November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06) 2014 → 8 3 50.17% 48.28% Start date November 6, 2012 | 8 3 1,876,760 1,806,025 3.99% 6.67% | |
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The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 to elect the 11 U.S. Representatives from Virginia, one from each of the state's 11 congressional districts. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the 113th Congress from January 2013 until January 2015. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election, and a U.S. Senate election.
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District 1
Republican Rob Wittman, who has represented the 1st District since December 2007, won re-election. Adam Cook, a lawyer and Air Force reservist, won the Democratic nomination unopposed to challenge Wittman. Gail Parker is the nominee of the Independent Greens of Virginia.
District 2
Republican Scott Rigell, who has represented the 2nd District since January 2011, ran for re-election. Paul Hirschbiel, a businessman, ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Democrat Glenn Nye, who represented the district from January 2009 until January 2011, losing his seat to Rigell in the 2010 election, decided not to run again.
District 3
Democrat Bobby Scott, who has represented the 3rd District since 1993, won re-election. Dean Longo, a businessman and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, will seek the Republican nomination to challenge Scott.
District 4
Republican Randy Forbes, who has represented the 4th District since 2001, won re-election. Bonnie Girard, a businesswoman, challenged Forbes in the Republican primary and was defeated overwhelmingly.
Ella Ward, a member of the Chesapeake City Council, won the Democratic primary against Joe Elliott, a minister from Surry.
District 5
Republican Robert Hurt, who has represented the 5th District since January 2011, won re-election. John Douglass, a retired United States Air Force Brigadier General and former Assistant Secretary of the Navy defeated Peyton Williams, a defense systems engineer and retired Army Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel in a series of caucuses for the Democratic nomination. Democrat Tom Perriello, who represented the district from 2009 until 2011 and lost his seat to Hurt in 2010, said in June 2011 that he had no plans to run again.
Kenneth J. Hildebrandt was the nominee of the Independent Greens of Virginia.
District 6
Republican Bob Goodlatte, who has represented the 6th District since 1993, was again the Republican nominee. Karen Kwiatkowski, a farmer and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force, lost to Goodlatte in the primary.
Andy Schmookler won the Democratic nomination, running unopposed.
District 7
Republican Eric Cantor, the U.S. House Majority Leader who has represented the 7th District since 2001, won re-election. He was unsuccessfully challenged in the Republican primary by Floyd Bayne, who ran as the Independent Green candidate in 2010.
Wayne Powell, a lawyer and former Army officer, will run as the Democratic nominee. David Hunsicker, a real estate businessman and Vietnam War veteran, had also been seeking the nomination, but dropped his bid in April 2012.
Vivek Jain, a medical doctor affiliated with the Occupy movement, is running as an Independent.
District 8
Democrat Jim Moran, who has represented the 8th District since 1991, won re-election. Bruce Shuttleworth, a business consultant and former Navy pilot, challenged Moran in the Democratic primary. A controversy erupted when the Democratic Party of Virginia disqualified Shuttleworth, saying he had fallen 17 signatures short of the 1,000 threshold required. Shuttleworth cried foul and filed a federal lawsuit; the party then changed course without explanation and allowed Shuttleworth on the ballot. Will Radle, a financial advisor, had planned to run in the Democratic primary, but dropped his bid in April 2012. Moran won the primary against Shuttleworth by a sizable margin.
Patrick Murray, a retired Army Colonel who unsuccessfully challenged Moran as the Republican nominee in 2010, is running again. Jason Howell, an accountant and author, will run as an Independent.
District 9
Republican Morgan Griffith, who has represented the 9th District since January 2011, won re-election. Anthony Flaccavento, a farmer and sustainability consultant, will seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Griffith. Jim Werth, a psychology professor at Radford University, had planned to seek the Democratic nomination, but dropped his bid in March 2012. Jeremiah Heaton, an Independent candidate in the 2010 House race, withdrew his candidacy on May 1, 2012.
District 10
Republican Frank Wolf, who has represented the 10th District since 1981, won re-election. Kristin Cabral, an attorney, won the Democratic nomination unopposed to challenge Wolf. Kevin Chisholm, an independent and practicing engineer, has also qualified for the ballot as an independent candidate. John Douglass, a retired United States Air Force Brigadier General and former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, had planned to seek the Democratic nomination, but is now running in the 5th district. Jeff Barnett, a retired Air Force Colonel who unsuccessfully challenged Wolf as the Democratic nominee in 2010, will not run.
District 11
Democrat Gerry Connolly, who has represented the 11th District since 2009, won re-election. Connolly won the 2010 election by just 981 votes (0.4%). Christopher Perkins, a retired Army colonel, and Ken Vaughn, a traffic engineer, will seek the Republican nomination to challenge Connolly. Keith Fimian, the founder of a property inspection company who unsuccessfully challenged Connolly as the Republican nominee in 2008 and 2010, will not run.