2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 3
Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, who represented the 3rd district since January 2011, ran for re-election and won.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 3
Jon Haugen, a commercial pilot for Delta Air Lines, ran as a Democrat to challenge Herrera Beutler. Elizabeth Uelmen, a middle school associate principal, had also planned to run as a Democrat but dropped out of the race in April 2012. Tim Leavitt, the mayor of Vancouver, and Steve Stuart, a Clark County Commissioner; both of whom had considered running as Democrats, did not run.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 4
Republican Doc Hastings, who represented the 4th district since 1995, successfully ran for re-election. Jamie Wheeler, the state director for FairTax.org and member of the Tri-Cities Tea Party, also ran as a Republican.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 4
Mary Baechler, a businesswoman, ran as a Democrat. Jay Clough, a radiological control technician who unsuccessfully challenged Hastings as the Democratic nominee in 2010, had planned to run again, but dropped his bid for the seat in February 2012.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 5
Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who represented the 5th district since 2005, ran successfully for re-election in 2012.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 5
Rich Cowan, the president and CEO of a film production company, ran as a Democrat. Dan Morrissey, a professor at Gonzaga University School of Law, and Mary Verner, the former mayor of Spokane, decided not to run.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 6
Democrat Norm Dicks, who represented the 6th district since 1977, decided to retire rather than seeking re-election. Democratic state Senator Derek Kilmer ran to succeed Dicks. Kitsap County Sheriff Steve Boyer; Kitsap County Commissioner Josh Brown; state Senator James Hargrove; Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist; Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy; state Senator Christine Rolfes; state Senator and Mason County Commissioner Tim Sheldon; state Auditor Brian Sonntag; Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland; and state Representative Kevin Van De Wege, will not run.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 6
Stephan Brodhead, a small business owner; Doug Cloud, an attorney who unsuccessfully challenged Dicks as the Republican nominee in 2004 and 2006, and as a Republican in 2008 and 2010; Bill Driscoll, a businessman; David "Ike" Eichner, an accountant ; and Jesse Young, a technology consultant who also ran as a Republican in 2010, ran. Bob Sauerwein, an insurance agent, had also planned to run as a Republican, but dropped out of the race in February 2012. Republican state Representative Jan Angel did not run.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 7
Democrat Jim McDermott, who represented the 7th district since 1989, successfully ran for re-election. Tax attorney Andrew Hughes also sought the Democratic nomination.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 8
Republican Dave Reichert, who represented the 8th district since 2005, ran for re-election and won. Karen Porterfield Associate Dean and Public Administration Lecturer at Seattle University sought the Democratic nomination. James Windle of Snoqualmie Pass ran as an independent candidate opposing Reichert for the seat, but dropped out of the race in August 2012.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 9
Democrat Adam Smith, who represented the 9th district since 1997, was re-elected.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 9
Republican Jim Postma, a businessman and unsuccessful candidate for the 9th district in 2008 and 2010, ran again.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 10
Democrat Denny Heck, a former majority leader of the Washington House of Representatives who ran in the 3rd district in 2010, ran in this district.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Washington, District 10
Pierce County Councilmembers Stan Flemming and Dick Muri, who was also the unsuccessful candidate for the 9th district in 2010, ran as a Republican. Dick Muri was the nominee of the Republican party.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia
The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 to elect the three U.S. Representatives from West Virginia, one from each of the state's three 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. A Senate election was also held on that date, during which incumbent Joe Manchin won re-election. As of 2020, this is the last time that a Democrat won a congressional district in West Virginia.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia, Redistricting
In August 2011, the West Virginia Legislature passed a redistricting plan which would make only minor changes to the state's congressional districts. Under the new map, Mason County is moved from the 2nd district to the 3rd district, while the 1st district is unchanged. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin signed the map into law on August 18.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia, District 1
Republican David McKinley, who has represented West Virginia's 1st congressional district since January 2011, will ran for re-election.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia, District 2
Republican Shelley Moore Capito, who has represented West Virginia's 2nd congressional district since 2001, ran for reelection.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in West Virginia, District 3
Democrat Nick Rahall, who had represented West Virginia's 3rd congressional district since 1993, ran for reelection.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin
The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 to elect the eight U.S. Representatives from Wisconsin, one from each of the state's eight congressional districts. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the 112th 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 an election to the U.S. Senate. Primary elections were held on August 14, 2012.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 1
Republican Paul Ryan, who has represented Wisconsin's 1st congressional district since 1999, ran for reelection after deciding not to run for the U.S. Senate or seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 1
Though Ryan was selected to be the Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States on August 11, 2012, he was allowed, and continued to, run for re-election to his House seat.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 1
Rob Zerban, a member of the Kenosha County Board and former small business owner, sought and received the Democratic nomination to challenge Ryan.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 2
Democrat Tammy Baldwin, who represented Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district since 1999, ran for the U.S. Senate. State Representative Mark Pocan sought and received the Democratic nomination to succeed Baldwin. He defeated Dennis Hall, a former member of the Janesville City Council; state Representative Kelda Roys; and Matt Silverman, an attorney and decorated combat veteran, in the Democratic primary. Dane County Treasurer Dave Worzala had also been seeking the Democratic nomination, but dropped out of the race in May 2012. State Senator Jon Erpenbach, who had been considering a bid, chose not to run.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 2
Chad Lee, a businessman who unsuccessfully challenged Baldwin as the Republican nominee in 2010, chose to run again.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 3
Democrat Ron Kind, who has represented Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district since 1997, did not run for the U.S. Senate and instead ra for re-election.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 3
Ray Boland, a former state Secretary of Veterans Affairs and former commander at Fort McCoy, sought and received the Republican nomination to challenge Kind.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 4
Democrat Gwen Moore, who has represented Wisconsin's 4th congressional district since 2005, is running for re-election.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 4
Dan Sebring, an automobile repair shop owner who unsuccessfully challenged Moore as the Republican nominee in 2010, ran again.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 4
Robert R. Raymond, a perennial candidate, ran as an Independent.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 5
Republican Jim Sensenbrenner, who has represented Wisconsin's 5th congressional district since 2003 (and previously represented Wisconsin's 9th congressional district from 1979 to 2003), is running for re-election.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 5
Dave Heaster, a technology employee at the Kohler Company, sought and received the Democratic nomination to challenge Sensenbrenner.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 6
Republican Tom Petri, who has represented Wisconsin's 6th congressional district since 1979, is running for re-election. Lauren Stephens, the founder of a conservative political action committee, unsuccessfully challenged Petri in the Republican primary.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 6
Joe Kallas, a former member of the Green Lake County Board who unsuccessfully challenged Petri as the Democratic nominee in 2010, is running again.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 7
Republican Sean Duffy, who has represented Wisconsin's 7th congressional district since 2011, is running for re-election.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 7
Former state Senator Pat Kreitlow sought and received the Democratic nomination to challenge Duffy. State Representative Janet Bewley chose not to run.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 8
Republican Reid Ribble, who has represented Wisconsin's 8th congressional district since 2011, is running for re-election.


2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin, District 8
Jamie Wall, a business consultant and unsuccessful primary candidate for the 8th district in 2006, sought and received the Democratic nomination to challenge Ribble.


2012 United States Junior Curling Championships
The 2012 United States Junior Curling Championships were held from January 28 to February 4 at the Madison Curling Club in Madison, Wisconsin. The winners, the teams skipped by Stephen Dropkin and Cory Christensen, represented the United States at the 2012 World Junior Curling Championships in Östersund, Sweden.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship
The 2012 United States Men's Curling Championship took place from February 11 to 18 at the IceWorks Skating Complex in Aston, Pennsylvania, (with the host city being listed as Philadelphia). It was held in conjunction with the 2012 United States Women's Curling Championship. The winning team, skipped by Heath McCormick, represented the United States at the 2012 Capital One World Men's Curling Championship in Basel, Switzerland. The first and second placed teams, skipped respectively by Heath McCormick and Pete Fenson, earned qualification spots to the 2014 United States Olympic Curling Trials, which will determine the teams that will represent the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympics.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship, Road to the Nationals
As with last year, teams qualified for the men's nationals by qualifying automatically through the World Curling Tour Order of Merit, through regional qualifiers, or through a challenge round. Two teams qualified via the Order of Merit, five teams qualified through the regional qualifiers, and the remaining three teams qualified through the challenge round. The regional qualifiers in Green Bay, Seattle, Grand Forks, and Laurel each received one or more qualifying spots, which were awarded to the top finishers from the qualifiers. Teams that were not awarded a qualification spot but were top finishers were invited to the challenge round, where the top three teams qualified.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship, Road to the Nationals
The Pete Fenson rink stood as an exception to the preceding rules. Since Fenson and his team were scheduled to represent the United States in the 2012 USA-Brazil Challenge, which was cancelled, they received an automatic berth into the nationals, regardless of their Order of Merit standing. Because they were not one of the top two Order of Merit teams, the Fenson rink participated as the eleventh team in the nationals.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship, Teams
Eleven teams participated in the national championship, one more team than usual, due to the Fenson rink's scheduled participation in the USA-Brazil Challenge. The teams are listed as follows:


