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Turnout | 64.1% (voting eligible)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cantwell: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Baumgartner: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Tie: 50% No votes | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Washington |
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The 2012 United States Senate election in Washington took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate and House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell won re-election to a third term by a significant margin, outperforming President Barack Obama's margin in the concurrent presidential election by 6%.
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Congressional Elections: Crash Course Government and Politics #6
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Doctoring in Vermont 2012
Transcription
Hi, I'm Craig and this is Crash Course Government and Politics, and today we're going to talk about what is, if you ask the general public, the most important part of politics: elections. If you ask me, it's hair styles. Look at Martin Van Buren's sideburns, how could he not be elected? Americans are kind of obsessed with elections, I mean when this was being recorded in early 2015, television, news and the internet were already talking about who would be Democrat and Republican candidates for president in 2016. And many of the candidates have unofficially been campaigning for years. I've been campaigning; your grandma's been campaigning. Presidential elections are exciting and you can gamble on them. Is that legal, can you gamble on them, Stan? Anyway, why we're so obsessed with them is a topic for another day. Right now I'm gonna tell you that the fixation on the presidential elections is wrong, but not because the president doesn't matter. No, today we're gonna look at the elections of the people that are supposed to matter the most, Congress. Constitutionally at least, Congress is the most important branch of government because it is the one that is supposed to be the most responsive to the people. One of the main reasons it's so responsive, at least in theory, is the frequency of elections. If a politician has to run for office often, he or she, because unlike the president we have women serving in Congress, kind of has to pay attention to what the constituents want, a little bit, maybe. By now, I'm sure that most of you have memorized the Constitution, so you recognize that despite their importance in the way we discuss politics, elections aren't really a big feature of the Constitution. Except of course for the ridiculously complex electoral college system for choosing the president, which we don't even want to think about for a few episodes. In fact, here's what the Constitution says about Congressional Elections in Article 1 Section 2: "The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states, and the electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature." So the Constitution does establish that the whole of the house is up for election every 2 years, and 1/3 of the senate is too, but mainly it leaves the scheduling and rules of elections up to the states. The actual rules of elections, like when the polls are open and where they actually are, as well as the registration requirements, are pretty much up to the states, subject to some federal election law. If you really want to know the rules in your state, I'm sure that someone at the Board of Elections, will be happy to explain them to you. Really, you should give them a call; they're very, very lonely. In general though, here's what we can say about American elections. First stating the super obvious, in order to serve in congress, you need to win an election. In the House of Representatives, each election district chooses a single representative, which is why we call them single-member districts. The number of districts is determined by the Census, which happens every 10 years, and which means that elections ending in zeros are super important, for reasons that I'll explain in greater detail in a future episode. It's because of gerrymandering. The Senate is much easier to figure out because both of the state Senators are elected by the entire state. It's as if the state itself were a single district, which is true for states like Wyoming, which are so unpopulated as to have only 1 representative. Sometimes these elections are called at large elections. Before the election ever happens, you need candidates. How candidates are chosen differs from state to state, but usually it has something to do with political parties, although it doesn't have to. Why are things so complicated?! What we can say is that candidates, or at least good candidates, usually have certain characteristics. Sorry America. First off, if you are gonna run for office, you should have an unblemished record, free of, oh I don't know, felony convictions or sex scandals, except maybe in Louisiana or New York. This might lead to some pretty bland candidates or people who are so calculating that they have no skeletons in their closet, but we Americans are a moral people and like our candidates to reflect our ideals rather than our reality. The second characteristic that a candidate must possess is the ability to raise money. Now some candidates are billionaires and can finance their own campaigns. But most billionaires have better things to do: buying yachts, making even more money, building money forts, buying more yachts, so they don't have time to run for office. But most candidates get their money for their campaigns by asking for it. The ability to raise money is key, especially now, because running for office is expensive. Can I get a how expensive is it? "How expensive is it?!" Well, so expensive that the prices of elections continually rises and in 2012 winners of House races spent nearly 2 million each. Senate winners spent more than 10 million. By the time