Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Virginia's 7th Congressional District elections, 2012
2014 →
|
November 6, 2012 |
June 12, 2012 |
Eric Cantor ![]() |
Eric Cantor ![]() |
The 7th Congressional District of Virginia held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.

Eric Cantor was re-elected on November 6, 2012.[1]
Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
---|---|---|
Primary: Virginia has an open primary system, in which any registered voter may choose which party's primary to vote in.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by May 21, 2012. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 15, 2012.[2]
- See also: Virginia elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Eric Cantor (R), who was first elected to the House in 2000.
This was the first election which used new district maps based on 2010 Census data. Virginia's 7th Congressional District is located in the central portion of the state, and includes Culpeper, Orange, Spotsylvania, Louisa, Hanover, Richmond City, and New Kent 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
June 12, 2012, primary results
|
|
Election results
General Election
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | E. Wayne Powell | 41.4% | 158,012 | |
Republican | ![]() |
58.4% | 222,983 | |
Write-In | N/A | 0.2% | 914 | |
Total Votes | 381,909 | |||
Source: Virginia State Board of Elections "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" |
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Virginia
Following the 2010 Census, Virginia was redistricted. The state remained at 11 congressional seats. Redistricting plans were not solidified by the end of the 2011 session of the Virginia General Assembly.
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.[5][6]
- 9 percent from the 1st Congressional District
- 3 percent from the 3rd Congressional District
- 88 percent from the 7th 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. Virginia's 7th District became more Republican because of redistricting.[7]
- 2012: 40D / 60R
- 2010: 43D / 57R
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. Virginia's 7th Congressional District has a PVI of R+11, which is the 93rd most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 56-44 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 64-36 percent over John Kerry (D).[8]
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 the candidate's reports.
E. Wayne Powell
Wayne Powell Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
April Quarterly[9] | April 15, 2012 | $39,400.69 | $25,572.66 | $(26,980) | $37,993.35 | ||||
July Quarterly[10] | July 17, 2012 | $34,491.75 | $193,060.18 | $(81,655.82) | $145,896.11 | ||||
Running totals | |||||||||
$218,632.84 | $(108,635.82) |
Eric Cantor
Eric Cantor Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
April Quarterly[11] | April 13, 2012 | $1,831,609.08 | $1,198,441.76 | $(809,144.91) | $2,220,905.93 | ||||
July Quarterly[12] | July 13, 2012 | $2,099,394.47 | $543,727.51 | $(539,252.66) | $2,103,869.32 | ||||
Running totals | |||||||||
$1,742,169.27 | $(1,348,397.57) |
District history
Candidate ballot access |
---|
Find detailed information on ballot access requirements in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. |
2010
On November 2, 2010, Eric Cantor won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating Rick. E. Waugh, Jr. (D), Floyd C. Bayne (Independent Green), and a write-in.[13]
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Virginia, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "2012 General Election Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "2012 November Election Calendar," accessed July 7, 2012
- ↑ Virginia Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed July 24, 2012
- ↑ CBS 6 "Richmond lawyer announces campaign for Cantor's seat," accessed December 6, 2011
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Virginia's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Virginia," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, Wayne Powell's April Quarterly report," accessed September 20, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Wayne Powell's July Quarterly report," accessed September 20, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, Eric Cantor's April Quarterly report," accessed September 20, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Eric Cantor's July Quarterly report," accessed September 20, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013