Ohio's 7th Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
March 6, 2012 |
Bob Gibbs  |
Steve Austria |
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The 7th Congressional District of Ohio held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Incumbent Bob Gibbs won the election.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Ohio has a mostly closed primary system, in which voters must vote in the same party's primary as in the previous election, or register with the other party to switch.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by February 5. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 7.[2]
- See also: Ohio elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Bob Gibbs (R), who has represented Ohio's 18th Congressional District since 2011. He will face businesswoman Joyce Healy-Abrams (D). After the redistricting, process, the 18th District became the new 7th Congressional District. The current U.S. House representative from the 7th District is Steve Austria (R).[3]
This was the first election using district maps based on data from the 2010 Census. Ohio's 7th Congressional District is located in the north-central portion of the state and includes Knox, Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Holmes, Richland, Ashland, Huron, Medina, Lorain, and Cuyahoga counties.[4]
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
March 6, 2012 primary results
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Election results
General Election
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Joyce Healy-Abrams | 43.6% | 137,708 | |
| Republican |  Bob Gibbs Incumbent |
56.4% | 178,104 | |
| Total Votes | 315,812 | |||
| Source: Ohio Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Republican Primary
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Bob Gibbs |
79.9% | 54,067 |
| Hombre Liggett | 20.1% | 13,621 |
| Total Votes | 67,688 | |
Race background
Ohio's 7th was considered to be Leaning Republican according to the New York Times race ratings. Republican incumbent Bob Gibbs was challenged by Joyce Healy-Abrams in a closely watched race. Healy-Abrams had secured financial donations from Emily's List, a group that raises money for female Democratic candidates who endorse abortion rights.[7]
The Washington Post listed the House of Representatives elections in Ohio 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.[8] Ohio tied with Pennsylvania for 9th on the list.[8]
Incumbent Bob Gibbs was a part of the National Republican Congressional Committee's Patriot Program, a program to help House Republicans stay on offense and increase their majority in 2012.[9]
Impact of Redistricting
- See also Redistricting in Ohio
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.[10][11]
- 8 percent from the 4th Congressional District
- 5 percent from the 5th Congressional District
- 3 percent from the 9th Congressional District
- 14 percent from the 13th Congressional District
- 46 percent from the 16th Congressional District
- 25 percent from the 18th Congressional District
Registration statistics
As of October 29, 2012, District 7 had the following partisan registration breakdown according to the Ohio Secretary of State:
| Ohio Congressional District 7[12] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional District | District Total | Democrats | Republicans | Other & Unaffiliated | Advantage | Party Advantage | Change in Advantage from 2010 |
| District 7 | 472,141 | 58,144 | 103,281 | 310,716 | Republican | 77.63% | N/A |
| "Party advantage" is the percentage gap between the two major parties in registered voters. "Change in advantage" is the spread in difference of party advantage between 2010 and 2012 based on the congressional district number only. | |||||||
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. Ohio's 7th District became less Republican because of redistricting.[13]
- 2012: 44D / 56R
- 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. Ohio's 7th Congressional District has a PVI of R+5, which is the 182nd 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 55-45 percent over John Kerry (D).[14]
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.
Bob Gibbs
| Bob Gibbs (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[15] | March 31, 2012 | $475,073.53 | $221,176.45 | $(80,473.77) | $615,776.21 | ||||
| July Quarterly[16] | July 15 | $615,776.00 | $303,570.02 | $(36,916.49) | $882,429.53 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $524,746.47 | $(117,390.26) | ||||||||
Joyce Healy-Abrams
| Joyce Healy-Abrams (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[17] | March 31, 2012 | $15,493.80 | $227,416.27 | $(34,868.68) | $208,041.39 | ||||
| July Quarterly[18] | July 15 | $208,041.39 | $160,186.61 | $(135,301.09) | $232,926.91 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $387,602.88 | $(170,169.77) | ||||||||
District history
2010
On November 2, 2010, Austria won re-election to the United States House of Representatives. He defeated Bill Conner, John D. Anderson, and David W. Easton in the general election.[19]
| U.S. House of Representatives, Ohio Congressional District 7 Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Steve Austria Incumbent |
62.2% | 135,721 | |
| Democratic | Bill Conner | 32.2% | 70,400 | |
| Libertarian | John D. Anderson | 4.3% | 9,381 | |
| Constitution | David W. Easton | 1.3% | 2,811 | |
| Total Votes | 218,313 | |||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Ohio, 2012
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2012
- United States Senate elections in Ohio, 2012
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "2012 Election Map, Ohio," accessed November 11, 2012
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "FAQ," accessed June 29, 2012
- ↑ The Columbus Dispatch Republicans fight for district that may never be December 6, 2011
- ↑ Ohio Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed August 9, 2012
- ↑ The Plain Dealer. "Ex-Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is treasurer for congressional candidate Joyce Healy-Abrams." accessed March 7, 2012.
- ↑ CantonRep.com "Candidates file campaign finance reports" accessed February 3, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "House Race Ratings," accessed August 10, 2012
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Washington Post, "The 10 states that will determine control of the House in 2012," accessed April 25, 2012
- ↑ NRCC "Patriot Program 2012"
- ↑ Moonshadow Mobile's CensusViewer, "Ohio's congressional districts 2001-2011 comparison"
- ↑ Labels & Lists, "VoterMapping software voter counts"
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Precinct-By-Precinct Data," March 6, 2012
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Ohio," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Bob Gibbs April Quarterly," accessed July 14, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Bob Gibbs July Quarterly," accessed October 5, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Joyce Healy-Abrams April Quarterly," accessed July 14, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Joyce Healy-Abrams July Quarterly," accessed October 5, 2012
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