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification
Qualification for the 2012 United States Men's Curling Championship took place in two rounds in January at various locations throughout the nation. The number of entrants to the national championships was cut down to eleven teams through a playdown system of regional qualifiers and a challenge round.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Qualification System
As with last year, teams qualified for the men's nationals either by qualifying automatically as one of the top two teams on the World Curling Tour Order of Merit, by qualifying through a regional qualifier, or by qualifying through the challenge round. The two teams that qualified automatically to the championships were chosen based on the Order of Merit upon the conclusion of the Curl Mesabi Cash Spiel. This year, the teams were those skipped by Tyler George and Craig Brown. The other eight spots in the nationals were awarded as follows: five were awarded to the top finishers in the regional qualifiers, and three were awarded to the top finishers in the challenge round.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Qualification System
The qualification rounds were all held with the double knockout provision in place. The double knockout provision states that a team is eliminated from qualifying for the nationals if the team has at least two losses in their win-loss record. If there are teams with less than two losses, they will play each other until the number of teams still able to qualify matches the number of qualification spots available.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Qualification System, Regional Qualifiers
The qualifiers were held from January 4 to 8 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Seattle, Washington, Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Laurel, Maryland, given that at least five teams sign up at each qualifier. If there were less than five teams signed up at any site, the qualifier at that site would have been cancelled, and teams could either be moved to an alternate site or cancel their registration. Qualifiers with more than ten teams would have been held in a knockout format, and qualifiers with less than ten teams would have been held in a round robin format.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Qualification System, Regional Qualifiers
Each qualifier site was awarded one or more qualification spots to the nationals based on the strength of field at each qualifier site. The strength of field of each team was calculated using Order of Merit points, past participation in national championships and world championships, and final ranks at past national championships. In total, five teams qualified from the four regional qualifiers, and eight teams moved from the qualifiers to the challenge round. This year, the teams that qualified from the regional qualifiers were those skipped by Heath McCormick, Wes Johnson, John Shuster, Owen Sampson, and Blake Morton.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Qualification System, Challenge Round
The top eight finishers from the regional qualifiers that did not qualify for the nationals were invited to play in the challenge round, which were held from January 19 to 22 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Two other teams that were not qualified to either the nationals or the challenge round were then invited based on their Order of Merit points. If a team qualifying to the challenge round through a regional qualifier declined its invitation, the spot would have been filled based on the Order of Merit. A maximum of ten teams could play at the challenge round.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Qualification System, Challenge Round
The number of teams invited from each qualifier were determined using the strength of field system. The challenge round was played in a round robin format. At the conclusion of the round robin, the top three teams were chosen to qualify to the nationals. This year, those teams were those skipped by Eric Fenson, Mike Farbelow, and Todd Birr.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Regional Qualifiers
All four qualifiers were held at their respective locations from January 4 to 8. A total of 39 teams registered to participate in the regional qualifiers. Of these teams, three teams qualified directly to the nationals without participation in the qualifying rounds. The rink skipped by Pete Fenson did not have to participate in the qualifiers due to their participation on behalf of the United States at the 2012 USA-Brazil Challenge. Two teams, skipped by Tyler George and Craig Brown, qualified directly to the nationals by virtue of their Order of Merit rankings.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Regional Qualifiers
If Fenson was one of the top two ranked Order of Merit teams, there would only have been one other team qualifying directly to the nationals via Order of Merit, but Fenson was not one of the top two ranked Order of Merit teams, so the top two ranked teams qualified directly to the nationals.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Regional Qualifiers, Participating Teams
The following is a list of all teams registered to participate in the regional qualifiers. The teams skipped by Pete Fenson, Craig Brown, and Tyler George qualified automatically, and as such did not need to participate in the qualifying rounds.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Regional Qualifiers, Laurel qualifier
The Laurel qualifier was held at the Potomac Curling Club in Laurel, Maryland. It was held in a round robin format. At the conclusion of the round robin, the top team qualified directly to the Nationals, and the second-ranked team qualified to the Challenge Round. The team skipped by Heath McCormick qualified directly to the Nationals, and the team skipped by Derek Surka qualified to the Challenge Round.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Regional Qualifiers, Seattle Qualifier
The Seattle qualifier was held at the Granite Curling Club in Seattle, Washington. It was held in a round robin format. At the conclusion of the round robin, the top team qualified directly to the Nationals, and the second-ranked team qualified to the Challenge Round. The team skipped by Wes Johnson qualified directly to the Nationals, while the team skipped by Sean Beighton qualified to the Challenge Round.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Regional Qualifiers, Seattle Qualifier, Tiebreaker
The "tiebreaker" was played in accordance with the double knockout provision. Wes Johnson and Sean Beighton were the top two teams in the pool, and even though Johnson was undefeated, a deciding game needed to be held between Johnson and Beighton. Beighton had one loss (from losing to Johnson), and Johnson had none.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Regional Qualifiers, Seattle Qualifier, Tiebreaker
If Beighton had won the tiebreaker, he and Johnson would have had one loss apiece, and would have needed to decide which team would advance to the nationals by playing another tiebreaker, which would have given one team two losses, therefore eliminating that team from the top spot. Johnson won this tiebreaker, so Beighton, with two losses, took second place.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Regional Qualifiers, Grand Forks Qualifier
The Grand Forks qualifier was held at the Grand Forks Curling Club in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It will be held in a triple knockout format. Two teams qualified directly to the Nationals, and four teams qualified to the Challenge Round. The team skipped by John Shuster qualified directly to the Nationals by winning the A Event, and the team skipped by Owen Sampson qualified directly to the Nationals by winning the B Event. Teams skipped by Eric Fenson, Peter Stolt, Ryan Berg, and Todd Birr qualified to the Challenge Round.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Regional Qualifiers, Grand Forks Qualifier, Knockout Brackets
The qualifier in the A Event will be qualified to participate in the Nationals.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Regional Qualifiers, Grand Forks Qualifier, Knockout Brackets
The qualifier in the B Event will be qualified to participate in the Nationals.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Regional Qualifiers, Grand Forks Qualifier, Knockout Brackets
All qualifiers in the C Event will qualify to participate in the Challenge Round.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Regional Qualifiers, Green Bay Qualifier
The Green Bay qualifier was held at the Green Bay Curling Club in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was held in a round robin format. At the conclusion of the round robin, one team qualified directly to the Nationals, and two teams qualified to the Challenge Round. The team skipped by Blake Morton qualified directly to the Nationals, while the teams skipped by John Benton and Mike Farbelow qualified to the Challenge Round.


2012 United States Men's Curling Championship – Qualification, Challenge Round
The challenge round was held from January 19 to 22 at the Eau Claire Curling Club in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. A maximum of ten teams could compete in the challenge round, and three teams advanced to the nationals. A maximum of eight teams from the qualifiers could compete in the challenge round, while a minimum of two teams were chosen based on their Order of Merit. The teams skipped by Eric Fenson, Mike Farbelow, and Todd Birr advanced to the nationals.


2012 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship
The 2012 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship was held from December 7-11, 2011 at the Broomstones Curling Club in Wayland, Massachusetts. Brady Clark and his wife Cristin Clark won the tournament, earning the right to represent the United States at the 2012 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship in Erzurum, Turkey.


2012 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, Round robin, Standings
The 21 teams were split into three pools; each pool played a round robin and at the end the top two teams advanced to the playoffs. The standings at the end of the round robin phase were:


2012 United States Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, Playoffs
The playoffs consisted of a 6-team bracket with the top two teams directly in the semifinals. There was a two-loss provision included, such that a team was not eliminated until they had two losses in the tournament. Because the team of Brady and Cristin Clark entered the playoffs undefeated, they were not eliminated when they lost to Peter and Maureen Stolt in the semifinals and instead got to challenge the winner of the first round of the championship, Alex and Jennifer Leichter, for the title.


2012 United States Olympic Trials (diving)
The 2012 U.S. Olympic Diving Team Trials were held from June 17 to June 23, 2012, at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington.


2012 United States Olympic Trials (diving), U.S. Olympic Team
The following divers have qualified to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics:


2012 United States Olympic Trials (swimming)
The 2012 United States Olympic Trials for swimming events was held from June 25 to July 2 at the CenturyLink Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. It was the qualifying meet for American swimmers who hoped to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.


