2012 United States Senate election in Maryland

Last updated

2012 United States Senate election in Maryland
Flag of Maryland.svg
  2006 November 6, 2012 2018  
Turnout68.2%
  Ben Cardin, official Senate photo portrait.jpg Bongino Senate (cropped).jpg S. R. Sobhani (cropped).jpg
Nominee Ben Cardin Dan Bongino Rob Sobhani
Party Democratic Republican Independent
Popular vote1,474,028693,291430,934
Percentage55.98%26.33%16.37%

2012 United States Senate election in Maryland results map by county.svg
County results
Cardin:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
     70–80%     80–90%
Bongino:     30–40%     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Ben Cardin
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Ben Cardin
Democratic

The 2012 United States Senate election in Maryland took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate, House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ben Cardin won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican nominee Dan Bongino and independent Rob Sobhani.

Contents

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Results

Results by county:
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Cardin--80-90%
Cardin--70-80%
Cardin--60-70%
Cardin--50-60% Maryland Senate Democratic primary, 2012.svg
Results by county:
  Cardin—80–90%
  Cardin—70–80%
  Cardin—60–70%
  Cardin—50–60%
Democratic primary results [5] [6] [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ben Cardin (incumbent) 240,704 74.2
Democratic C. Anthony Muse50,80715.7
Democratic Chris Garner9,2742.9
Democratic Raymond Levi Blagmon5,9091.8
Democratic J. P. Cusick4,7781.5
Democratic Blaine Taylor4,3761.3
Democratic Lih Young3,9931.2
Democratic Ralph Jaffe3,3131.0
Democratic Ed Tinus1,0640.3
Total votes324,218 100.0

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Results

Results by county:
Bongino--40-50%
Bongino--<40%
Douglas--<40%
Douglas--40-50% Maryland U.S. Senate Republican primary, 2012.svg
Results by county:
  Bongino—40–50%
  Bongino—<40%
  Douglas—<40%
  Douglas—40–50%
Republican primary results [6] [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Dan Bongino 68,597 33.6
Republican Richard J. Douglas57,77628.3
Republican Joseph Alexander18,1718.9
Republican Bro Broadus11,0205.4
Republican Rick Hoover10,7875.3
Republican John B. Kimble10,5065.1
Republican David Jones8,3804.1
Republican Corrogan R. Vaughn8,1584.0
Republican William Thomas Capps, Jr.7,0923.5
Republican Brian Vaeth3,7811.9
Total votes204,268 100.0

General election

Candidates

Debates

A candidate's forum was held on Baltimore's WOLB radio on October 24 including Senator Ben Cardin, Rob Sobhani, Dean Ahmad and Daniel Bongino. [15] [16] An October 30 debate at Salisbury University to have featured those candidates and independent Ed Tinus [17] was cancelled in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. [18]

Campaign

In 2006, then-U.S. Representative Ben Cardin defeated then-Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele 54%–44%. Eric Wargotz, the Republican nominee in 2010 had considered entering the race but ultimately did not.

In both 2009 and 2010, National Journal magazine rated Cardin as tied for most liberal senator, based on his voting record. As of June 30, Cardin had $1.8 million in his campaign account. [19]

Fundraising

Candidate (party)ReceiptsDisbursementsCash on handDebt
Ben Cardin (D)$3,758,957$2,248,013$1,896,329$0
Daniel Bongino (R)$188,419$172,509$15,909$0
Dean Ahmad (L)$8,565$6,288$2,276$0
S. Rob Sobhani (I)$6,472,715$6,043,030$429,683$0
Source: Federal Election Commission [20] [21] [22] [23]

Top contributors

[24]

Ben CardinContributionDaniel BonginoContribution
Exelon Corp $39,250Avjet Corp$5,000
News Corp $35,375 Citizens United $5,000
Johns Hopkins University $30,300 Oheka Castle $5,000
Comcast Corp $26,123Miller & Long Concrete Construction$4,891
Ernst & Young $26,000Perinatal Center of Oklahoma$4,790
Gallagher, Evelius & Jones$24,250 NORPAC $21,730
Venable LLP $23,750 NYPD $3,950
DLA Piper $23,250Fitzgerald Shamrock Restaurant$3,947
DaVita Inc. $22,000Davidsonville Veterinary Clinic$3,250
Blue Cross & Blue Shield $20,750Constitutional Conservatives Fund$2,500

Top industries

[25]

Ben CardinContributionDaniel BonginoContribution
Lawyers/Law Firms $441,242Retired$20,152
Real Estate $354,920General Contractors$8,641
Health Professionals $317,509 Civil Servants/Public Officials$8,135
Financial Institutions $301,161Health Professionals$6,540
Pro-Israel $236,792Real Estate$5,700
Retired$222,410 Republican/Conservative$5,500
Lobbyists $213,559 Lodging/Tourism $5,000
Insurance $191,300 Computers/Internet$4,110
Leadership PACs $191,000 Food industry & Beverage$3,947
Entertainment industry$188,806Financial Institutions$3,800

