Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
April 24, 2012 |
Glenn Thompson  |
Glenn Thompson |
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The 5th Congressional District of Pennsylvania held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Glenn Thompson won the election.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Pennsylvania has a closed primary system, meaning only registered members of a particular party may vote in that party's primary.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by March 25. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 7.[2]
- See also: Pennsylvania elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Glenn Thompson, (R), who assumed office in 2009.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District is located in the north-central portion of Pennsylvania and includes Erie, Warren, Venango, Clarion, Forest, McKean, Jefferson, Clearfield, Cameron, Potter, Clinton, Huntingdom, and Centre counties. The 5th District is the largest congressional district in the state.[3]
Candidates
General election candidates
April 24, 2012, primary results
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Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Glenn Thompson |
62.9% | 177,740 | |
| Democratic | Charles Dumas | 37.1% | 104,725 | |
| Total Votes | 282,465 | |||
Race background
The Washington Post listed the House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania in 2012 as one of the 10 states that could determine whether Democrats would retake the House or Republicans would hold their majority in 2013.[6] Ohio tied with Pennsylvania for 9th on the list.[6]
Impact of Redistricting
- See also Redistricting in Pennsylvania
The 5th District was re-drawn after the 2010 Census. The new district is composed of the following percentages of voters of the old congressional districts.[7][8]
- 22 percent from the 3rd Congressional District
- 72 percent from the 5th Congressional District
- 6 percent from the 9th 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. Pennsylvania's 5th District became more Democratic because of redistricting.[9]
- 2012: 44D / 56R
- 2010: 41D / 59R
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. Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District has a PVI of R+6, which is the 157th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 52-48 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 58-42 percent over John Kerry (D).[10]
Campaign contributions
Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Elections Commission during the 2012 elections season. Below are candidate reports.
Glenn Thompson
| Glenn Thompson (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[11] | March 31, 2012 | $99,238.56 | $110,266.43 | $(84,476.03) | $125,028.96 | ||||
| July Quarterly[12] | July 15, 2012 | $181,533.79 | $206,246.92 | $(152,370.00) | $235,410.71 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $316,513.35 | $(236,846.03) | ||||||||
Charles Dumas
| Charles Dumas (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| July Quarterly[13] | July 15, 2012 | $400.00 | $5,266.12 | $(4,900.44) | $765.68 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $5,266.12 | $(4,900.44) | ||||||||
District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Thompson won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Michael Pipe and Vernon L. Etzel in the general election.[14]
| U.S. House, Pennsylvania District 5 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Glenn Thompson Incumbent |
68.7% | 127,427 | |
| Democratic | Michael Pipe | 28.2% | 52,375 | |
| Libertarian | Vernon L. Etzel | 3.1% | 5,710 | |
| Total Votes | 185,512 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Pennsylvania, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Pennsylvania, 2012
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 House Race Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Registration Deadlines," accessed June 28, 2012
- ↑ Pennsylvania Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed July 30, 2012
- ↑ GoErie.com "Dumas expected to challenge in 5th Congressional District race" accessed April 15, 2012
- ↑ Punxsutawney Spirit "Thompson's 'bus stops here' for re-election announcement" accessed April 15, 2012
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Washington Post, "The 10 states that will determine control of the House in 2012" accessed April 25, 2012
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Pennsylvania's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Pennsylvania," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Glenn Thompson April Quarterly," accessed July 20, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Glenn Thompson July Quarterly," accessed July 20, 2012
- ↑ Federal Elections Commission, "Charles Dumas July Quarterly," accessed July 20, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
