California's 9th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
June 5, 2012 |
Jerry McNerney  |
Barbara Lee |
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The 9th Congressional District of California held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Former 11th District incumbent Jerry McNerney (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 Barbara Lee (D), who was first elected in 1998.
According to a Cook Political Report analysis, the 9th 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 9th Congressional District is located in the central portion of the state and contains most of San Joaquin 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. Despite this intention, only a few centrists successfully advanced to the general election. 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. Experts predict that this will only increase the power of the special interest groups that fund the campaigns.[5]
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
- Jerry McNerney
District 11 incumbent[7] 
Ricky Gill [8]- John McDonald[9]
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Jerry McNerney Incumbent |
55.6% | 118,373 | |
| Republican | Ricky Gill | 44.4% | 94,704 | |
| Total Votes | 213,077 | |||
| Source: California Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Jerry McNerney (D) Incumbent |
47.8% | 45,696 |
| Ricky Gill (R) |
40.2% | 38,488 |
| John McDonald (R) | 12% | 11,458 |
| Total Votes | 95,642 | |
Race background
California's 9th was considered to be Leaning Democratic according to the New York Times race ratings. Incumbent Jerry McNerney was challenged by Republican Ricky Gill, one of the National Republican Congressional Committee's "young guns."[10]
Republican challenger Ricky Gill 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
The 9th District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[12][13]
- 4 percent from the 3rd Congressional District
- 18 percent from the 10th Congressional District
- 56 percent from the 11th Congressional District
- 22 percent from the 18th Congressional District
Registration statistics
As of October 23, 2012, District 9 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the California Secretary of State:
| California Congressional District 9[14] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 9 | 290,828 | 127,498 | 106,212 | 57,118 | Democrat | 20.04% | -565.34% |
| "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 9th District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[15]
- 2012: 54D / 46R
- 2010: 51D / 49R
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 9th Congressional District has a PVI of D+2, which is the 177th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 58-42 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 51-49 percent over John Kerry (D).[16]
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.
Jerry McNerney
| Jerry McNerney (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[17] | April 15, 2012 | $780,339.54 | $270,234.80 | $(112,771.79) | $937,802.55 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[18] | May 24, 2012 | $937,802.55 | $71,907.19 | $(83,781.18) | $925,928.56 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $342,141.99 | $(196,552.97) | ||||||||
Ricky Gill
| Ricky Gill (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[19] | April 15, 2012 | $773,070.44 | $328,150.77 | $(112,635.41) | $988,585.80 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[20] | May 24, 2012 | $988,585.80 | $96,911 | $(377,086.36) | $708,410.44 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $425,061.77 | $(489,721.77) | ||||||||
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 told Hotline.[21]
In California's 9th Congressional District, The Chamber spent $485,000 to elect Ricky Gill.[21]
District history
| Candidate ballot access |
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Barbara Lee won re-election to the United States House. She defeated Gerald Hashimoto, Dave Heller, James Eyer, and Larry Allen in the general election.[22]
| U.S. House, California District 9 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Barbara Lee Incumbent |
84.3% | 180,400 | |
| Republican | Gerald Hashimoto | 10.8% | 23,054 | |
| Green | Dave Heller | 2.3% | 4,848 | |
| Libertarian | James Eyer | 1.9% | 4,113 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Larry Allen | 0.8% | 1,670 | |
| Total Votes | 214,085 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
External links
- Ricky Gill campaign website
- John McDonald campaign website
- Jerry McNerney campaign website
- Mercurynews.com, "Young challenger taps family ties in Congress bid," April 7, 2012 (dead link)
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 5.2 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
- ↑ "McNerney launches re-election campaign", ibabuzz.com, July 28, 2011
- ↑ "Twenty-four-year-old launches bid for congressional seat ", sacbee.com, May 18, 2011
- ↑ "Mountain House resident John McDonald to run for 9th Congressional seat", lodinews.com, October 13, 2011
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ NRCC "Young Guns 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, "Jerry McNerney April Quarterly," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Jerry McNerney Pre-Primary," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ricky Gill April Quarterly," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ricky Gill Pre-Primary," accessed July 10, 2012
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 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
