2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa

The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 to elect the state's four U.S. Representatives. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election. Primary elections were held on June 5, 2012.[1]

2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa
November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06)
All 4 Iowa seats to the United States House of Representatives
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Democratic Republican
Last election 3 2
Seats won 2 2
Seat change 1
Popular vote 772,387 726,505
Percentage 50.26% 47.27%
Swing 6.89% 6.72%
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The new congressional map, drawn by the state's Legislative Services Agency and passed with bipartisan support in the state House of Representatives and Senate, was signed into law by Governor Terry Branstad on April 19, 2011. Reflecting population shifts recorded in the 2010 United States Census, the new map decreases Iowa's representation from five congressional districts to four.[2]

Overview
United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 2012 [3]
Party Votes Percentage Seats Before Seats After +/–
Democratic 772,387 50.26% 3 2 -1
Republican 726,505 47.27% 2 2 -
Socialist Workers 6,286 0.41% -
Independent 30,291 1.97% -
Write-In 1,380 0.09% -
Totals 1,536,849 100% 5 4 -1

District 1
See also: Iowa's 1st congressional district

Bruce Braley, a Democrat the incumbent representative from the 1st district in northeastern Iowa since 2007, ran in the new 1st district. Fellow incumbent Dave Loebsack, who lived within the boundaries of the new 1st district in Linn County, but who had represented southeastern Iowa's 2nd district since 2007, moved to Johnson County and ran in the new 2nd district.[4] The 1st district has become more favorable to Democrats with the inclusion of Linn County and its loss of Scott County.[5] Braley won the Democratic nomination unopposed.[6]

Primary results
Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Bruce Braley (incumbent) 11,912 99.2
Democratic Write-ins 92 0.8
Total votes 12,004 100.0

Republican primary
Candidates
  • Rod Blum, businessman[7]
  • Ben Lange, in 2010 Republican nominee for IA-01[8]

Primary results
Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ben Lange 13,217 52.9
Republican Rod Blum 11,551 46.2
Republican Write-ins 143 0.9
Total votes 24,991 100.0

Results
Iowa's 1st congressional district, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Bruce Braley (incumbent) 222,422 56.9
Republican Ben Lange 162,465 41.6
Independent Gregory Hughes 4,772 1.2
Independent George Todd Krail II 931 0.2
n/a Write-ins 259 0.1
Total votes 390,849 100.0
Democratic hold

District 2
See also: Iowa's 2nd congressional district

None of Iowa's current members of Congress resided in the newly-drawn 2nd district; however, Democrat Dave Loebsack moved from Linn County to Johnson County in order to avoid a primary against Bruce Braley and continue representing southeastern Iowa.[4] The 2nd district became slightly more favorable to Republicans as a result of the inclusion of Scott County, but retains Democratic-leaning Johnson County.[5]

Democratic primary
Candidates

Primary results
Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dave Loebsack (incumbent) 17,467 81.5
Democratic Joe M. Seng 3,913 18.3
Democratic Write-ins 39 0.2
Total votes 21,419 100.0

Republican primary
Candidates
Withdrew
  • Richard Gates, machinist and Tea Party activist[10][12] Archer won the primary. Roll Call rated the race as "Likely Democratic".[5]

Primary results
Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John Archer 16,604 60.5
Republican Dan Dolan 10,775 39.3
Republican Write-ins 57 0.2
Total votes 27,436 100.0

Results
Iowa's 2nd congressional district, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Dave Loebsack (incumbent) 211,863 55.6
Republican John Archer 161,977 42.5
Independent Alan Aversa 7,112 1.8
n/a Write-ins 323 0.1
Total votes 381,275 100.0
Democratic hold

District 3
See also: Iowa's 3rd congressional district and Iowa's 4th congressional district

Leonard Boswell, a Democrat who represented the 3rd district in central Iowa since 1997, and Tom Latham, a Republican who represented the 4th district in northern and central Iowa since 1995, both ran in the new 3rd district.[13] Latham, who lived in the new 4th district, moved south to avoid facing fellow Republican Steve King in a primary.[14] Approximately half of the new 3rd district was represented by Boswell, whereas the new 3rd district contains more than 20 percent of the area currently represented by Latham.