this episode airs, I'm sure the numbers will be much higher like a gajillion billion million. Money is important in winning an election, but even more important, statistically, is already being in Congress. Let's go to the Thought Bubble. The person holding an office who runs for that office again is called the incumbent and has a big advantage over any challenger. This is according to political scientists who, being almost as bad at naming things as historians, refer to this as incumbency advantage. There are a number of reasons why incumbents tend to hold onto their seats in congress, if they want to. The first is that a sitting congressman has a record to run on, which we hope includes some legislative accomplishments, although for the past few Congresses, these don't seem to matter. The record might include case work, which is providing direct services to constituents. This is usually done by congressional staffers and includes things like answering questions about how to get certain government benefits or writing recommendation letters to West Point. Congressmen can also provide jobs to constituents, which is usually a good way to get them to vote for you. These are either government jobs, kind of rare these days, called patronage or indirect employment through government contracts for programs within a Congressman's district. These programs are called earmarks or pork barrel programs, and they are much less common now because Congress has decided not to use them any more, sort of. The second advantage that incumbents have is that they have a record of winning elections, which if you think about it, is pretty obvious. Being a proven winner makes it easier for a congressmen to raise money, which helps them win, and long term incumbents tend to be more powerful in Congress which makes it even easier for them to raise money and win. The Constitution give incumbents one structural advantage too. Each elected congressman is allowed $100,000 and free postage to send out election materials. This is called the franking privilege. It's not so clear how great an advantage this is in the age of the internet, but at least according to the book The Victory Lab, direct mail from candidates can be surprisingly effective. How real is this incumbency advantage? Well if you look at the numbers, it seems pretty darn real. Over the past 60 years, almost 90% of members of The House of Representatives got re-elected. The Senate has been even more volatile, but even at the low point in 1980 more than 50% of sitting senators got to keep their jobs. Thanks, Thought Bubble. You're so great. So those are some of the features of congressional elections. Now, if you'll permit me to get a little politically sciencey, I'd like to try to explain why elections are so important to the way that Congressmen and Senators do their jobs. In 1974, political scientist David Mayhew published a book in which he described something he called "The Electoral Connection." This was the idea that Congressmen were primarily motivated by the desire to get re-elected, which intuitively makes a lot of sense, even though I'm not sure what evidence he had for this conclusion. Used to be able to get away with that kind of thing I guess, clearly David may-not-hew to the rules of evidence, pun [rim shot], high five, no. Anyway Mayhew's research methodology isn't as important as his idea itself because The Electoral Connection provides a frame work for understanding congressman's activities. Mayhew divided representatives' behaviors and activities into three categories. The first is advertising; congressmen work to develop their personal brand so that they are recognizable to voters. Al D'Amato used to be know in New York as Senator Pothole, because he was able to bring home so much pork that he could actually fix New York's streets. Not by filling them with pork, money, its money, remember pork barrel spending? The second activity is credit claiming; Congressmen get things done so that they can say they got them done. A lot of case work and especially pork barrel spending are done in the name of credit claiming. Related to credit claiming, but slightly different, is position taking. This means making a public judgmental statement on something likely to be of interest to voters. Senators can do this through filibusters. Representatives can't filibuster, but they can hold hearings, publicly supporting a hearing is a way of associating yourself with an idea without having to actually try to pass legislation. And of course they can go on the TV, especially on Sunday talk shows. What's a TV, who even watches TV? Now the idea of The Electoral Connection doesn't explain every action a member of Congress takes; sometimes they actually make laws to benefit the public good or maybe solve problems, huh, what an idea! But Mayhew's idea gives us a way of thinking about Congressional activity, an analytical lens that connects what Congressmen actually do with how most of us understand Congressmen, through elections. So the next time you see a Congressmen call for a hearing on a supposed horrible scandal or read about a Senator threatening to filibuster a policy that may have significant popular support, ask yourself, "Is this Representative claiming credit or taking a position, and how will this build their brand?" In other words: what's the electoral connection and how will whatever they're doing help them get elected? This might feel a little cynical, but the reality is Mayhew's thesis often seems to fit with today's politics. Thanks for watching, see you next week. Vote for me; I'm on the TV. I'm not -- I'm on the YouTube. Crash Course: Government and Politics is produced in association with PBS Digital Studios. Support for Crash Course US Government comes from Voqal. Voqal supports nonprofits that use technology and media to advance social equity. Learn more about their mission and initiatives at Voqal.org. Crash Course is made by all of these nice people. Thanks for watching. That guy isn't nice.
