New Jersey's 7th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
June 5, 2012 |
Leonard Lance  |
Leonard Lance |
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The 7th Congressional District of New Jersey held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Leonard Lance won the election.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: New Jersey had a mostly closed primary system, in which registered Republicans and Democrats could only vote in their own party's primary, but voters who had never voted in a primary before could choose either party.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by March 11, 2012. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 16, 2012.[2]
- See also: New Jersey elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election was incumbent Leonard Lance (R), who was first elected to the House in 2008.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. New Jersey's 7th Congressional District was located in the northwestern portion of the state and included Hunterdon County and portions of Warren, Morris, and Somerset 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
June 5, 2012, primary results
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Election results
General Election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Upendra Chivukula | 40% | 123,057 | |
| Republican |  Leonard Lance Incumbent |
57.2% | 175,662 | |
| Libertarian | Patrick McKnight | 1.3% | 4,078 | |
| Independent | Dennis Breen | 1.5% | 4,518 | |
| Total Votes | 307,315 | |||
| Source: New Jersey Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Republican Primary
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Leonard Lance Incumbent |
60.6% | 23,432 |
| David Larsen | 39.4% | 15,253 |
| Total Votes | 38,685 | |
Republican primary
In a rematch of the 2010 primary, David Larsen was challenging incumbent Leonard Lance. In 2010, Larsen received 31 percent of the vote, and Lance received 55 percent.[7][8]
Larsen considered his chances better this time, with the redrawn 7th District including a large number of conservative voters.[9][7] There was also less primary competition in 2012, with just Lance and Larsen running for the Republican nomination.[9]
Issues
Larsen was running as a more conservative candidate than Lance, saying Lance was one of the politicians who "call themselves conservatives, but support the Obama agenda." In response, Lance had highlighted his conservative votes, including those against Obamacare.[7]
Endorsements
Lance was endorsed by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.[7]
Larsen was endorsed by the American Conservative Union and the Republican National Coalition for Life.[7]
Campaign funding
Lance vastly outraised Larsen, with over $651,228 raised compared to Larsen's $15,387.[7]
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in New Jersey
New Jersey lost a congressional seat following the results of the 2010 Census, bringing its number of representatives down to 12. A new map was approved on December 23, 2011.
The 7th District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district was composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[10][11]
- 5 percent from the 5th Congressional District
- 63 percent from the 7th Congressional District
- 2 percent from the 10th Congressional District
- 26 percent from the 11th Congressional District
- 4 percent from the 12th Congressional District
After the redistricting, the district was designed to protect its Republican incumbent, with 30,000 more Republicans than Democrats.[12]
Registration statistics
As of October 25, 2012, District 7 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the New Jersey Secretary of State:
| New Jersey Congressional District 7[13] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 7 | 474,502 | 112,669 | 142,666 | 219,167 | Republican | 26.62% | 38.70% |
| "Party advantage" is the percentage gap between the two major parties in registered voters. "Change in advantage" is the spread in difference of party advantage between 2010 and 2012 based on the congressional district number only. | |||||||
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. New Jersey's 7th District became more Republican because of redistricting.[14]
- 2012: 44D / 56R
- 2010: 48D / 52R
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. New Jersey's 7th Congressional District had a PVI of R+6, which was the 171st most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 52-48 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 56-44 percent over John Kerry (D).[15]
Campaign donors
Upendra Chivukula
| Upendra Chivukula Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[16] | April 15 | $41,405.88 | $ | $(62.00) | $41,343.88 | ||||
| Pre-primary[17] | May 16 | $41,343.88 | $46,062.00 | $(3,775.51) | $83,630.37 | ||||
| July Quarterly[18] | July 15 | $83,630.37 | $394,630.00 | $(43,841.82) | $434,418.55 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $440,692 | $(47,679.33) | ||||||||
Leonard Lance
| Leonard Lance Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[19] | April 15 | $513,303.25 | $111,795.00 | $(119,372.17) | $505,726.08 | ||||
| Pre-primary[20] | July 16 | $505,726.08 | $116,225.00 | $(220,804.55) | $401,146.53 | ||||
| July Quarterly[21] | July 15 | $401,146.53 | $150,135.00 | $(166,030.92) | $385,250.61 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $378,155 | $(506,207.64) | ||||||||
District history
| Candidate ballot access |
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Leonard Lance was re-elected to the United States House for a second term. He defeated Ed Potosnak (D).[22]
| United States House, New Jersey General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Leonard Lance Incumbent |
59.4% | 105,084 | |
| Democratic | Ed Potosnak | 40.6% | 71,902 | |
| Total Votes | 176,986 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in New Jersey, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in New Jersey, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 House Race Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Voter Registration Information," accessed June 30, 2012
- ↑ New Jersey Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed September 25, 2012
- ↑ NJ.gov "U.S. Senate Primary Candidates," accessed April 2, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 New Jersey Star-Ledger "Ed Potosnak no longer challenging Leonard Lance as congressional candidate," January 16, 2012
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 NJ.gov "Candidate List" accessed September 19, 2012
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 New Jersey Spotlight, "U.S.Congressional District: 7," May 22, 2012
- ↑ New Jersey Star-Ledger, "David Larsen of Tewksbury challenging Rep. Leonard Lance for seat in Congress," January 5, 2012
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Examiner, "David Larsen announces new NJ-7 Congress run," February 24, 2012
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "New Jersey's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ NJPR "Experts on NJ Redistricting" accessed October 8
- ↑ New Jersey Secretary of State, "Congressional Voter Registration Statistics," May 22, 2012
- ↑ FairVote, "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in New Jersey," accessed October 28 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 28 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "April Quarterly," accessed September 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Pre-primary," accessed September 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "July Quarterly," accessed September 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "April Quarterly," accessed September 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Pre-primary," accessed September 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "July Quarterly," accessed September 27, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
