November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06) 2014 → 1,351,760 1,142,554 2.72% 5.86% | 7 2 52.93% 44.74% Start date November 6, 2012 | |
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The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Indiana 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. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election, an election to the U.S. Senate, and a gubernatorial election.
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Redistricting
A redistricting bill was passed by both houses of the Indiana General Assembly in April 2011 and signed into law by Governor Mitch Daniels on May 10, 2011.
The newly drawn map was designed to produce seven districts which are favorable to the Republican Party and two which favor the Democratic Party. Republicans described the districts as being more compact and more in keeping with existing county boundaries than the previous map, while Democrats argue that the map is intended to protect Republican incumbents and help the Republican Party win the 2nd district.
District 1
Incumbent Democrat Pete Visclosky faced Republican nominee Joel Phelps, an industrial engineer.
The incumbent was expected to remain favorable to Democrats. The district, based in the suburbs and exurbs of Chicago, acquired parts of LaPorte County, including Michigan City, in redistricting.
District 2
Democratic incumbent Joe Donnelly, who has represented the 2nd district since 2007, ran for the U.S. Senate rather than for re-election to the House of Representatives. Brendan Mullen, an Army veteran and military contractor was the Democratic nominee. Former State Representative Jackie Walorski won the Republican nomination for the second consecutive time. Joe Ruiz was the Libertarian nominee. Andrew Straw, an attorney, switched from the Democratic Party to Green Party and ran for this seat. Straw was an Indiana Supreme Court analyst and an assistant dean at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in charge of the International Program.
In redistricting, parts of the state which typically favor Republicans, including Elkhart County, Miami County, Wabash County and much of Kosciusko County, were moved into the 2nd district, while Democratic-leaning areas such as Kokomo and part of LaPorte County were removed from the district.
Prior to announcing his Senate campaign, Donnelly commented that he was confident that a Democrat would be able to win the district, noting that then-Senator Barack Obama would have received 49% of the vote in the district in the 2008 presidential election had it been held under the newly drawn boundaries.
District 3
Incumbent Republican Marlin Stutzman ran for re-election and faced Democratic nominee Kevin Boyd, the pastor of Fort Wayne's Trinity Presbyterian Church.
The 3rd district is expected to remain favorable to Republicans. Among the changes made in redistricting were the removal of Elkhart County from the 4th district to the 2nd, and the addition of areas south of Fort Wayne, which may make Stutzman vulnerable to a primary challenge.
District 4
Republican incumbent Todd Rokita ran for re-election in 2012. He faced Democratic nominee Tara Nelson, an information technology project manager and Libertarian nominee Benjamin Gehlhausen, an economics and professional flight technology major at Purdue University.
Rokita's home lies "about 500 yards" outside the boundaries of the newly drawn 4th district, a phenomenon he attributed in May 2011 to "a kind of comeuppance thing" on the part of members of the Indiana General Assembly in return for his having supported a nonpartisan redistricting process during his tenure as Secretary of State of Indiana. Sue Landske, a Republican member of the Indiana Senate, denied that this was the case. The 4th district is expected to remain favorable to Republicans.
District 5
Republican incumbent Dan Burton, who had represented the 5th district since 2003 and previously represented the 6th district from 1983, retired rather than seeking re-election in 2012. The Republican nominee was former U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks. She faced Democratic nominee Scott Reske, a State Representative, and Libertarian nominee Chard Reid, an economics and finance teacher at Plainfield High School.
Losing Republican candidates included attorney Jack Lugar, John McGoff, David McIntosh (who represented the 6th district from 1995 until 2001), State Senator Mike Delph and Marion Mayor Wayne Sebold.
The 5th district continues to include Hamilton County and the north side of Indianapolis, but received Democratic-leaning areas in northern Marion and Madison, and lost rural areas near Fort Wayne. The district is expected to continue to favor Republicans.
District 6
Republican incumbent Mike Pence announced in May 2011 that he would run for Governor of Indiana rather than for re-election to the House of Representatives. The Republican nominee in 2012 was Luke Messer, an attorney. The Democratic nominee was Brad Bookout, a Delaware County Councilman. The Libertarian nominee was Rex Bell, owner of a contracting business in the New Castle area.
As of February 3, 2012, five people had filed to run in the May 8, 2012, primary for the Republican House seat nomination: Don Bates, Jr.; Bill Frazier; Travis Hankins; Luke Messer; and Joseph S. Van Wye, Sr. Bates is a financial adviser who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010. Frazier is a former state senator. Hankins is a developer who unsuccessfully ran in the 9th district in 2010. Messer is a former state representative and former executive director of the Indiana Republican Party who challenged Dan Burton in the 5th district in 2010. Van Wye describes himself as a part-time service technician and part-time worker for Lifetime Resources.
Other possible candidates are John Hatter, a human resources director at Ivy Tech Community College; Andrew Phipps, a retired educator who unsuccessfully ran for the Indiana Senate in 2002 and 2006; Bartholomew County coroner Allen Smith, who previously appeared on the reality television series The Biggest Loser; and T.J. Thompson, who unsuccessfully challenged Pence in 2010; Nate LaMar, the president of the Henry County Council; state senator Jean Lesing; and former U.S. Representative Mike Sodrel. The deadline for filing is February 10, 2012.
Dan Bolling, a biotech entrepreneur from Wayne County; Brad Bookout, a former member of the Delaware County Council; Jim Crone, a sociology professor at Hanover College; Lane Siekman, an attorney; and Barry Welsh, who has challenged Pence three times, are running for the Democratic nomination.
The 6th district was made more favorable to Republicans in redistricting, and now stretches from Muncie to the Ohio River.
District 7
Incumbent André Carson ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination, and faced Republican nominee Carlos May, a former aide for Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.
The 7th district lost Democratic-leaning areas in northern Marion County in redistricting, while acquiring more Republican areas in the south of the county. Nonetheless, the district is expected to remain favorable to Democrats.
District 8
Republican incumbent Larry Bucshon faced former State Representative Dave Crooks, the Democratic nominee, and Bart Gadau, the Libertarian nominee.
The incumbent raised the relatively small total of US$45,330 in the first quarter of 2011. Kristi Risk, a stay-at-home mom and unsuccessful Republican primary candidate in 2010, again lost to Bucshon.
The 8th district's Democratic candidates agreed to participate in a caucus in which the chairs and vice chairs of 38 counties would vote to decide the party's nominee; after which the candidates not selected would support the winner. Former state representative Dave Crooks was endorsed as the Democratic nominee by party leaders on December 10, 2011. Crooks ran against Thomas Barnett of Bowling Green, Indiana and William Bryk.
The 8th district was made slightly more favorable to Democrats in redistricting, as a result of the removal of Fountain County, Putnam County and Warren County, all of which favor Republicans, and the addition of Dubois County, Perry County, Spencer County and part of Crawford County, all of which strongly favor neither party.
District 9
Republican incumbent Todd Young ran for re-election and faced Democratic nominee Shelli Yoder, professional development director at Indiana University in Bloomington Kelley School of Business and former Miss Indiana. Jason Sharp was nominated by the Libertarian Party but later dropped out. Young ran unopposed in the Republican primary. Yoder won against four Democratic opponents:
The 9th district previously consisted mostly of rural areas in southeastern Indiana but was made more favorable to Republicans when the legislature extended it northwards to include Johnson County and Morgan County while also incorporating suburbs of Louisville, Kentucky.