Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
April 24, 2012 |
Michael G. Fitzpatrick  |
Michael G. Fitzpatrick |
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The 8th Congressional District of Pennsylvania held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Michael G. Fitzpatrick 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 Michael Fitzpatrick, (R), who assumed office in 2011, but also represented the state from 2005 to 2007.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District is located in eastern Pennsylvania and borders the state of New Jersey. It includes portions of Bucks and Montgomery counties.[3]
Candidates
General election candidates
April 24, 2012, primary results
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Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Kathryn Boockvar | 43.4% | 152,859 | |
| Republican |  Michael G. Fitzpatrick Incumbent |
56.6% | 199,379 | |
| Total Votes | 352,238 | |||
| Source: Pennsylvania Department of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Race background
Republican incumbent Michael G. Fitzpatrick was challenged by Kathryn Boockvar (D) in a slightly more conservative district than before. Democrats believed they had a strong candidate in Boockvar, who is on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red-to-Blue list.[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 8th District was rated as Leaning Republican according to the New York Times race projections in the summer of 2012. In October, The Cook Political Report rated is as Democratic toss-up while the Daily Kos moved it from Leaning Republican to Likely Republican in reaction to a reduction in campaign advertising for both candidates, among other factors.[7][8]
Pennsylvania's 8th 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 Michael G. Fitzpatrick 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
The 8th 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]
- 89 percent from the 8th Congressional District
- 7 percent from the 13th Congressional District
- 4 percent from the 15th 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 8th District's became more Republican because of redistricting.[13]
- 2012: 50D / 50R
- 2010: 51D / 49R
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. Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District has a PVI of D+1, which is the 184th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 54-46 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, John Kerry (D) won the district 51-49 percent over George W. Bush (R).[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.
Michael G. Fitzpatrick
| Michael Fitzpatrick (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[15] | March 31, 2012 | $55,377.33 | $1,103.35 | $(45,699.34) | $10,781.34 | ||||
| July Quarterly[16] | July 15, 2012 | $10,781.34 | $3,218.23 | $(13,037.74) | $961.83 | ||||
| October Quarterly[17] | October 15, 2012 | $1,201,687.07 | $575,977.90 | $(1,466,782.73) | $310,882.24 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $580,299.48 | $(1,525,519.81) | ||||||||
Kathryn Boockvar
| Kathryn Boockvar (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| July Quarterly[18] | July 15, 2012 | $250,430.21 | $41,496.59 | $(170,824.47) | $421,102.33 | ||||
| October Quarterly[19] | October 15, 2012 | $421,102.33 | $521,128.20 | $(741,236.71) | $200,993.82 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $562,624.79 | $(912,061.18) | ||||||||
Campaign media
Campaign websites
Bookckvar |
Fitzpatrick |
Advertisements
Boockvar"Right Fit" "Solutions" |
Fitzpatrick"College" "Health" |
District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Fitzpatrick won election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Patrick Murphy in the general election.[20]
| U.S. House, Pennsylvania District 8 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Michael Fitzpatrick Incumbent |
53.7% | 126,404 | |
| Democratic | Patrick Murphy | 46.3% | 109,157 | |
| Total Votes | 235,561 | |||
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 "It’s Official: Boockvar to Challenge Fitzpatrick" accessed April 20, 2012
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Daily Kos, "House Ratings 2012," October 5, 2012
- ↑ The Cook Political Report, "House:Race Ratings," October 11, 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, "Michael Fitzpatrick April Quarterly," accessed July 26, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Michael Fitzpatrick July Quarterly," accessed July 26, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Michael Fitzpatrick October Quarterly Report," October 15, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Kathryn Boockvar July Quarterly," accessed July 26, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Kathryn Boockvar October Quarterly Report," October 15, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
