Florida's 16th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
August 14, 2012 |
Vern Buchanan  |
Thomas J. Rooney |
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The 16th Congressional District of Florida held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Vern Buchanan won re-election on November 6, 2012.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Florida is one of 21 states to use a closed primary system.
Voter registration: Voters were required to register to vote in the primary by July 16, 2012, which was 29 days before the primary took place.[2] (Information about registering to vote)
- See also: Florida elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Tom Rooney (R), who was first elected in 2008. Rooney ran in the 17th District in 2012.[3]
This was the first election which used new district maps based on 2010 Census data. Florida's 16th Congressional District is located in west central Florida and includes all of Sarasota county, and part of Manatee county.[4]
Candidates
General election candidates
August 14, 2012, primary results
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Election Result
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Vern Buchanan Incumbent |
53.6% | 187,147 | |
| Democratic | Keith Fitzgerald | 46.4% | 161,929 | |
| Total Votes | 349,076 | |||
| Source: Florida Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Race background
Florida's 16th District was included in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Red to Blue List," which identified districts that the organization specifically targeted to flip from Republican to Democratic control.[7]
Blue vs. Red
Possible race ratings are:
Solid Democratic
Likely Democratic
Lean DemocraticTossup
Lean Republican
Likely Republican
Solid Republican
Florida's 16th District is a leaning Republican district.
In June 2012, Sabato's Crystal Ball rated Florida's 16th as a leaning Republican district.[8]
Florida's 16th was also considered to be Leaning Republican according to the New York Times race ratings.[9]
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Florida
Prior to redistricting the 16th District stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Coast and included parts of Charlotte, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Okeechobee, St. Lucie, Martin, and Palm Beach counties. Also included within the district were Port Charlotte, Port St. Lucie, and Palm Beach.
The 16th District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district was composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[10][11]
- 2 percent from the 11th Congressional District
- 98 percent from the 13th Congressional District
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. Florida's 16th District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[12]
- 2012: 45D / 55R
- 2010: 44D / 56R
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. Florida's 16th Congressional District has a PVI of R+5, which is the 189th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 51-49 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 55-45 percent over John Kerry (D).[13]
Campaign donors
2012
| Vern Buchanan (2012)[14] Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[15] | April 15, 2012 | $1,122,759.82 | $484,332.21 | $(133,893.41) | $1,473,198.62 | ||||
| July Quarterly[16] | July 15, 2012 | $1,473,198.62 | $335,458.83 | $(287,984.22) | $1,520,673.23 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $819,791.04 | $(421,877.63) | ||||||||
According to a Herald Tribune article on July 16, 2012, Buchanan raised more than $330,000 after April 1. The campaign was required to refund illegal campaign donations and pay court-related expenses for four federal investigations.[17]
District history
| Candidate ballot access |
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Tom Rooney won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Jim Horn (D) and William Dean (I) in the general election.[18]
| U.S. House, Florida District 16 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Thomas J. Rooney Incumbent |
66.8% | 162,285 | |
| Democratic | Jim Horn | 33.1% | 80,327 | |
| Independent | William Dean | 0.1% | 151 | |
| Total Votes | 242,763 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Florida, 2012
External links
- Keith Fitzgerald's Campaign Website
- Vern Buchanan's Campaign Website
- Updated Florida Congressional Districts List
- Florida 2012 Redistricting Map
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "2012 General Election Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Florida Department of State, "Register to Vote," accessed April 25, 2012
- ↑ The Miami Herald, "High-placed source: Allen West considering primary bid v. Tom Rooney" accessed December 3, 2011
- ↑ Florida 2012 Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed July 5, 2012
- ↑ The Florida Independent "Keith Fitzgerald officially announces he’s challenging Vern Buchanan" accessed February 14, 2012
- ↑ Bradenton Herald "Redistricting plan joins Manatee, Sarasota" accessed February 14, 2012
- ↑ DCCC, "Red to Blue 2012"
- ↑ Center for Politics, "2012 House Ratings," Updated June 27, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 7, 2012
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Florida's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Florida," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Vern Buchanan Summary Reports" accessed July 18, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "April Quarterly" accessed July 18, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "July Quarterly" accessed July 18, 2012
- ↑ Herald Tribune, "Buchanan legal expenses weigh on campaign funding" accessed July 18, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
