Arkansas's 3rd Congressional District elections, 2012
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November 6, 2012 |
May 22, 2012 |
Steve Womack  |
Steve Womack |
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The 3rd Congressional District of Arkansas held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012.
Steve Womack was re-elected on November 6, 2012.[1]
| Candidate Filing Deadline | Primary Election | General Election |
|---|---|---|
Primary: Arkansas has an open primary system, in which registered voters do not have to be members of a party to vote in that party's primary.
Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by April 23. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 8.[2]
- See also: Arkansas elections, 2012
Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was Steve Womack (R), who was first elected in 2010.
This was the first election which used new district maps based on 2010 Census data. The 3rd District is located in northwestern Arkansas. Benton, Washington, Crawford, Sebastian, Carroll, Boone, Marion, Pope and Newton Counties are included in the new boundaries of the district.[3]
Candidates
General election candidates
- Steve Womack
Rebekah Kennedy
David Pangrac- Note:
Ken Aden withdrew from the race.
May 22, 2012, primary results
Democratic Primary
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Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Steve Womack Incumbent |
75.9% | 186,467 | |
| Green | Rebekah Kennedy | 16% | 39,318 | |
| Libertarian | David Pangrac | 8.1% | 19,875 | |
| Total Votes | 245,660 | |||
| Source: Arkansas Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election" | ||||
Ken Aden's withdrawal from the race
Ken Aden announced his intent to withdraw from the race at 5 p.m. on Monday, July 9, 2012. "Mr. Aden’s campaign has, via overnight mail, submitted the necessary notification prescribed by the Arkansas Code to withdraw from the race for U.S. Congress. A copy of this notification has been provided to the Democratic Party of Arkansas as well,” said Vince Leibowitz, spokesperson for the campaign."[4]
Impact of redistricting
- See also: Redistricting in Arkansas
In 2011, the Arkansas State Legislature re-drew the congressional districts based on updated population information from the 2010 census.
While Democrats controlled both chambers, the Senate committee in charge of redistricting was evenly split. The Senate and House traded several map proposals back and forth before coming to an agreement on April 13, 2011.
Fayetteville remained in the 3rd 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. Arkansas's 3rd District's partisanship was unaffected by redistricting.[5]
- 2012: 31D / 69R
- 2010: 31D / 69R
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. Arkansas's 3rd Congressional District has a PVI of R+16, which is the 42nd most Republican district in the country. In 2008, this district was won by John McCain (R), 65-35 percent over Barack Obama (D). In 2004, George W. Bush (R) won the district 63-37 percent over John Kerry (D).[6]
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.
Ken Aden
| Ken Aden (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[7] | April 14, 2012 | $530.70 | $27,243.50 | $(26,013.50) | $1,760.70 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[8] | May 9, 2012 | $1,760.70 | $1,271.72 | $(950.25) | $2,082.17 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $28,515.22 | $(26,963.75) | ||||||||
Steve Womack
| Steve Womack (2012) Campaign Finance Reports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | Date Filed | Beginning Balance | Total Contributions for Reporting Period | Expenditures | Cash on Hand | ||||
| April Quarterly[9] | April 13, 2012 | $246,199.54 | $86,877.06 | $(43,831.79) | $289,244.81 | ||||
| Pre-Primary[10] | May 10, 2012 | $289,244.81 | $51,368.70 | $(25,303.69) | $315,309.82 | ||||
| Running totals | |||||||||
| $138,245.76 | $(69,135.48) | ||||||||
Ratings
Sabato's Crystal Ball
Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball in December 2011 rated this district race as Safe R, which is the strongest designation given.[11]
District history
| Candidate ballot access |
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2010
On November 2, 2010, Steve Womack won election to the United States House. He defeated David Whitaker in the general election.[12]
| U.S. House, Arkansas District 3 General Election, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Steve Womack |
72.4% | 148,581 | |
| Democratic | David Whitaker | 27.6% | 56,542 | |
| Total Votes | 205,123 | |||
External links
- Official candidate list
- Campaign finance at OpenSecrets.org
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News, "2012 General Election Results," accessed November 6, 2012
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "2012 Election Calendar," accessed July 20, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Arkansas April 2011 Redistricting Map, "Map" accessed July 23, 2012
- ↑ Aden's Campaign Website, "Aden Announces Withdrawal From Congressional Race," July 9, 2012
- ↑ "2011 Redistricting and 2012 Elections in Arkansas," September 2012
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ken Aden April Quarterly," accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ken Aden Pre-Primary," accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Steve Womack April Quarterly," accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Steve Womack Pre-Primary," accessed July 9, 2012
- ↑ Sabato's Crystal Ball, "Fortress Blue, Fortress Red," accessed December 8, 2011
- ↑ U.S. Congress House Clerk, "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010," accessed March 28, 2013
