The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the seven U.S. representatives from the state, one from each of the state's seven

congressional districts Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

. 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 primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

s were held on March 13, 2012; runoff elections were held on April 24.

Redistricting

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

bill was passed by the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

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 ...

on June 2, 2011, and signed into law by

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

Robert Bentley on June 8. To comply with the 1965

Voting Rights Act The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movem ...

, the map received approval from the

U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

or a federal court before it could be enacted; the Department of Justice approved the map on November 21, 2011.

Overview

The table below shows the total number and percentage of votes, as well as the number of seats gained and lost by each political party in the election for the United States House of Representatives in Alabama.

District 1

The redrawn 1st district remains based in Mobile and continues to include the entirety of the state's coast. Republican

Jo Bonner Josiah Robins Bonner Jr. (born November 19, 1959) is an American academic administrator and former politician who currently serves as the fourth president of the University of South Alabama. He was previously the U.S. representative for from 2 ...

, who had represented the 1st district since 2003, sought re-election.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. representative

=Eliminated in primary

= *Peter Gounares, real estate broker and candidate for this seat in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

*Pete Riehm, real estate agent *Dean Young, businessman and conservative activist

Primary results

Democratic primary

No Democrats qualified to seek the nomination. Clint Moser, who had planned to run against Bonner as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, did not do so.

General election

Endorsements

Results

Bonner easily won re-election on November 6, 2012.

District 2

The redrawn 2nd district is based in the suburbs of Montgomery and covers the southeast of the state. Republican

Martha Roby Martha Kehres Roby ( ; née Dubina; born July 26, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she defeated the incumbent Democratic U.S. Representati ...

, who had represented the 2nd district since January 2011, sought re-election in 2012.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. representative

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Therese Ford, former deputy attorney general of Alabama

=Declined

= *

Bobby Bright Bobby Neal Bright Sr. (born July 21, 1952) is an American retired lawyer, farmer, and former politician who served as a U.S. Representative and was previously the three-term Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama. He served from 2009 to 2011 as the Repres ...

, former U.S. Representative

General election

Endorsements

Results

District 3

The redrawn 3rd district is more favorable to Republicans than its previous incarnation. Republican Mike Rogers, who had represented the 3rd district since 2003, sought re-election.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Mike Rogers, incumbent U.S. representative

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *John Andrew Harris, child nutrition program worker for

Auburn City Schools The Auburn City School District or Auburn City Schools is the school district of Auburn, Alabama Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama. The population was 76,143 at the 2020 Un ...

General election

Endorsements

Results

District 4

The northern part of

Tuscaloosa County Tuscaloosa County is a county in the northwest-central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama and is the center of commerce, education, industry, health care, and entertainment for the region. As of the 2020 census, its population was 227,036, ...

was added to the 4th district during redistricting, while most of Blount County was removed. Republican

Robert Aderholt Robert Brown Aderholt ( ; born July 22, 1965) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for since 1997. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes most of Tuscaloosa County north of the Blac ...

, who had represented the 4th district since 1997, sought re-election.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. representative

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Daniel Boman,

state representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

=Eliminated in primary

= *Rick Neighbors, former plant supervisor

Primary results

General election

Endorsements

Results

District 5

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

and Colbert counties were moved from the 4th district to the 5th district during redistricting. Republican

Mo Brooks Morris Jackson Brooks Jr. (born April 29, 1954) is an American attorney and politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2023. His district was based in Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsvill ...

, who had represented the 5th district since January 2011, sought re-election.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. representative

=Eliminated in primary

= *

Parker Griffith Rolf Parker Griffith Jr. (born August 6, 1942) is a retired American physician, entrepreneur and politician who served in the Alabama State Senate from 2006 to 2008 and then as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011. A lifelong member o ...

, former U.S. representative

Primary results

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Charlie Holley,

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

minister

General election

Endorsements

Results

District 6

The redrawn 6th district is centered around the suburbs of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. Republican

Spencer Bachus Spencer Thomas Bachus III (born December 28, 1947) is an American politician. He is a former U.S. Representative for the state of Alabama, serving from 1993 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as ranking member (2007–2011) an ...

, who had represented

Alabama's 6th congressional district Alabama's 6th congressional district is a United States congressional district in Alabama that elects a representative to the United States House of Representatives. It is composed of the wealthier portions of Birmingham, Alabama, Birmingham, ...

since 1993, sought re-election.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. representative

=Eliminated in primary

= *

Scott Beason Scott Beason (born October 13, 1969) is an American talk radio host and a Republican former member of the Alabama Senate, representing the 17th District from 2006 to 2014. He ran unsuccessfully in 2012 against incumbent Spencer Bachus for the ...

state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

*Al Mickle, businessman and

Tea Party A tea party is a social gathering event, typically held in the afternoon, featuring the consumption of tea and light refreshments. Social tea drinking rituals are observed in many cultures worldwide, both historically and in the present day. A ...

activist * David Standridge, Blount County

probate judge A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as orphans' courts o ...

=Withdrawn

= *Justin Barkley *Stan Pate, businessman

Endorsements

Primary results

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Penny Bailey, retired

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

=Eliminated in primary

= *William Barnes, attorney and nominee for the Senate in

Primary results

General election

Endorsements

Results

District 7

The redrawn 7th district, located on the state's western border, is 64%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

and was made even more favorable to Democrats in the 2010 redistricting. Incumbent

Terri Sewell Terrycina Andrea "Terri" Sewell (; born January 1, 1965) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she has served since 2011 as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. repre ...

, who had represented the 7th district since January 2011, sought re-election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. representative

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *Don Chamberlain

=Eliminated in primary

= *Phil Norris, retired

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

submariner

Primary results

General election

Endorsements

Results

Sewell won the general election, remaining the only Democrat in Alabama's Congressional delegation. This was the last time until

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

that Republicans contested Alabama's 7th congressional district.

References

External links

Elections
from the Alabama Secretary of State
Alabama Votes
government election center
United States House of Representatives elections in Alabama, 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 ...

Alabama U.S. House
at OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions for U.S. Congressional races in Alabama
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

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 ...

Election news coverage
from ''AL.com'' {{2012 United States elections

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...