Massachusetts' 1st Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
September 6, 2012 |
Richard Neal  |
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The 1st Congressional District of Massachusetts held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Richard Neal (D) won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Massachusetts' 1st, on November 6th, 2012.[1] He had previously served as the representative for the 2nd District, but due to redistricting and the retirement of John Olver, ran in Massachusetts' 1st.
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Massachusetts has a partially closed primary system, in which the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members. In Massachusetts, however, independent voters may select which party's primary to vote in.
Voter registration: Voters were required to register to vote in the primary by August 17, 2012. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 17, 2012.[2]
- See also: Massachusetts elections, 2012
Incumbent: Because Massachusetts lost a seat after the 2010 Census, the state's congressional districts went through significant changes. Prior to the election, the 1st Congressional District was represented by John Olver (D). However, Olver chose to retire rather than seek re-election. 2nd Congressional district incumbent Richard Neal ran in the 1st District and won election on November 6, 2012.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Massachusetts' 1st Congressional District was located in the western portion of the state and included Berkshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties.[3]
Candidates
Note: Election results were added on election night as races were called. Vote totals were added after official election results had been certified. Click here for more information about Ballotpedia's election coverage plan. Please contact us about errors in this list.
General election candidates
September 6 Democratic Primary
- Richard Neal:
Incumbent from the 2nd Congressional district - Andrea Nuciforo Jr.: Former Massachusetts state senator
- Bill Shein: Writer[4]
- Richard Neal:
Republican Primary
- No candidates filed to run as Republicans.
Election results
General Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Richard Neal Incumbent |
77.8% | 261,936 | |
| N/A | All Others | 1.2% | 4,197 | |
| N/A | Blank Votes | 20.9% | 70,422 | |
| Total Votes | 336,555 | |||
| Source: Massachusetts Secretary of State "Return of Votes" | ||||
Democratic Primary
The primary was held on September 6, 2012.[5]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Richard E. Neal Incumbent |
65.5% | 40,165 |
| Andrea Nuciforo | 24.7% | 15,123 |
| Bill Shein | 9.9% | 6,048 |
| Total Votes | 61,336 | |
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Massachusetts
Owing to the redistricting process, the borders of the new 1st District were redrawn to cover most of western Massachusetts, including the Berkshires, the Greater Springfield area and parts of south Worcester County.
Daily Kos said:
| “ | Incumbent Neal mostly says goodbye to the Five Colleges area (but keeps South Hadley) and sheds the Blackstone Valley portion of his district in the east (going no further east than East Brookfield and Dudley.) In return his new district consolidates the communities west (W. Springfield and Westfield) and north (Holyoke) of Springfield and adds all of Berkshire County and a collection of other small towns west of the Pioneer Valley. This district overall hangs together pretty well.
Despite the loss of heavily Democratic Northampton and Hadley and the addition of several conservative towns west of Springfield, the district, thanks to replacing a bunch of conservative Central Mass communities with more liberal Western Mass ones, Neal will end up with a D+13 district, a step up from his current D+9 seat. Neal’s challenge, of course, is that nearly half his district is new to him, though that’s a bit misleading insofar as many of those new constituents are from towns ringing Springfield who are probably at least a little familiar with him, the Berkshire County portion being the only territory where he’s a relative unknown.[6][7] |
” |
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. Massachusetts' 1st District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[8]
- 2012: 62D / 38R
- 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. Massachusetts' 1st Congressional District had a PVI of D+14, which was the 78th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 66-34 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, John Kerry (D) won the district 64-36 percent over George W. Bush (R).[9]
Race background
Retiring Democratic congressman John Olver held the 1st Congressional District seat since 1991. Prior to Olver's tenure, the seat had been occupied by Silvio O. Conte, a Republican, since 1953.
Because of redistricting, Democratic Rep. Richard Neal from the old 2nd Congressional District ran for re-election in the new 1st District.
In early August, Democratic challengers Bill Shein and Andrea Nuciforo, Jr. expressed frustration that incumbent Richard Neal would only participate in 4 of 6 scheduled debates leading up to the primary.[10] Neal's spokesperson said, "Congressman Richie Neal always debates his political opponents during election season and this year will be no different. In fact, Congressman Neal was the first candidate in this race to accept debates in Springfield and Pittsfield, both of which involve multiple media outlets and are already scheduled."[11]
Issues
Media
The following is a campaign ad released by Neal on the topic of social security, uploaded on June 19, 2012.[12]
Richard E. Neal, "Richard Neal Protecting Social Security"[13] |
Campaign contributions
Richard E. Neal
| Richard Neal (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[14] | March 31, 2012 | $2,453,188.68 | $128,045.51 | $(152,709.81) | $2,428,524.38 | ||||
| July Quarterly[15] | June 30, 2012 | $2,428,524.38 | $370,858.34 | $(599,217.79) | $2,200,164.93 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $498,903.85 | $(751,927.6) | ||||||||
Andrea Nuciforo, Jr.
| Andrea Nuciforo (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[16] | March 31, 2012 | $136,606.89 | $42,624.71 | $(45,314.34) | $133,917.26 | ||||
| July Quarterly[17] | June 30, 2012 | $133,917.26 | $61,912.16 | $(66,646.80) | $129,182.62 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $104,536.87 | $(111,961.14) | ||||||||
Bill Shein
| Bill Shein (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[18] | March 31, 2012 | $0.00 | $11,282.60 | $(5,766.92) | $5,515.68 | ||||
| July Quarterly[19] | June 30, 2012 | $5,515.68 | $7,019.63 | $(6,246.00) | $6,289.31 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $18,302.23 | $(12,012.92) | ||||||||
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, John Olver won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Bill Gunn in the general election.[20]
| U.S. House of Representatives, Massachusetts Congressional District 1 Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | John Olver Incumbent |
63.3% | 127,857 | |
| Republican | Bill Gunn | 36.7% | 74,145 | |
| Total Votes | 202,002 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Massachusetts, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Massachusetts"
- ↑ Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Voter Registration Information," accessed July 25, 2012
- ↑ Massachuestts Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed August 31, 2012
- ↑ Boston Herald "2 Mass. men announce plans for congressional runs" accessed January 24, 2012
- ↑ Associated Press, "Massachusetts Primary Results," accessed September 6, 2012
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Massachusetts District Analysis" August 28, 2012
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ , "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Massachusetts," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Mass Live, "Rep. Richard Neal's refusal to participate draws ire" August 10, 2012
- ↑ Mass Live, "Rep. Richard Neal's refusal to participate draws ire" August 10, 2012
- ↑ Neal's Campaign Website, Media
- ↑ YouTube channel
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Richard Neal April Quarterly," accessed July 2, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Richard Neal July Quarterly," accessed August 10, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Andrea Nuciforo April Quarterly," accessed July 2, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Andrea Nuciforo July Quarterly," accessed August 10, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Bill Shein April Quarterly," accessed July 2, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Bill Shein July Quarterly," accessed August 10, 2012
- ↑ MSNBC "2010 Election Results"