Background
Maria Cantwell won re-election to serve a second term with 56.81% of the vote against Mike McGavick in the 2006 Washingtonian U.S. senatorial election.
Top-two primary election
Candidates
Democratic
- Maria Cantwell, incumbent U.S. Senator[2]
- Timothy Wilson[3]
Republican
- Michael Baumgartner, state senator[4]
- Art Coday, physician[5]
- Chuck Jackson, merchant mariner[6][7]
- Mike the Mover, perennial candidate[6]
- Glen R. Stockwell, president of Washington State Economic Development Corporation[6][8]
Declined
- Bill Bryant, Port of Seattle Commission President[9]
- Clint Didier, former NFL football player (endorsed Coday)[10]
- Doc Hastings, U.S. Representative[11]
- Jaime Herrera Beutler, U.S. Representative[12]
- John Koster, Snohomish County Councilman and candidate for the 2nd congressional district in 2010 (running for the U.S. House)[13]
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers, U.S. Representative[14]
- Dave Reichert, U.S. Representative[15]
- Phillip Yin, Hong Kong-based anchor for Bloomberg Television[16]
Others
- Will Baker (Reform Party)[6]
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Maria Cantwell (incumbent) | 626,360 | 55.42 | |
Republican | Michael Baumgartner | 344,729 | 30.50 | |
Republican | Art Coday | 59,255 | 5.24 | |
Democratic | Timothy Wilson | 26,850 | 2.38 | |
Republican | Chuck Jackson | 21,870 | 1.94 | |
Republican | Glenn R. Stockwell | 21,731 | 1.92 | |
Republican | Mike the Mover | 16,459 | 1.46 | |
Reform | Will Baker | 12,865 | 1.14 | |
Total votes | 1,130,119 | 100.00 |
General election
Candidates
- Michael Baumgartner (Republican), state senator
- Maria Cantwell (Democratic), incumbent U.S. Senator
Debates
- Complete video of debate, October 12, 2012 - C-SPAN
Fundraising
Candidate (party) | Receipts | Disbursements | Cash on hand | Debt |
---|---|---|---|---|
Maria Cantwell (D) | $8,032,254 | $6,355,260 | $2,176,258 | $2,171,350 |
Michael Baumgartner (R) | $689,690 | $422,428 | $181,841 | $45,689 |
Source: Federal Election Commission[18][19] |
Top contributors
Maria Cantwell | Contribution | Michael Baumgartner | Contribution |
---|---|---|---|
Microsoft Corp | $83,982 | Anderson Hay & Grain | $5,000 |
EMILY's List | $77,900 | Columbia Management Systems, By Lar | $5,000 |
Morgan & Morgan | $40,000 | Ignition Partners | $5,000 |
League of Conservation Voters | $39,900 | Kvc Development Co | $5,000 |
University of Washington | $35,900 | Acorn Campus Ventures | $4,000 |
K&L Gates | $35,048 | Legacy LLC | $3,523 |
Boeing Co. | $30,625 | Inland Empire Paper | $3,750 |
Intellectual Ventures LLC | $27,250 | Savers Inc | $3,523 |
McBee Strategic Consulting | $26,650 | Red Lion Hotels | $3,500 |
Second Avenue Partners | $24,500 | National Cotton Council | $3,300 |
Top industries
Maria Cantwell | Contribution | Michael Baumgartner | Contribution |
---|---|---|---|
Lawyers/law firms | $696,936 | Retired | $45,756 |
Retired | $621,231 | Financial institutions | $10,000 |
Lobbyists | $539,418 | Financial institutions | $310,487 |
Financial institutions | $310,487 | Agribusiness | $9,550 |
Computers/Internet | $206,970 | Health professionals | $6,150 |
Real estate | $179,169 | Misc. finance | $4,250 |
Health professionals | $169,937 | Mining | $4,25 |
Business services | $167,629 | Timber/forest products | $3,750 |
Casinos/gambling | $165,850 | General contractors | $3,000 |
Entertainment industry | $136,457 | Real estate | $2,950 |
Predictions
Source | Ranking | As of |
---|---|---|
The Cook Political Report[22] | Solid D | November 1, 2012 |
Sabato's Crystal Ball[23] | Safe D | November 5, 2012 |
Rothenberg Political Report[24] | Safe D | November 2, 2012 |
Real Clear Politics[25] | Likely D | November 5, 2012 |
Polling
- Aggregate polls
Source of poll aggregation |
Dates administered |
Dates updated |
Maria Cantwell (D) |
Michael Baumgartner (R) |
Other/Undecided [a] |
Margin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Real Clear Politics | October 14 – November 3, 2012 | November 3, 2012 | 56.7% | 36.3% | 7.0% | Cantwell +20.4% |
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Maria Cantwell (D) |
