Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
August 14, 2012 |
Mark Pocan ![]() |
Tammy Baldwin ![]() |
The 2nd Congressional District of Wisconsin held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.

Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
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Primary: Wisconsin has an open primary system, in which any registered voter can choose which party's primary to vote in, without having to be a member of that party.
Voter registration: Voter registration requirements may vary by municipality, although voters with valid ID must be granted a provisional ballot at the polls.[1]
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Tammy Baldwin (D), who was first elected to the House in 1998. Baldwin ran for U.S. Senate in 2012.[2]
This was the first election which used new district maps based on 2010 Census data. Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District encompasses Sauk, Columbia, Jefferson, Dane, Green, and Rock 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
August 14, 2012, primary results
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Election results
General Election
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
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Democratic | ![]() |
67.9% | 265,422 | |
Republican | Chad Lee | 31.9% | 124,683 | |
Independent | Joe Kopsick | 0% | 6 | |
Miscellaneous | N/A | 0.2% | 787 | |
Total Votes | 390,898 | |||
Source: "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" |
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Wisconsin
Following the 2010 Census, Wisconsin kept its 8 congressional seats. In redistricting, the Wisconsin Legislature sought to even out the districts, which due to the census information, required making the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Districts smaller, and making the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th larger. The new district map was signed into law on August 9, 2011.
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. Wisconsin's 2nd District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[10]
- 2012: 67D / 33R
- 2010: 66D / 34R
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. Wisconsin's 2nd Congressional District had a PVI of D+16, which was the 65th most Democratic district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 71-29 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, John Kerry (D) won the district 63-37 percent over George W. Bush (R).[11]
District history
Candidate ballot access |
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Tammy Baldwin won re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating Chad Lee (R).[12]
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Wisconsin, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Registration and Voting," accessed July 27, 2012
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Tammy Baldwin enters race for open Senate seat," accessed December 8, 2011
- ↑ Wisconsin Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed July 24, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wisconsin State Journal "State Reps. Kelda Helen Roys, Mark Pocan to run for Congress," accessed December 8, 2011
- ↑ Badger Herald "UW grad enters congressional race against Madison reps," accessed December 8, 2011
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Wisconsin Government Accountability Board "Candidates registered by office," accessed June 10, 2012
- ↑ The Capitol Times "Dane County treasurer enters race for Congress," accessed December 8, 2011
- ↑ David Worzala campaign website accessed June 10, 2012
- ↑ Joe Kopsick Campaign Site accessed December 8, 2011
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Wisconsin," 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