2012 United States Senate elections

For related races, see 2012 United States elections.

2012 United States Senate elections

November 6, 2012
33 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate 51 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Harry Reid Mitch McConnell Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Nevada Kentucky Seats before 51 47 Seats after 53 45 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 49,988,282 39,128,301 Percentage 53.4% 41.8% Seats up 21 10 Races won 23 8   Third party   Party Independent Seats before 2 Seats after 2 Seat change Popular vote 961,284 Percentage 1.0% Seats up 2 Races won 2
Results of the elections:      Democratic gain      Republican gain      Independent gain      Democratic hold      Republican hold      Independent hold      No election
Majority Leader before election Harry Reid Democratic Elected Majority Leader Harry Reid Democratic

The 2012 United States Senate elections were held on November 6, 2012, with 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate, all Class 1 seats, being contested in regular elections whose winners would serve 6-year terms beginning January 3, 2013, with the 113th Congress. Democrats had 21 seats up for election, plus 1 Independent, and 1 Independent Democrat, while the Republicans only had 10 seats up for election. The presidential election, elections to the House of Representatives, elections for governors in 14 states and territories, and many state and local elections were also held on the same day.

The Democrats gained Republican-held seats in Massachusetts and Indiana and one from an Independent Democrat in Connecticut, leaving them with a total of 53 seats. Additionally, they held open seats in Hawaii, New Mexico, North Dakota, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The Republicans, despite losing 2 of their seats, picked an open seat in Nebraska up and retained open seats in Arizona and Texas, ending with a total of 45 seats. The Independents retained a seat in Vermont and gained an additional seat from the Republicans in Maine, bringing their total to 2 seats. Both Independents would caucus with the Democrats, forming a majority caucus with a combined total of 55 seats.

As of 2024, this was the last time the Democrats won seats in Florida, Indiana, Missouri, and North Dakota. It was also the last time the Republican Party won a seat in Nevada. The Democrats would not win control of the Senate again until 2020 and would not win an outright majority again until 2022. This is also the last time a Democrat flipped a Senate seat in a state that they lost in the concurrent presidential election, and the last time that any party has done so.

Additionally, this was the first time since 1936 that a 2-term Democratic presidential candidate had Senate coattails on both occasions. (Although Franklin Roosevelt won third and fourth terms in 1940 and 1944, respectively, he lost Senate seats on both occasions.) This was also the first time since 1964 in which either party had to defend more than two-thirds of the Senate seats up for grabs but managed to make net gains. As of 2024, this is the last election cycle in which an incumbent senator lost renomination (Richard Lugar of Indiana).

Results summary

↓

53

2

45

Democratic

Independent

Republican

Shading indicates party with largest share of that line.

Parties									Total
		Democratic	Republican	Independent	Libertarian	Independence	Green	Others
Before these elections		51	47	2	—	—	—	—	100
Not up		30	37	—	—	—	—	—	67
	Class 2 (2008→2014)	20	13	—	—	—	—	—	33
	Class 3 (2010→2016)	10	24	—	—	—	—	—	34
Up		21	10	2	—	—	—	—	33
	Class 1	21	10	2	—	—	—	—	33
Incumbent retired		6	3	1	—	—	—	—	10
	Held by same party	5	2	—	—	—	—	—	7
	Replaced by other party	1 Independent replaced by 1 Democrat 1 Republican replaced by 1 Independent 1 Democrat replaced by 1 Republican			—	—	—	—	3
	Result	6	3	1	—	—	—	—	10
Incumbent ran		15	7	1	—	—	—	—	23
	Won re-election	15	5	1	—	—	—	—	21
	Lost re-election	1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat		—	—	—	—	—	1
	Lost renomination but held by same party	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	Lost renomination and party lost	1 Republican replaced by 1 Democrat		—	—	—	—	—	1
	Result	17	5	1	—	—	—	—	23
Total elected		23	8	2	—	—	—	—	33
Net gain/loss		2	2		—	—	—	—	2
Nationwide vote		49,988,282	39,128,301	961,284	956,745	211,794	195,200	2,119,714	93,561,320
	Share	53.43%	41.82%	1.03%	1.02%	0.23%	0.21%	2.27%	100%
Result		53	45	2	—	—	—	—	100
End of this Congress		51	47	2	—	—	—	—	100