Michael Baumgartner (R) |
Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Survey USA | November 21–23, 2011 | 549 | ±4.3% | 51% | 39% | — | 10% |
Survey USA | January 12–16, 2012 | 617 | ±4.0% | 50% | 41% | — | 8% |
Public Policy Polling | February 16–19, 2012 | 1,264 | ±2.76% | 51% | 36% | — | 13% |
Public Policy Polling | June 14–17, 2012 | 1,073 | ±3.0% | 51% | 35% | — | 14% |
Survey USA | July 16–17, 2012 | 630 | ±4.0% | 51% | 40% | — | 9% |
Survey USA | September 7–9, 2012 | 524 | ±4.4% | 54% | 38% | — | 8% |
Rasmussen Reports | September 26, 2012 | 500 | ±4.5% | 57% | 37% | 1% | 5% |
SurveyUSA | September 28–30, 2012 | 540 | ±4.3% | 53% | 40% | — | 6% |
The Washington Poll | October 1–16, 2012 | 782 | ±3.5% | 58% | 35% | — | 7% |
Rasmussen Reports | October 14, 2012 | 500 | ±4.5% | 52% | 37% | 1% | 9% |
KCTS 9/Washington Poll | October 18–31, 2012 | 632 | ±3.9% | 61% | 33% | — | 6% |
Public Policy Polling | November 1–3, 2012 | 932 | ±3.2% | 57% | 39% | — | 4% |
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Maria Cantwell (D) |
Bill Bryant (R) |
Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Public Policy Polling | February 16–19, 2012 | 1,264 | ±2.76% | 50% | 36% | — | 14% |
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Maria Cantwell (D) |
Cathy M. Rodgers (R) |
Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Public Policy Polling | July 27 – August 1, 2010 | 1,204 | ±2.8% | 49% | 37% | — | 13% |
Public Policy Polling | May 12–15, 2011 | 1,098 | ±3.0% | 50% | 31% | — | 19% |
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Maria Cantwell (D) |
Dave Reichert (R) |
Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Public Policy Polling | July 27 – August 1, 2010 | 1,204 | ±2.8% | 47% | 41% | — | 12% |
Public Policy Polling | May 12–15, 2011 | 1,098 | ±3.0% | 49% | 35% | — | 16% |
Survey USA | November 21–23, 2011 | 549 | ±4.3% | 48% | 41% | — | 10% |
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Maria Cantwell (D) |
Clint Didier (R) |
Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Public Policy Polling | May 12–15, 2011 | 1,098 | ±3.0% | 51% | 35% | — | 13% |
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Maria Cantwell (D) |
Susan Hutchison (R) |
Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Public Policy Polling | May 12–15, 2011 | 1,098 | ±3.0% | 49% | 35% | — | 16% |
Survey USA | November 21–23, 2011 | 549 | ±4.3% | 49% | 38% | — | 13% |
Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Maria Cantwell (D) |
Dino Rossi (R) |
Other | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Public Policy Polling | May 12–15, 2011 | 1,098 | ±3.0% | 53% | 40% | — | 8% |
Public Policy Polling | February 16–19, 2012 | 1,264 | ±2.76% | 53% | 41% | — | 7% |
Endorsements
- State legislators
- Dale Foreman, former majority leader of the Washington House of Representatives and former chair of the Washington State Republican Party (Republican)[26]
Results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Maria Cantwell (incumbent) | 1,855,493 | 60.36% | +3.55% | |
Republican | Michael Baumgartner | 1,213,924 | 39.49% | -0.42% | |
Write-in | 4,644 | 0.15% | +0.08% | ||
Total votes | 3,074,061 | 100.00% | N/A | ||
Democratic hold |
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
By congressional district
Cantwell won 8 of 10 congressional districts, including two that elected Republicans.[28]
District | Baumgartner | Cantwell | Representative |
---|---|---|---|
1st | 43% | 57% | Suzan DelBene |
2nd | 37% | 63% | Rick Larsen |
3rd | 47% | 53% | Jaime Herrera Beutler |
4th | 55% | 45% | Doc Hastings |
5th | 52% | 48% | Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
6th | 39% | 61% | Derek Kilmer |
7th | 18% | 82% | Jim McDermott |
8th | 45% | 55% | Dave Reichert |
9th | 28% | 72% | Adam Smith |
10th | 39% | 61% | Denny Heck |
See also
- 2012 United States Senate elections
- 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington
- 2012 United States presidential election in Washington
- 2012 Washington gubernatorial election
Notes
- ^ Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.
