections for the November 6, 2012 elections
- Nebraska state executive official elections, 2012
- Oklahoma state executive official elections, 2012
- South Dakota state executive official elections, 2012
- Texas state executive official elections, 2012
Footnotes
|
- ↑ CBS Dallas/Fort Worth, "Perry Appoints Garcia To Texas Railroad Commission," April 13, 2012
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Amarillo Globe News, "Poll: Craddick, Parker lead Railroad Commission races," May 28, 2012
- ↑ Nebraska Secretary of State, "Election Results" accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Results: For Corporation Commissioner," accessed June 26, 2012
- ↑ South Dakota Secretary of State, "Statewide races-Election Results," accessed November 7, 2012
- ↑ The Missoulian, "Welch drops request for recount in school superintendent race," December 12, 2012
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