New York's 26th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
June 26, 2012 |
Brian Higgins  |
Kathy Hochul |
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The 26th Congressional District of New York held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Brian Higgins was re-elected on November 6, 2012.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
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Primary: New York has a closed primary system, meaning only registered members of a particular party may vote in that party's primary.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by June 1, 2012. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 12, 2012 or October 26, 2012 in person.[2]
- See also: New York elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election was incumbent Kathy Hochul (D), who was first elected to the House in a special election on May 24, 2011. Due to redistricting, Hochul ran in the redrawn 27th District, and 27th District incumbent Brian Higgins ran in the new 26th.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. New York's 26th Congressional District is located in the western portion of the state and includes part of Erie County.[3]
Fusion voting
New York is one of eight states that have "electoral fusion" -- which allows more than one political party to support a common candidate. This creates a situation where one candidate will appear multiple times on the same ballot, for the same position. Electoral fusion was once widespread across the United States, but is now commonly practiced only in New York.
Opponents of fusion voting argue that the process results in dealmaking to ensure that patronage is rampant.[4] Proponents maintain that fusion voting allows for minor parties to actually make a difference during the election, allowing voters the opportunity to vote for a minority party platform but still affect the general election result.[5]
Candidates that appeared in the general election are listed below with colored dots corresponding to any party they represented on the ballot.
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 26, 2012 primary results
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Election results
General election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Brian Higgins Incumbent |
74.8% | 212,588 | |
| Republican | Michael Madigan | 25.2% | 71,666 | |
| N/A | Write-in votes | 0% | 17 | |
| Total Votes | 284,271 | |||
| Source: New York State Board of Elections, "NYS Board of Elections Rep. in Congress Election Returns Nov. 6, 2012," accessed September 1, 2021 | ||||
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in New York
Following the results of the 2010 Census, New York lost two congressional seats, bringing its total number of representatives down from 29 to 27. According to a report in the Washington Post political blog "The Fix," New York was one of the top 10 redistricting battles in the nation.[10]
Redistricting made the district even more solidly Democratic.[11][12]
The 26th District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[13][14]
- 21 percent from the 26th Congressional District
- 41 percent from the 27th Congressional District
- 38 percent from the 28th Congressional District
Registration statistics
As of October 29, 2012, District 26 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the New York State Board of Elections:
| New York Congressional District 26[15] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 26 | 428,203 | 240,497 | 95,559 | 92,147 | Democratic | 151.67% | 169.59% |
| "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 York's 26th District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[16]
- 2012: 60D / 40R
- 2010: 51D / 49R
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 York's 26th Congressional District had a PVI of D+13, which was the 81st 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 63-37 percent over George W. Bush (R).[17]
District history
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2011
On May 24, 2011, Kathy Hochul won a special election to represent New York's largely conservative 26th Congressional district. She defeated Republican Jane Corwin.[18]
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in New York, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in New York, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ York ABC News, "2012 General Election Results," accessed November 6, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Voting Deadline Page," accessed June 30, 2012
- ↑ New York Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed September 25, 2012
- ↑ Clarence Bee, "State Senate candidate calls for an end to fusion voting", accessed September 19, 2013
- ↑ Oregon Working Family Party, "What is Fusion Voting?", accessed September 19, 2013
- ↑ New York Board of Elections "Filings for June 26, 2012 Federal Primary," April 18, 2012
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedny - ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 New York Board of Elections "List of Filings for June 26, 2012 Federal Primary," accessed May 30, 2012
- ↑ New York Elections Board "2012 Candidate List" accessed October 17, 2012
- ↑ Washington Post, "The Fix," "Redistricting battles hit a fever pitch," June 3, 2011
- ↑ Sabato Crystal Ball, "2012 House Ratings," June 13, 2012
- ↑ Buffalo News, "GOP’s Madigan steps up to challenge Higgins," April 3, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "New York's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "District Active Enrollment 2012," April, 2012
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in New York," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "Democrats Capture House Seat in Special Election," accessed December 26, 2011