References
- ^ Dr. Michael McDonald (February 9, 2013). "2012 General Election Turnout Rates". George Mason University. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
- ^ Blumenthal, Les (November 21, 2010). "Washington state's Cantwell not looking ahead to 2012 -- yet". McClatchy Newspapers. Archived from the original on November 19, 2012. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
- ^ "timwilsonforsenate.org - timwilsonforsenate Resources and Information". Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
- ^ "Makupfront: Up Front With Robert Mak". Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
- ^ Camden, Jim (January 30, 2012). "U.S. Senate race: Cantwell has $4 million in bank". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
- ^ a b c d "2012 Candidates Appearing in the Primary". Secretary of State of Washington. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
- ^ "Candidate Statement". Secretary of State of Washington. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
- ^ "Corporation Registration Detail". Secretary of State of Washington. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
- ^ Myrick, Bryan (March 12, 2012). "Port Commission President Bill Bryant Will Not Challenge Cantwell for U.S. Senate". NW Daily Marker.
- ^ "Endorsements - Art Coday for US Senate, Washington 2012". Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
- ^ Faulk, Mike (February 24, 2012). "Doc Hastings rules out reform". Yakima Herald-Republic. Tri-City Herald. Archived from the original on April 18, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
- ^ Mathieu, Stevie (January 16, 2012). "Congresswoman talks town halls, confirms re-election bid". The Columbian. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
- ^ "John Koster officially files to unseat Rep. Rick Larsen | Politics | Everett News". Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2011.
- ^ Camden, Jim; Brunt, Jonathan (March 17, 2011). "McMorris Rodgers starting 2012 campaign". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
- ^ Brunner, Jim (February 2, 2012). "Reichert won't challenge Cantwell for U.S. Senate seat". The Seattle Times.
- ^ Mak, Robert (October 26, 2011). "GOP Senate hopeful drops out of race". KING 5 News. Archived from the original on February 11, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
- ^ "U.S. Senator". Archived from the original on August 10, 2012. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
- ^ |Maria Cantwell Campaign Finances
- ^ |Michael Baumgartner Campaign Finances
- ^ [http://www.opensecrets.org/races/contrib.php?cycle=2012&id=WAS1 OpenSecrets
- ^ Donors by Industry (opensecrets.org)
- ^ "2012 Senate Race Ratings for November 1, 2012". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
- ^ "2012 Senate". Sabato's Crystal Ball. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
- ^ "2012 Senate Ratings". Senate Ratings. The Rothenberg Political Report. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
- ^ "2012 Elections Map - Battle for the Senate 2012". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
- ^ "Extra Jolt: Longtime Republican Leader Endorses Cantwell over Baumgartner".
- ^ "U.S. Senator".
- ^ Results (PDF). wei.sos.wa.gov (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 30, 2018.
External links
- Elections & Voting at the Washington Secretary of State office
- Campaign contributions at OpenSecrets.org
- Outside spending at Sunlight Foundation
- Candidate issue positions at On the Issues
- Official campaign websites (archived)