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Michigan's 6th Congressional District elections, 2012
2014 →
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November 6, 2012 |
August 7, 2012 |
Fred Upton  |
Fred Upton |
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The 6th Congressional District of Michigan held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Incumbent Fred Upton won the election.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Michigan has an open primary system, meaning any registered voter can vote in any party's primary.
Voter registration: Voters were required to register to vote in the primary by July 9. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 9.[2]
- See also: Michigan elections, 2012
Incumbent: Incumbent Fred Upton (R), who was first elected to the 6th District in 1992 and previously represented the 4th District from 1987 until 1993, ran for re-election.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Michigan's 6th Congressional District was located in the southwestern region of the lower peninsula of Michigan and includes the city of Kalamazoo. It included Allegan, Van Buren, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, Cass, and Berrien counties.[3]
Candidates
General election candidates
August 7, 2012, primary results
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Election results
General Election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Mike O'Brien | 42.6% | 136,563 | |
| Republican |  Fred Upton Incumbent |
54.6% | 174,955 | |
| Libertarian | Christie Gelineau | 2% | 6,366 | |
| UST | Jason Gatties | 0.8% | 2,591 | |
| Total Votes | 320,475 | |||
| Source: Michigan Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Republican Primary
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Fred Upton Incumbent |
66.3% | 34,581 |
| Jack Hoogendyk | 33.7% | 17,561 |
| Total Votes | 52,142 | |
Issues
Media
Below are two campaign ads from Republican incumbent Fred Upton and Democratic challenger Mike O'Brien.
Fred Upton
Fred Upton, "Jobs & the Economy remain Fred's #1 priority "[7] |
Mike O'Brien
Mike O'Brien, "Leadership"[8] |
Impact of Redistricting
- See also Redistricting in Michigan
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. Michigan's 6th District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[9]
- 2012: 52D / 48R
- 2010: 51D / 49R
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. Michigan's 6th Congressional District had a PVI of R+1, which was the 224th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 54-46 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 54-46 percent over John Kerry (D).[10]
Campaign donors
Fred Upton
| Fred Upton (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[11] | March 31, 2012 | $1,709,245.21 | $988,640.83 | $(428,062.49) | $2,269,823.55 | ||||
| July Quarterly[12] | June 30, 2012 | $2,269,823.55 | $627,514.16 | $(1,008,368.12) | $1,888,969.59 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $1,616,154.99 | $(1,436,430.61) | ||||||||
Jack Hoogendyk
| Jack Hoogendyk (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[13] | March 31, 2012 | $4,015.15 | $78,106.86 | $(38,708.98) | $43,413.03 | ||||
| July Quarterly[14] | June 30, 2012 | $43,413.03 | $43,886.45 | $(53,519.35) | $33,780.13 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $121,993.31 | $(92,228.33) | ||||||||
Mike O'Brien
| Mike O'Brien (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| July Quarterly[15] | June 30, 2012 | $0.00 | $95,203.67 | $(5,601.39) | $89,602.28 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $95,203.67 | $(5,601.39) | ||||||||
District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Upton won election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Don Cooney (D), Fred Strand (L), Melvin D. Valkner (U.S. Taxpayers), and Pat Foster (G) in the general election.[16]
| U.S. House of Representatives, Michigan's 6th Congressional District, General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Fred Upton Incumbent |
62% | 123,142 | |
| Democratic | Don Cooney | 33.6% | 66,729 | |
| Libertarian | Fred Strand | 1.7% | 3,369 | |
| U.S. Taxpayers | Melvin D. Valkner | 1.8% | 3,672 | |
| Green | Pat Foster | 0.9% | 1,784 | |
| Total Votes | 198,696 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Michigan, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Michigan, 2012
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Michigan"
- ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2012 Registration Deadlines and Election Dates," accessed June 29, 2012
- ↑ Michigan Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed August 31, 2012
- ↑ Secretary of State "2012 Unofficial Michigan Primary Candidate List" May 31, 2012
- ↑ Waltz 2012 "Announcement" May 21, 2012
- ↑ Secretary of State "2012 Unofficial Michigan Primary Candidate List" May 31, 2012
- ↑ YouTube channel
- ↑ YouTube channel
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Michigan," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Fred Upton April Quarterly," accessed August 1, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Fred Upton July Quarterly," accessed August 1, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Jack Hoogendyk April Quarterly," accessed August 1, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Jack Hoogendyk July Quarterly," accessed August 1, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Mike O'Brien July Quarterly," accessed August 1, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013 accessed December 23, 2011