2012 United States Olympic Trials (swimming), Qualification criteria
A total of 47 swimmers (not including open water swimmers) were chosen for the 2012 Summer Olympics. To make the Olympic team, a swimmer must place in the top two in one of the thirteen individual events. To be considered for the U.S. 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter freestyle relay teams, a swimmer must place in the top six in the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle, respectively. Swimmers must have achieved a time standard to be eligible to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials:


2012 United States Olympic Trials (swimming), Events
The meet featured twenty-six individual events all swum in a long course (50-meter) pool: thirteen events for men and thirteen events for women. Events 200 meters and shorter were held with preliminaries, semifinals and finals, while events 400 meters and longer were held with preliminaries and finals. The semifinals featured sixteen swimmers in two heats; the finals included eight swimmers in a single heat. Preliminaries were seeded with ten lanes. Event order, which mimicked that of the 2012 Olympics, with the exception of the Olympic relay events, was:


2012 United States Olympic Trials (swimming), Events
Note: prelims/semifinals/finals were swum in events 200 meters and shorter; prelims/finals in events 400 meters or longer. For prelims/semifinals/finals events, prelims and semis were on the same day, with finals the next evening. For the 400-meter events, prelims and finals were the same day. For the 800 and 1500 meter races, prelims are in the morning of one day, with finals in the evening of the next day.


2012 United States Olympic Trials (swimming), U.S. Olympic Team
The following swimmers qualified to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics (for pool events):


2012 United States Olympic Trials (swimming), U.S. Olympic Team, Men
Nathan Adrian, Ricky Berens, Clark Burckle, Tyler Clary, Conor Dwyer, Anthony Ervin, Jimmy Feigen, Andrew Gemmell, Matt Grevers, Brendan Hansen, Charlie Houchin, Connor Jaeger, Cullen Jones, Jason Lezak, Ryan Lochte, Tyler McGill, Matt McLean, Michael Phelps, Eric Shanteau, Davis Tarwater, Nick Thoman, Peter Vanderkaay, and Scott Weltz.


2012 United States Olympic Trials (swimming), U.S. Olympic Team, Women
Cammile Adams, Alyssa Anderson, Elizabeth Beisel, Rachel Bootsma, Natalie Coughlin, Claire Donahue, Missy Franklin, Jessica Hardy, Kathleen Hersey, Kara Lynn Joyce, Ariana Kukors, Breeja Larson, Micah Lawrence, Katie Ledecky, Caitlin Leverenz, Lia Neal, Lauren Perdue, Allison Schmitt, Rebecca Soni, Chloe Sutton, Dana Vollmer, Shannon Vreeland, Amanda Weir, and Kate Ziegler.


2012 United States Olympic Trials (swimming), Results
Key:  Highlighted swimmers achieved the qualification conditions to be included in the Olympic team in that respective event.


2012 United States Olympic Trials (track and field)
The 2012 United States Olympic Trials for track and field were held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Organized by USA Track and Field, the ten-day competition lasted from June 21 until July 1 and served as the  national championships in track and field for the United States.


2012 United States Olympic Trials (track and field)
The results of the event determined qualification for the American Olympic team at the 2012 Summer Olympics, to be held in London. Provided they had achieved the Olympic "A" standard, the top three athletes gained a place on the Olympic team. In the event that a leading athlete did not hold an "A" standard, or an athlete withdrew, the next highest finishing athlete with an "A" standard was selected instead.


2012 United States Olympic Trials (track and field)
The trials for the men's and women's marathon were held January 14 in Houston and the trials for the men's 50 km race walk were held January 22 in Santee, California. The hammer throw competitions were held at the Nike facility in Beaverton, Oregon.


2012 United States Senate election in Arizona
The 2012 United States Senate election in Arizona was held November 6, 2012, alongside a presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Jon Kyl, the Senate Minority Whip, decided to retire instead of running for reelection to a fourth term. Republican U.S. Representative Jeff Flake won the open seat. As of 2021, this is the last time the Republicans won the Class 1 Senate seat in Arizona.


2012 United States Senate election in Arizona, Republican primary
The filing deadline for Republican candidates was June 1, 2012, and the primary election took place on August 28, 2012.


2012 United States Senate election in Arizona, Democratic primary
Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona was the only candidate for the Democratic nomination, receiving all 289,881 votes cast in the primary election.


2012 United States Senate election in Arizona, General election, Debates
There were three debates before the election. The first was in Phoenix on October 10, 2012, the second in Tucson on October 15 and the last was in Yuma on October 25.


2012 United States Senate election in Arizona, General election, Results
Preliminary results showed Flake leading 49.7%-45.7%, but 439,961 early votes had yet to be counted.


2012 United States Senate election in California
The 2012 United States Senate election in California 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.


2012 United States Senate election in California
The primary election on June 5 took place under California's new blanket primary law, where all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the primary, voters voted for any candidate listed, or write-in any other candidate. The top two finishers—regardless of party—advanced to the general election in November, even if a candidate managed to receive a majority of the votes cast in the June primary. In the primary, less than 15% of the total 2010 census population voted. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein announced her intention to run for a fourth full term in April 2011 and finished first in the blanket primary with 49.5% of the vote. The second-place finisher was Republican candidate and autism activist Elizabeth Emken, who won 12.7% of the vote.


2012 United States Senate election in California
Feinstein ultimately defeated Emken in the general election on November 6, winning 62.5% of the vote to Emken's 37.5%. Feinstein's total of 7.86 million popular votes is the most ever received by a candidate for U.S. Senate in American history. This is the most recent U.S. Senate race in California where a Republican advanced to the general election (and to date, the only race where a Republican advanced after the implementation of California's blanket primary system); in 2016 and 2018, only Democratic candidates advanced to the general election. Emken's 4.7 million votes was a record number of votes any Republican Senate candidate had ever received in any state. The record stood for 8 years until it was broken by John Cornyn in 2020.


2012 United States Senate election in California, Primary, Election contest
In July 2012, Taitz sued to block the certification of the primary election results, alleging "rampant election fraud", but her suit was denied.


2012 United States Senate election in California, General election, Debates
No debates were scheduled. Senator Feinstein decided to focus on her own campaign rather than debate her challenger.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut
The 2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut was held on November 6, 2012, in conjunction with the 2012 U.S. presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Primaries to elect Senate candidates from the Republican and Democratic parties were held on Tuesday, August 14, 2012.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut
Incumbent U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucused with the Democratic Party, decided to retire instead of running for re-election to a fifth term. Republican businesswoman Linda McMahon faced Democratic Representative Chris Murphy in the general election and lost, marking two defeats in as many years.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, Background
In the 2006 election, incumbent Joe Lieberman was defeated in the Democratic primary by businessman Ned Lamont and formed his own party, Connecticut for Lieberman, winning re-election. Lieberman promised to remain in the Senate Democratic Caucus, but had since stood against the Democrats on many significant issues, including his endorsement of Republican 2008 presidential nominee John McCain over Barack Obama. As a result, Lieberman's poll numbers among Democrats dropped significantly.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, Background
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was reportedly considering a run against Lieberman, but instead ran for and won Connecticut's other Senate seat in 2010 after U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd announced his retirement.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, Background
Lieberman had publicly floated the possibility of running as a Democrat, Republican, or an independent. However, on January 19, 2011, he announced that he would not run for another term.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, Democratic primary, Debates
The first Democratic debate took place on February 23, 2012, with Murphy, Bysiewicz, and Tong participating. The first televised debate was held on April 5, with Murphy, Bysiewicz, Tong, Oakes, and Whitnum participating. A debate was held at UConn on April 9, with the five candidates participating. A debate sponsored by WFSB took place on April 15, with all five taking part.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, Democratic primary, Convention
Delegates of the Connecticut Democratic Party endorsed Chris Murphy at their state party convention held on May 12. Murphy was the choice of 1,378 delegates (76 percent), while Susan Bysiewicz won 444 delegates (24 percent), enough to qualify for the August 14 primary. Matthew Oakes received the support of one delegate from Hartford. Lee Whitnum's name was not placed in nomination.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, Republican primary, Debates
A debate sponsored by the Norwich Bulletin took place on April 19, 2012, with McMahon, Shays, Lumaj, Hill, and Westby in attendance. The debate was not televised. The first televised debate took place on April 22, 2012, sponsored by WFSB. All five candidates participated.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, Republican primary, Convention
Delegates of the Connecticut Republican Party endorsed Linda McMahon at their state party convention held on May 18. McMahon was the choice of 730 delegates (60 percent), while Chris Shays won 389 delegates (32 percent), enough to qualify for the August 14 primary. Brian K. Hill, Peter Lumaj, and Kie Westby did not meet the 15 percent threshold necessary to automatically qualify for the primary, receiving the support of 62, 22, and 5 delegates, respectively. Hill pursued a post-convention attempt to petition his way onto the primary ballot, but fell short of the 8,319 signatures required and suspended his campaign in June.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, General election, Campaign
Susan Bysiewicz was the first to declare herself as a candidate. However, by March 2011 Chris Murphy had raised over $1 million, more than Susan Bysiewicz, who had raised $500,000. Murphy had won election to Connecticut's 5th congressional district, which is considered Republican-leaning, and he promoted himself as the most electable candidate against a Republican challenger. Bysiewicz, the former Secretary of the State of Connecticut, enjoyed high name recognition while a statewide officeholder, and had a formidable face-off with Murphy.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, General election, Campaign
William Tong, a state representative, joined the race touting his biography as the son of Chinese immigrants working at a Chinese restaurant. In January East Hartford resident Matthew John Oakes announced his candidacy. Oakes pointed to his real life experience being a disabled American, victim of crime, civil rights activist, growing up in the inner-city and being a political outsider for his candidacy.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, General election, Campaign
Wide speculation continued on Linda McMahon, who had a widely publicized race for senator in 2010. She lost the election decisively, but had strong finances and a well-established political organization. McMahon met with her former campaign consultant to review her 2010 results, and said she was leaning towards running. She planned to make a decision regarding another run after the start of 2012. Congressman Chris Shays joined in August 2011, promoting his involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan's military contracting.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, General election, Campaign
Shays campaign had also gained traction from a series of independent polls showing him beating or in dead heat with the top Democratic contenders in the general election, while those same polls showed McMahon losing handily to each of the top Democratic contenders.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, General election, Campaign
The Shays campaign quickly capitalized on these polls, arguing for the former Congressman's electability while questioning McMahon's electability due to her loss in an open Senate seat contest in 2010 by a large margin despite spending $50 million of her own money, also citing her high unfavorable numbers among state voters, and the weak fundraising numbers of the McMahon campaign.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, General election, Campaign
In July 2012, Shays declared that he would not support McMahon if she won the primary. He said that he had "never run against an opponent that I have respected less—ever—and there are a lot of candidates I have run against," adding that "I do not believe that Linda McMahon has spent the time, the energy to determine what [being] a senator really means." He also said that during the last debate he had with McMahon, "I thought she was embarrassingly clueless" and that "I think she is a terrible candidate and I think she would make a terrible senator." Although he said he would not support Chris Murphy, he expected him to win the Democratic nomination and the general election.


