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California's 16th Congressional District elections, 2012
2014 →
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November 6, 2012 |
June 5, 2012 |
Jim Costa  |
Zoe Lofgren |
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The 16th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Former 20th District incumbent Jim Costa won the election.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: California has a top-two primary system, in which the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, go on to the general election.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by May 21. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 22.[2]
- See also: California elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Zoe Lofgren (D), who was first elected in 1994.
According to a Cook Political Report analysis, the 16th District was one of 13 congressional districts in California that was at least somewhat competitive in 2012. The analysis rated it as Likely Democratic.[3]
This was the first election which used new district maps based on 2010 Census data. California's 16th Congressional District is located in the central portion of the state and includes Merced County and southern Madera County.[4]
Blanket primary
This was the first election year in which California's Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act was in effect. Because of this, all candidates for a seat competed in one blanket primary. The two candidates who received the most votes then advanced to the general election on November 6.
The proposition's intent was to encourage primary competition, which backers of the act said would lead to more moderate legislators being elected. The primary results did reflect an increase in competition, with California's percentage of contested primaries being much higher than the nationwide average.[5]
However, the increase in competition also led to an increase in campaign spending, due to the fact that competition within political parties lasted for the entire year rather than ending after the primary. Raphael J. Sonenshein, executive director of the Edmund G. "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A., said the following, "It's hard to argue it's a better system where the incumbent congressman has a huge war chest and nobody else has any money... At least now we can make him spend it."[5]
As a result of the blanket primary, nine congressional districts had same-party candidates battling in the November 6 general election. Of those, seven were between Democrats.[6]
There were also over a dozen same-party races in the state legislature in November.[6]
Race background
California's 16th was considered to be Leaning Democratic according to the New York Times race ratings. Incumbent Jim Costa won re-election in 2010. He defeated Republican Brian Whelan.[7]
In 2010, Jim Costa won his re-election bid against challenger Andy Vidak by just over 3%. In 2012, he faced challenger Brian Whelan in a newly redrawn district that kept Democratic parts of Fresno and lost rural parts of the county. Voter registration was 47% Democratic and 32% Republican.[8]
Candidates
General election candidates
June 5, 2012, primary results
Election results
General election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Jim Costa Incumbent |
57.4% | 84,649 | |
| Republican | Brian Daniel Whelan | 42.6% | 62,801 | |
| Total Votes | 147,450 | |||
| Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in California
The 16th District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[9][10]
- 38 percent from the 18th Congressional District
- 29 percent from the 19th Congressional District
- 24 percent from the 20th Congressional District
- 10 percent from the 21st Congressional District
Registration statistics
As of October 23, 2012, District 16 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the California Secretary of State:
| California Congressional District 16[11] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 16 | 248,668 | 116,293 | 80,240 | 52,135 | Democratic | 44.93% | -64.23% |
| "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. California's 16th District became more Republican because of redistricting.[12]
- 2012: 56D / 44R
- 2010: 57D / 43R
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. California's 16th Congressional District has a PVI of D+2, which is the 176th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 59-41 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 52-48 percent over John Kerry (D).[13]
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.
Jim Costa
| Jim Costa (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[14] | April 11, 2012 | $411,090.78 | $128,896.40 | $(123,020.71) | $416,966.47 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[15] | May 24, 2012 | $416,966.47 | $66,685.45 | $(261,287.53) | $222,364.39 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $195,581.85 | $(384,308.24) | ||||||||
Brian Daniel Whelan
| Brian Whelan (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[16] | April 15, 2012 | $62,422.50 | $78,270 | $(34,256.75) | $106,435.75 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[17] | May 24, 2012 | $106,435.75 | $18,385 | $(85,643.01) | $39,177.74 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $96,655 | $(119,899.76) | ||||||||
District history
| Candidate ballot access |
|---|
 |
| Find detailed information on ballot access requirements in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. |
2010
On November 2, 2010, Zoe Lofgren won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Daniel Sahagun and Edward Gonazalez in the general election.[18]
| U.S. House, California District 16 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Zoe Lofgren Incumbent |
67.8% | 105,841 | |
| Republican | Daniel Sahagun | 24.3% | 37,913 | |
| Libertarian | Edward Gonazalez | 7.9% | 12,304 | |
| Total Votes | 156,058 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ CNN, "California Districts Race - 2012 Election Center," accessed December 1, 2012
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Elections FAQ," accessed July 20, 2012
- ↑ The Cook Political Report, "2012 Competitive House Race Chart," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ California Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed September 25, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Los Angeles Times, "Few centrists advance in California's new primary system," June 7, 2012
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Reuters, "Democrats face Democrats in new California election system," June 6, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ Fresnobee.com, " Redistricting works in Rep. Jim Costa's favor," September 24, 2012
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "California's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Congressional Voter Registration Statistics," May 21, 2012
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in California," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Jim Costa April Quarterly," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Jim Costa Pre-Primary," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Brian Whelan April Quarterly," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Brian Whelan Pre-Primary," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
