Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
April 24, 2012 |
Charles W. Dent  |
Charles W. Dent |
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The 15th Congressional District of Pennsylvania held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. Incumbent Charles W. Dent 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 Charlie Dent, (R), who assumed office in 2005.
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Pennsylvania's 15th Congressional District is located in the eastern region of Pennsylvania and includes Norhampton, Lehigh, Berks, Lebanon, and Dauphin counties.[3]
Candidates
General election candidates
April 24, 2012, primary results
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Election results
General Election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Rick Daugherty | 43.2% | 128,764 | |
| Republican |  Charlie Dent Incumbent |
56.8% | 168,960 | |
| Total Votes | 297,724 | |||
| Source: Pennsylvania Department of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Democratic Primary
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Rick Daugherty |
58.8% | 14,623 |
| Jackson Eaton | 41.2% | 10,265 |
| Total Votes | 24,888 | |
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 15th 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]
- 3 percent from the 6th Congressional District
- 71 percent from the 15th Congressional District
- 26 percent from the 17th 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 15th District became more Republican because of redistricting.[9]
- 2012: 49D / 51R
- 2010: 53D / 47R
Cook Political Report's PVI
- See also: Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index 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 15th Congressional District has a PVI of R+2, and is the 218th most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by Barack Obama (D), 53-47 percent over John McCain (R). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 54-46 percent over John Kerry (D).[10]
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.
Charles W. Dent
| Charles Dent (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| July Quarterly[11] | July 15, 2012 | $516,895.13 | $215,577.01 | $(118,489.86) | $613,982.28 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $215,577.01 | $(118,489.86) | ||||||||
Rick Daugherty
| Brad Wenstrup (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| July Quarterly[12] | July 15, 2012 | $4,443.80 | $7,771.06 | $(9,093.74) | $3,121.12 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $7,771.06 | $(9,093.74) | ||||||||
District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Dent won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated John Callahan and Jake Towne in the general election.[13]
| U.S. House, Pennsylvania District 15 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Charlie Dent Incumbent |
53.5% | 109,534 | |
| Democratic | John Callahan | 39% | 79,766 | |
| Independent | Jake Towne | 7.5% | 15,248 | |
| Total Votes | 204,548 | |||
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
- Rick Daugherty official campaign website
- Pennsylvania General Primary Election Results
- Pennsylvania General Election Results
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
- ↑ The Morning Call Challenger to Charlie Dent surfaces December 14, 2011
- ↑ DCCC.org "Red to Blue 2012" accessed January 21, 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, "Charles Dent July Quarterly," accessed July 28, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Rick Daugherty July Quarterly," accessed July 27, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
