2012 United States House of Representatives elections

The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 6, 2012. It coincided with the reelection of President Barack Obama. Elections were held for all 435 seats representing the 50 U.S. states and also for the delegates from the District of Columbia and five major U.S. territories. The winners of this election cycle served in the 113th United States Congress. This was the first congressional election using districts drawn up based on the 2010 United States census.

Although Democratic candidates received a nationwide plurality of more than 1.4 million votes (1.1%) in the aggregated vote totals from all House elections, the Republican Party won a 33-seat advantage in seats, thus retaining its House majority by 17 seats. Democrats picked up 27 previously Republican-held seats, but most of these gains were canceled out due to Republican pick-ups of Democratic-held seats, and reapportionment gains that benefited Republicans, leaving the Democrats with a net gain of just eight seats.

This disparity – common in close elections involving single-member district voting – has sometimes been attributed to targeted Republican gerrymandering in the congressional redistricting process following the 2010 United States Census. "Unintentional gerrymandering," --the high concentration of Democrats in urban centers--leading to "wasted votes" in districts that easily elected Democratic candidates, has also been cited as causing some of the efficiency gap. The GOP also benefited from having a greater number of incumbents, who tend to have an advantage in elections which may have helped Republicans win close elections for individual seats.

In the 20th century, the party with a plurality of the popular vote was unable to receive a majority in the House on four occasions- 1952 and 1996, in which the Republicans held a majority in the House. Meanwhile, the 1914 and 1942 elections were the last time that the Democrats won a majority in the House without winning the popular vote.

As of 2024, this is the last congressional election in which Democrats won a House seat in West Virginia.

Federal
! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:center;" rowspan="2" colspan="2"| Parties ! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:center;" colspan="4"| Seats ! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Popular vote change'''
 * - style="background:#e9e9e9;"
 * style="text-align:center;"| 2010
 * style="text-align:center;"|2012
 * style="text-align:center;"|'''Net
 * style="text-align:center;"|Strength
 * style="text-align:center;"|Vote
 * style="text-align:center;"|%
 * style="text-align:center;"|Change
 * style="background-color:;" |
 * align="left"| Republican Party
 * align="right"| 242
 * align="right"| 234
 * align="right"| 8
 * align="right"| 53.8%
 * align="right"| 58,283,314
 * align="right"| 47.7%
 * align="right"| −4.0%
 * style="background-color:;"|
 * align="left"| Democratic Party
 * align="right"| 193
 * align="right"| 201
 * align="right"| 8
 * align="right"| 46.2%
 * align="right"| 59,645,531
 * align="right"| 48.8%
 * align="right"| +3.9%
 * style="background-color:;" |
 * align="left"| Libertarian Party
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| 1,360,925
 * align="right"| 1.1%
 * align="right"| −0.1%
 * style="background-color:;" |
 * align="left"| Independent
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| 1,240,672
 * align="right"| 1.0%
 * align="right"| +0.4%
 * style="background-color:;" |
 * align=left|Green Party
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| 373,455
 * align="right"| 0.3%
 * align="right"| –
 * style="background-color:;" |
 * align=left|Constitution Party
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| 111,576
 * align="right"| 0.1%
 * align="right"| −0.1%
 * style="background-color:;" |
 * align=left|Reform Party
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| –
 * align="right"| 70,682
 * align="right"| 0.1%
 * align="right"| +0.1%
 * style="background-color:;" |
 * align=left|Others
 * align="right"| -
 * align="right"| -
 * align="right"| -
 * align="right"| -
 * align="right"| 1,205,344
 * align="right"| 1.0%
 * align="right"| +0.1%
 * - style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;"
 * colspan="2"| Totals
 * 435
 * 435
 * 0
 * 100.0%
 * 122,291,499
 * 100.0%
 * - style="background:#e9e9e9;"
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="9"|Source: Election Statistics – Office of the Clerk (does not include blank or over/under votes)
 * }
 * 435
 * 0
 * 100.0%
 * 122,291,499
 * 100.0%
 * - style="background:#e9e9e9;"
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="9"|Source: Election Statistics – Office of the Clerk (does not include blank or over/under votes)
 * }
 * }

Retiring incumbents
Forty-one Representatives retired. Thirty-four of those seats were held by the same party, six seats changed party.

Democrats
Twenty-two Democrats retired. Fourteen of those seats were held by Democrats, five were won by Republicans, and three seats were eliminated in redistricting.