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, General election, Campaign
In September 2012, the records of the McMahons' 1976 bankruptcy and specifics of nearly $1 million unpaid debts from the proceeding were published. In days the candidate and her husband announced the "intention to reimburse all private individual creditors that can be located".


2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut, General election, Results
Note: Murphy also appeared on the line of the Connecticut Working Families Party and received 37,553 votes on it. His Working Families and Democratic votes have been aggregated together on this table.


2012 United States Senate election in Delaware
The 2012 United States Senate election in Delaware 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 Tom Carper won re-election to a third term in a landslide.


2012 United States Senate election in Delaware, General election, Debates
Only one debate was held between Carper, Wade, and Independent Party candidate Pires.


2012 United States Senate election in Florida
The 2012 United States Senate election in Florida  was held on November 6, 2012, alongside a presidential election, other elections to the House and Senate, as well as various state and local elections. The primary election was held August 14, 2012. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson won reelection to a third term, defeating Republican U.S. Representative Connie Mack IV (whose father, Connie Mack III was Nelson's direct predecessor in that Senate seat) by 13%, winning 55% to 42%. Nelson defeated Mack by over 1 million votes.


2012 United States Senate election in Florida
Until Donald Trump won 4.6 million votes in the 2016 presidential election and Marco Rubio won 4.8 million votes in the 2016 Senate election, Nelson recorded the most votes in Florida history. As of 2021, this is the last time that the Democrats won a U.S. Senate election in Florida, and the last time that any Senate candidate won by a double-digit margin in the state.


2012 United States Senate election in Florida, General election
From a long way out, Nelson appeared to be vulnerable, with some earlier polls showing Mack leading. However, in the last few weeks with new polls conducted, it appeared as though Nelson was headed for a victory. The last poll placed him five percentage points ahead of Mack; Nelson would win easily by 13 percentage points. Nelson performed well in Southeast Florida (the Miami area), Tampa, Gainesville, typically Democratic areas. Nelson however managed to win in areas that typically lean Republican. For example, Nelson won in Duval County home of Jacksonville, and Volusia County home of Daytona Beach. Nelson's ability to outperform President Obama led to him winning the election easily. Obama would still win Florida, but by just about 74,000 votes, and less than a percentage point. Nelson began his third term in the Senate on January 3, 2013.


2012 United States Senate election in Florida, General election, Debates
Only one debate was held, hosted by Leadership Florida/Florida Press Association occurred on October 17 at the Nova Southeastern University campus in Davie.


2012 United States Senate election in Florida, General election, Fundraising, Independent expenditures
In early October 2012, Crossroads GPS announced it would launch a $16 million advertising buy in national races, of which four were this and three other Senate elections. In Florida, the money was to be spent by its affiliate, American Crossroads.


2012 United States Senate election in Hawaii
The 2012 United States Senate election in Hawaii 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 Daniel Akaka decided to retire instead of running for re-election to a fourth full term. Democratic Congresswoman Mazie Hirono defeated former Republican Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle in a rematch of the 2002 Hawaii gubernatorial election. This was the first open Senate seat in the state of Hawaii since 1976.


2012 United States Senate election in Hawaii, Background
U.S. Representative Daniel Akaka was appointed by Governor John Waihee to the U.S. Senate to serve temporarily after the death of U.S. Senator Spark Matsunaga, and sworn into office on May 16, 1990. On November 6 of the same year, he was elected to complete the remaining four years of Matsunaga's unexpired term. He was re-elected in 1994 for a first full six-year term and again in 2000 and 2006. Despite originally saying he would seek re-election in 2012, on March 2, 2011, Akaka announced that he would not run for re-election.


2012 United States Senate election in Hawaii, Democratic primary
The primary election was held on August 11. After being locked in a tight race with Ed Case, her predecessor in Congress, incumbent Congresswoman Mazie Hirono pulled away in the final vote, handily defeating Case.


2012 United States Senate election in Hawaii, Democratic primary, Campaign
In December 2011, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairwoman and U.S. Senator Patty Murray for Washington endorsed Hirono. U.S. Senator and President Pro Tempore Daniel Inouye for Hawaii also endorsed her. Case criticized "D.C. insiders." He also argued that he is a fiscal moderate, while Hirono was rated the 6th most liberal member of the U.S. House. The Daily Kos blog described Ed Case a "Democratic villain."


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana
The 2012 United States Senate election in Indiana took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate and House of Representatives and various state and local elections.


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana
Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Richard Lugar ran for reelection to a seventh term, but was defeated in the primary by Tea Party-backed Richard Mourdock. U.S. Representative Joe Donnelly, a Democrat from Indiana's 2nd congressional district, was unopposed in his party's primary, and then defeated both Mourdock and Libertarian Andrew Horning in the general election.


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana
As of 2021, this is the last time a Democrat was elected to the U.S. Senate, or won any statewide race, in Indiana, and the most recent Senate election in which an elected incumbent was defeated in the primary. This is also the most recent time a party would flip a Senate seat in a presidential election year without carrying the state in the presidential election.


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, Background and overview
On November 7, 2006, incumbent Richard Lugar was unopposed by any major party candidate as no Democrat filed for the May 2006 primary. He was re-elected to his sixth six-year term with 87.3% of the vote. After the 2012 election, Lugar would have had an even chance, according to Senate Republican Conference rules, to be elected as its president pro tempore. However, the issue was rendered moot with Lugar's primary loss on May 9, 2012, as Indiana state law prohibits candidates from running for an election after losing a primary. Time featured the race in their "Fury of the Senate" article. The article mentioned how Donnelly was lucky that Mourdock won out in the primary against Lugar, a well-liked centrist member of the GOP. Another boost came when Mourdock's remarks regarding rape helped propel Donnelly to victory.


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, Republican primary, Campaign
Due to Lugar's unpopularity among some Tea Party voters because of his positions regarding illegal immigration, voting to confirm then-U.S. Supreme Court nominees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, the DREAM Act, the New START Treaty, some gun control bills, and congressional earmarks, he was challenged by a Tea Party-backed candidate.


