The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the state's four U.S. Representatives. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

Primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

s were held on June 5, 2012. The new congressional map, drawn by the state's Legislative Services Agency and passed with

bipartisan Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing political parties find co ...

support in the state

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, was signed into law by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Terry Branstad Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is an American politician and former diplomat. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979 before serving as governor of Iowa fro ...

on April 19, 2011. Reflecting population shifts recorded in the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

, the new map decreases Iowa's representation from five

congressional districts Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

to four.

Overview

District 1

Bruce Braley Bruce Lowell Braley (born October 30, 1957) is an American politician and attorney who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated in his attempt to win an open seat in the 2014 Unit ...

, a Democrat the incumbent representative from the 1st district in northeastern Iowa since 2007, ran in the new 1st district. Fellow incumbent

Dave Loebsack David Wayne Loebsack (; born December 23, 1952) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he also is an ''emeritus'' professor of political science at Cornell College, ...

, who lived within the boundaries of the new 1st district in Linn County, but who had represented southeastern Iowa's 2nd district since 2007, moved to Johnson County and ran in the new 2nd district. The 1st district has become more favorable to Democrats with the inclusion of Linn County and its loss of Scott County. Braley won the Democratic nomination unopposed.

Democratic primary

Primary results

Republican primary

;Candidates * Rod Blum, businessman * Ben Lange, in 2010 Republican nominee for IA-01

Primary results

General election

Results

District 2

None of Iowa's current members of Congress resided in the newly-drawn 2nd district; however, Democrat

moved from Linn County to Johnson County in order to avoid a primary against

and continue representing southeastern Iowa. The 2nd district became slightly more favorable to Republicans as a result of the inclusion of Scott County, but retains Democratic-leaning Johnson County.

Democratic primary

;Candidates * Dave Loebsack, incumbent *

Joe Seng Joe M. Seng (September 27, 1946 – September 16, 2016) was the Iowa State Senator from the 45th District. A Democrat, he served in the Iowa Senate from 2003 until 2016. He received a DVM from Iowa State University and worked as a veterinaria ...

, state senator

Primary results

Republican primary

;Candidates * John Archer, senior

legal counsel A lawyer is a person who Practice of law, practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different Jurisdiction, legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney at law, attorney, barrister, canonist, canon l ...

John Deere Deere & Company, doing business as John Deere (), is an American corporation that manufactures agricultural machinery, heavy equipment, forestry machinery, diesel engines, drivetrains (axles, transmissions, gearboxes) used in heavy equipment, ...

* Dan Dolan, housing developer ;Withdrew * Richard Gates, machinist and Tea Party activist Archer won the primary. ''Roll Call'' rated the race as "Likely Democratic".

Primary results

General election

Results

District 3

Leonard Boswell Leonard Leroy Boswell (January 10, 1934 – August 17, 2018) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1997 to 2013, a district based in Des Moines. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated for reelectio ...

, a Democrat who represented the 3rd district in central Iowa since 1997, and Tom Latham, a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

who represented the

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

in northern and central Iowa since 1995, both ran in the new 3rd district. Latham, who lived in the new 4th district, moved south to avoid facing fellow Republican Steve King in a primary. Approximately half of the new 3rd district was represented by Boswell, whereas the new 3rd district contains more than 20 percent of the area currently represented by Latham. The first debate was held October 10, 2012 at 7 pm, sponsored by

KCCI KCCI (channel 8) is a television station in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on Ninth Street in downtown Des Moines and a transmitter in Alleman. History KCCI start ...

and the

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the juncti ...

.Watch tonight: Des Moines Register, KCCI host 3rd District debate

, October 10, 2012

Democratic primary

Primary results

Republican primary

Primary results

General election

Results

District 4

Steve King, a Republican represented western Iowa's 5th district since 2003, ran in the new 4th district. Christie Vilsack, the former First Lady of Iowa, was the Democratic nominee against King. Brady Olson also ran in the Liberty party against both King and Vilsack. The new 4th district comprises mostly territory which King represented and which tends to vote for Republican candidates.

Democratic primary

Primary results

Republican primary

Primary results

General election

Polling

Results

References

External links

Elections
from the Iowa Secretary of State
United States House of Representatives elections in Iowa, 2012
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Iowa U.S. House
from OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions for U.S. Congressional races in Iowa
from

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

Outside spending
at the

Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States ...

{{2012 United States elections

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...