Democratic held

 * 1) CA's 6th congressional district: Lynn Woolsey, was succeeded by Jared Huffman (with district being renumbered as California 2).
 * 2) California 51: Bob Filner, to run for Mayor of San Diego, was succeeded by Juan Vargas.
 * 3) Connecticut 5: Chris Murphy, to run for U.S. Senate, was succeeded by Elizabeth Esty.
 * 4) Hawaii 2: Mazie Hirono, to run for U.S. Senate, was succeeded by Tulsi Gabbard.
 * 5) IL's 12th congressional district: Jerry Costello, was succeeded by William Enyart.
 * 6) Massachusetts 4: Barney Frank, was succeeded by Joseph P. Kennedy III.
 * 7) Michigan 5: Dale Kildee, was succeeded by Dan Kildee.
 * 8) Nevada 1: Shelley Berkley, to run for U.S. Senate, was succeeded by Dina Titus.
 * 9) New Mexico 1: Martin Heinrich, to run for U.S. Senate, was succeeded by Michelle Lujan Grisham.
 * 10) New York 5: Gary Ackerman, was succeeded by Grace Meng (with district being renumbered as New York 6).
 * 11) New York 10: Edolphus Towns, was succeeded by Hakeem Jeffries (with district being renumbered as New York 8).
 * 12) Texas 20: Charlie Gonzalez, was succeeded by Joaquín Castro.
 * 13) Washington 6: Norm Dicks, was succeeded by Derek Kilmer.
 * 14) Wisconsin 2: Tammy Baldwin, to run for U.S. Senate, was succeeded by Mark Pocan.

Republican gain

 * 1) Arkansas's 4th congressional district: Mike Ross, was succeeded by Tom Cotton.
 * 2) Indiana's 2nd congressional district: Joe Donnelly, to run for U.S. Senate, was succeeded by Jackie Walorski.
 * 3) North Carolina's 11th congressional district: Heath Shuler, was succeeded by Mark Meadows.
 * 4) North Carolina's 13th congressional district: Brad Miller, was succeeded by George Holding.
 * 5) Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district: Dan Boren, was succeeded by Markwayne Mullin.

Seats eliminated in redistricting

 * 1) CA's 18th congressional district: Dennis Cardoza.
 * 2) Massachusetts 1: John Olver.
 * 3) NY's 22nd congressional district: Maurice Hinchey.

Republicans
Nineteen Republicans retired. Fifteen of those seats were held by Republicans, one was won by a Democrat, and three seats were eliminated in redistricting.

Republican held

 * 1) AZ's 6th congressional district: Jeff Flake, to run for U.S. Senate, was succeeded by Matt Salmon (with district being renumbered as Arizona 5).
 * 2) CA's 2nd congressional district: Wally Herger, was succeeded by Doug LaMalfa (with district being renumbered as California 1).
 * 3) CA's 41st congressional district: Jerry Lewis, was succeeded by Paul Cook (with district being renumbered as California 8).
 * 4) Florida 14: Connie Mack IV, to run for U.S. Senate, was succeeded by Trey Radel (with district being renumbered as Florida 19).
 * 5) Illinois 15: Tim Johnson, was succeeded by Rodney L. Davis (with district being renumbered as Illinois 13).
 * 6) Indiana 5: Dan Burton, was succeeded by Susan Brooks.
 * 7) Indiana 6: Mike Pence, to run for Governor of Indiana, was succeeded by Luke Messer.
 * 8) Missouri 2: Todd Akin, to run for U.S. Senate, was succeeded by Ann Wagner.
 * 9) Michigan 11: Thaddeus McCotter: failed to make the ballot for renomination due to fraudulent signatures, was succeeded by Kerry Bentivolio.
 * 10) Montana at-large: Denny Rehberg, to run for U.S. Senate, was succeeded by Steve Daines.
 * 11) North Carolina 9: Sue Myrick, was succeeded by Robert Pittenger.
 * 12) North Dakota at-large: Rick Berg, to run for U.S. Senate, was succeeded by Kevin Cramer.
 * 13) Ohio 14: Steve LaTourette, was succeeded by David Joyce.
 * 14) Pennsylvania 19: Todd Russell Platts, was succeeded by Scott Perry (with district being renumbered as Pennsylvania 4).
 * 15) Texas 14: Ron Paul, to run for U.S. President, was succeeded by Randy Weber.

Democratic gain

 * 1) California 24: Elton Gallegly, was succeeded by Julia Brownley (with district being renumbered as California 26).