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, Republican primary, Campaign
The Indiana Debate Commission's GOP primary debate with Sen. Richard Lugar and State Treasurer Richard Mourdock was set to air at 7 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 11. In a widely published poll taken March 26 to 28, Lugar was still in the lead, but by the time of a second published poll from April 30 to May 1, Mourdock was leading 48% to 38%.


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, Republican primary, Campaign
Mourdock defeated Senator Lugar in the Republican primary on May 8, 2012.


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, Republican primary, Campaign
According to Indiana law, Lugar's defeat meant that he would not be permitted to run in the election either as a third party or an independent candidate after he lost the primary.


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, General election, Debates
Date : Monday, October 15Broadcast Time: 7 p.m. EDTCity: IndianapolisVenue: WFYI-TV (in studio/no live audience)


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, General election, Debates
Date : Tuesday, October 23Broadcast Time: 7 p.m. EDTCity: New AlbanyVenue: Paul W. Ogle Cultural & Community Center, Indiana University Southeast (live audience – seating up to 500)


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, General election, Campaign, Pregnancy from rape controversy
Mourdock became embroiled in a controversy after stating that pregnancy from rape is "something that God intended". His remarks were made during a debate on October 23, 2012, while explaining his opposition to abortion even in the case of rape. At the debate Mourdock, when asked what his position on abortion was, responded:


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, General election, Campaign, Pregnancy from rape controversy
I know there are some who disagree and I respect their point of view but I believe that life begins at conception. The only exception I have to have an abortion is in that case of the life of the mother. I just struggled with it myself for a long time but I came to realize: "Life is that gift from God that I think even if life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen".


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, General election, Campaign, Pregnancy from rape controversy
Media speculated that this could affect the outcome of the Senate race and Presidential race and multiple sources noted the similarities with the rape and pregnancy statement controversies in the 2012 United States elections.


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, General election, Campaign, Pregnancy from rape controversy
Responding to the criticism, Mourdock issued a statement saying: "God creates life, and that was my point. God does not want rape, and by no means was I suggesting that he does. Rape is a horrible thing, and for anyone to twist my words otherwise is absurd and sick." He was later quoted at a press conference also saying: "I believe God controls the universe. I don't believe biology works in an uncontrolled fashion." He however refused to issue an apology, even while prominent Republicans, including Sen. John McCain, called for him to do so.


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, General election, Campaign, Response
A day before the controversy started, a television ad began airing that showed Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee for United States President, supporting Mourdock. The Romney campaign subsequently issued a statement saying "Gov. Romney disagrees with Richard Mourdock's comments, and they do not reflect his views," but did not pull the ad. Senator John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said "Richard and I, along with millions of Americans—including even Joe Donnelly—believe that life is a gift from God. To try and construe his words as anything other than a restatement of that belief is irresponsible and ridiculous".


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, General election, Campaign, Response
Many public Republicans called for Mourdock to apologize for the statement. Sen. John McCain called for him to issue an apology and his support "depends on what he does." Senator Scott Brown refused to state that he supported Mourdock in the election. Rep. Mike Pence, a Republican running for governor of Indiana concurrent to Mourdock's senatorial campaign, urged Mourdock to apologize. "I strongly disagree with the statement made by Richard Mourdock during last night's Senate debate," he said in a statement. "I urge him to apologize."


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, General election, Campaign, Response
President Obama stated, "Rape is rape. It is a crime," on the Tonight Show. He continued, "These various distinctions about rape don't make too much sense to me." Dan Parker, chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party, immediately criticized Mourdock, saying: "I'm stunned and ashamed that Richard Mourdock believes God intended rape", and claimed that he is an "extremist" who is out of touch with Indiana.


2012 United States Senate election in Indiana, Results
On election night, Donnelly won by about six percent. Donnelly performed well in Marion County, home of Indianapolis. Donnelly also won areas with major college campuses, such as Indiana University in Bloomington, Purdue University in Lafayette. Mourdock performed well, as expected in the Indianapolis suburbs, such as Hamilton County. Mourdock conceded defeat to Donnelly at around 11:30 p.m. EST.


2012 United States Senate election in Maine
The 2012 United States Senate election in Maine was held on November 6, 2012, alongside a presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Despite initially declaring her candidacy and being considered the favorite, popular incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe unexpectedly decided to retire instead of running for reelection to a fourth term.


2012 United States Senate election in Maine
Former Independent Governor Angus King won the open seat with 52.9% of the vote against Republican Charlie Summers and Democrat Cynthia Dill. Following Independent Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman's retirement from the Senate in 2013, King became the second Independent incumbent U.S. Senator, after Vermont's Bernie Sanders. This was the first U.S. Senate race in Maine since 1988 that was not won by a Republican.


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, Background
Incumbent Olympia Snowe won re-election to a third term in 2006 with 74.01% of the vote over Democrat Jean Hay Bright and independent Bill Slavick. Due to the unpopularity of some of Snowe's votes among conservative voters, namely for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and initial support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, there was speculation that she would face competition in the 2012 Republican primary from more conservative challengers. The Tea Party Express had promised to aid in a primary against Snowe. There had also been speculation that Snowe would switch parties, though she has always denied this. By June 2011, Snowe had officially entered her name with signatures to run in the Republican primary, saying, she "would never switch parties".


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, Background
However, on February 28, 2012, Snowe announced that she would be retiring from the U.S. Senate at the end of her term, citing the "atmosphere of polarization and 'my way or the highway' ideologies has become pervasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions" as the reason for her retirement. Her announcement opened the door for candidates from all parties, creating a much more contested 2012 election.


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, General election, Campaign
The group Maine People's Alliance called on Charles Summers to resign his position as Secretary of State of Maine, stating that it was a conflict of interest for the secretary of state to oversee their own election to another office. They also had concerns over past actions in sending letters to college students about voter registration requirements. A spokesperson for Summers said that he had turned over all election oversight to a deputy Secretary of State, and Summers himself stated that he was not going to resign. No Secretary of State or Maine Attorney General who was seeking higher office in the last 30 years has resigned.


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, General election, Campaign
Steve Woods announced on August 1 that, if elected, he would donate his entire Senate salary to Maine charities chosen by an independent committee of business and nonprofit leaders he would appoint. He encouraged Angus King to make a similar pledge; King responded through his spokesperson that he and his wife would continue to donate money to charities, and that all candidates should do so in "the best way they feel they can."


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, General election, Campaign, Anti-spoiler proposal
Steve Woods met with Angus King on June 13 to discuss a proposal by Woods for either man to leave the race if it appeared one or the other was not going to win, in order to avoid being a spoiler candidate. Woods specifically cited the 2010 Maine Gubernatorial election as well as the 2000 presidential election as examples of what could result from a fragmented electorate. King stated that while he had not fully considered Woods' proposal, he didn't think he was a spoiler, in that "If I thought that, I wouldn't be running."


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, General election, Campaign, Anti-spoiler proposal
Woods said that regardless of whether or not King accepted the proposal, he likely would abide by it and endorse King in late October if it appeared he would not win. Woods did indeed drop out and endorsed King on November 4, stating that King had the "highest degree of integrity to represent all Mainers". Woods' name, however, remained on the ballot.


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, General election, Campaign, Campaign spending issues
On June 13, Angus King held a press conference and stated that he would discourage campaign spending by outside groups if his opponents would agree to do the same. King criticized such spending as "a tidal wave of anonymous campaign expenditures that distort our political process." His proposed agreement is modeled on a similar agreement between Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown and his opponent Elizabeth Warren, which requires them, if outside money is spent on their behalf, to donate an equivalent amount of money to the charity of their opponent's choice.


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, General election, Campaign, Campaign spending issues
Democrat Cynthia Dill criticized the proposal as lacking "detail or substance" but added that she "looked forward to seeing a proposed agreement." Republican Charles Summers did not state whether he would accept King's proposal or not but criticized King for discussing campaign finance instead of issues like the economy and government spending. Andrew Ian Dodge called such an agreement "unworkable", while Steve Woods said he would abide by such an agreement.


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, General election, Campaign, Campaign spending issues
In a letter to King, Dill again stated that she was open to an agreement on limiting outside spending in the race, but she also called on King to support measures the candidates can take themselves to limit campaign spending. These include pledging to not finance their campaigns themselves and limiting contributions to $500. Dill also called on King to take stands on a variety of campaign finance legislation, such as the DISCLOSE Act.


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, General election, Campaign, Campaign spending issues
King told the Bangor Daily News the prior week that he does support increased disclosure requirements for super-PACs, but did not specifically say he supports the DISCLOSE Act. King is so far the only candidate to benefit from super-PAC money, as a group called icpurple Inc. spent $24,000 making an online advertisement for King. King stated that as part of his proposal, he would ask the group to take the ads down.


