California's 3rd Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
June 5, 2012 |
John Garamendi  |
Dan Lungren  |
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The 3rd Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Former 10th District incumbent John Garamendi (D) 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 Dan Lungren (R), who was first elected in 2004.
According to a Cook Political Report analysis, the 3rd District was one of 13 congressional districts in California that was at least somewhat competitive in 2012. The analysis rated it as Leans Democratic.[3]
This was the first election which used new district maps based on 2010 Census data. California's 3rd Congressional District is located in the north-central portion of the state and includes the counties of Glenn, Lake, Colusa, Yolo, Solano, Sutter, and Yuba, as well as southwestern Sacramento 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]
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]
Candidates
General election candidates
June 5, 2012, primary results
- John Garamendi
District 10 incumbent - Tony Carlos[7]
- Eugene Ray
- Rick Tubbs[8]
- Kim Dolbow Vann [9]
- Note: The following candidates withdrew prior to the primary: Timothy Core[7] and Charlie Schaupp[8]
Election results
General election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  John Garamendi Incumbent |
54.2% | 126,882 | |
| Republican | Kim Vann | 45.8% | 107,086 | |
| Total Votes | 233,968 | |||
| Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Race background
California's 3rd was considered to be Leaning Democratic according to the New York Times race ratings. The district was historically democratic-leaning but included more historically conservative-leaning areas after redistricting.[10]
Republican challenger Kim Dolbow Vann was included in the National Republican Congressional Committee's Young Guns program. The program highlighted challengers who represented the GOP's best chances to pick up congressional seats in the general election.[11]
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in California
District 10 incumbent John Garamendi was displaced into the newly drawn 3rd.
According to the Washington Post, the newly drawn 3rd District was a battleground for Republicans and Democrats fighting for control of the House.[12]
The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[13][14]
- 25 percent from the 1st Congressional District
- 31 percent from the 2nd Congressional District
- 7 percent from the 3rd Congressional District
- 14 percent from the 7th Congressional District
- 22 percent from the 10th Congressional District
Registration statistics
As of October 23, 2012, District 3 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the California Secretary of State:
| California Congressional District 3[15] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 3 | 318,936 | 130,931 | 104,531 | 83,466 | Democrat | 25.25% | 34.46% |
| "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 3rd District became more Republican because of redistricting.[16]
- 2012: 53D / 47R
- 2010: 62D / 38R
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 3rd Congressional District has a PVI of D+1, which is the 182nd most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 56-44 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 52-48 percent over John Kerry (D).[17]
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.
John Garamendi
| John Garamendi (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[18] | April 15, 2012 | $313,178.96 | $262,183.09 | $(319,913.79) | $255,448.26 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[19] | May 25, 2012 | $255,448.26 | $133,658.20 | $(256,849.45) | $132,257.01 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $395,841.29 | $(576,763.24) | ||||||||
Kim Dolbow Vann
| Kim Vann (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[20] | April 15, 2012 | $190,648.62 | $120,504.99 | $(94,507.47) | $216,646.14 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[21] | May 24, 2012 | $216,646.14 | $72,434 | $(120,374.76) | $168,705.38 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $192,938.99 | $(214,882.23) | ||||||||
Chamber of commerce spending
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent a total of $3.3 million on television advertisements aimed at electing ten California Republican congressional candidates, Democratic sources have told Hotline.[22]
In California's 3rd Congressional District, The Chamber spent $497,000 to elect Kim Dolbow Vann.[22]
District history
| Candidate ballot access |
|---|
 |
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Dan Lungren won re-election to the United States House. He defeated Ami Bera, Jerry L. Leidecker, Douglas Arthur Tuma, and Mike Roskey in the general election.[23]
| U.S. House, California District 3 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Dan Lungren Incumbent |
50.1% | 131,169 | |
| Democratic | Ami Bera | 43.2% | 113,128 | |
| American Independent | Jerry L. Leidecker | 2.5% | 6,577 | |
| Libertarian | Douglas Arthur Tuma | 2.4% | 6,275 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Mike Roskey | 1.8% | 4,789 | |
| Total Votes | 261,938 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
External links
- Tony Carlos campaign website
- Tim Core campaign website
- Charles Schaupp campaign website
- Rick Tubbs campaign website
- Kim Dolbow Vann campaign website
- John Garamendi campaign website
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
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Sutter deputy D.A. joins congressional race", appeal-democrat.com, November 14, 2011
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "GOP ad ties U.S. Rep. Garamendi to Obama", appeal-democrat.com, October 20, 2011
- ↑ "Colusa County supervisor running for Congress", orland-press-register.com, August 19, 2011
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ NRCC "Young Guns 2012"
- ↑ Washington Post blog, "The 10 House districts that might surprise you," May 11, 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, "John Garamendi April Quarterly," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "John Garamendi Pre-Primary," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Kim Vann April Quarterly," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Kim Vann Pre-Primary," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 National Journal, "Chamber Drops $3.3 Million for California Repubs," September 27, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
