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Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District elections, 2012
2014 →
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November 6, 2012 |
April 24, 2012 |
Jim Gerlach  |
Jim Gerlach |
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The 6th Congressional District of Pennsylvania held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Jim Gerlach 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 Jim Gerlach, (R), who assumed office in 2003.
This was be the first election using new district maps based on 2010 Census data. Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District is located in the south eastern portion of Pennsylvania and includes portions of Lebanon, Berks, Chester, and Montgomery counties.[3]
Candidates
General election candidates
April 24, 2012, primary results
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Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Manan Trivedi | 42.9% | 143,803 | |
| Republican |  Jim Gerlach Incumbent |
57.1% | 191,725 | |
| Total Votes | 335,528 | |||
| Source: Pennsylvania Department of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Race background
Pennsylvania's 6th was considered to be Leaning Republican according to the New York Times race ratings. Republican incumbent Jim Gerlach was challenged by Manan Trivedi (D) in a rematch of the 2010 election. Democrats have been trying to oust Gerlach for years, but have thus far been unsuccessful. Unfortunately for them it was even harder this year as Gerlach's district has become more conservative due to redistricting.[5]
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.[6] Ohio tied with Pennsylvania for 9th on the list.[6]
Pennsylvania's 6th 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.[7]
Impact of Redistricting
- See also Redistricting in Pennsylvania
The 6th District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[8][9]
- 49 percent from the 6th Congressional District
- 21 percent from the 7th Congressional District
- 2 percent from the 13th Congressional District
- 6 percent from the 15th Congressional District
- 6 percent from the 16th Congressional District
- 16 percent from the 17th 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 6th District became more Republican because of redistricting.[10]
- 2012: 50D / 50R
- 2010: 55D / 45R
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 6th Congressional District has a PVI of R+1, and is the 227th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 54-46 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 53-47 percent over John Kerry (D).[11]
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.
Jim Gerlach
| Jim Gerlach (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| July Quarterly[12] | July 15, 2012 | $688,425.39 | $232,224.78 | $(146,304.07) | $885,277.97 | ||||
| October Quarterly[13] | October 15, 2012 | $541,469.77 | $508,926.18 | $(417,002.14) | $633,393.81 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $741,150.96 | $(563,306.21) | ||||||||
Manan Trivedi
| Manan Trivedi (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
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| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[14] | March 31, 2012 | $23,521.58 | $1,551.05 | $(2,905.43) | $22,167.20 | ||||
| July Quarterly[15] | July 15, 2012 | $360,520.62 | $263,027.51 | $(96,826.37) | $526,721.76 | ||||
| October Quarterly[16] | October 15, 2012 | $528,869.39 | $437,648.07 | $(683,962.27) | $282,555.80 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $702,226.63 | $(783,694.07) | ||||||||
Campaign media
Campaign Websites
Gerlach |
Trivedi |
Advertisements
This selection of campaign videos represents an array of campaign advertisements produced and released during the 2012 election cycle. The media material displayed below was taken from YouTube accounts operated by candidate campaign committees or unaffiliated organizations such as political action committees.
Gerlach
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Trivedi
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District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Gerlach won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Manan Trivedi in the general election.[17]
| U.S. House, Pennsylvania District 6 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Jim Gerlach Incumbent |
57.1% | 133,770 | |
| Democratic | Manan Trivedi | 42.9% | 100,493 | |
| Total Votes | 234,263 | |||
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
- Trivedi official campaign website
- Jim Gerlach Official Campaign Website
- Pennsylvania General Primary Election Results
- Pennsylvania General Election Results
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
- ↑ philly.com Reading physician, an Iraq vet to challenge Gerlach December 13, 2011
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 10, 2012
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Washington Post, "The 10 states that will determine control of the House in 2012," accessed April 25, 2012
- ↑ DCCC, "Red to Blue 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, "Jim Gerlach July Quarterly," accessed July 20, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Jim Gerlach October Quarterly Report," October 15, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Manan Trivedi April Quarterly," accessed July 20, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Manan Trivedi July Quarterly," accessed July 20, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Manan Trivedi October Quarterly Report," October 15, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