Change in composition

Before the elections

Map of retirements:

  Republican incumbent

  Democratic incumbent

  Independent incumbent

  Democratic incumbent retired

  Republican incumbent retired or lost renomination

  Independent incumbent retired

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30
D40 Neb. Retired	D39 Mont. Ran	D38 Mo. Ran	D37 Minn. Ran	D36 Mich. Ran	D35 Md. Ran	D34 Hawaii Retired	D33 Fla. Ran	D32 Del. Ran	D31 Calif. Ran
D41 N.J. Ran	D42 N.M. Retired	D43 N.Y. Ran	D44 N.D. Retired	D45 Ohio Ran	D46 Pa. Ran	D47 R.I. Ran	D48 Va. Retired	D49 Wash. Ran	D50 W.Va. Ran
Majority →									D51 Wis. Retired
R41 Mass. Ran	R42 Miss. Ran	R43 Nev. Ran	R44 Tenn. Ran	R45 Texas Retired	R46 Utah Ran	R47 Wyo. Ran	I2 Vt. Ran	I1 Conn. Retired
R40 Maine Retired	R39 Ind. Ran	R38 Ariz. Retired	R37	R36	R35	R34	R33	R32	R31
R21	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28	R29	R30
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

After the elections

D1	D2	D3	D4	D5	D6	D7	D8	D9	D10
D20	D19	D18	D17	D16	D15	D14	D13	D12	D11
D21	D22	D23	D24	D25	D26	D27	D28	D29	D30
D40 N.J. Re-elected	D39 Mont. Re-elected	D38 Mo. Re-elected	D37 Minn. Re-elected	D36 Mich. Re-elected	D35 Md. Re-elected	D34 Hawaii Hold	D33 Fla. Re-elected	D32 Del. Re-elected	D31 Calif. Re-elected
D41 N.M. Hold	D42 N.Y. Re-elected	D43 N.D. Hold	D44 Ohio Re-elected	D45 Pa. Re-elected	D46 R.I. Re-elected	D47 Va. Hold	D48 Wash. Re-elected	D49 W.Va. Re-elected	D50 Wis. Hold
Majority →									D51 Conn. Gain
R41 Tenn. Re-elected	R42 Texas Hold	R43 Utah Re-elected	R44 Wyo. Re-elected	R45 Neb. Gain	I2 Maine Gain	I1 Vt. Re-elected	D53 Mass. Gain	D52 Ind. Gain
R40 Nev. Elected	R39 Miss. Re-elected	R38 Ariz. Hold	R37	R36	R35	R34	R33	R32	R31
R	R22	R23	R24	R25	R26	R27	R28	R29	R30
R20	R19	R18	R17	R16	R15	R14	R13	R12	R11
R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10

Key:	D# Democratic I# Independent R# Republican

Race summary

Special elections during the 112th Congress

There were no special elections during the 112th Congress.

Elections leading to the next Congress

In these elections, the winners were elected for the term beginning January 3, 2013; ordered by state.

All of the elections involved the Class 1 seats.