Seats eliminated in redistricting

 * 1) California's 26th congressional district: David Dreier.
 * 2) New York 9: Bob Turner, who ran for U.S. Senate.
 * 3) Ohio 7: Steve Austria.

Incumbents defeated
As a result of redistricting, many incumbents were forced to compete against each other in the same district, which resulted in a larger number of incumbents being defeated in primaries.

In primary elections
Thirteen representatives lost renomination: Eight were lost in redistricting battles pitting incumbents against each other, and five incumbents lost nomination to non-incumbent challengers.

Democrats
Seven Democrats lost renomination: five in redistricting and two to a non-incumbent challenger.

Seat held by a Democrat
These primary winners later won the general election.


 * 1) Michigan's 14th congressional district: Hansen Clarke lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Gary Peters
 * 2) Missouri's 1st congressional district: Russ Carnahan lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Lacy Clay
 * 3) New Jersey's 9th congressional district: Steve Rothman lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Bill Pascrell
 * 4) Ohio's 9th congressional district: Dennis Kucinich lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Marcy Kaptur
 * 5) Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district: Tim Holden lost to challenger Matt Cartwright
 * 6) Texas's 16th congressional district: Silvestre Reyes lost to challenger Beto O'Rourke

Seat lost to a Republican

 * 1) Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district: Jason Altmire lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Mark Critz, who later lost the general election

Republicans
Six Republicans lost renomination: three in redistricting races and three to a non-incumbent challenger. All the seats were held by Republicans.
 * 1) Arizona's 6th congressional district: Ben Quayle lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent David Schweikert
 * 2) Florida's 3rd congressional district: Cliff Stearns lost to challenger Ted Yoho
 * 3) Florida's 7th congressional district: Sandy Adams lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent John Mica
 * 4) Illinois's 16th congressional district: Don Manzullo lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Adam Kinzinger
 * 5) Ohio's 2nd congressional district: Jean Schmidt lost to challenger Brad Wenstrup
 * 6) Oklahoma's 1st congressional district: John Sullivan lost to challenger Jim Bridenstine

Democrats
Ten incumbent Democrats lost re-election; four to fellow Democrats and six to Republicans. Four losses were in California: two due to redistricting putting two incumbents together (resulting in a net loss of two for the Democrats) and two due to the state's top two primary. Two incumbents outside of California lost to Republican incumbents after being redistricted to the same district.

Seat held by a Democrat

 * 1) California's 15th congressional district: Pete Stark lost to Eric Swalwell
 * 2) California's 30th congressional district: Howard Berman lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Brad Sherman
 * 3) California's 35th congressional district: Joe Baca lost to Gloria Negrete McLeod
 * 4) California's 44th congressional district: Laura Richardson lost a redistricting race to fellow incumbent Janice Hahn

Seat lost to a Republican incumbent

 * 1) Iowa's 3rd congressional district: Leonard Boswell lost a redistricting race to Tom Latham
 * 2) Ohio's 16th congressional district: Betty Sutton lost a redistricting race to Jim Renacci

Seat lost to a Republican challenger

 * 1) Kentucky's 6th congressional district: Ben Chandler lost to Andy Barr.
 * 2) New York's 27th congressional district: Kathy Hochul lost to Chris Collins.
 * 3) North Carolina's 8th congressional district: Larry Kissell lost to Richard Hudson.
 * 4) Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district: Mark Critz lost to Keith Rothfus.

Republicans
Seventeen incumbent Republicans lost re-election.

Seat held by a Republican
One incumbent Republican lost re-election to a fellow incumbent Republican.
 * 1) Louisiana's 3rd congressional district: Jeff Landry lost to Charles Boustany

Seat lost to a Democratic challenger
Sixteen incumbent Republicans, ten of whom were first elected in 2010, lost re-election to Democrats.