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, General election, Campaign, Campaign spending issues
Danny Dalton stated on June 14 that he would not accept any campaign donations whatsoever, in order to assure constituents that he will represent everyone equally.


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, General election, Campaign, Campaign spending issues
Steve Woods pledged to not spend more than $1.3 million on his campaign, or roughly $1 per Maine resident, including campaign donations and his own money. He stated, "If I can't get my message out and if the public isn't interested in that message, to spend more would be egregious."


2012 United States Senate election in Maine, General election, Campaign, Campaign spending issues
On July 18, King was criticized for attending a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., where he raised money from PACs and other donors. Republicans said King's actions were "the height of hypocrisy" for speaking out against PAC money and raising it at the same time, while Cynthia Dill criticized King as an "insider who is working the system". King defended his actions by stating that he "took no joy" in them but that it was necessary for him to raise money to defend himself in the "dogfight" he expects. King also reiterated his support of changing campaign finance laws and said that he was making no promises to donors.


2012 United States Senate election in Maryland
The 2012 United States Senate election in Maryland took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate, House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ben Cardin won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican nominee Dan Bongino and independent Rob Sobhani.


2012 United States Senate election in Maryland, General election, Debates
A candidate's forum was held on Baltimore's WOLB radio on October 24 including Senator Ben Cardin, Rob Sobhani, Dean Ahmad and Daniel Bongino. An October 30 debate at Salisbury University to have featured those candidates and independent Ed Tinus was cancelled in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.


2012 United States Senate election in Maryland, General election, Campaign
In 2006, then-U.S. Representative Ben Cardin defeated then-Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele 54%–44%. Eric Wargotz, the Republican nominee in 2010 had considered entering the race but ultimately did not.


2012 United States Senate election in Maryland, General election, Campaign
In both 2010 and 2009, National Journal magazine rated Cardin as tied for most liberal senator, based on his voting record. As of June 30, Cardin had $1.8 million in his campaign account.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
The 2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts was held in Massachusetts on November 6, 2012, Democrat Elizabeth Warren defeated incumbent Republican Senator Scott Brown. This election was held concurrently with the U.S. presidential election and elections to the U.S. Senate in other states, as well as elections to the House of Representatives and various state and local elections.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
Brown ran for re-election to a first full term. He had been elected in a special election in 2010 following the death of incumbent Democratic senator Ted Kennedy. Brown was unopposed in the Republican primary. For the Democrats, an initial wide field of prospective candidates narrowed after the entry of Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Warren, the architect of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Warren clinched near-unanimous party support, with all but one of the other Democratic candidates withdrawing following her entrance. After winning her party's nomination, eliminating any need for a primary, she faced Brown in the general election.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts
The election was one of the most-followed races in 2012 and cost approximately $82 million, which made it the most expensive election in Massachusetts history and the second-most expensive in the entire 2012 election cycle, next to the presidential race; this was despite the two candidates' having agreed not to allow outside money to influence the race. Opinion polling indicated a close race for much of the campaign, though Warren opened up a small but consistent lead in the final few weeks. She went on to defeat Brown by over 236,000 votes, 54% to 46%. Brown was the only incumbent Senator to lose a general election in 2012.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, Background
Democratic U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy was re-elected in 2006, and died on August 25, 2009, from a malignant brain tumor. On September 24, 2009, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick appointed longtime friend of Kennedy and former Democratic National Committee chairman Paul G. Kirk to succeed Kennedy until a special election could be held. Kirk's appointment was especially controversial, as the governor's ability to appoint an interim senator was removed during the Romney administration by the Democratic-controlled legislature, as a precaution if senator and presidential nominee John Kerry was elected president in 2004. Laws surrounding Senate appointment were quickly changed following Kennedy's death. The Massachusetts Republican Party sued in an attempt to halt Kirk's appointment, but it was rejected by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, Background
In the special election held on January 19, 2010, Republican state senator Scott Brown defeated Democratic state attorney general Martha Coakley in an upset victory. Brown thus became the first Republican to be elected from Massachusetts to the United States Senate since Edward Brooke in 1972 and he began serving the remainder of Kennedy's term on February 4, 2010.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, Republican primary
Brown was unopposed in the Republican primary. The political action committee National Republican Trust, a group integral to Brown's election in 2010, vowed to draft a more conservative challenger, but was unable to find one.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, Democratic primary
The Massachusetts Democratic Convention was held on June 2, 2012, where Warren received 95.77% of delegate votes. As the only candidate with 15% of delegate votes necessary to qualify for the primary ballot, Warren eliminated her challenger Marisa DeFranco, becoming the de facto nominee. The Democratic primary was held September 6, 2012, with Warren running unopposed.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign
On September 14, 2011, Warren declared her intention to run for the Democratic nomination for the 2012 election in Massachusetts for the United States Senate. The seat had been won by Republican Scott Brown in a 2010 special election after the death of Ted Kennedy.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign
Warren won the Democratic nomination on June 2, 2012, at the state Democratic convention with a record 95.77% of the votes of delegates. She was endorsed by the Governor of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick. Warren and her opponent Scott Brown agreed to engage in four televised debates, including one with a consortium of media outlets in Springfield and one on WBZ-TV in Boston.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign
Brown ran as a moderate, stressing his ability to cross party lines and highlighting his votes for the Dodd-Frank financial reform law and to repeal "don't ask, don't tell". Warren campaigned on a platform championing the middle class, and supporting Wall Street regulation. Warren criticized Brown for continually voting with Republican leadership, and argued that he was not the bipartisan moderate he claimed to be. A staple of Brown's attack tactics against Warren was his consistent reference to her as "Professor Warren", in attempt to portray her as an elitist academic. Brown faced blowback after the second debate, during which he claimed conservative Antonin Scalia was a "model" Supreme Court Justice, prompting boos from the debate audience.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign
Warren spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention immediately before Bill Clinton on the penultimate night of the convention. Warren contrasted President Obama's economic plan with Mitt Romney's in the 2012 election and rebuked the Republican Party's economic policy stating: "Their vision is clear: 'I've got mine, and the rest of you are on your own.'" Warren positioned herself as a champion of a beleaguered middle class that, as she said, "has been chipped, squeezed and hammered." According to Warren, "People feel like the system is rigged against them. And here's the painful part: They're right. The system is rigged."


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign
Warren said that Wall Street CEOs "wrecked our economy and destroyed millions of jobs" and that they "still strut around congress, no shame, demanding favors, and acting like we should thank them." Brown attended the 2012 Republican National Convention, but was not a speaker there. According to Brown, he had rejected an offer to play a larger role, and limited his attendance to a single day because of scheduling demands.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign
Following Todd Akin's controversial "legitimate rape" comments, Brown was the first sitting senator to demand he drop out of the Missouri U.S. Senate race. He also called on his party to "recognize in its platform that you can be pro-choice and still be a good Republican." Brown's campaign had been endorsed by many Massachusetts Democrats, many of whom were prominently featured in his campaign ads.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign
In September 2011, a video of Warren explaining her approach to economic policy gained popularity on the internet. In the video, Warren rebuts the charge that asking the rich to pay more taxes is "class warfare", pointing out that no one grew rich in America without depending on infrastructure paid for by the rest of society, stating:


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign
There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. ... You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did. Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea. God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign
On July 13, 2012, President Obama sparked a controversy when he echoed her thoughts in a campaign speech saying, "Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business—you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign
Warren encountered significant opposition from business interests. In August 2012, Rob Engstrom, political director for the United States Chamber of Commerce, claimed that "no other candidate in 2012 represents a greater threat to free enterprise than Professor Warren." She nonetheless raised $39 million for her campaign, the most of any Senate candidate in 2012.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign, Native American ancestry
In April 2012, the Boston Herald sparked an election controversy when it drew attention to Warren's Association of American Law Schools (AALS) directory entries from 1986 to 1995, which listed her as a minority professor. According to the AALS, the directory was compiled by information supplied by law school deans, based on questionnaires filled out by individual teachers. Warren stated that she had self-identified as having Native American ancestry in order to meet others with a similar background. Harvard Law School had listed her as a minority professor in response to criticisms about a lack of faculty diversity, but Warren said that she was unaware of this until she read about it in a newspaper during the 2012 election.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign, Native American ancestry
Her opponent Scott Brown speculated that she had fabricated a native ancestry to gain an advantage in the employment market; the Brown campaign used Warren's lineage in several attack ads. In response, Warren's brothers issued a joint statement stating that they "grew up listening to our mother and grandmother and other relatives talk about our family's Cherokee and Delaware heritage".


