The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Utah were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 and elected the four

U.S. 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 ...

from the state of

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, an increase of one seat in reapportionment following 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 servi ...

. 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 pre ...

and an election to the U.S. Senate. Primary elections were held on June 26, 2012.

Overview

Redistricting

In Utah, the redistricting process was controlled by members of the Republican Party, who formed a majority on the State Legislature's redistricting committee. The plan passed October 2011 divides

Salt Lake County Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The cou ...

among three districts, which Republicans argued would require Utah's U.S. Representatives focus on both urban and rural issues. Jim Dabakis, the chair of the

Utah Democratic Party The Utah Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Utah. Its platform focuses on economic security, equal opportunity, the common good, and American leadership. The party also describes itself as a big tent pa ...

, argued that the map constituted a

gerrymander In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...

designed to benefit the Republican Party.

District 1

Republican incumbent

Rob Bishop Robert William Bishop (born July 13, 1951) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he became the dean of Utah's congressional delegation after the retirement of O ...

, who has represented

Utah's 1st congressional district Utah's 1st congressional district serves the northern area of Utah, including the cities of Ogden, Logan, Park City, Layton, Clearfield, Salt Lake City, and the northern half of the Great Salt Lake. The current member of the United States Ho ...

since 2003, ran for re-election, having decided against running for governor.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

=Eliminated in primary

= *Leonard "Joe" Fabiano, business entrepreneur and candidate for senate in 2010 *Jacqueline Smith, homemaker and Tea Party activist

=Withdrawn

= *Michael Miller,

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veteran

Results

Rob Bishop became the official Republican Candidate April 21, 2012 at the State Republican Convention.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Donna McAleer, management consultant and West Point graduate

=Eliminated in primary

= *Ryan Combe, small business owner

Results

Constitution primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Sherry Phipps

General election

Polling

Results

District 2

Democratic incumbent

Jim Matheson James David Matheson (born March 21, 1960) is an American politician who served as a United States Representative from Utah from 2001 to 2015. He represented Utah's 2nd district from 2001 to 2013 and its from 2013 to 2015 as a member of the De ...

, who has represented

Utah's 2nd congressional district Utah's 2nd congressional district currently serves Salt Lake City and the largely rural western and southern portions of Utah, including Saint George and Tooele. The current U.S. House Representative is Republican Chris Stewart. A map of cur ...

since 2001, sought re-election in the new

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 ...

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

Jay Seegmiller Jay Seegmiller (born May 29, 1958) is an American politician from Utah. He has served as a member of the Utah House of Representatives and was the Democratic Party's nominee for Utah's 2nd congressional district in the 2012 election. Early ...

, former state representative

=Eliminated in primary

= *Dean Collinwood *Mike Small

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Chris Stewart, author, former

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

pilot, and president of an energy consulting firm;

=Eliminated in primary

= * Jason Buck, former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

and in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

* Dave Clark, former

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the

Utah House of Representatives The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district conta ...

; *Cherilyn Eagar, business owner and candidate for Senate in 2010; * Robert Fuehr, former telecommunications executive and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

MBA alumnus *Milton Hanks *Edward Mayerhofer *Jeramey McElhaney, small business owner *Howard Wallack *Chuck Williams, former Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment and retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel; *John Willoughby, airline pilot,

=Withdrawn

= *

Morgan Philpot Jay Morgan Philpot (born July 30, 1971) is an American attorney and Republican Party politician. He was a member of the Utah House of Representatives from 2001 to 2004, representing District 45 in Salt Lake County from 2001 to 2004. He was vice- ...

, former state representative and nominee for this seat in 2010

=Declined

= *

Dan Liljenquist Daniel R. Liljenquist (born July 10, 1974) is an American businessman and politician who served one term in the Utah State Senate. Early life and education Born in Nashville to Dr. John E. Liljenquist and Colleen Redford Liljenquist, he spent ...

, state senator

Results

Constitution primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Jonathan D. Garrard

Independents

Independent candidate Charles Kimball also filed.

General election

Endorsements

Polling

Predictions

Results

District 3

Jason Chaffetz Jason E. Chaffetz (; born March 26, 1967) is an American retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 until his resignation in 2017. He chaired the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform from 2015 until 2017. Ch ...

, was seeking a third term in representing

Utah's 3rd congressional district Utah's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. It is located in southern and eastern Utah and includes the cities of Orem and Provo. The district was created when Utah was awarded ...

;

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

=Eliminated in primary

= *Brian Jenkins *Lynn D. Wardle

=Withdrawn

= *Kurt Bradburn. *Leonard "Joe" Fabiano, business entrepreneur and candidate for senate in 2010

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Soren Simonsen, Salt Lake City Council Chair

=Eliminated in primary

= *Richard Clark

General election

Endorsements

Polling

Results

District 4

Democratic U.S. Representative

, who has represented

since 2001 and had considered running for governor or for the U.S. Senate, sought re-election to the House in Utah's new 4th congressional district after his previous seat was split up by the redistricting.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative for the 2nd district

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Mia Love, Mayor of

Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over ...

=Eliminated in primary

= *Jay Cobb, attorney *Kenneth Gray * Stephen Sandstrom, state representative * Carl Wimmer, state representative

=Declined

= * Jason Buck, former

player at

and

Polling

Results

In the Republican convention, held on April 21, 2012, Love received 70.4% of the vote (she needed more than 60% to avoid a primary).

Libertarian primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Jim Vein

=Withdrawn

= *Ken Larsen, medical researcher

Justice primary

Candidates

=Withdrawn

= *Torin Nelson

General election

Campaign

Despite beginning her campaign at a significant name recognition disadvantage to Matheson, Love was able to mount a strong challenge. This was in part fueled by a prime time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention where she impressed many with her backstory of a being the daughter of Haitian immigrants whose parents "Immigrated to the U.S. with $10 in their pocket" and her themes of self-reliance, small government and fiscal responsibility. However she was later hit by claims that she was technically an

Anchor Baby Anchor baby is a term (regarded by some as a pejorative) used to refer to a child born to a non-citizen mother in a country that has birthright citizenship which will therefore help the mother and other family members gain legal residency. In the ...

, despite having seemingly backing the deportation of the US-born children of illegal immigrants. Facing a district largely new to him, Matheson ran ads showcasing his independent credentials and airing clips of Love voicing support for cutting the Department of Education and privatizing Social Security. Despite the NRCC running ads trying to tie him to Nancy Pelosi and

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

, Matheson's favorability rating remained at around 60% throughout the campaign.

Endorsements

=Polling

= An early poll published by the Deseret News on Dec 25, 2011 showed Jim Matheson leading all potential opponents.

With Cobb

With Sandstrom

With Wimmer

Predictions

Results

Matheson narrowly defeated the Love in the general election by only 768 votes. If Love had won the seat, she would have become the first African-American Republican woman to sit in the House.

References

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 ...

2012 Utah elections