 * 1) California's 7th congressional district: Dan Lungren lost to Ami Bera.
 * 2) California's 36th congressional district: Mary Bono Mack lost to Raul Ruiz.
 * 3) California's 52nd congressional district: Brian Bilbray lost to Scott Peters.
 * 4) Florida's 18th congressional district: Allen West lost to Patrick Murphy.
 * 5) Florida's 26th congressional district: David Rivera lost to Joe Garcia.
 * 6) Illinois's 8th congressional district: Joe Walsh lost to Tammy Duckworth.
 * 7) Illinois's 10th congressional district: Robert Dold lost to Brad Schneider.
 * 8) Illinois's 11th congressional district: Judy Biggert lost to Bill Foster
 * 9) Illinois's 17th congressional district: Bobby Schilling lost to Cheri Bustos.
 * 10) Maryland's 6th congressional district: Roscoe Bartlett lost to John K. Delaney.
 * 11) Minnesota's 8th congressional district: Chip Cravaack lost to Rick Nolan
 * 12) New Hampshire's 1st congressional district: Frank Guinta lost to Carol Shea-Porter
 * 13) New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district: Charles Bass lost to Ann Kuster.
 * 14) New York's 18th congressional district: Nan Hayworth lost to Sean Patrick Maloney.
 * 15) New York's 24th congressional district: Ann Marie Buerkle lost to Dan Maffei
 * 16) Texas's 23rd congressional district: Quico Canseco lost to Pete Gallego.

Reapportionment
The 2010 United States census determined how many of the 435 congressional districts each state receives for the 2010 redistricting cycle. Due to population shifts, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania each lost one seat; and New York and Ohio each lost two seats. Conversely, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington each gained one seat; Florida gained two seats; and Texas gained four seats.

New seats
Twelve new districts were created after the 2010 redistricting process:
 * 1) AZ's 9th congressional district
 * 2) FL's 26th congressional district
 * 3) FL's 27th congressional district
 * 4) GA's 14th congressional district
 * 5) NV's 4th congressional district
 * 6) SC's 7th congressional district
 * 7) UT's 4th congressional district
 * 8) TX's 33rd congressional district
 * 9) TX's 34th congressional district
 * 10) TX's 35th congressional district
 * 11) TX's 36th congressional district
 * 12) WA's 10th congressional district

Seats eliminated
The following districts were eliminated and became obsolete:
 * 1) IL's 19th congressional district
 * 2) IA's 5th congressional district
 * 3) LA's 7th congressional district
 * 4) MA's 10th congressional district
 * 5) MI's 15th congressional district
 * 6) MO's 9th congressional district
 * 7) NJ's 13th congressional district
 * 8) NY's 28th congressional district
 * 9) NY's 29th congressional district
 * 10) OH's 17th congressional district
 * 11) OH's 18th congressional district
 * 12) PA's 19th congressional district

Newly created seats
Of the 435 districts created in the 2010 redistricting, nineteen had no incumbent representative.

Democratic gain
Twelve Democrats were elected in newly created seats.


 * 1) Arizona's 1st congressional district: won by Ann Kirkpatrick
 * 2) Arizona's 9th congressional district: won by Kyrsten Sinema
 * 3) California's 29th congressional district: won by Tony Cardenas
 * 4) California's 41st congressional district: won by Mark Takano
 * 5) California's 47th congressional district: won by Alan Lowenthal
 * 6) Florida's 9th congressional district: won by Alan Grayson
 * 7) Florida's 22nd congressional district: won by Lois Frankel
 * 8) Ohio's 3rd congressional district: won by Joyce Beatty
 * 9) Texas's 33rd congressional district: won by Marc Veasey
 * 10) Texas's 34th congressional district: won by Filemon Vela Jr.
 * 11) Nevada's 4th congressional district: won by Steven Horsford
 * 12) Washington's 10th congressional district: won by Denny Heck

Republican gain
Seven Republicans were elected in newly created seats.


 * 1) California's 21st congressional district: won by David Valadao
 * 2) Florida's 6th congressional district: won by Ron DeSantis
 * 3) Georgia's 9th congressional district: won by Doug Collins
 * 4) South Carolina's 7th congressional district: won by Tom Rice
 * 5) Texas's 25th congressional district: won by Roger Williams
 * 6) Texas's 36th congressional district: won by Steve Stockman
 * 7) Utah's 2nd congressional district: won by Chris Stewart

Closest races
Sixty-four races were decided by 10% or lower.

Special elections
There were six special elections in 2012. Winners would have a seniority advantage over other freshmen. Two elections were held separate from the November elections and four elections were held concurrent with the November elections.

Arizona
Arizona gained one seat in reapportionment. A second open seat was created when a pair of Republicans were redistricted into the same district. Primary elections were August 28, 2012.

California


California retained its fifty-three seats: four new seats were created when four pairs of Representatives were redistricted to run against each other. An additional Republican incumbent, Gary Miller, won re-election in an entirely different district from the one he had previously represented. The election featured the first use of the top-two primary system in which primary elections list candidates from all parties on one ballot, and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election. Two elections (30th and 44th districts) featured two Democratic incumbents running against each other.

