Georgia's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
July 31, 2012 |
Jack Kingston  |
Jack Kingston |
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The 1st Congressional District of Georgia held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Jack Kingston won the election by nearly a 2 to 1 ratio.[1][2]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Georgia is one of 16 states to use an open primary system. When runoff elections are used, voters must vote in same party's runoff election as they voted for in the first round election.
Voter registration: Voters must have registered to vote by July 2, 2012, to vote in the primary election.[3] (Information about registering to vote)
- See also: Georgia elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Jack Kingston (R), who was first elected in 1992.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Georgia's 1st Congressional District comprises the entire coastal area of Sea Islands and much of the rural southeastern part of the state. In addition to Savannah, the district includes a few mid-sized cities such as Brunswick, Valdosta, Douglas and Waycross.[4]
Candidates
General election candidates
July 31, 2012, primary results
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Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Jack Kingston Incumbent |
63% | 157,181 | |
| Democratic | Lesli Messinger | 37% | 92,399 | |
| Total Votes | 249,580 | |||
| Source: Georgia Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Lesli Rae Messinger |
54.3% | 15,390 |
| Nathan C. Russo | 45.7% | 12,952 |
| Total Votes | 28,342 | |
Race background
Endorsements
Democratic candidate Lesli Rae Messinger received endorsements from District 96 Representative Pedro Marin[7] and 2008 candidate Bill Gillespie.[8] Incumbent Jack Kingston received endorsements from the National Federation of Independent Business[9] and Americans for Legal Immigration PAC.[10]
Race rating
Blue vs. Red
Possible race ratings are:
Solid Democratic
Likely Democratic
Lean DemocraticTossup
Lean Republican
Likely Republican
Solid Republican
Georgia's 1st District is a solidly Republican district.
In June 2012, Sabato's Crystal Ball rated Georgia's 1st as solidly Republican.[11]
Department of Justice lawsuit
On June 29, 2012, the Department of Justice filed suit in federal court against the state of Georgia, alleging that service members, their family members and overseas civilian voters would not have time to vote by absentee ballot in runoff elections, if they are required.[12] According to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (dead link) (UOCAVA), states must transmit all validly requested ballots to UOCAVA voters at least 45 days before an election, unless a hardship exemption is obtained, for which Georgia failed to file.[12] However, this conflicted with the timeline for runoff elections, in which the primary runoff, by law, must be held 21 days after the regular or special primary election, and if a runoff is required after the Nov. 6 general election, it must be held 28 days later, on December 4, which also wouldn’t provide the required 45 days.[12]
As part of the lawsuit, the Department of Justice asked Georgia to "extend the ballot receipt deadline to Aug. 31 for these voters, to send ballots by express delivery as soon as possible before the Aug. 21 runoff election, and inform UOCAVA voters no later than July 7 of their right to request a state write-in absentee ballot or their official absentee ballot for any runoff election by downloading it from the Internet, by email, or by fax."[12]
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Georgia
On August 22, 2011, Georgia Republican leadership released their proposed Congressional redistricting map. Due to population growth, Georgia gained a 14th Congressional district following the 2010 census. The new district, according to the plan, is located in the northwestern part of the state.[13] U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R) was drawn into the new district, leaving his former 9th District seat open in 2012. The new 9th District leaned Republican.[13] In addition, the plan displaced US Rep. John Barrow (D), but Barrow (who had been displaced before) planned to move in order to remain in the 12th District.[13] US Rep. Sanford Bishop's (D) district became a majority-minority district. Also, U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey's (R) 11th District picked up part of Atlanta. Atlanta Journal-Constitution said the plan was expected to increase the Republican majority in the state's Congressional delegation.[13]
The 1st District was composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[14][15]
- 69 percent from the 1st Congressional District
- 31 percent from the 12th Congressional District
District partisanship
FairVote's Monopoly Politics 2012
- 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. Georgia's 1st District became more Democratic as a result of redistricting.[16]
- 2012: 41D / 59R
- 2010: 33D / 67R
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. Georgia's 1st Congressional District had a PVI of R+9, which was the 123rd most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 55-45 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush won the district 61-39 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.
Jack Kingston
| Jack Kingston (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[18] | March 31, 2012 | $1,170,724.25 | $187,663.56 | $(112,328.06) | $1,246,059.75 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $187,663.56 | $(112,328.06) | ||||||||
District history
| Candidate ballot access |
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Jack Kingston won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Oscar L. Harris II (D) in the general election.[19]
| U.S. House, Georgia District 1 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Jack Kingston Incumbent |
71.6% | 117,270 | |
| Democratic | Oscar L. Harris II | 28.4% | 46,449 | |
| Total Votes | 163,719 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 House Race Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Savannah Now, "Kingston & Stephens" accessed November 15, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Election Dates," accessed April 25, 2012
- ↑ Georgia Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed July 5, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Georgia Secretary of State "Candidate List" accessed, May 28, 2012
- ↑ Roll Call "Race Ratings: In Georgia, New Geography Won’t Hurt GOP," accessed March 11, 2012
- ↑ Messinger for Congress, "Messinger Gains Endorsement of Leading Latino State Representative Pedro Marin" accessed July 26, 2012
- ↑ Messinger for Congress, "Leslie Messinger Receives Official Endorsement of 2008 1st Congressional District Candidate Bill Gillespie" accessed July 26, 2012
- ↑ NFIB "NFIB Backs Pro-Small Business U.S. Representatives From Georgia for Re-election" accessed July 26, 2012
- ↑ ALIPAC "Campaigns & Elections" accessed July 26, 2012
- ↑ Center for Politics, "2012 House Ratings," Updated June 27, 2012
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Marine Corps Times, "Justice sues Georgia over voting deadlines" accessed July 24, 2012
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Atlanta Journal Constitution, "GOP redistricting plan would tighten grip on congressional delegation," August 22, 2011
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Georgia's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ FairVote, "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Georgia," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Jack Kingston April Quarterly Report," accessed June 26, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
