The 2012 United States Senate election in Nevada was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, concurrently with

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in other states as well as

to the

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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

and the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: E ...

. The primary election was held June 12, 2012. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator

Dean Heller Dean Arthur Heller (born May 10, 1960) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator for Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 15th secretary of state of Nevada from 1995 ...

, who was appointed to his seat in May 2011 following the resignation of Senator

John Ensign John Eric Ensign (born March 25, 1958) is an American veterinarian and former politician from Nevada. A member of the Republican Party, Ensign was a Congressman and United States Senator from Nevada; he served in the latter seat from January 200 ...

, was narrowly elected to his first full term over Representative

Shelley Berkley Rochelle "Shelley" Berkley (née Levine; born January 20, 1951) is an American businesswoman, politician and attorney who served as U.S. Representative for from 1999 to 2013. In 2012, she was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate. She is ...

, despite President

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 U ...

carrying the state by 6.7% in the concurrent presidential election. As a result, Heller became the only Republican Senate candidate in 2012 to win in a state that was lost by the Republican presidential candidate. With a margin of 1.2%, this election was the second-closest race of the 2012 Senate election cycle, behind only the election in North Dakota. , this was the last time the Republicans won a U.S. Senate election in Nevada.

Background

Ensign was reelected to the United States Senate in 2006 against Jack Carter, son of former president

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, by a margin of 55–41%. His reelection campaign was expected to be complicated after it was revealed in 2009 that he had been involved in an extramarital affair with the wife of one of his campaign staffers, allegedly made payments to the woman's family and arranged work for her husband to cover himself. The

Senate Ethics Committee The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics is a select committee of the United States Senate charged with dealing with matters related to senatorial ethics. It is also commonly referred to as the Senate Ethics Committee. Senate rules require the ...

was to investigate Ensign, and his poll numbers declined significantly. There was speculation that he might resign before the election, but he initially said he would run for reelection. On March 7, 2011, Ensign announced that he would not seek reelection, and on April 22, he announced that he would resign effective May 3. Nevada Governor

Brian Sandoval Brian Edward Sandoval (; born August 5, 1963) is an American politician, academic administrator, and former federal judge who served as the 29th Governor of Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, Sandoval began ...

appointed U.S. Representative Dean Heller to fill the vacancy created by Ensign's resignation. Heller took office on May 9, 2011.

Republican primary

Candidates

* Sherry Brooks, retired secretary * Richard Charles * Eddie Hamilton, retired auto executive and perennial candidate *

, incumbent U.S. Senator, former U.S. Representative, former Nevada Secretary of State and former state assemblyman * Carlo Poliak, sanitation worker and perennial candidate *

David Lory Vanderbeek David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

, marriage and family therapist

Declined

Sharron Angle Sharron Elaine Angle (née Ott; born July 26, 1949) is an American far-right politician who served as a Republican member of the Nevada Assembly from 1999 to 2007. She ran unsuccessfully as the 2010 Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat in ...

, 2010 Republican Senate nominee and former state assemblywoman *

, former U.S. Senator *

Brian Krolicki Brian K. Krolicki (born December 31, 1960) is an American businessman and politician. He was the 33rd Lieutenant Governor of Nevada, from 2007 to 2015. As the Lieutenant Governor, he presided over the Nevada State Senate, chaired the Commission o ...

, lieutenant governor

Polling

;Primary ;Appointment preference ;Primaries with Ensign

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

, U.S. Representative * Steve Brown, businessman * Barry Ellsworth, renewable energy executive * Louis Macias, art dealer * Nancy Price, former Regent of the

Nevada System of Higher Education The Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE, formerly the University and Community College System of Nevada or "UCCSN") is a state government unit in Nevada that oversees its public system of colleges and universities. It was formed in 1968 to ove ...

and Democratic nominee for the 2nd congressional district in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Withdrew

* Byron Georgiou, businessman

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

(D), U.S. Representative *

(R), incumbent U.S. Senator * David Lory VanDerBeek (

Independent American Party of Nevada The Independent American Party of Nevada (IAPN) is a far-right American political party and the Nevada affiliate of the Constitution Party. The party was founded in 1967 and affiliated with the Constitution Party after its forming in 1999. It was ...

), therapist

Debates

The first Berkley-Heller debate was on September 27, 2012. They met again in Las Vegas on October 11 and on Jon Ralston's "Face to Face" program on October 15. ;External links
Complete video of debate
September 27, 2012 -

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Complete video of debate
October 11, 2012 -

Fundraising

Top contributors

Nevada Senate 2012 Race

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). ...

Top industries

Predictions

Polling

Graphical summary

;Shelly Berkley vs. Dean Heller ;with John Ensign

Results

References

External links

Election Center
at the Nevada secretary of state
Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets.org 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

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 ...

Candidate issue positions
at On the Issues ;Official campaign sites
Shelley Berkley for Senate

Dean Heller for Senate

David Lory Vanderbeek for Senate
{{United States general elections, 2012

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

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 gather ...

2012 Nevada elections

Background

Republican primary

Candidates

Declined

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Withdrew

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

Debates

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

Predictions

Polling

Graphical summary

Results

See also

References

External links