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report [26] Solid DNovember 1, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball [27] Safe DNovember 5, 2012
Rothenberg Political Report [28] Safe DNovember 2, 2012
Real Clear Politics [29] Safe DNovember 5, 2012

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Ben
Cardin (D)
Daniel
Bongino (R)
Rob
Sobhani (I)
OtherUndecided
Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies [30] September 17–23, 2012813±3.5%50%22%21%7%
Washington Post [31] October 11–15, 2012843±4%53%22%14%2%9%
OpinionWorks [32] October 20–23, 2012801±3.5%50%24%14%2%10%
Hypothetical polling
Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Ben
Cardin (D)
Generic
Republican
OtherUndecided
Public Policy Polling [33] July 10–12, 2010569±4.1%51%33%16%
Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Ben
Cardin (D)
Michael
Steele (R)
OtherUndecided
Public Policy Polling [33] July 10–12, 2010569±4.1%58%28%14%

Results

2012 United States Senate election in Maryland [34]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Democratic Ben Cardin (incumbent) 1,474,028 55.98% +1.77%
Republican Dan Bongino 693,29126.33%−17.86%
Independent Rob Sobhani 430,93416.37%N/A
Libertarian Dean Ahmad 32,2521.22%N/A
Write-in 2,7290.10%+0.05%
Total votes2,633,234 100.00% N/A
Democratic hold

Results by county

CountyBen Cardin

Democratic

Dan Bongino

Republican

Rob Sobhani

Independent

Dean Ahmad

Libertarian

Other

Other

MarginTotal

Votes

Cast

#%#%#%#%#%#%
Allegany 950733.38%1466751.50%392014.60%3671.29%180.06%-5160-18.12%28479
Anne Arundel 10832842.62%9380436.90%4850319.08%33201.31%2410.09%145245.71%254196
Baltimore 19829052.55%9529725.25%7888720.91%44341.18%4390.12%10299327.29%377347
Baltimore City 18912877.21%169316.91%3572414.58%29301.20%2320.09%17219762.63%244945
Calvert 1729639.36%1727239.31%880620.04%5231.19%430.10%240.05%43940
Caroline 442333.93%589845.24%257519.75%1220.94%180.14%-1475-11.31%13036
Carroll 2283726.69%4179548.86%1973323.07%11181.31%660.08%-18958-22.16%85549
Cecil 1499436.41%1845244.81%713717.33%5491.33%470.11%-3458-8.40%41179
Charles 4263858.24%1675222.88%1303617.81%7210.98%580.08%2588635.36%73205
Dorchester 655244.29%552637.36%256717.35%1320.89%160.11%10266.94%14793
Frederick 4516139.80%4856342.80%1791315.79%17201.52%1120.10%-3402-3.00%113469
Garrett 344827.87%826366.79%4923.98%1631.32%60.05%-4815-38.92%12372
Harford 4327435.04%4540436.77%3314826.84%15351.24%1260.10%-2130-1.72%123487
Howard 8026553.66%4289228.67%2381515.92%24621.65%1480.10%3737324.98%149582
Kent 431244.45%360837.20%166017.11%880.91%320.33%7047.26%9700
Montgomery 29371566.21%9401021.19%4961111.18%57901.31%4550.10%19970545.02%443581
Prince George's 30577181.40%250806.68%4093710.90%35210.94%3390.09%28069170.50%375648
Queen Anne's 738530.13%1254051.15%434417.72%2170.89%280.11%-5155-21.03%24514
St. Mary's 1756638.29%1948042.46%806517.58%7231.58%420.09%-1914-4.17%45876
Somerset 468646.70%356835.56%168216.76%860.86%130.13%111811.14%10035
Talbot 810040.46%898644.89%272913.63%1730.86%320.16%-886-4.43%20020
Washington 1970232.56%2816146.53%1178819.48%8241.36%410.07%-8459-13.98%60516
Wicomico 1697441.41%1507236.77%842620.56%4521.10%630.15%19024.64%40987
Worcester 967636.21%1127042.18%543620.34%2821.06%560.21%-1594-5.97%26720
Total147402855.98%69329126.33%43093416.37%322521.22%27290.10%78073728.90%2633234

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Cardin won 7 of 8 congressional districts. [35]

DistrictCardinBonginoSobhaniRepresentative
1st 31%43%24% Andy Harris
2nd 53%23%23% Dutch Ruppersberger
3rd 53%26%19% John Sarbanes
4th 68%17%14% Donna Edwards
5th 57%24%18% Steny Hoyer
6th 46%37%15% John Delaney
7th 64%18%16% Elijah Cummings
8th 53%30%15% Chris Van Hollen

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

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  18. Kunkle, Fredrick (November 2, 2012). "Rob Sobhani, independent in Maryland Senate race, makes closing argument". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 4, 2012. Hurricane Sandy forced Salisbury University to call off a debate that would have put him on the same stage with Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) and Republican challenger Daniel Bongino.
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  35. https://www.elections.maryland.gov/elections/2012/election_data/State_Congressional_Districts_2012_General.csv

Daniel Bongino

Ben Cardin

Rob Sobhani