Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Indiana's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012
2014 →
|
November 6, 2012 |
May 8, 2012 |
Peter J. Visclosky ![]() |
Peter J. Visclosky ![]() |
The 1st Congressional District of Indiana held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.

Incumbent Peter Visclosky (D) won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.[1]
Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
---|---|---|
Primary: Indiana has an open primary system, in which any registered voter can choose which party's primary to vote in, without having to be a member of that party.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by April 9. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 9.[2]
- See also: Indiana elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Peter Visclosky (D), who was first elected in 1984. He was re-elected on November 6, 2012.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Indiana's 1st Congressional District was based in the suburbs and exurbs of Chicago, Illinois, and acquired parts of LaPorte County, including Michigan City, in redistricting.[3][4]
Candidates
General election candidates
May 8, 2012, primary results
|
|
Election results
General Election
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | ![]() |
67.3% | 187,743 | |
Republican | Joel Phelps | 32.7% | 91,291 | |
Total Votes | 279,034 | |||
Source: Indiana Secretary of State "House of Representatives Election Results" |
Republican Primary
Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
---|---|---|
![]() |
59% | 17,164 |
Dave Wenger | 41% | 11,952 |
Total Votes | 29,116 |
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Indiana
The newly-drawn map was designed to produce seven districts that were favorable to the Republican Party and two that were favorable to the Democratic Party.
Under the new map, the 1st District became geographically smaller. It shifted into the northwestern corner of the state, making its population based in the Chicago suburbs and exurbs.[7] The district acquired parts of LaPorte County, including Michigan City.[7]
According to Roll Call's Race Ratings "Democrats now say this is their safest seat in the state — even more so than the Indianapolis-based 7th District."[7]
The new 1st District was composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[8][9]
- 92 percent from the 1st Congressional District
- 8 percent from the 2nd 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. Indiana's 1st District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[10]
- 2012: 60D / 40R
- 2010: 59D / 41R
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. Indiana's 1st Congressional District has a PVI of D+9, which is the 107th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 64-36 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, John Kerry (D) won the district 57-43 percent over George W. Bush (R).[11]
Campaign donors
2012
Peter J. Visclosky
Peter J. Visclosky (2012)[12] Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
April Quarterly[13] | April 15, 2012 | $566,855.19 | $83,986.42 | $(129,388.90) | $521,452.71 | ||||
Pre-Primary[14] | April 27, 2012 | $521,452.71 | $9,250.00 | $(18,545.70) | $512,157.01 | ||||
July Quarterly[15] | July 15, 2012 | $512,157.01 | $115,289.26 | $(153,284.91) | $474,161.36 | ||||
October Quarterly[16] | October 15, 2012 | $474,161.36 | $91,314.05 | $(267,565.03) | $297,910.38 | ||||
Running totals | |||||||||
$299,839.73 | $(568,784.54) |
Joel Phelps
Joel Phelps (2012)[17] Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
April Quarterly[18] | April 12, 2012 | $3,126.86 | $4,168.82 | $(6,345.02) | $950.66 | ||||
Pre-Primary[19] | April 25, 2012 | $950.66 | $209.48 | $(8.27) | $1,168.41 | ||||
July Quarterly[20] | July 15, 2012 | $1,168.41 | $12,317.24 | $(8,465.72) | $5,019.93 | ||||
October Quarterly[21] | October 15, 2012 | $5,019.93 | $30,825.73 | $(34,136.62) | $1,709.04 | ||||
Running totals | |||||||||
$47,521.27 | $(48,955.63) |
District history
Candidate ballot access |
---|
Find detailed information on ballot access requirements in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. |
2010
On November 2, 2010, Peter Visclosky won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Mark Leyva (R) and Jon Morris (L) in the general election.[22]
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Indiana, 2012
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Indiana"
- ↑ Indiana Elections Division, "2012 Calendar Brochure," accessed July 24, 2012
- ↑ Roll Call, "Race Ratings: GOP Poised to Scoop Up a Seat" accessed December 15, 2011
- ↑ Indiana Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed July 24, 2012
- ↑ Saturday Gazette Mail "New Ind. congressional districts clear Legislature" accessed December 15, 2011
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Indiana Secretary of State Elections Division "Candidate List" accessed February 7, 2012
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Roll Call, "Race Ratings: GOP Poised to Scoop Up a Seat" accessed February 28, 2012
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Arizona's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Indiana," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Peter Visclosky Summary Reports" accessed July 14, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Visclosky April Quarterly" accessed July 14, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Visclosky Pre-Primary" accessed July 14, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Visclosky July Quarterly" accessed October 8, 2012
- ↑ Federal election Commission, "Visclosky July Quarterly" accessed October 18, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Joel Phelps Summary Reports" accessed July 14, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Phelps April Quarterly" accessed July 14, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Phelps Pre-Primary" accessed July 14, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Phelps July Quarterly" accessed October 8, 2012
- ↑ FEC Reports, "Phelps October Quarterly" accessed October 8, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013