Election+2012+Recap

Election 2012 Recap

Presidential Race: Barack Hussein Obama (D) was re-elected to his second term as the 44th president. In one of the most polarized time periods of the country ever, it showed through the voting results, as he won 51% of the popular vote as opposed to Mitt Romney's (R) 48%. President Obama won a staggering 332 electoral votes and 62,156,980 popular votes, and Romney won 58,805,060 popular votes, but a shocking 206 electoral votes.



The above map shows the electoral college results. Some of the leaning/likely states that were won by Obama included California, New Mexico, New York and our very own Connecticut, who have traditionally voted liberally and favored Democrats in past elections. Alternatively, some of the states that are destiny-Republican include Texas, Georgia, Arizona, and Louisiana, who have favored Republicans in past elections.

The above image shows the results of the many battleground states, which illustrates Romney won only 2 of the 9 states. Obama won Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin, all of which who polled extremely close races throughout the RCP polling sections. However, despite the fact that Romney won the once-important state of Florida (rife with old people), the state ended up lacking importance in the election when compared to the 66 electoral votes coming from Obama's states.

The elections shows that the country has become more liberal, as in addition to the presidency, two states legalized the recreational use of the illicit drug Marijuana, three states legalized same-sex marriage, and congressional landmarks including women, minorities, and an openly gay senator from Wisconsin. In addition, experts declare that the voting patterns have changed from electing old, white men to a more racially-inclusive, and breaking conservative lines by giving more gay rights,

Senate Races:

Every six years a state re-elects the people who reperesent them as senators in congress. The terms are staggered so that only one third of the house is up for re-election every two years and a state will only be re-electing one senator for that election. In 2012 it was time to run again and former conneticut senator an independent Joe Lieberman decided to retire instead of running for his fifth term so it was the democrat Chris Murperhy against re piblican Linda McMahon. Murperhy ended up winnning with 55 percent of the votes giving the democrats a gain in the house and, making this McMahon's second loss in the last three years. Murphery plans on

Thirty three seats like always were up for re-election this year with 21 of them being democrat seats and only 10 being republican. In the end of the election repuiblicans lost two seats and democrats gained two resulting in the house consisting of 53 democratic seats, 45 republican seats and two independent. The states that switched were conneticut from independent to democrat, Maine from republican to independent,Nebraska from democrat to republican and Massachuets from republican to democrat.



House of Representatives Races:

Representative John Boehner will most likely be re-elected as Speaker of the House.

The House of Representatives, with 435 seats from all 50 states, will be comprised of a Republican majority again after Election Day 2012. For the 113th Congress, there are 235 congressional seats taken by Republicans, 199 congressional seats taken by Democrats, and 1 congressional seat vacant (Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned due to health issues). In order to gain majority in the house, a party needs to obtain 218 of the 435 congressional seats.

In the 2011 Election for the second session of the 112th election, there were 242 Republicans and 193 Democrats holding seats in the House of Representatives. From that election to the 2012 Election, the Republicans have lost 7 of their seats while Democrats have gained 6 seats. These losses and gains came from 27 incumbents losing to their competitors. Out of the 27, 10 were Democrats and 17 were Republicans. The State of California lost the most incumbents in the election with 7 in total whom many of which were defeated by Democrats.

The 113th Congress is also the most diverse it has ever been in the country's history. There are 91 seats and a wide number of states represented by ethnic minorities in the House. There are also 81 women, 62 of which are Democrats and 19 are Republicans, that hold seats in Congress. This shows the country is becoming even more accepting to other ethnicity's especially with an increase in foreign born Americans. Marcy Kaptur has the most seniority over any women in Congress to this date.

The closest race during the election was for the 7th Congressional District of North Carolina between Representative McIntyre (D) and Representative Candidate Rouzer (R). After declaring the incumbent Rep. McIntyre as the winner, Candidate Rouzer demanded a recount of the votes. On Novevmeber 28th, Rouzer conceded and McIntyre was declared the winner. The final total showed McIntyre won with 50.1% of the total votes compared to Rouzer's 49.9%. The total number of votes that separated the winner and loser was just under 600 votes.

State & Local Races This year was busy for state elections. For the state senate in district 13, the race was between Len Suzio (R) and Dante Bartolomeo (D). Bartolomeo won this very close race. She is excited to bring Meriden and parts of Cheshire back to the democratic side. "We're bringing back the voice for hardworking families. I promise you I will fight like a bulldog up there," ("Election 2012: Bartolomeo Defeats Suzio in 13th State Senate District"). Suzio was the incumbent in the race. Prior to his election, the seat had been a democratic strong hold. Bartolomeo is now returning the seat to the democrats.



In the 16th district, Joe Markley (R) won over democrat Corky Mazurek. The results were 10,208 to 7,754. Markley is the incumbent in this race.



As for the state house of representatives, in the 89th District, Lezlye Zupkus (R) beat Vickie Nardello (D). Zupkus won by the small margin of 231 votes. Originally from Mississippi, Zupkus is new to public office. She will be representing Cheshire, Prospect and Bethany.

In the 103rd District, incumbent Al Adinolfi (R), beat out Elizabeth Linehan (D).

Mary Fritz (D) conquered over Guy Darter (R) in the 90th District, covering Cheshire and Wallingford.

Incumbent- the existing holder of a political office. Congressional Seat- the term used to represent a member of the House of Representatives that represents a certain area to which the member is from. Battleground State- a state where no political candidate has overwhelming support which means that any of the states major candidates have a chance at winning the state's electoral college votes. New Hampshire and Florida are well known battleground states.
 * Definitions**:


 * Quiz:**

1. Who won the Presidency in the 2012 Election?

__2. How many seats are needed to have a majority in the House of Representatives?__ _ a. 121 b. 218 c. 220 d. 118

3. Who candidate won in the 103 District and was he or she the incumbent?

__4. How many Senators are there?__ __a. 112__ __b. 35__ __c. 87__ __d. 100__

__5. True or false, the Democrats won majority in the House of Representatives.__ __a. True__ __b. False__

__6. Which Presidential Candidate won the battleground state of Colorado?___

__7. How many seats did the democrats lose in this election?__ __a. 4__ __b. 2__ __c. they didn't lose any they gained two__


 * Works Cited **

[] http://meriden.patch.com/articles/election-2012-town-results-09f7f352 http://cheshire.patch.com/articles/election-2012-cheshire-results-update

http://housepressgallery.house.gov/2012-house-election-results

http://www.house.gov/

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/house/nc/north_carolina_7th_district_rouzer_vs_mcintyre-3316.html

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