2012 United States House of Representatives election in North Dakota

The 2012 United States House of Representatives election in North Dakota was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the U.S. representative from the state's at-large congressional district. The election coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election and an election to the U.S. Senate. A primary election was held on June 12, 2012;[1] a candidate must receive at least 300 votes to appear on the general election ballot in November.[2]

2012 United States House of Representatives Election in North Dakota

← 2010 November 6, 2012 2014 →
 
Nominee Kevin Cramer Pam Gulleson
Party Republican Democratic–NPL
Popular vote 173,433 131,869
Percentage 54.9% 41.7%

County results
Cramer:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Gulleson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. Representative before election

Rick Berg
Republican

Elected U.S. Representative

Kevin Cramer
Republican

Rick Berg, a member of the Republican Party who was first elected to represent the at-large district in 2010, had announced that he would not seek re-election and would instead run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Kent Conrad.[3] Republican Kevin Cramer won the open House seat.

Republican primary

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The North Dakota Republican Party endorsed Public Service Commissioner Brian Kalk at their state convention, though general election ballot access is determined by a statewide primary election held on June 12, 2012. In contrast to state political tradition, fellow Public Service Commissioner Kevin Cramer did not seek the party endorsement, instead attempting to defeat Kalk on the June primary ballot.

Candidates

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Nominee

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Eliminated in primary

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  • Brian Kalk, Public Service Commissioner and state party endorsed candidate[5]

Withdrew

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Declined

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Debate

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The North Dakota Republican Party held a candidates' debate on December 14 at the campus of Valley City State University. All five GOP candidates declared at the time—Cramer, Goettle, Grande, Kalk, and Koppelman—participated.[16]

Polling

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Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Kevin
Cramer
Brian
Kalk
Undecided
Mason Dixon[17] June 4–6, 2012 625 ± 4% 60% 21% 19%
Forum Communications Co.[18] May 3–8, 2012 500 ± 4.3% 38% 25% 27%

Results

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Republican primary results[19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Kevin Cramer 54,405 54.4
Republican Brian Kalk 45,415 45.5
n/a Write-ins 113 0.1
Total votes 99,933 100.0

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Nominee

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Declined

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Results

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Democratic primary results[19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic–NPL Pam Gulleson 51,750 99.9
Democratic–NPL Write-in 74 0.1
Total votes 51,824 100.0

Libertarian nomination

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The Libertarian Party of North Dakota has selected small business owner Eric Olson as their nominee at a state meeting.[22]

General election

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Endorsements

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Kevin Cramer (R)

Organizations

Pam Gulleson (D)

Polling

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Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size
Margin of
error
Kevin
Cramer (R)
Pam
Gulleson (D)
Eric
Olson (L)
Undecided
Mason Dixon[26] October 26–28, 2012 625 ± 4.0% 50% 40% 2% 8%
Forum/Essman[27] October 12–15, 2012 500 ± 4% 52% 32% 1% 15%
Mason-Dixon[28] October 3–5, 2012 625 ± 4% 49% 37% 2% 12%
Mason Dixon[29] June 4–6, 2012 625 ± 4% 49% 35% 4% 12%
Forum Communications Co.[18] May 3–8, 2012 500 ± 4.3% 61% 23% 15%

Predictions

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Source Ranking As of
The Cook Political Report[30] Likely R November 5, 2012
Rothenberg[31] Safe R November 2, 2012
Roll Call[32] Likely R November 4, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball[33] Likely R November 5, 2012
NY Times[34] Safe R November 4, 2012
RCP[35] Likely R November 4, 2012
The Hill[36] Likely R November 4, 2012

Results

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North Dakota's at-large congressional district, 2012[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Kevin Cramer 173,585 54.89% +0.15%
Democratic–NPL Pam Gulleson 131,870 41.70% −3.23%
Libertarian Eric Olson 10,261 3.24% N/A
n/a Write-ins 508 0.16% −0.17%
Total votes 316,224 100.0% N/A
Republican hold

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

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Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

