Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
April 24, 2012 |
Patrick Meehan  |
Patrick Meehan |
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The 7th Congressional District of Pennsylvania held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Patrick Meehan 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 Patrick Meehan, (R), who assumed office in 2011.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District is located in the southeast region of Pennsylvania and borders the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It includes portions of Lancaster, Chester, Montgomery, and Berks counties[3] On March 30, 2012, the 7th District was included in a list released by the National Journal of the top ten most contorted congressional districts due to redistricting.[4]
Candidates
General election candidates
April 24, 2012, primary results
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Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | George Badey | 40.6% | 143,509 | |
| Republican |  Patrick Meehan Incumbent |
59.4% | 209,942 | |
| Total Votes | 353,451 | |||
| Source: Pennsylvania Department of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Race background
Incumbent Patrick Meehan (R) was challenged by George Badey (D) in a more conservative district than the one he was elected to in 2010.[6]
Pennsylvania's 7th was Solid Republican according to the latest Cook Political Report race ratings. It was originally rated as Leaning Republican but changed the month before the general election.[7]
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.[8] Ohio tied with Pennsylvania for 9th on the list.[8]
Pennsylvania's 7th 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.[9]
Incumbent Pat Meehan was a part of the National Republican Congressional Committee's Patriot Program, a program to help House Republicans stay on offense and increase their majority in 2012.[10]
Impact of Redistricting
- See also Redistricting in Pennsylvania
On March 30, 2012, the 7th District was included in a list released by the National Journal of the top ten most contorted congressional districts due to redistricting.[4]
The 7th District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[11][12]
- 19 percent from the 6th Congressional District
- 59 percent from the 7th Congressional District
- 13 percent from the 13th Congressional District
- 8 percent from the 16th Congressional District
- 1 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 7th District became more Republican because of redistricting.[13]
- 2012: 48D / 52R
- 2010: 53D / 47R
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 7th Congressional District has a PVI of even, and is the 237th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 53-47 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 51-49 percent over John Kerry (D).[14]
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.
Patrick Meehan
| Patrick Meehan (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[15] | March 31, 2012 | $44,941.68 | $338,249.60 | $(66,704.31) | $316,486.97 | ||||
| July Quarterly[16] | July 15, 2012 | $1,055,502.99 | $498,329.98 | $(150,058.58) | $1,403,774.39 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $836,579.58 | $(216,762.89) | ||||||||
George Badey
| George Badey (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| July Quarterly[17] | July 15, 2012 | $191,565.07 | $104,149.83 | $(90,820.66) | $204,894.24 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $104,149.83 | $(90,820.66) | ||||||||
District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Meehan won election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Bryan Lentz and James D. Schneller in the general election.[18]
| U.S. House, Pennsylvania District 7 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Patrick Meehan |
54.9% | 137,825 | |
| Democratic | Bryan Lentz | 44% | 110,314 | |
| American Congress Party | James D. Schneller | 1.1% | 2,708 | |
| Total Votes | 250,847 | |||
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
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 National Journal, "Modern Gerrymanders: 10 Most Contorted Congressional Districts—MAPS," accessed March 31, 2012
- ↑ Delco Times "Radnor Democrat George Badey III looking to run against Meehan in 7th District" accessed April 20, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 10, 2012
- ↑ The Cook Political Report, "Recent race ratings changes," October 11, 2012
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Washington Post, "The 10 states that will determine control of the House in 2012," accessed April 25, 2012
- ↑ DCCC, "Red to Blue 2012"
- ↑ NRCC "Patriot Program 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, "Patrick Meehan's April Quarterly," accessed July 23, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Patrick Meehan's July Quarterly," accessed July 23, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "George Badey July Quarterly," accessed July 23, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
