Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
September 11, 2012 |
David N. Cicilline  |
David N. Cicilline |
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The 1st Congressional District of Rhode Island held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Incumbent David Cicilline (D) won re-election.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Rhode Island has a closed primary system, meaning only registered members of a particular party may vote in that party's primary.
Voter registration: Voters were required to register to vote in the primary by August 12. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 7.[2]
- See also: Rhode Island elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was David N. Cicilline (D), who has served since 2011.
Rhode Island's 1st goes 65% Democratic, but incumbent David N. Cicilline (D) was still considered extremely vulnerable, according to the Washington Post. With Cicilline fighting the ghosts of his performance as Providence mayor, he faced a strong challenge in both the primary (from Anthony Gemma) and general (from Brendan Doherty).[3]
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District is located in the northern and eastern portions of the state and includes the greater portion of Providence.[4]
Candidates
General election candidates
September 11, 2012, primary results
Democratic Primary
- David N. Cicilline: Incumbent
- Ann Marie Delaney[5]
- Anthony Gemma: Businessman[6]
- Christopher Young[5]
- David N. Cicilline: Incumbent
Republican Primary
- Brendan Doherty: Retired police office[7]
- Michael J. Donahue[5]
- Brendan Doherty: Retired police office[7]
Independent Candidates
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  David Cicilline Incumbent |
53% | 108,612 | |
| Republican | Brendan Doherty | 40.8% | 83,737 | |
| Independent | David S. Vogel | 6.1% | 12,504 | |
| Write-In | N/A | 0.1% | 262 | |
| Total Votes | 205,115 | |||
| Source: Rhode Island Board of Elections "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
David Cicilline Incumbent |
62.1% | 30,203 |
| Anthony Gemma | 30.2% | 14,702 |
| Christopher Young | 7.6% | 3,701 |
| Total Votes | 48,606 | |
Race background
Rhode Island's 1st was considered to be Leaning Democratic according to the New York Times race ratings. Democratic incumbent David N. Cicilline was challenged by three others in the Democratic primary.[8]
Republican challenger Brendan Doherty had been included in the National Republican Congressional Committee's Young Guns program. The program highlighted challengers who represent the GOP's best chances to pick up congressional seats in the general election.[9]
Voter fraud accusations
Candidate Anthony Gemma had accused David Cicilline of voter fraud in the 2012 election but also going back to 2001. Gemma accused Cicilline of paying for votes, having people vote more than once and also using the names of voters who are deceased. Gemma stated that he had hired an investigator to seek out these allegations but chose not to share information which he said he has given to the FBI.[10]
Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy had come out in support of Cicilline, stating that the accusations placed on him were "wild and reckless." In a statement given on August 25, Kennedy stated that, "...the wild and reckless allegations we have seen this week serving only to distract from the serious issues facing Rhode Island, Democrats need to stay focused on winning in November..."[11]
Impact of Redistricting
- See also Redistricting in Rhode Island
Registration statistics
As of October 30, 2012, District 1 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the Rhode Island State Board of Elections:
| Rhode Island Congressional District 1[12] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 1 | 351,476 | 154,857 | 33,270 | 163,349 | Democratic | 365.46% | N/A |
| "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. Rhode Island's 1st District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[13]
- 2012: 64D / 36R
- 2010: 62D / 38R
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. Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District has a PVI of D+14, which is the 73rd most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 68-32 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, John Kerry (D) won the district 64-36 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.
David Cicilline
| David Ciciline (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[15] | April 15, 2012 | $517,687.32 | $319,562.03 | $(136,000.13) | $701,249.22 | ||||
| July Quarterly[16] | July 15, 2012 | $701,249.22 | $302,379.36 | $(167,303.48) | $836,325.10 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $621,941.39 | $(303,303.61) | ||||||||
Anthony Gemma
| Anthony Gemma (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[17] | March 31, 2012 | $191.19 | $1,850.00 | $(270.00) | $1,771.19 | ||||
| July Quarterly[18] | July 15, 2012 | $1,771.19 | $242,636.92 | $(80,064.53) | $164,343.58 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $244,486.92 | $(80,334.53) | ||||||||
Brendan Doherty
| Brendan Doherty (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[19] | April 14, 2012 | $482,326.75 | $152,513.75 | $(75,195.31) | $559,645.19 | ||||
| July Quarterly[20] | July 15, 2012 | $559,645.19 | $221,711.29 | $(112,006.06) | $669,350.42 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $374,225.04 | $(187,201.37) | ||||||||
District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Cicilline won election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated John J. Loughlin II, Kenneth A. Capalbo and Gregory Raposa in the general election.[21]
| U.S. House, Rhode Island District 1 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | David N. Cicilline |
50.6% | 81,269 | |
| Republican | John J. Loughlin II | 44.6% | 71,542 | |
| Independent | Kenneth A. Capalbo | 4% | 6,424 | |
| Independent | Gregory Raposa | 0.8% | 1,334 | |
| Total Votes | 160,569 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Rhode Island, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Rhode Island, 2012
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Rhode Island"
- ↑ Rhode Island Board of Elections, "Elections and Voting," accessed July 27, 2012
- ↑ Washington Post blog, "The 10 House districts that might surprise you," May 11, 2012
- ↑ Rhode Island Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed July 30, 2012
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Rhode Island Secretary of State "Candidate Search Page," accessed June 30, 2012
- ↑ Boston.com "RI businessman challenges Cicilline in primary," April 16, 2012
- ↑ Providence Journal Doherty funds campaign with $50,000 of his own money December 23, 2011
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 10, 2012
- ↑ NRCC "Young Guns 2012"
- ↑ The Call, "Gemma charges Cicilline with voter fraud," August 22, 2012
- ↑ Providence Journal, "Former Congressman Kennedy endorses, defends Cicilline," August 25, 2012
- ↑ Rhode Island State Board of Elections, "Voter Registration Reports, 2012," July, 2012
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Rhode Island," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "David Cicilline's April Quarterly Report," accessed August 30, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "David Cicilline's July Quarterly Report," accessed August 30, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Anthony Gemma April Quarterly," accessed August 30, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Anthony Gemma July Quarterly," accessed August 30, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, Brendan Doherty's April Quarterly report," accessed August 30, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Brendan Doherty's July Quarterly report
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
