Minnesota's 8th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
August 14, 2012 |
Rick Nolan  |
Chip Cravaack  |
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The 8th Congressional District of Minnesota held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Incumbent Chip Cravaack (R) was defeated by Rick Nolan (D) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Minnesota has an open primary system, meaning any registered voter can vote in any party's primary.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by July 24, 2012. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 16, 2012. Voters could also register at the polls on Election Day, provided they brought requisite proof of residency.[2]
- See also: Minnesota elections, 2012
Incumbent: Incumbent Chip Cravaack (R), who was first elected to represent Minnesota's 8th Congressional District in 2010, sought re-election.
This was the first election that used new district maps based on 2010 Census data. The 8th District covered the northeastern part of Minnesota. It included Koochiching, Itasca, Hubbard, St. Louis, Cook, Lake, Carlton, Pine, Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Kanabec, Benton, Pine, and Chisago 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
Democratic Primary
Republican Primary
- Chip Cravaack: Incumbent
- Chip Cravaack: Incumbent
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Rick Nolan |
54.3% | 191,976 | |
| Republican | Chip Cravaack Incumbent | 45.4% | 160,520 | |
| NA | Write-in | 0.3% | 1,167 | |
| Total Votes | 353,663 | |||
| Source: Minnesota Secretary of State, "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" (dead link) | ||||
Race background
Competitiveness
Using the Federal Election Commission's October Quarterly campaign finance filings, the Brennan Center for Justice at The New York University School of Law published a report on October 22nd focusing on the 25 House races rated most competitive by The Cook Political Report, including the race for Minnesota's 8th. The report examineed the relative spending presence of non-candidate groups, candidates, and small donors in these races - "which will likely determine which party will control the House."[6]
| List of 25 Toss Up Races from the Cook Political Report:[7] | |
|---|---|
|
Democratic Toss Ups: Republican Toss Ups: | |
Minnesota's 8th was considered to be a Tossup according to the New York Times race ratings.[8]
Minnesota's 8th District was included in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's "Red to Blue List," which identified districts that the organization specifically targeted to flip from Republican to Democratic control.[9]
Incumbent Chip Cravaack was a part of the National Republican Congressional Committee's Patriot Program, a program to help House Republicans increase their majority in 2012.[10]
Impact of Redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Minnesota
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. Minnesota's 8th District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[11]
- 2012: 51D / 49R
- 2010: 50D / 50R
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. Minnesota's 8th Congressional District had a PVI of D+3, which was the 170th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 54-46 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, John Kerry (D) won the district 53-47 percent over George W. Bush (R).[12]
Issues
Media
The following campaign ad was released by Chip Cravaack on October 10, 2012.[13]
Chip Cravaack, "Good Man"[14] |
Super PAC House Majority PAC's TV ad against Chip Cravaack criticized his vote for an austere federal budget.[15]
Chip Cravaack, "House Majority PAC ad against Chip Cravaack: 'Class'"[16] |
Campaign donors
Cravaack outraised Nolan by more than $1 million, receiving $251,000 from business PACs to Nolan's $8,000. Nolan's contributions increased when he was endorsed by the United Steelworkers union.[17]
$1.6 million in satellite spending opposed Cravaack and $1.3 million opposed Nolan. The National Republican Congressional Committee spent over $700,000 on the race, while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party spent a total of $577,000 on the race.[17]
Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2012 elections season. Below are Cravaack and Nolan's reports.
Chip Cravaack
| Chip Cravaack (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[18] | March 31, 2012 | $514,879.85 | $245,893.4 | $(131,913.7) | $628,859.55 | ||||
| July Quarterly[19] | June 30, 2012 | $628,859.55 | $393,753.07 | $(123,931.39) | $898,681.23 | ||||
| October Quarterly[20] | October 15, 2012 | $912,681.92 | $412,694.73 | $(193,388.48) | $1,131,988.17 | ||||
| Pre-General[21] | October 25, 2012 | $1,131,488.17 | $227,063.39 | $(454,154.75) | $904,396.81 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $1,279,404.59 | $(903,388.32) | ||||||||
Rick Nolan
| Rick Nolan (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[22] | March 31, 2012 | $45,905.37 | $76,753.19 | $(72,286.69) | $50,371.87 | ||||
| July Quarterly[23] | June 30, 2012 | $50,371.87 | $127,721.51 | $(84,658.03) | $93,435.35 | ||||
| October Quarterly[24] | October 15, 2012 | $87,898.15 | $457,045.61 | $(80,619.59) | $464,324.17 | ||||
| Pre-General[25] | October 25, 2012 | $464,324.17 | $198,531.62 | $(185,599.75) | $477,256.04 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $860,051.93 | $(423,164.06) | ||||||||
Nolan reported raising over $484,000 in the third quarter, leaving himself with $464,000 cash on hand.[26]
District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Cravaack won election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated James L. Oberstar (D), Timothy Olson (I), and Richard "George" Burton (C) in the general election.[27]
| U.S. House of Representatives, Minnesota's 8th Congressional District, General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Chip Cravaack |
48.2% | 133,490 | |
| Democratic | James L. Oberstar Incumbent | 46.6% | 129,091 | |
| Independent | Timothy Olson | 4.3% | 11,876 | |
| Constitution | Richard "George" Burton | 0.9% | 2,492 | |
| Independent | Write-In | 0% | 132 | |
| Total Votes | 277,081 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Minnesota, 2012
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "General Election Results 2012-Minnesota," November 7, 2012
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Registering to Vote," accessed July 25, 2012
- ↑ Minnesota Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed August 30, 2012
- ↑ "City Councillor Jeff Anderson Announces Congressional Campaign" May 25, 2011
- ↑ "Former U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan enters 8th District race" July 13, 2011
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Election Spending 2012: 25 Toss-Up House Races," October 22, 2012
- ↑ The Cook Political Report, "House: Race Ratings," updated October 18, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 10, 2012
- ↑ DCCC, "Red to Blue 2012"
- ↑ NRCC "Patriot Program 2012"
- ↑ , "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Minnesota," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Chip Cravaack, "News," accessed: October 10, 2012
- ↑ YouTube channel
- ↑ House Majority PAC 'House Majority PAC launches third wave of ads against Chip Cravaack," accessed May 4, 2012
- ↑ [YouTube channel]
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 OpenSecrets, "Hot Race in the Minnesota 8th: Chip Cravaack vs. Rick Nolan," October 4, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "April Quarterly," accessed August 1, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "July Quarterly," accessed August 1, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "October Quarterly," accessed November 1, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Pre-General," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "April Quarterly," accessed August 1, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "July Quarterly," accessed August 1, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "October Quarterly," accessed November 1, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Pre-General," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Rick Nolan's campaign website (dead link)
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013 accessed December 11, 2011