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign, Native American ancestry
Brian Leiter of the Chicago Law School dismissed the allegations against Warren, noting that law schools have "no pressure to hire Native Americans for affirmative action reasons", and that Warren's record of scholarship was "clearly sufficient to get her appointed at Harvard". Several Brown staffers mocked Warren by doing the "tomahawk chop" at a Brown campaign rally, which Brown said he did not condone.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign, Native American ancestry
According to the New England Historical Genealogical Society, several members of Warren's maternal family claim Cherokee heritage; the society found a family newsletter that alluded to a marriage license application that listed Elizabeth Warren's great-great-great grandmother as a Cherokee, but could not find the primary document and found no proof of Warren's Native American heritage. The Oklahoma Historical Society stated that finding a definitive answer about Native American heritage can be difficult because of intermarriage and deliberate avoidance of registration. Some members of the Cherokee Nation protested her claim to Native American ancestry and questioned whether she benefitted from it. Former colleagues and supervisors at the universities where she had worked (including Charles Fried, former Solicitor General under President Ronald Reagan) said Warren's ancestry was either not mentioned, or played no role in her hiring.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Campaign, Native American ancestry
The question of Warren's ancestry was pressed by the Brown campaign throughout the election. However, polls showed that most voters said that the controversy would not impact their vote in the election. Warren's 2014 autobiography devoted a section to the allegations, describing them as untrue and hurtful. In 2018, Warren released the results of a DNA test that strongly suggests that she had a Native American ancestor six to ten generations ago, and suggests Warren is between 1/64th and 1/1,024th Native American.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Debates
Both candidates agreed to four televised debates, three of which were held. The candidates agreed to a fourth debate which was to be held on October 30 in WGBH-TV's studio, hosted by a Boston media consortium, and moderated by John King, but the day before both pulled out due to Hurricane Sandy. Victoria Kennedy, widow of Ted Kennedy, had proposed an additional debate with Tom Brokaw as moderator, however Brown would only accept the invitation if she pledged not to endorse Brown's opponent; which she refused.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Debates
Debate 1:September 20 at WBZ-TV studio, hosted by WBZ and WBZ Newsradio 1030. Moderated by the station's political reporter Jon Keller.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Debates
Debate 2:October 1 at UMass Lowell, co-hosted by UMass and The Boston Herald. Moderated by David Gregory.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Debates
Debate 3:October 10 at Springfield Symphony Hall, hosted by a Western Massachusetts consortium. Moderated by WGBY-TV's Jim Madigan.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Fundraising
The election cost approximately $82 million, making it the most expensive election in Massachusetts' history and of any Congressional race in history as well as the second-most expensive election in the 2012 election cycle, behind only the 2012 presidential election.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, General election, Fundraising, The People's Pledge
Both Warren and Brown stated early in the race that they would not accept television advertisement assistance from Super PACs and interest groups. On January 23, 2012, both candidates signed the agreement, or People's Pledge. While no outside groups were obligated by the agreement, both candidates agreed to donate a sum equal to 50% of an advertisement run by any groups to a charity of the other candidate's choice. The pledge was broken twice, by Brown supporters. In March the American Petroleum Institute and Coalition of Americans for Political Equality launched ads supporting Brown, and as a result, the Brown campaign agreed to make donations of $1,000 and $34,545, respectively, to the charity of Warren's choice: the Autism Consortium.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, Results
Despite the Obama campaign's easy victory in the state, and winning all of the state's counties, this race was fairly close. As expected, Warren performed very well in Suffolk County, which is home to the state's largest city and its capital Boston. Brown performed well in the southern part of the state near Cape Cod. Warren made history by becoming the first Massachusetts woman elected to the U.S. Senate.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, Aftermath
The People's Pledge was a popular concept, which Common Cause proposed being implemented in other races. The pledge also resulted in fewer attack ads on the airwaves.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, Aftermath
Less than two months after the election, President Barack Obama nominated Senator John Kerry to become United States Secretary of State. Kerry was sworn in on February 1, making newly inaugurated Warren the state's senior Senator, and the Senate's most-junior senior senator. In the special election to replace Kerry the following year, Democratic nominee Ed Markey asked his Republican rival Gabriel E. Gomez to sign a similar pledge with him, although Gomez refused.


2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts, Aftermath
The election was a critical event in both candidates' political careers, with Warren becoming a political icon after entering the Senate, and being drafted to run for president in 2016 and eventually running in 2020. After the election loss, Brown was considered the most prominent Republican in Massachusetts and heavily favored to run in the special Senate election the following year or for Governor in 2014, though he declined to do either. He instead moved to New Hampshire and ran for the Senate there in 2014 against Democratic incumbent Jeanne Shaheen. He lost, 51% to 48%, becoming the first male candidate to lose two Senate races to female candidates.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan
The 2012 United States Senate election in Michigan was held on November 6, 2012, alongside the 2012 United States presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow was re-elected to a third term after being unopposed in the Democratic primary. The Republican nominee was former Congressman Pete Hoekstra. Stabenow defeated Hoekstra by a landslide 20.8% margin and nearly one million votes.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, Background
Incumbent Debbie Stabenow was re-elected in 2006 with 57% of the vote to 41%. She defeated Oakland County sheriff and former State Senate Majority Leader Michael Bouchard after narrowly defeating Republican incumbent Spencer Abraham in 2000. The deadline for candidates to file for the August 7 primary was May 15.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, Republican primary, Campaign
The GOP primary campaign was mainly a battle between Hoekstra and Durant as they were the most visible in running campaign ads. Despite Durant's attack ads, Hoekstra was leading in the polls for the Republican nomination.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, Republican primary, Campaign
On July 20 Glenn suspended his campaign and endorsed Durant; however, his name was still on the ballot due to the time of his withdrawal.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, Republican primary, Campaign, Hoekstra ad controversy
Hoekstra targeted Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow with a television ad which ran statewide during the 2012 Super Bowl. The 30-second ad opened with the sound of a gong and showed an Asian woman riding a bike in a rice paddy and talking in pidgin English. The ad is critical of government spending by Stabenow and mocks her name with the Asian woman saying "Thank you, Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow". The commercial asks viewers to visit Hoekstra's website which has statistics about federal spending beside images of Chinese flags, currency and stereotypical Chinatown font. In the HTML code on Hoekstra's site the woman in the ad was reportedly previously identified as "yellowgirl." It has since been removed.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, Republican primary, Campaign, Hoekstra ad controversy
Asian-American groups called the ad "very disturbing", national GOP consultant Mike Murphy said it was "really, really dumb", and Foreign Policy magazine managing editor Blake Hounshell called it "despicable." A coalition of black ministers in Detroit called for Hoekstra to apologize. Two of Hoekstra's GOP opponents, Clark Durant and Gary Glenn, questioned whether Hoekstra is the right candidate for Republicans to support. The ad was called "blatantly racist" by Michael Yaki, former aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Journalist James Fallows of The Atlantic called it the "most revolting ad".


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, Republican primary, Campaign, Hoekstra ad controversy
The NAACP denounced the ad as an "unnecessary race card." Some warned the ad would revive discrimination against Asian-Americans in Michigan where smashing imported cars was common in the 1980s, and in 1982 Chinese-American Vincent Chin was beaten to death by two unemployed autoworkers angry about Japanese competition. Critics also pointed out that Hoekstra voted for the $700-billion Wall Street bailout and voted for trillions more in deficit spending while he was in Congress.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, Republican primary, Campaign, Hoekstra ad controversy
A Public Policy Polling poll released on show of February 14ed Stabenow leading Hoekstra 51%-37%. In April 2012, Stabenow's campaign reported that she had had her best fundraising quarter ever, taking $1.5m from January to March 2012, which they say was in part due to the advertisement. Hoekstra's campaign, meanwhile, reported disappointing fundraising numbers for the first quarter of 2012, raising just $700,000, down almost $300,000 from the final quarter of 2011.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, Republican primary, Campaign, Hoekstra ad controversy
Despite the criticism, the ad was a factor in Hoekstra's Republican primary victory.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, General election, Debates
A number of United States Senate Debates were held in the 2012 election cycle, but none included more than two of the General Election candidates at a time. Incumbent Senator Debbie Stabenow did not attend any of them. Before the primary, non-partisan Tea Party groups hosted debates which were open to all candidates, however all but one were attended exclusively by Republican primary candidates. The exception being the Romeo Area Tea Party Forum, on May 21, 2012, which included Scotty Boman after he changed his affiliation from Republican to Libertarian. Republican Pete Hoekstra had originally been scheduled to participate in the debate, but withdrew because he objected to the participation of one of the candidates. The Romeo forum was hosted by WJR AM radio talk show host Frank Beckmann who said the candidate Hoekstra objected to was Boman.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, General election, Debates
There were debates in Dewitt, Zeeland, and Dearborn which were attended by both Pete Hoekstra and Scotty Boman who both qualified for the general election.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, General election, Debates
After the Primary Election, some forums were held which were attended by one of the invited United States Senate Candidates, but only two post-primary debates were held where more than one General Election candidate attended: Libertarian Scotty Boman and Green Party candidate Harley Mikkelson attended Forums hosted by the League of Women Voters of Alpena County on October 23, and Gaylord High School on October 24.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, General election, Debates, The Debate on Debates
Since 1996, WGVU and the Detroit Economic Club hosted United States Senate debates that would feature all United States Senate candidates who had met certain qualifications. In 1994 all balloted candidates were included in the televised debate on WKAR, but since then only major party candidates qualified. Pete Hoekstra and Debbie Stabenow had agreed in principle to debate, but failed to reach a consensus on the number of debates. On October 9 Scotty Boman issued a press release in which he claimed polling results qualified him for the debates.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, General election, Debates, The Debate on Debates
On October 11 the Stabenow campaign issued a statement saying she was "…ending the ongoing debate over debates, due to Congressman Hoekstra's refusal to accept the traditional U.S. Senate debates and his constant political attacks.". The Hoekstra campaign responded, "Debbie Stabenow's campaign refused to negotiate in good faith during the entire process."


