North Carolina's 5th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
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The 5th Congressional District of North Carolina held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Incumbent Virginia Foxx (R) won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6th, 2012.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: North Carolina 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 April 13. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 12.[2]
- See also: North Carolina elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Virginia Foxx (R), who was first elected to the House in 2004. She won re-election on November 6, 2012.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. North Carolina's 5th Congressional District was located in the northwestern portion of the state and included Watauga, Ashe, Wilkes, Alexander, Iredell, Davie, Yadkin, Surry, Alleghany, Forsyth, Stokes, and Reckingham 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
May 8, 2012, primary results
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Election results
General Election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Elisabeth Motsinger | 42.5% | 148,252 | |
| Republican |  Virginia Foxx Incumbent |
57.5% | 200,945 | |
| Total Votes | 349,197 | |||
| Source: North Carolina State Board of Elections "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Democratic Primary
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Elisabeth Motsinger |
69.7% | 38,512 |
| Bruce G. Peller | 30.3% | 16,716 |
| Total Votes | 55,228 | |
Race background
The Washington Post listed the House of Representatives elections in North Carolina in 2012 as one of the states that could have determined whether Democrats retook the House or Republicans held their majority in 2013.[5] North Carolina was rated 8th on the list.[5]
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in North Carolina
Following the 2010 Census results, North Carolina did not gain or lose any congressional seats, maintaining its 13 representatives. While the 5th District was slightly more Democratic under the new map, the district was still solidly Republican.[6]
Registration statistics
As of May 11, 2012, District 5 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the North Carolina Board of Elections:
| North Carolina Congressional District 5[7] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Republicans | Democrats | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 5 | 489,344 | 201,498 | 168,010 | 119,836 | Republican | 19.93% | -8.46% |
| "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. North Carolina's 5th District became less Republican because of redistricting.[8]
- 2012: 39D / 61R
- 2010: 35D / 65R
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. North Carolina's 5th Congressional District has a PVI of R+12, which is the 84th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 58-42 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 64-36 percent over John Kerry (D).[9]
Campaign contributions
Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2012 elections season. Below are candidate reports.
Virginia Foxx
| Virginia Foxx (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[10] | April 15, 2012 | $1,459,631.79 | $94,773.54 | $(108,844.42) | $1,445,560.91 | ||||
| July Quarterly[11] | July 15, 2012 | $1,464,962.15 | $132,050.34 | $(71,042.02) | $1,525,970.47 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $226,823.88 | $(179,886.44) | ||||||||
Elisabeth Motsinger
| Elisabeth Motsinger (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[12] | April 15, 2012 | $13,177.53 | $32,155.88 | $(18,978.35) | $26,355.06 | ||||
| July Quarterly[13] | July 15, 2012 | $0.00 | $28,361.23 | $(17,092.73) | $11,268.50 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $60,517.11 | $(36,071.08) | ||||||||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in North Carolina, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, North Carolina," accessed November 7, 2012
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Registering to Vote in North Carolina," accessed July 26, 2012
- ↑ North Carolina Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed August 24, 2012
- ↑ Ashe Mountain Times "Second Democrat confirms run for US 5th District" accessed February 25, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Washington Post, "The 10 states that will determine control of the House in 2012," accessed April 25, 2012
- ↑ Roll Call, "Race Ratings: GOP looks for major gains in North Carolina," accessed December 26, 2011
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "US Congressional Districts by County and Precinct," May 11, 2012
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in North Carolina," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Virginia Foxx April Quarterly," accessed August 19, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Virginia Foxx July Quarterly," accessed August 19, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Elisabeth Motsinger April Quarterly," accessed August 19, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Elisabeth Motsinger July Quarterly," accessed August 19, 2012