Connecticut
Primary elections were held August 14, 2012.

Florida
Florida gained two seats in reapportionment. As a result of the Fair Districts Amendment, approved by voters via referendum in 2010, the legislature could not take incumbency into account in drawing the lines. As a result, two incumbent Republicans, John Mica and Sandy Adams, were drawn into the same district, creating a third new seat.

Georgia
Georgia gained one seat in reapportionment.

Illinois
Illinois lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of incumbent Republicans into the same district.

Iowa


Iowa lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of incumbents, a Democrat and a Republican, into the same district.

Kansas
Primary elections were held August 7, 2012.

Louisiana
Louisiana lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of incumbent Republicans into the same district.

Massachusetts
Massachusetts lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of incumbent Democrats into the same district, although one, John Olver, retired in advance of the legislature's approval of new maps. Primary elections were held September 6, 2012.

Michigan
Michigan lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of Democrats into the same district. Primary elections were held August 7, 2012.

Missouri
Missouri lost one seat in reapportionment; two Democrats were drawn into the same district as a result. Primary elections were held August 7, 2012.

Nevada
Nevada gained one seat in reapportionment.

New Jersey
New Jersey lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing two incumbent Democrats into the same district.

New York
New York lost two seats in reapportionment. After the legislature failed to reach agreement, New York conducted its 2012 congressional elections under a map drawn by a federal magistrate judge. Two incumbent Representatives saw their districts eliminated; one, Maurice Hinchey, chose to retire, while the other, Bob Turner, chose to run for the U.S. Senate. A third incumbent impacted by redistricting, Gary Ackerman, chose to retire, creating an open seat.

Ohio


Ohio lost two seats in reapportionment. Three pairs of incumbents were redistricted together, and one new seat was created.

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing two incumbent Democrats to run against each other, with the seat ultimately being won by a Republican challenger in November.

Rhode Island
The primary election was held September 11, 2012.

South Carolina
South Carolina gained one seat in reapportionment.

Texas
Texas gained four seats in reapportionment. After the initial redistricting map drawn by the Texas Legislature was denied pre-clearance by a federal district court under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, Texas conducted its 2012 congressional elections under a court-ordered interim map.

Utah
Utah gained one seat in reapportionment.

Washington
Washington gained one seat in reapportionment. Primary elections were held August 7, 2012.

Non-voting delegates
Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner is elected to a four-year term during U.S. presidential election years. It is the only seat in the House elected for a four-year term.

! American Samoa at-large
 * Eni Faleomavaega
 * 1988
 * Incumbent re-elected.
 * nowrap |
 * nowrap |

✅ Eni Faleomavaega (Democratic) 55.2%

Amata Coleman Radewagen (Conservative) 33.8%

Rosie Fuala'au Tago Lancaster (Independent) 5.3%

! District of Columbia at-large
 * Eleanor Holmes Norton
 * 1990
 * Incumbent re-elected.
 * nowrap |
 * nowrap |

✅ Eleanor Holmes Norton (Democratic) 89.4%

Bruce Majors (Libertarian) 5.8%

Natale Stracuzzi (DC Statehood Green) 4.8%

! Guam at-large
 * Madeleine Bordallo
 * 2002
 * Incumbent re-elected.
 * nowrap |
 * nowrap |

✅ Madeleine Bordallo (Democratic) 58.4%

Frank Blas Jr. (Republican) 38.4%

! Northern Mariana Islands at-large
 * Gregorio Sablan
 * 2008
 * Incumbent re-elected.
 * nowrap |
 * nowrap |

✅ Gregorio Sablan (Independent) 79.7%

Ignacia T. Demapan (Republican) 20.3%

! Puerto Rico at-large
 * Pedro Pierluisi
 * | New Progressive/ Democratic
 * 2008
 * Incumbent re-elected.
 * nowrap |

✅ Pedro Pierluisi (PNP/Democratic) 48.4%

Rafael Cox Alomar (PPD/Democratic) 47.2%

Juan Manuel Mercado Nieves (PIP) 2.1%

! U.S. Virgin Islands at-large
 * Donna Christian-Christensen
 * 1996
 * Incumbent re-elected.
 * nowrap |
 * nowrap |

✅ Donna Christian-Christensen (Democratic) 60.1%

Warren Mosler (Independent) 17.1%

Holland Redfield II (Republican) 11.1%

Norma Pickard-Samuel (Independent) 10.1%


 * }