Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
United States House of Representatives elections in Idaho, 2012
 |
Idaho's 2012 elections U.S. House • State Senate • State House • State ballot measures • Candidate ballot access |
 |
2014 →
|
 |
May 15, 2012 |
 |
The 2012 U.S. House of Representatives elections in Idaho took place on November 6, 2012. Voters elected two candidates to serve in the U.S. House, one from each of the state's two congressional districts.
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Idaho has a closed primary system, in which the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by April 20. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 12.[1] Voters could also register at the polls on election day, provided they brought an acceptable form of proof of residency.[2]
- See also: Idaho elections, 2012
The Center for Voting and Democracy (Fairvote) projected that Republicans would win both seats.[3]
Primary competitiveness
Idaho tied with Hawaii, Alaska, Montana, Rhode Island, and Washington for having the most competitive congressional primaries in 2012, with 100% of major party primaries having been contested (4 out of 4). The national average was 54.31%.
Two U.S. House incumbents sought re-election in Idaho in 2012. 2 of those 2 (100%) faced a primary challenger. Nationwide, 200 out of the 386 incumbents seeking re-election faced a primary challenger (51.81%).
Partisan breakdown
Heading into the November 6 election, the Republican Party held both of the Congressional seats from Idaho.
| Members of the U.S. House from Idaho -- Partisan Breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2012 | After the 2012 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 0 | 0 | |
| Republican Party | 2 | 2 | |
| Total | 2 | 2 | |
Incumbents
Heading into the 2012 election, the incumbents for the two congressional districts were:
| Name | Party | District |
|---|---|---|
| Michael K. Simpson |  Republican |
2 |
| Raul R. Labrador | Republican |
1 |
Margin of victory for winners
There were a total of 2 seats up for election in 2012 in Idaho. The following table shows the margin of victory for each district winner, which is calculated by examining the percentage difference between the top-two vote getters. If the race was uncontested, the margin of victory is listed as 100%.
| District | Winner | Margin of Victory | Total Vote | Top Opponent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho, District 1 |  Raul R. Labrador |
32.2% | 316,724 | Jimmy Farris |
| Idaho, District 2 | Mike Simpson |
30.3% | 318,494 | Nicole LeFavour |
General election candidates
| District | General Election Candidates | Incumbent | 2012 Winner | Partisan Switch? |
| 1st |  Jimmy Farris Raul Labrador  Rob Oates Pro-Life |
Raul Labrador | Raul Labrador |
No |
| 2nd | Nicole LeFavour Mike Simpson |
Michael K. Simpson | Mike Simpson |
No |
Candidates
Note: Election results were added on election night as races were called. Vote totals were added after official election results had been certified. Click here for more information about Ballotpedia's election coverage plan. Please contact us about errors in this list.
1st Congressional District
General election candidates
May 15, 2012, primary results
|
|
|
|
|
|
2nd Congressional District
General election candidates
May 15, 2012, primary results
|
|
|
- Note: John Baird initially filed to run, but withdrew from the race on March 12, 2012.[6][7] Eldon Wallace withdrew from the race on March 15, 2012.[6]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ IdahoVotes.gov, "2012 Deadlines," accessed July 21, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ IdahoVotes.gov, "Voter Registration FAQ," accessed July 21, 2012
- ↑ , "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Idaho," September 2012
- ↑ Roll Call "Ex-NFL Player to Challenge Labrador in Idaho" accessed December 5, 2011
- ↑ KBOI "Idaho Election Primary Voting Results" accessed May 22, 2012
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 Idaho Secretary of State "Candidate List" accessed March 2, 2012 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "source" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Idaho Statesman "Idaho Candidates 2nd Congressional District Field Shrinks" accessed May 3, 2012
