Utah's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
June 26, 2012 |
Rob Bishop ![]() |
Rob Bishop ![]() |
The 1st Congressional District of Utah held election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.

Incumbent Rob Bishop won re-election on November 6, 2012.[1] He defeated Donna McAleer (D) and Sherry Phipps (Constitution) in the general election.
Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
---|---|---|
Primary: Utah has a mixed primary system, with Republicans having a closed primary and Democrats having an open one. Both parties hold conventions prior to the primaries.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by October 7, 2011 or October 22, 2011 in-person. For the general election, voter registration deadlines were October 7, 2012 and October 22, 2012 in-person.[2]
- See also: Utah elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Rob Bishop (R), who was first elected to the House in 2002. Bishop was re-elected on November 6, 2012.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Utah's 1st Congressional District is located in the northern portion of the state, and includes Box Elder, Cache, Rich, Weber, and Davis counties.[3]
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.
General election candidates
Republican convention candidates
- Rob Bishop: Incumbent[4]
- Leonard Fabiano[4]
- Jacqueline Smith[4]
- Rob Bishop: Incumbent[4]
Election results
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | ![]() |
71.5% | 175,487 | |
Democratic | Donna M. McAleer | 24.7% | 60,611 | |
Constitution | Sherry Phipps | 3.8% | 9,430 | |
Total Votes | 245,528 | |||
Source: Utah Lieutenant Governor "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" |
Race background
Democratic primary
Democratic candidates Ryan Combe and Donna McAleer competed in the June 26, 2012 primary, as delegates at the party's April 21, 2012 convention failed to give either candidate the necessary 60 percent for nomination, despite multiple rounds of voting.[5][6]
McAleer, a West Point graduate and former nonprofit executive, said Congress needed more female and veteran voices.[7] Combe, an entrepreneur and university fundraiser, focused on the cost of higher education.[7]
McAleer outraised Combe, although both candidates were new to politics and had each raised under $100,000 for their campaigns.[7]
Republican convention
In the April 21, 2012 Republican convention, the party nominated incumbent Rob Bishop to be the Republican candidate in the general election. Bishop received 81 percent of the delegate votes, defeating Leonard Fabiano and Jacqueline Smith.[8] No Republican primary was held for the 1st Congressional District.[9]
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.
Donna McAleer
Donna McAleer Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
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Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
Pre-Primary[10] | June 6, 2012 | $0.00 | $56,334.80 | $(25,364.60) | $30,970.20 | ||||
July Quarterly[11] | July 13, 2012 | $30,970.20 | $10,206.60 | $(35,014.95) | $6,161.85 | ||||
Running totals | |||||||||
$66,541.4 | $(60,379.55) |
Rob Bishop
Rob Bishop Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
Pre-Convention[12] | April 1, 2012 | $88,508.27 | $69,330.00 | $(46,668.63) | $111,169.64 | ||||
July Quarterly[13] | July 15, 2012 | $111,169.64 | $42,033.00 | $(72,604.51) | $80,598.13 | ||||
Running totals | |||||||||
$111,363 | $(119,273.14) |
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Utah
Utah was redistricted following the 2010 Census and received a fourth Congressional seat.
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. Utah's 1st District became more Republican because of redistricting.[14]
- 2012: 27D / 73R
- 2010: 31D / 69R
Cook Political Report's PVI
In 2012, Cook Political Report released its updated figures on the Partisan Voter Index, which measured each congressional district's partisanship relative to the rest of the country. Utah's 1st Congressional District had a PVI of R+25, which was the 8th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 69-31 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 78-22 percent over John Kerry (D).[15]
District history
Candidate ballot access |
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Rob Bishop won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating Morgan E. Bowen (D) Kirk D. Pearson (Constitution), and Jared Paul Stratton (L).[16]
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Utah, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Utah, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "General Election Results 2012-Utah," November 7, 2012
- ↑ Utah Lieutenant Governor, "Voting Registration Deadlines," accessed July 6, 2012
- ↑ Utah Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed July 24, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office: Elections "2012 Candidate Filings," accessed March 16, 2012
- ↑ St. George News, "Largest delegate turnout for Utah’s Democratic Party Convention; election results and photo gallery," April 22, 2012
- ↑ Utah Democratic Party, "U.S. House Candidates," accessed May 27, 2012
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Deseret News, "Democrats square off in 1st Congressional District primary," June 19, 2012
- ↑ UtahGOP "Election Results: Utah Congressional District 1," April 21, 2012
- ↑ Utah Lt. Gov. Office: Elections, "2012 Candidate Filings," accessed May 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "McAleer Congressional Campaign Committee Pre-Primary," accessed July 13, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "McAleer Congressional Campaign Committee July Quarterly," accessed July 20, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Rob Bishop for Congress Pre-Convention," accessed July 13, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Rob Bishop for Congress July Quarterly," accessed July 20, 2012
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Utah," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013