2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona

The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the nine U.S. representatives from the state, one from each of the state's nine congressional districts, including the newly created 9th district following the 2010 United States census. The elections coincided with other federal and state elections, including a quadrennial presidential election, and a U.S. Senate election. Primary elections were held on August 28, 2012.

Arizona was one of five states in which the party that won the state's popular vote did not win a majority of seats in 2012, the other states being Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Overview
The table shows the number and percentage of votes, as well as the number of seats gained and lost, by each political party in the 2012 elections for the United States House of Representatives in Arizona.

By district
Results of the 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Arizona by district:

Redistricting
Due to population gains reflected in the 2010 United States census, Arizona's congressional delegation increased from eight members to nine in 2012. In accordance with the Arizona Constitution, the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission produced new congressional district maps for use in the 2012 and subsequent elections. In October, 2011, the commission released a draft map and by November 5 that year had completed a round of public hearings for input on the draft map. The map became final after being cleared for compliance with the Voting Rights Act by the United States Department of Justice, and established the official district boundaries for the 2012 elections.

On November 1, 2011, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, with the approval of the Arizona Senate, removed Colleen Mathis, the commission's chair, charging Mathis was guilty of "failure to apply the Arizona Constitution's redistricting provisions in an honest, independent and impartial fashion." On November 17, the Arizona Supreme Court overturned Brewer's decision and reinstated Mathis. On November 21, Brewer asked the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision and to temporarily reverse Mathis' reinstatement. The Supreme Court refused. The map was pre-cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice on April 9, 2012, and was effect for the 2012 elections.

District 1
Based upon the new map, the 1st district is slightly friendlier to Democrats than its predecessor. Incumbent Republican Paul Gosar, first elected in 2010, ran for election in the more conservative 4th district.

Nominee

 * Jonathan Paton, state senator and candidate for the 8th district in 2010

Eliminated in primary

 * Patrick Gatti
 * Gaither Martin, former State Department official
 * Douglas Wade, contractor

Withdrawn

 * Doug McKee, contractor

Declined

 * Paul Gosar, incumbent U.S. Representative (running in the 4th)
 * Bill Konopnicki, former state representative
 * Gary Pierce, member of the Arizona Corporation Commission

Nominee

 * Ann Kirkpatrick, former U.S. representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Wenona Benally Baldenegro, attorney and member of the Navajo Nation

Withdrawn

 * Miguel Olivas, government consultant and former staffer for former U.S. Representative Rick Renzi

Primary results
Baldenegro would have been the first Native American woman to serve in Congress had she had won the seat.

Nominee

 * Kim Allen

District 2
After redistricting, most of the 2nd district was composed of land previously located in the 8th district and was thus more favorable to Democrats. Democrat Gabby Giffords, who had represented the 8th district since 2007, was seriously wounded in a mass shooting in January 2011 and resigned her congressional seat in January 2012. A special election was held in June 2012 under the boundaries of the then current 8th district, with a primary election held in April 2012; in November 2012, another election took place under the new boundaries of the 2nd district, with a primary scheduled for August 2012.

Nominee

 * Ron Barber, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Matt Heinz, state representative

Withdrawn

 * Paula Aboud, state senator
 * Steve Farley, state representative
 * Nomiki Konst, journalist and University of Arizona alumna

Nominee

 * Martha McSally, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and candidate for the 8th District in 2012 (special)

Eliminated in primary

 * Mark Koskiniemi

Withdrawn

 * Frank Antenori, state senator
 * Jesse Kelly, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and nominee for the in 8th District in 2010 and 2012 (special)

Declined

 * John Lervold, U.S. Army veteran and interrogation instructor at Fort Huachuca
 * Dave Sitton, sports announcer for the University of Arizona and candidate for the 8th District in 2012 (special)

Nominee

 * Anthony Powell

District 3
In the October 2011 redistricting, most of the 7th district became the 3rd district and was more favorable to Democrats. Incumbent Democrat Raúl M. Grijalva, first elected in 2002, said in February 2011 that he had no plans to run for the U.S. Senate.

Nominee

 * Raul Grijalva, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Amanda Aguirre, former state senator
 * Manny Arreguin, OB/GYN

Withdrawn

 * David Crowe Robles, defense contractor

Nominee

 * Gabriela Saucedo Mercer, conservative activist

Eliminated in primary

 * Jaime Vasquez, businessman,

Declined

 * Ruth McClung, nominee for the 7th district in 2010

Nominee

 * Blanca Guerra

District 4
The new 4th congressional district encompasses most of the rural areas in the old 2nd district, as well as significant portions of the old 1st, 5th, and 6th districts, according to the final maps of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. The district is heavily Republican.

Paul Gosar, who had represented the 1st district since 2011 moved to Prescott in order to run in this district.

Campaign
Babeu dropped his congressional bid on May 11, 2012, instead seeking re-election as sheriff. This came after he was accused of being lovers with an undocumented immigrant who he threatened with deportation to guarantee his silence. The Arizona solicitor general would later exonerate Babeu after an investigation.

Nominee

 * Paul Gosar, incumbent U.S. Representative for the 1st District

Eliminated in primary

 * Ron Gould, state senator
 * Rick Murphy, founder and owner of Murphy Broadcasting

Withdrawn

 * Paul Babeu, sheriff of Pinal County

Nominee

 * Johnnie Robinson

Eliminated in primary

 * Mikel Weisser, author and political activist

Nominee

 * Joe Pamelia, aerospace and defense professional

Nominee

 * Richard Grayson, writer, political activist and performance artist

District 5
With the October 2011 redistricting, most of the 6th district became the 5th district and continued to favor Republicans. Incumbent Republican Jeff Flake, who had represented this district since 2001, sought the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.

