United States elections, 2012

The 2012 United States elections will be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. The 57th quadrennial presidential election will be held on this date, coinciding with Senate elections where 33 races will occur, as well as House of Representatives elections to elect the members for the 113th Congress. This election year will also encompass eleven gubernatorial races, many state legislature races, special elections, and various other state and local races.

Presidential election

Main article: United States presidential election, 2012

Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama will run for a second and final term during this election.^[1] This will be the first presidential election since the 2010 Census, which changed the Electoral College vote apportionment.^[2]

Congressional elections

House of Representatives elections

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections, 2012

This will be the first congressional election using the congressional districts that were apportioned based on the 2010 Census. Elections will be held for all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Elections will also be held for the delegates from the District of Columbia and five major U.S. territories. The winners of this election cycle will serve in the 113th United States Congress.

A special election in Oregon's 1st congressional district will be held on January 31 to determine a replacement for David Wu, who resigned in August 2011. The winner will only serve out the remainder of Wu's term, and would still need to run in November if he or she wants to keep that seat.

[edit]Senate elections

Main article: United States Senate elections, 2012

The 33 seats of Class I of the United States Senate will be up for election. Currently, Democrats are expected to have 23 seats up for election, including 2 independents who caucus with the Democrats, while Republicans are only expected to have 10 seats up for election. Additionally, special elections may be held to fill any vacancies that occur.

State elections

Gubernatorial elections

Main article: United States gubernatorial elections, 2012

Eleven of the fifty state governorships and the territorial governorships of American Samoa and Puerto Rico will be up for election. Among those, two (Mitch Daniels of Indiana and Brian Schweitzer of Montana) will be term-limited out of office.

Other state-wide Officer elections

In many states where if the following positions are elective offices, voters will cast votes for candidates for the state executive branch offices of Lieutenant Governor (though some will be voted for on the same ticket as the gubernatorial nominee), Secretary of state, state Treasurer, state Auditor, state Attorney General, state Superintendent of Education, Commissionersof Insurance, Agriculture, or Labor, etc., and state judicial branch offices (seats on state Supreme Courts and, in some states, state appellate courts).

State Legislative elections

Many states across the nation will hold elections for their state legislatures.