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, General election, Debates, The Debate on Debates
Hoekstra continued to ask Stabenow to debate him, and attended at least three debates at which he was the only participant. On October 11 he attended a health care debate sponsored by the Independent Choice Network. On October 18 he attended a debate in Midland which was hosted by a group of local business leaders. Scotty Boman offered to participate in the October 18 debate, but Hoekstra Campaign Manager Greg VanWoerkom said it was too late for Boman to participate since he had his chance to debate Hoekstra before the August primary, when he was running as a Republican. At the time Hoekstra was scheduled to debate with Harley Mikkelson, and Boman at Gaylord High School on October 24, but Hoekstra did not attend it. On October 23 Hoekstra held a debate in Kentwood Michigan.


2012 United States Senate election in Michigan, General election, Debates, The Debate on Debates
As an alternative to the traditional WGVU debate, the station produced two back to back interviews with Stabenow and Hoekstra.


2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota
The 2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate and House of Representatives as well as various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic–Farmer–Labor U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar was reelected to a second term, defeating the Republican nominee, State Representative Kurt Bills, by almost one million votes and carrying all but two of the state's 87 counties by double digits.


2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota, Background
Incumbent Amy Klobuchar was first elected in 2006 to succeed the retiring DFL incumbent Mark Dayton. She beat Republican nominee Mark Kennedy, 58% to 38%. Klobuchar served as Minnesota's only senator between January 3 and July 7, 2009, due to the contested results of Minnesota's senatorial election held the previous year, finally decided in favor of DFLer Al Franken.


2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota, DFL primary
The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party held its Senate primary on August 14, 2012.


2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota, Republican primary
The Republican Party of Minnesota held its nominating convention in May 2012 and held its Senate primary on August 14, 2012.


2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota, Independence primary, Campaign
The Independence Party of Minnesota did not plan to run a candidate in the general election. Party chairman Mark Jenkins said in November 2011 that he saw the Senate election as "a distraction from having our best and brightest engaged in state legislative races". At the party's convention in June 2012, neither candidate was endorsed. Williams won a majority of the votes and came within two votes of the required 60% needed for the party's endorsement. He proceeded with his run for the Senate but the party focused its attention on state legislative races.


2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota, General election, Debates
On August 29 Klobuchar and Bills held their second debate at the State Fair, sponsored by MPR News. Their third debate, on September 16 in Duluth, was about the nation's struggle with deficit spending and unemployment. The audience was assembled by the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce and Duluth News Tribune.


2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota, General election, Fundraising, Top contributors
This section lists the top contributors by employer. These organizations themselves didn't donate, but these numbers include donations from their PACs, members, employees, owners, and their immediate families.


2012 United States Senate election in Mississippi
The 2012 United States Senate election in Mississippi was held on November 6, 2012, alongside the 2012 U.S. presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Roger Wicker won re-election to his first full term, while Albert N. Gore (no relation to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore) was the Democratic nominee.


2012 United States Senate election in Mississippi, Background
Former U.S. representative Roger Wicker was appointed by Governor Haley Barbour after then-incumbent Trent Lott retired at the end of 2007. A 2008 special election was later scheduled to determine who would serve the remainder of the term. Then-U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker defeated former Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove with 54.96% of the vote in the special election and will be up for re-election in 2012.


2012 United States Senate election in Missouri
The 2012 United States Senate election in Missouri was held on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 presidential election, other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill was unopposed in the Democratic primary and U.S. Representative Todd Akin won the Republican nomination with a plurality in a close three-way race. McCaskill was re-elected to a second term. As of 2021, this is the last time the Democrats won a U.S. Senate election in Missouri.


2012 United States Senate election in Missouri, Background
In 2006, Claire McCaskill was elected with 49.6% of the vote, narrowly defeating Republican incumbent Jim Talent.


2012 United States Senate election in Missouri, Democratic primary
Incumbent U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill ran unopposed in the Democratic primary election.


2012 United States Senate election in Missouri, Republican primary
The Republican primary election for the United States Senate in Missouri, held on August 7, 2012, was one of the three most anticipated of summer 2012. This was due to the projected closeness of the Federal races in the 'Show-Me State' in November 2012, and the potential to change the control of the Senate in January 2013. Democrats believed that Todd Akin would be the weakest among the likely challengers for the Senate seat, and ads attacking him as "too conservative" were largely viewed as a veiled support for his nomination.


2012 United States Senate election in Missouri, General election, Debates
The first debate was held on September 21 in Columbia, Missouri and was sponsored by the Missouri Press Association. Topics discussed by the three candidates included the Affordable Care Act, the future of the U.S. Postal Service, the rapid rise of college tuition, and Representative Akin's controversial comments on rape.


2012 United States Senate election in Missouri, General election, Debates
The second and final debate was held October 18 in St. Louis. It was sponsored by the Clayton Chamber of Commerce and hosted by television station KSDK, public radio station KWMU and the St. Louis Business Journal.


2012 United States Senate election in Missouri, General election, Rape and pregnancy controversy
While making remarks on rape and abortion on August 19, 2012, Akin made the claim that women victims of what he described as "legitimate rape" rarely experience pregnancy from rape. In an interview aired on St. Louis television station KTVI-TV, Akin was asked his views on whether women who became pregnant due to rape should have the option of abortion. He replied:


2012 United States Senate election in Missouri, General election, Rape and pregnancy controversy
Well you know, people always want to try to make that as one of those things, well how do you, how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question. First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that didn’t work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.


2012 United States Senate election in Missouri, General election, Rape and pregnancy controversy
The comments from Akin almost immediately led to an uproar, with the term "legitimate rape" being taken to imply belief in a view that some kinds of rape are "legitimate", or, alternatively, that victims who do become pregnant from rape are likely to be lying about their claims. His claims about the likelihood of pregnancy resulting from rape were widely seen as being based on long-discredited pseudoscience, with experts seeing the claims as lacking medical validity. Akin was not the first to make such claims, but was perhaps one of the most prominent.


2012 United States Senate election in Missouri, General election, Rape and pregnancy controversy
While some voices such as Iowa congressman Steve King supported Akin, senior figures in both parties condemned his remarks and some Republicans called for him to resign. In the resulting furor, Akin received widespread calls to drop out of his Senate race from both Republicans and Democrats. Akin apologized after making the comment, saying he "misspoke", and he stated he planned to remain in the Senate race. This response was itself attacked by many commentators who saw the initial comments as representative of his long-held views, rather than an accidental gaffe.


2012 United States Senate election in Missouri, General election, Rape and pregnancy controversy
The comment was widely characterized as misogynistic and recklessly inaccurate, with many commentators remarking on the use of the words "legitimate rape". Related news articles cited a 1996 article in an obstetrics and gynecology journal, which found that 5% of women who were raped became pregnant, which equaled about 32,000 pregnancies each year in the US alone. A separate 2003 article in the journal Human Nature estimated that rapes are twice as likely to result in pregnancies as consensual sex. (See also pregnancy from rape.)


2012 United States Senate election in Missouri, General election, Rape and pregnancy controversy
The incident was seen as having an impact upon the Republicans' chances of gaining a majority in the U.S. Senate by making news in the week before the 2012 Republican National Convention and by "shift[ing] the national discussion to divisive social issues that could repel swing voters rather than economic issues that could attract them" to the Republican Party. Akin, along with other Republican candidates with controversial positions on rape, lost due to backlash from women voters.