Nominee

 * Matt Salmon, former U.S. Representative and nominee for governor in 2002

Eliminated in primary

 * Kirk Adams, former speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives

Withdrawn

 * Travis Grantham, Arizona Air National Guard captain
 * Chuck Gray, former majority leader of the Arizona Senate

Declined

 * Jeff Flake, incumbent U.S. Representative
 * Russell Pearce, former president of the state senate

Nominee

 * Spencer Morgan, student at Mesa Community College

District 6
After redistricting, the bulk of David Schweikert's 5th district became the 9th district, while his home in Fountain Hills was drawn into the newly created 4th district. However, as soon as the maps were released, Schweikert announced he would run in the 6th district. That district had previously been the 3rd, represented by fellow Republican freshman Ben Quayle. However, in a statement announcing his re-election plans, Schweikert pointed out that he'd grown up in Scottsdale—most of which had been drawn into the 6th as well—had represented it in both the state house and in Congress, and owned a second home there. A revised map, however, placed Schweikert's home in Fountain Hills into the reconfigured 6th. Quayle, whose home in Phoenix had been drawn into the 9th but was just outside the boundaries of the 6th, opted to seek re-election in the 6th as well.

Campaign
During the bitter primary campaign, Schweikert was widely criticised for a mailer that accused Quayle of "going both ways", suggesting that he was bisexual. On the reverse, the mailer listed issues on which it claimed Quayle had taken both liberal and conservative positions. Senator Jon Kyl said that "such campaign tactics insult the voters, degrade politics and expose those who stoop to them as unworthy of high office" and Senator John McCain said the mailer was one of the "worst that I have seen" and that it "crosses the boundary of decent political dialogue and discourse". Quayle's spokeswoman called the mailer "utterly false" and "a sleazy smear tactic". Schweikert's spokesman responded that people "should get their minds out of the gutter" because the mailer was "obviously" referring to "'both ways' – as in liberal and conservative". The Arizona Republic asked two political scientists to review the mailer, who both said that they had "never seen anybody accuse someone of flip-flopping [on political issues] that way" and said that it was "difficult to believe" that the sexual suggestion was unintentional.

Nominee

 * David Schweikert, incumbent U.S. Representative from the 5th District

Eliminated in primary

 * Ben Quayle, incumbent U.S. Representative from the 3rd District

Primary results
Although the 6th contained almost two-thirds of Quayle's constituents, Schweikert defeated Quayle in the Republican primary—the real contest in this heavily Republican district—by 51.5 percent to Quayle's 48.5 percent.

Nominee

 * Matt Jette, business professor at the Thunderbird School of Global Management and Republican candidate for governor in 2010

Eliminated in primary

 * W. John Williamson

Nominee

 * Jack Anderson

Nominee

 * Mark Salazar

District 7
In accordance with the redrawn boundaries, most of the 4th district became the 7th district and remained the most Democratic district in Arizona. Incumbent Democrat Ed Pastor considered a run for the U.S. Senate but decided against it.

State senator Kyrsten Sinema, who considered a bid for Congress and lived in the former 4th district, opted to run in the 9th district.

Nominee

 * Ed Pastor, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Rebecca DeWitt

Declined

 * Kyrsten Sinema, state senator

Eliminated in primary

 * Scott Fistler, perennial candidate

Declined

 * José Peñalosa, attorney and candidate for 4th district in 2010

Primary results
Fistler did not receive enough write-in votes to appear on the general election ballot as a Republican.

Nominee

 * Joe Cobb, retired economist and nominee for this seat in 2008 & 2010

District 8
With the new map, most of the Maricopa County portion of the old 2nd district was renumbered as the 8th district and made more favorable to Republicans. Incumbent Republican Trent Franks, who had considered running for the U.S. Senate, instead ran for re-election.

Nominee

 * Trent Franks, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Tony Passalacqua, Navy veteran

Nominee

 * Gene Scharer, educator, nominee for this seat in 2000 and candidate in 2006

Nominee

 * Stephen Dolgos

District 9
With the new map, most of the old 5th district became the 9th district. It now encompassed portions of southern Phoenix, as well as all of Tempe and parts of Scottsdale, Mesa, Chandler and Paradise Valley. It was not considered safe for either party.

Nominee

 * Vernon Parker, former mayor of Paradise Valley and candidate for the 3rd district in 2010

Eliminated in primary

 * Lisa Borowsky, Scottsdale city councilwoman
 * Leah Campos Schandlbauer, former CIA officer
 * Travis Grantham, Air Force veteran
 * Wendy Rogers, Air Force veteran
 * Martin Sepulveda, former Chandler city councilman
 * Jeff Thompson, former businessman

Withdrawn

 * Don Stapley, member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors

Declined

 * Sal DiCiccio, member of the Phoenix City Council;
 * Hugh Hallman, Mayor of Tempe
 * Steve Moak, businessman and candidate for the 3rd district in 2010
 * Gary Pierce, member of the Arizona Corporation Commission
 * Ben Quayle, incumbent U.S. Representative from the 3rd District
 * David Schweikert, incumbent U.S. Representative from the 5th District

Nominee

 * Kyrsten Sinema, state senator

Eliminated in primary

 * Andrei Cherny, former Arizona Democratic Party chairman
 * David Schapira, minority leader of the Arizona Senate

Declined

 * Neil Giuliano, former mayor of Tempe
 * Jon Hulburd, lawyer, small businessman and nominee for the 3rd district in 2010
 * Harry Mitchell, former U.S. Representative

Debates

 * Complete video of debate, October 18, 2012

Results
Kyrsten Sinema was officially declared the winner on November 12, 2012.