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

← 2010 November 6, 2012 (2012-11-06) 2014 →
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%
District results County results Democratic   40-50%   50-60%   60-70% Republican   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%

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

2012 Iowa's 1st congressional district election

← 2010 2014 →

Nominee Bruce Braley Ben Lange Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 222,422 162,465 Percentage 56.9% 41.6%

County results Braley:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Lange:      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. Representatives before election Bruce Braley Democratic Elected U.S. Representatives Bruce Braley Democratic

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]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Bruce Braley, incumbent U.S. Representative

Declined

• Dave Loebsack, incumbent U.S. Representative for the 2nd district

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

Nominee

• Ben Lange, attorney and nominee for this seat in 2010^[7]

Eliminated in primary

• Rod Blum, businessman^[8]

Withdrawn

• Steve Rathje, businessman^[9][10]

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

General election

Endorsements

Ben Lange (R)

Organizations

• National Republican Congressional Committee "Young Guns" Program^[11]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[12]	Likely D	November 5, 2012
Rothenberg[13]	Safe D	November 2, 2012
Roll Call[14]	Safe D	November 4, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball[15]	Likely D	November 5, 2012
NY Times[16]	Safe D	November 4, 2012
RCP[17]	Likely D	November 4, 2012
The Hill[18]	Likely D	November 4, 2012

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

2012 Iowa's 2nd congressional district election

← 2010 2014 →

Nominee Dave Loebsack John Archer Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 211,863 161,977 Percentage 55.6% 42.5%

County results Loebsack:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Archer:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. Representative before election Dave Loebsack Democratic Elected U.S. Representative Dave Loebsack Democratic

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

Nominee

• Dave Loebsack, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

• Joe Seng, state senator^[19]

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

Nominee

• John Archer, senior legal counsel at John Deere^[20]

Eliminated in primary

• Dan Dolan, housing developer^[21]

Withdrew

• Richard Gates, machinist and Tea Party activist^[20][22]

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

General election

Endorsements

Dave Loebsack (D)

Organizations

• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee "Frontline" Program^[23]

John Archer (R)

Organizations

• National Republican Congressional Committee "Young Guns" Program^[11]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Dave Loebsack (D)	John Archer (R)	Undecided
Tarrance (R-Archer)[24]	June 25–27, 2012	300 (LV)	± 5.7%	48%	43%	10%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Likely D	November 5, 2012
Rothenberg[13]	Likely D	November 2, 2012
Roll Call[14]	Likely D	November 4, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball[15]	Likely D	November 5, 2012
NY Times[16]	Safe D	November 4, 2012
RCP[17]	Likely D	November 4, 2012
The Hill[18]	Lean D	November 4, 2012

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

2012 Iowa's 3rd congressional district election

← 2010 2014 →

Nominee Tom Latham Leonard Boswell Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 202,000 168,632 Percentage 52.8% 43.6%

County results Latham:      50–60%      60–70% Boswell:      40–50%

U.S. Representative before election Tom Latham Republican Elected U.S. Representative Tom Latham Republican

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.^[25] Latham, who lived in the new 4th district, moved south to avoid facing fellow Republican Steve King in a primary.^[26]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Leonard Boswell, incumbent U.S. Representative

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

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Tom Latham, incumbent U.S. Representative

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

General election

Campaign

Approximately half of the new 3rd district was at the time represented by Boswell, whereas the new 3rd district contained than 20 per cent of the area currently represented by Latham. However, Latham had $983,500 cash on hand at the end of March 2011, whereas Boswell had just $173,815.

Endorsements

Leonard Boswell (D)

Organizations

• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee "Frontline" Program^[23]

Tom Latham (R)

Organizations

• National Republican Congressional Committee "Patriot" Program^[27]

Debate

The first debate was held October 10, 2012 at 7 pm, sponsored by KCCI and the Des Moines Register.^[28]

2012 Iowa's 3rd congressional district debate

No.	Date	Host	Moderator	Link	Democratic	Republican
Key:  P  Participant   A  Absent   N  Not invited   I  Invited  W  Withdrawn
					Leonard Boswell	Tom Latham
1	Oct. 10, 2012	The Des Moines Register KCCI	Kevin Cooney Kathy Obradovich	C-SPAN	P	P

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Leonard Boswell (D)	Tom Latham (R)	Scott Batcher (I)	Undecided
Benenson (D-DCCC)[29]	September 18–20, 2012	400 (LV)	± 3.9%	45%	45%	7%	3%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Lean R	November 5, 2012
Rothenberg[13]	Tilts R	November 2, 2012
Roll Call[14]	Tossup	November 4, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball[15]	Lean R	November 5, 2012
NY Times[16]	Tossup	November 4, 2012
RCP[17]	Tossup	November 4, 2012
The Hill[18]	Tossup	November 4, 2012

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
	Independent	Scott G. Batcher	9,352	2.4
	Socialist Workers	David Rosenfeld	6,286	1.6
	n/a	Write-ins	572	0.2
Total votes			386,842	100.0
	Republican gain from Democratic

District 4

2012 Iowa's 4th congressional district election

← 2010 2014 →

Nominee Steve King Christie Vilsack Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 200,063 169,470 Percentage 52.9% 44.9%

County results King:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Vilsack:      50–60%

U.S. Representative before election Steve King Republican Elected U.S. Representative Steve King Republican

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. The new 4th district comprises mostly territory which King represented and which tends to vote for Republican candidates.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Steve King, incumbent U.S. Representative

Declined

• Tom Latham, incumbent U.S. Representative for the 4th district

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

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Christie Vilsack, former First Lady of Iowa^[30]

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

Independents

Martin James Monroe also ran.

General election

Endorsements

Christie Vilsack (D)

Organizations

• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee "Red to Blue" Program^[31]
• EMILY's List^[32]

Debates

• Complete video of debate, September 27, 2012
• Complete video of debate, October 25, 2012

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Steve King (R)	Christie Vilsack (D)	Martin Monroe (I)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling (D-CREDO)[33]	September 24–25, 2012	577 (LV)	± %	48%	45%	—	7%
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (D-Vilsack)[34]	September 22–25, 2012	400 (LV)	± 4.9%	46%	44%	4%	6%
American Viewpoint (R-American Future Fund)[35]	September 23–24, 2012	400 (LV)	± 4.9%	48%	41%	—	11%
Public Policy Polling (D-House Majority PAC)[36]	January 18–23, 2012	974 (RV)	± 3.1%	49%	43%	—	8%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report	Lean R	November 5, 2012
Rothenberg[13]	Tilts R	November 2, 2012
Roll Call[14]	Lean R	November 4, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball[15]	Lean R	November 5, 2012
NY Times[16]	Lean R	November 4, 2012
RCP[17]	Tossup	November 4, 2012
The Hill[18]	Lean R	November 4, 2012

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