Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
April 24, 2012 |
Joseph R. Pitts  |
Joseph R. Pitts |
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The 16th Congressional District of Pennsylvania held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Joseph R. Pitts won the election.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Pennsylvania 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 March 25. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 7.[2]
- See also: Pennsylvania elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Joseph R. Pitts, (R), who assumed office in 1997.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District is located in the southeastern region of Pennsylvania and is just west of Philadelphia. It includes Lancaster and Chester counties.[3]
Candidates
General election candidates
April 24, 2012, primary results
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Election results
General Election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Aryanna Strader | 39% | 111,185 | |
| Republican |  Joseph R. Pitts Incumbent |
54.8% | 156,192 | |
| Independent | John Murphy | 4.3% | 12,250 | |
| Independent | James Bednarski | 1.8% | 5,154 | |
| Total Votes | 284,781 | |||
| Source: Pennsylvania Department of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Race background
The Washington Post listed the House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania in 2012 as one of the 10 states that could determine whether Democrats would retake the House or Republicans would hold their majority in 2013.[5] Ohio tied with Pennsylvania for 9th on the list.[5]
Impact of Redistricting
- See also Redistricting in Pennsylvania
The 16th District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[6][7]
- 13 percent from the 6th Congressional District
- 87 percent from the 16th Congressional District
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. Pennsylvania's 16th District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[8]
- 2012: 47D / 53R
- 2010: 45D / 55R
Cook Political Report's PVI
- See also: Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index 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. Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District has a PVI of R+6, and is the 161st most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 50-50 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 60-40 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.
Joseph R. Pitts
| Joseph Pitts (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| July Quarterly[10] | July 15, 2012 | $414,917.33 | $225,434.96 | $(135,330.66) | $505,021.63 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $225,434.96 | $(135,330.66) | ||||||||
Aryanna Strader
| Aryanna Strader (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| July Quarterly[11] | July 15, 2012 | $32,413.29 | $10,286.79 | $(37,285.85) | $5,414.23 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $10,286.79 | $(37,285.85) | ||||||||
John Murphy
| John Murphy (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| July Quarterly[12] | July 15, 2012 | $144.74 | $7,013.53 | $(4,677.37) | $2,480.90 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $7,013.53 | $(4,677.37) | ||||||||
District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Pitts won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Lois Herr in the general election.[13]
| U.S. House, Pennsylvania District 16 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Joseph R. Pitts Incumbent |
65.4% | 134,113 | |
| Democratic | Lois Herr | 34.6% | 70,994 | |
| Total Votes | 205,107 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Pennsylvania, 2012
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 House Race Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Registration Deadlines," accessed June 28, 2012
- ↑ Pennsylvania Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed July 30, 2012
- ↑ PoliticsPA "Pitts Challenger Lives Outside District Lines" accessed April 20, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Washington Post, "The 10 states that will determine control of the House in 2012," accessed April 25, 2012
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Pennsylvania's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Pennsylvania," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Joseph Pitts July Quarterly," accessed August 3 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Aryanna Starder July Quarterly," accessed August 3, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "John Murphy July Quarterly," accessed August 3, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
