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Massachusetts' 7th Congressional District elections, 2012
2014 →
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November 6, 2012 |
September 6, 2012 |
Michael Capuano  |
Ed Markey (Elected to District 5) |
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The 7th Congressional District of Massachusetts held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Michael Capuano won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Massachusetts' 7th, on November 6th, 2012.[1] He had previously served as the representative of the 8th District.
| 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 7th Congressional District was represented by Ed Markey (D). However, Markey was drawn into the 5th Congressional district. 8th Congressional district incumbent Michael Capuano ran in the 7th District.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Massachusetts' 7th Congressional District was located in the eastern portion of the state and included Middlesex, Suffolk, and Norfolk 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
- Michael Capuano:
Incumbent from the 8th Congressional district[4]
- Michael Capuano:
Republican Primary
- No candidates filed to run as Republicans.
Independent Candidate
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Michael Capuano Incumbent |
73.9% | 210,794 | |
| Independent | Karla Romero | 14.4% | 41,199 | |
| N/A | All Others | 0.3% | 843 | |
| N/A | Blank Votes | 11.3% | 32,298 | |
| Total Votes | 285,134 | |||
| Source: Massachusetts Secretary of State "Return of Votes" | ||||
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Massachusetts
As a result of redistricting, the 7th District moved south to cover portions of the old 8th 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. Massachusetts' 7th District became less Democratic because of redistricting.[5]
- 2012: 79D / 21R
- 2010: 82D / 18R
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' 7th Congressional District had a PVI of D+29, which was the 17th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 83-17 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, John Kerry (D) won the district 78-22 percent over George W. Bush (R).[6]
District history
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Ed Markey won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Gerry Dembrowski in the general election.[7]
| U.S. House of Representatives, Massachusetts Congressional District 7 Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Ed Markey Incumbent |
65.9% | 141,364 | |
| Republican | Gerry Dembrowski | 34.1% | 73,006 | |
| Total Votes | 214,370 | |||
Campaign donors
Michael Capuano
| Michael Capuano (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[8] | March 31, 2012 | $346,096.21 | $132,924.86 | $(50,344.19) | $428,676.88 | ||||
| July Quarterly[9] | June 30, 2012 | $428,676.88 | $121,398.89 | $(90,736.85) | $459,338.92 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $254,323.75 | $(141,081.04) | ||||||||
External links
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
- ↑ Roll Call "Mike Capuano Won't Challenge Scott Brown, Seeking Re-Election," September 2, 2011
- ↑ , "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
- ↑ MSNBC "2010 Election Results"
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Michael Capuano April Quarterly," accessed July 2, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Michael Capuano July Quarterly," accessed July 2, 2012