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References

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  1. ^ "North Dakota election calendar" (PDF). Secretary of State. July 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
  2. ^ "North Dakota Century Code". Secretary of State. August 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2011.
  3. ^ a b Toeplitz, Shira (May 16, 2011). "House Freshman Berg Will Run for Senate in North Dakota". Roll Call. Retrieved May 20, 2011.
  4. ^ Wetzel, Dale (November 3, 2011). "ND's Cramer uses Web video to open US House campaign; running for Congress for fourth time". The Republic. Retrieved November 4, 2011.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Trygstad, Kyle (May 20, 2011). "Kalk to Run for House Instead of Senate in North Dakota". Roll Call. Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2011.
  6. ^ Daum, Kristen M (November 29, 2011). "Goettle declares as 4th GOP contender in 2012 U.S. House race". Flickertales from The Hill. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  7. ^ Daum, Kristen M (October 3, 2011). "Fargo legislator Bette Grande will announce U.S. House run Tuesday". Flickertales from The Hill. areavoices. Archived from the original on December 20, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  8. ^ Smith, Nick (January 12, 2012). "Hendrickson joins GOP race for U.S. House". The Bismarck Tribune. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  9. ^ Daum, Kristen M (December 5, 2011). "West Fargo legislator seeks GOP nod in packed U.S. House race". Flickertales from The Hill. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
  10. ^ Catanese, David (April 27, 2011). "Hoeven: Berg 'likely' to run". Politico. Retrieved April 29, 2011.
  11. ^ a b Toeplitz, Shira (May 3, 2011). "N.D. GOP Expecting Competitive House Race". Roll Call. Archived from the original on January 6, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
  12. ^ Schneider, Mark (June 12, 2011). "North Dakota asks: Is anyone on the job?". The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. Retrieved June 13, 2011.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ Daum, Kristen M (October 13, 2011). "N.D. tax commissioner opts against congressional bid in 2012". Flickertales from The Hill. Archived from the original on December 18, 2011. Retrieved October 13, 2011.
  14. ^ Daum, Kristen M (November 2, 2011). "Grindberg not running for U.S. House in 2012". Flickertales from The Hill. areavoices. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
  15. ^ Finneman, Teri (February 20, 2012). "Kelly Schmidt to seek third term as North Dakota treasurer". The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. Retrieved February 25, 2012.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ Daum, Kristen M (December 1, 2011). "NDGOP announces Dec. 14th debate for its U.S. House candidates". Flickertales from The Hill. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
  17. ^ Mason Dixon
  18. ^ a b Forum Communications Co.
  19. ^ a b c "North Dakota Secretary of State".
  20. ^ Daum, Kristen M (September 21, 2011). "Democrat Pam Gulleson running for North Dakota's U.S. House seat". The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
  21. ^ Daum, Kristen M (September 28, 2011). "Former state legislator Vig declines U.S. House run". Flickertales from The Hill. Archived from the original on December 20, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  22. ^ Ames, Richard (November 20, 2011). "Libertarians take a stand on measure #2" (Press release). Libertarian Party of North Dakota. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 14, 2011.
  23. ^ "CANDIDATES". gopyoungguns.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  24. ^ "Blue Dog Endorsements". bluedogdems.ngpvanhost.com/. Archived from the original on November 24, 2012. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  25. ^ "RED TO BLUE 2012". DCCC. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  26. ^ Mason Dixon
  27. ^ Forum/Essman
  28. ^ Mason-Dixon
  29. ^ Mason Dixon
  30. ^ "The Cook Political Report — Charts – 2012 House Competitive Races". Cookpolitical.com. November 5, 2012. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
  31. ^ "House Ratings". Rothenbergpoliticalreport.com. November 2, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
  32. ^ [1], as of November 4, 2012
  33. ^ Crystal Ball, as of November 5, 2012
  34. ^ House Race Ratings, The New York Times, as of November 4, 2012
  35. ^ [2], as of November 4, 2012
  36. ^ "House Ratings". The Hill. November 3, 2012. Retrieved November 4, 2012.
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Official campaign websites