Illinois' 7th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
March 20, 2012 |
Danny K. Davis  |
Danny K. Davis |
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The 7th Congressional District of Illinois held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Incumbent Danny K. Davis won the election.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Illinois has a mixed-hybrid primary system. Voters can change parties each year but must declare a party affiliation at the polls. Depending on which party is chosen, the voter will then be counted as registered for that party. Voters may change party affiliation at polls or caucus.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by February 21. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 9. A "grace period" was also available, allowing voter registration until three days before an election.[2][3]
- See also: Illinois elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Danny K. Davis (D), who was first elected in 1996.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census.Illinois' 7th Congressional District includes part of Cook County. It covers the Near North Side and downtown Chicago as well as some of the west and south sides of city and some west suburban areas in Cook County.[4]
On March 30, 2012, the 7th District was included in a list released by the National Journal of the top ten most contorted congressional districts due to redistricting.[5]
Candidates
General election candidates
March 20, 2012, primary results
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Election results
General Election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Danny K. Davis Incumbent |
84.6% | 242,439 | |
| Republican | Rita Zak | 11% | 31,466 | |
| Independent | John H. Monaghan | 4.4% | 12,523 | |
| Total Votes | 286,428 | |||
| Source: Illinois Board of Elections "2012 General Election Official Vote Totals" | ||||
Democratic Primary
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Danny Davis Incumbent |
84.5% | 57,896 |
| Jacques Conway | 15.5% | 10,638 |
| Total Votes | 68,534 | |
Race background
Danny K. Davis had been endorsed over his opponent Jacques Conway.[8] Both candidates were similar politically, with Conway even stating in an interview with Austin Weekly News, "Politically, we're not that far at all, and most Democrats aren't...Voting-wise, there won't be a difference, but energy-wise and purpose-wise and want-to-do-it-wise, I think that I could make a splash."[9]
The Chicago Tribune noted that Davis "seems more engaged lately, holding town hall meetings, advocating for equitable mass transit funding and working to find alternatives to the U.S. Postal Service's plan to close "underperforming" local post offices."[8] Davis had in recent years been criticized for having pushed to be Cook County Board president, throwing his name in the mix for the Obama Senate seat, and having considered a run for Chicago mayor, but in 2012 had been considered the "favorite"[9] and viewed as having made considerable strides in his political involvement of late.[9]
According to a March 7th article in the Austin Daily News, "Davis raised roughly $148,000 in the election cycle, and his campaign had about $260,000 in cash on hand, according to the Federal Election Commission. The commission lists no fundraising total for Conway. He estimated, however, raising a few thousand dollars last month."[9]
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Illinois
With the 2011 redistricting, Illinois lost 1 of its current 19 House seats because the state's population failed to grow as fast as in other states.[10] Illinois has had 11 Republican congressmen and 8 Democrats since the November 2010 election.[10] The new map, designed by the dominant Democrats, could have flipped that advantage to as many as 12 Democrats and only six Republicans.[10]
On March 30, 2012, the 7th District was included in a list released by the National Journal of the top ten most contorted congressional districts, as a result of redistricting.[5]
The new 7th District was composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[11][12]
- 8 percent from the 1st Congressional District
- 4 percent from the 3rd Congressional District
- 2 percent from the 4th Congressional District
- 86 percent from the 7th 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. Illinois' 7th District partisan breakdown did not change because of redistricting.[13]
- 2012: 86D / 14R
- 2010: 86D / 14R
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. Illinois' 7th Congressional District has a PVI of D+37, which is the 5th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 90-10 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, John Kerry (D) won the district 86-14 percent over George W. Bush (R).[14]
Campaign donors
2012
| Danny K. Davis (2012)[15] Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| Pre-Primary[16] | March 5, 2012 | $268,293.78 | $21,696.46 | $(26,144.79) | $263,845.45 | ||||
| April Quarterly[17] | April 14, 2012 | $263,666.57 | $37,349.38 | $(327,222.17) | $268,293.78 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $59,045.84 | $(353,366.96) | ||||||||
District history
| Candidate ballot access |
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Danny K. Davis won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Mark M. Weiman (R) and Clarence Desmond Clemons (I) in the general election.[18]
| U.S. House, Illinois District 7 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Danny K. Davis Incumbent |
81.5% | 149,846 | |
| Republican | Mark M. Weiman | 16.1% | 29,575 | |
| Independent | Clarence Desmond Clemons | 2.4% | 4,428 | |
| Total Votes | 183,849 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Illinois, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
External links
- Campaign finance at OpenSecrets.org
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Illinois"
- ↑ Illinois Board of Elections, "2012 Election Calendar," accessed July 21, 2012
- ↑ Illinois Board of Elections, "Registering to Vote in Illinois," accessed July 21, 2012
- ↑ June 2011 Illinois Redistricting, "Map" accessed July 23, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 National Journal, "Modern Gerrymanders: 10 Most Contorted Congressional Districts—MAPS," accessed March 31, 2012
- ↑ ABC News 7 "Election Results Primary 2012" accessed March 20, 2012
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections "Candidate List" accessed December 27, 2011
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chicago Tribune, "Contested races for the U.S. House" accessed March 12, 2012
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Austin Weekly News, "Davis, Conway make final push" accessed March 12, 2012
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Chicago Tribune, "Odd geography in new Illinois congressional map:Millions of constituents will find their representative has changed" accessed February 22, 2012
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Illinois' congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Illinois," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Danny K. Davis Summary Reports" accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Pre-Primary" accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "April Quarterly" accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
