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Connecticut's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
August 14, 2012 |
Joe Courtney  |
Joe Courtney |
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The 2nd Congressional District of Connecticut held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Joe Courtney won re-election for his fourth term in office.[1][2]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Connecticut was one of 16 states to use an open primary system. However, there was a three month waiting period if a voter switched parties.[3]
Voter registration: Voters could register in person to vote in the primary up until noon the day before the primary.[3] (Information about registering to vote)
- See also: Connecticut elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Joe Courtney (D), who was first elected in 2006.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Connecticut's 2nd Congressional District covered the eastern half of the state.[4]
Candidates
General election candidates
August 14, 2012, primary results
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Election results
General Election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Joe Courtney Incumbent |
68.2% | 204,708 | |
| Republican | Paul M Formica | 29.4% | 88,103 | |
| Green | Colin D. Bennet | 1.2% | 3,638 | |
| Libertarian | Dan Reale | 1.2% | 3,511 | |
| Total Votes | 299,960 | |||
| Source: Connecticut Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Republican primary
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Paul Formica |
66.9% | 14,256 |
| Daria Novak | 33.1% | 7,050 |
| Total Votes | 21,306 | |
Race background
Blue vs. Red
Possible race ratings are:
Solid Democratic
Likely Democratic
Lean DemocraticTossup
Lean Republican
Likely Republican
Solid Republican
Connecticut's 2nd District was a solidly Democratic district.
In June 2012, Sabato's Crystal Ball rated Connecticut's 2nd as solidly Democratic.[9]
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Connecticut'
The Connecticut Supreme Court completed the redistricting of the state’s five congressional districts. The new districts closely resembled the configuration adopted 10 years ago when Connecticut lost one district due to declining population.[10] Under the new map, less than 30,000 residents statewide were affected by the changes.[10]
In the 2nd District, changed included the transfer of Durham to the 3rd District and the loss of some of Glastonbury to the 1st District[10]
Democrats held a 5-4 advantage on the bipartisan Reapportionment Commission and the commission honored the long-standing tradition of unanimous agreement.[10]
The district was composed entirely of the old 2nd Congressional District.[11][12]
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. Connecticut's 2nd District's partisanship was unaffected by redistricting.[13]
- 2012: 56D / 44R
- 2010: 56D / 44R
Cook Political Report's PVI
In 2012, Cook Political Report released its updated figures on the Partisan Voter Index, which measured each congressional district's partisanship relative to the rest of the country. Connecticut's 2nd Congressional District had a PVI of D+6, which was the 136th 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, John Kerry (D) won the district 55-45 percent over George W. Bush (R).[14]
Campaign donors
2012
| Joe Courtney (2012)[15] Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[16] | April 15, 2012 | $716,651.01 | $181,381.55 | $(73,232.09) | $824,800.47 | ||||
| Pre-Convention[17] | May 2, 2012 | $824,800.47 | $22,997.34 | $(31,740.69) | $816,057.12 | ||||
| July Quarterly[18] | July 15, 2012 | $816,057.12 | $211,204.59 | $(101,137.55) | $926,124.16 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $415,583.48 | $(206,110.33) | ||||||||
Joe Courtney raised $211,000 in contributions in the second quarter between April 25 and June 30, raising his total in the campaign cycle to $1.1 million.[19]
District history
| Candidate ballot access |
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Joe Courtney won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Janet Peckinpaugh (R), G. Scott Deshefy (G), Daniel Reale (I), Muriel P. Bianchi (I) in the general election.[20]
| U.S. House, Connecticut District 2 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Joe Courtney Incumbent |
58.7% | 140,888 | |
| Republican | Janet Peckinpaugh | 39.9% | 95,671 | |
| Green | G. Scott Deshefy | 1.4% | 3,344 | |
| Independent | Daniel Reale | 0% | 27 | |
| Independent | Muriel P. Bianchi | 0% | 19 | |
| Total Votes | 239,949 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Connecticut, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Connecticut, 2012
External links
- Joe Courtney's Campaign Website
- Daria Novak's Campaign Website
- Christopher Coutu's Campaign Website
- Daniel Reale's Campaign Website
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "2012 General Election Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ New Haven Register, "Joe Courtney wins 4th term representing Connecticut's 2nd District" accessed November 14, 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Connecticut Secretary of State Elections Division, "Registration Deadlines" accessed April 17, 2012
- ↑ Connecticut Redistricting, "Map" accessed July 7, 2012
- ↑ Norwich Bulletin "Republican declares 2nd run for Congress" accessed December 1, 2011
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedlist - ↑ AP Results "U.S. House primary election results" accessed August 14, 2012
- ↑ Connecticut Secretary of State "Candidate List" accessed September 5, 2012
- ↑ Center for Politics, "2012 House Ratings," Updated June 27, 2012
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Norwich Bulletin, "Our View: Redistricting map has minimal changes" accessed February 16, 2012
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Connecticut's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Connecticut," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Joe Courtney Summary Reports" accessed July 18, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "April Quarterly" accessed July 18, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Pre-Convention" accessed July 18, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "July Quarterly" accessed July 18, 2012
- ↑ The Day Connecticut, "Courtney, McMahon pad leads in campaign fundraising " accessed July 18, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