The first debate was held October 10, 2012 at 7 pm, sponsored by KCCI and the Des Moines Register.[15]

Primary results
Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Leonard Boswell (incumbent) 8,382 98.3
Democratic Write-ins 145 1.7
Total votes 8,527 100.0

Primary results
Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Latham (incumbent) 27,757 99.2
Republican Write-ins 218 0.8
Total votes 27,975 100.0

Results
Iowa's 3rd congressional district, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Tom Latham (incumbent) 202,000 52.2
Democratic Leonard Boswell (incumbent) 168,632 43.6
Socialist Workers David Rosenfeld 6,286 1.6
Independent Scott G. Batcher 9,352 2.4
n/a Write-ins 572 0.2
Total votes 386,842 100.0
Republican gain from Democratic

District 4
See also: Iowa's 4th congressional district and Iowa's 5th congressional district

Steve King, a Republican represented western Iowa's 5th district since 2003, ran in the new 4th district. Christie Vilsack, the former First Lady of Iowa, was the Democratic nominee against King. Brady Olson also ran in the Liberty party against both King and Vilsack.[16] The new 4th district comprises mostly territory which King represented and which tends to vote for Republican candidates.

Primary results
Democratic primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Christie Vilsack 10,765 99.2
Democratic Write-ins 88 0.8
Total votes 10,853 100.0

Primary results
Republican primary results
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve King (incumbent) 38,238 98.9
Republican Write-ins 420 1.1
Total votes 38,658 100.0

Polling
Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Steve
King (R)		 Christie
Vilsack (D)
Public Policy Polling (D-HMP) January 18–23, 2012 974 ± 3.1% 49% 43%

Results
Iowa's 4th congressional district, 2012
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve King (incumbent) 200,063 52.9
Democratic Christie Vilsack 169,470 44.9
Independent Martin James Monroe 8,124 2.1
n/a Write-ins 226 0.1
Total votes 377,883 100.0
Republican hold

References
  1. "3 Year Election Calendar". Iowa Secretary of State. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  2. Wright, Allie (April 20, 2011). "Branstad signs redistricting bill". The Daily Iowan. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  3. "Secretary of State - Election Night Results - November 6th, 2012". Iowa Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 2013-05-24. Retrieved 2015-01-08.
  4. Waddington, Lynda (April 14, 2011). "Loebsack makes re-election hopes in new 2nd District official". The Iowa Independent. Archived from the original on April 16, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  5. Toeplitz, Shira (May 26, 2011). "Race Ratings: Competitive Races On Tap in Iowa". Roll Call. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
  6. "2012 Primary Election Canvass Summary" (PDF). Iowa Secretary of State. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  7. Clayworth, Jason (October 24, 2011). "Dubuque businessman to challenge Braley". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved October 26, 2011.
  8. Lynch, James Q. (October 12, 2011). "Lange: Rematch with Braley in Iowa 1st like an open seat race". Eastern Iowa Government. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  9. "Seng enters race for Congress". Quad-City Times. March 16, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  10. Lynch, James Q. (July 7, 2011). "Quad Cities attorney to challenge Loebsack". The Gazette (Cedar Rapids). Archived from the original on December 19, 2011. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  11. Lemmon, Dustin (June 20, 2011). "Dolan is Loebsack's first GOP challenger". Quad-City Times. Retrieved September 10, 2011.
  12. Crippes, Christinia (February 21, 2012). "Gates withdraws from GOP race". The Hawk Eye. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  13. Price, Dave (April 18, 2011). "POSITIVE OUTLOOK: Boswell said he feels confident about his chances". WHO-DT. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  14. Cillizza, Chris (April 15, 2011). "Tom Latham to run in Iowa's 3rd district". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  15. Watch tonight: Des Moines Register, KCCI host 3rd District debate, Des Moines Register, October 10, 2012
  16. Shea, Bill (July 20, 2011). "Vilsack launches campaign". The Messenger. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
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