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| Elections in Arizona |
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A general election was held in the U.S. state of Arizona on November 6, 2012. Along with the presidential election, a Class I U.S. Senate seat, nine seats in the United States House of Representatives and several statewide and local offices were up for election. Primary elections were held on August 28, 2012. [1]
Republican nominee Mitt Romney won Arizona by defeating Democratic incumbent Barack Obama and gained eleven electoral votes.
Incumbent Republican senator and Senate minority whip Jon Kyl decided not to seek a fourth term, thus creating an open seat. Republican U.S. representative Jeff Flake won the election by narrowly defeating Democratic nominee and former surgeon general of the United States Richard Carmona.
A special election was held in the 8th congressional district to replace Gabby Giffords. Democrat Ron Barber won the election by defeating Republican Jesse Kelly.
Following the 2010 United States census, Arizona gained one electoral vote, thus bringing the total number of congressional districts in the state to nine.
| Party | Candidates | Votes | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | +/– | % | |||
| Republican | 8 | 1,131,663 | 52.07 | 4 | 44.44 | ||
| Democratic | 9 | 946,994 | 43.57 | 5 | 55.56 | ||
| Libertarian | 7 | 82,282 | 3.79 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Americans Elect | 2 | 6,740 | 0.31 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Green | 1 | 5,637 | 0.26 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Write-in | 1 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Total | 28 | 2,173,317 | 100.0 | 9 | 100.0 | ||
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Three of the five seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission were up for election. Democratic incumbents Paul Newman and Sandra Kennedy and Republican incumbent Bob Stump all ran for re-election. Both Newman and Kennedy were ousted as Republicans swept all three seats. [2]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bob Stump (incumbent) | 349,966 | 35.02% | |
| Republican | Susan Bitter Smith | 330,147 | 33.04% | |
| Republican | Bob Burns | 319,151 | 31.94% | |
| Total votes | 999,264 | 100% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Sandra Kennedy (incumbent) | 232,403 | 36.57% | |
| Democratic | Paul Newman (incumbent) | 209,094 | 32.91% | |
| Democratic | Marcia Busching | 193,947 | 30.52% | |
| Total votes | 635,444 | 100% | ||
| Date | Host | Moderator | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 2, 2012 | Arizona PBS | Ted Simons | ||||||
| Key: P Participant A Absent N Not invited I Invited W Withdrawn | ||||||||
| Republican | Democratic | Green | Libertarian | |||||
| Bob Stump | Bob Burns | Susan Bitter Smith | Paul Newman | Sandra Kennedy | Marcia Busching | Thomas Meadows | Daniel Pout | Christopher Gohl |
| P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
| Link: YouTube | ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bob Stump (incumbent) | 979,034 | 17.47% | |
| Republican | Bob Burns | 943,157 | 16.83% | |
| Republican | Susan Bitter Smith | 935,573 | 16.69% | |
| Democratic | Paul Newman (incumbent) | 868,726 | 15.50% | |
| Democratic | Sandra Kennedy (incumbent) | 862,876 | 15.39% | |
| Democratic | Marcia Busching | 776,472 | 13.85% | |
| Libertarian | Christopher Gohl | 112,490 | 2.01% | |
| Green | Thomas Meadows | 67,950 | 1.21% | |
| Green | Daniel Pout | 58,607 | 1.05% | |
| Total votes | 5,604,885 | 100% | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
| Republican gain from Democratic | ||||
| Republican gain from Democratic | ||||
All 30 members of the Arizona Senate and all 60 members of the Arizona House of Representatives were up for election. Democrats flipped multiple seats in both chambers.
State Senate
| House of Representatives
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One seat on the Arizona Supreme Court was up for retention. Justice John Pelander was appointed by Governor Jan Brewer in 2009 to succeed retiring justice Ruth McGregor. [7]
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| | 1,070,838 | 73.95 |
| No | 377,259 | 26.05 |
| Total votes | 1,448,097 | 100.00 |
| Source: Arizona Secretary of State [6] | ||
Arizona had nine statewide propositions on the ballot in 2012. [8]
| No. | Description | Votes | Type | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | % | No | % | |||
| 114 | Prohibits felony crime victims from having to pay damages. [9] | 1,664,473 | 79.95 | 417,431 | 20.05 | Legislatively referred constitutional amendment |
| 115 | Increases term lengths and retirement age for the judiciary and requires superior courts to publish decisions online. [10] | 553,132 | 27.66 | 1,446,970 | 72.34 | |
| 116 | Establishes the tax exemption amount for business equipment to be equal to the combined earnings of 50 workers. [11] | 852,981 | 43.92 | 1,089,294 | 56.08 | |
| 117 | Sets a 5% annual cap on increases in property values used to determine property taxes and establish a single limited property value as the basis for calculating all property taxes on real property. [12] | 1,132,766 | 56.67 | 866,249 | 43.33 | |
| 118 | Adjusts the distribution formula for the State Land Trust Permanent Endowment Fund. [13] | 950,938 | 50.52 | 931,238 | 49.48 | |
| 119 | Authorizes the exchange of state trust lands for protecting military facilities or improving land management. [14] | 1,194,594 | 61.94 | 733,907 | 38.06 | |
| 120 | Declares Arizona's sovereignty over public lands and all natural resources within its boundaries, excluding Indian reservations, federal property, or land ceded by the state. [15] | 623,461 | 32.27 | 1,308,299 | 67.73 | |
| 121 | Establishes a top-two system for primary elections. [16] | 662,366 | 33.07 | 1,340,286 | 66.93 | Citizen-initiated constitutional amendment |
| 204 | Permanently increases the state sales tax by one cent per dollar. [17] | 768,422 | 36.22 | 1,353,212 | 63.78 | Citizen-initiated state statute |
| Source: Arizona Secretary of State [6] | ||||||