State	Incumbent			Results	Candidates
	Senator	Party	Electoral history
Arizona	Jon Kyl	Republican	1994 2000 2006	Incumbent retired. Republican hold.	▌Y Jeff Flake (Republican) 49.2% ▌Richard Carmona (Democratic) 46.1% ▌Marc Victor (Libertarian) 4.6%
California	Dianne Feinstein	Democratic	1992 (special) 1994 2000 2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Dianne Feinstein (Democratic) 62.5% ▌Elizabeth Emken (Republican) 37.5%
Connecticut	Joe Lieberman	Independent Democrat	1988 1994 2000 2006	Incumbent retired. Democratic gain.	▌Y Chris Murphy (Democratic) 54.8% ▌Linda McMahon (Republican) 43.1% ▌Paul Passarelli (Libertarian) 1.7%
Delaware	Tom Carper	Democratic	2000 2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Tom Carper (Democratic) 66.4% ▌Kevin Wade (Republican) 29.0% ▌Alex Pires (Independent) 3.8% ▌Andrew Groff (Green) 0.8%
Florida	Bill Nelson	Democratic	2000 2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Bill Nelson (Democratic) 55.2% ▌Connie Mack IV (Republican) 42.2% Others ▌Chris Borgia (Independent) 1.0% ▌Bill Gaylor (Independent) 1.5%
Hawaii	Daniel Akaka	Democratic	1990 (appointed) 1990 (special) 1994 2000 2006	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	▌Y Mazie Hirono (Democratic) 62.6% ▌Linda Lingle (Republican) 37.4%
Indiana	Richard Lugar	Republican	1976 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006	Incumbent lost renomination. Democratic gain.	▌Y Joe Donnelly (Democratic) 50.0% ▌Richard Mourdock (Republican) 44.2% ▌Andrew Horning (Libertarian) 5.7%
Maine	Olympia Snowe	Republican	1994 2000 2006	Incumbent retired. Independent gain.	▌Y Angus King (Independent) 52.9% ▌Charlie Summers (Republican) 30.7% ▌Cynthia Dill (Democratic) 13.3% Others ▌Danny F. Dalton (Independent) 0.8% ▌Andrew Ian Dodge (Libertarian) 0.8%
Maryland	Ben Cardin	Democratic	2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Ben Cardin (Democratic) 56.0% ▌Dan Bongino (Republican) 26.3% ▌Rob Sobhani (Independent) 16.4% ▌Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad (Libertarian) 1.2%
Massachusetts	Scott Brown	Republican	2010 (special)	Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.	▌Y Elizabeth Warren (Democratic) 53.7% ▌Scott Brown (Republican) 46.3%
Michigan	Debbie Stabenow	Democratic	2000 2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Debbie Stabenow (Democratic) 58.8% ▌Pete Hoekstra (Republican) 38.0% Others ▌Scotty Boman (Libertarian) 1.8% ▌Harley Mikkelson (Green) 0.6% ▌Richard Matkin (Constitution) 0.6% ▌John Litle (Natural Law) 0.2%
Minnesota	Amy Klobuchar	DFL	2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Amy Klobuchar (DFL) 65.2% ▌Kurt Bills (Republican) 30.6% ▌Stephen Williams (Independence) 2.6% Others ▌Tim Davis (Grassroots) 1.1% ▌Michael Cavlan (Open Progressive) 0.5%
Mississippi	Roger Wicker	Republican	2007 (appointed) 2008 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Roger Wicker (Republican) 57.2% ▌Albert N. Gore Jr. (Democratic) 40.6% Others ▌Thomas Cramer (Constitution) 1.2% ▌Shawn O'Hara (Reform) 1.0%
Missouri	Claire McCaskill	Democratic	2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Claire McCaskill (Democratic) 54.8% ▌Todd Akin (Republican) 39.0% ▌Jonathan Dine (Libertarian) 6.1%
Montana	Jon Tester	Democratic	2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Jon Tester (Democratic) 48.6% ▌Denny Rehberg (Republican) 44.9% ▌Dan Cox (Libertarian) 6.6%
Nebraska	Ben Nelson	Democratic	2000 2006	Incumbent retired. Republican gain.	▌Y Deb Fischer (Republican) 57.8% ▌Bob Kerrey (Democratic) 42.2%
Nevada	Dean Heller	Republican	2011 (appointed)	Interim appointee elected.	▌Y Dean Heller (Republican) 45.9% ▌Shelley Berkley (Democratic) 44.7% ▌David VanderBeek (IAP) 4.9% None of These Candidates 4.5%
New Jersey	Bob Menendez	Democratic	2006 (appointed) 2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Bob Menendez (Democratic) 58.9% ▌Joe Kyrillos (Republican) 39.4% Others ▌Ken Kaplan (Libertarian) 0.5% ▌Ken Wolski (Green) 0.5%
New Mexico	Jeff Bingaman	Democratic	1982 1988 1994 2000 2006	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	▌Y Martin Heinrich (Democratic) 51.0% ▌Heather Wilson (Republican) 45.3% ▌Jon Barrie (IAP) 3.6% ▌Robert L. Anderson (write-in) 0.1%
New York	Kirsten Gillibrand	Democratic	2009 (appointed) 2010 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Kirsten Gillibrand (Democratic) 71.6% ▌Wendy Long (Republican) 27.0% Others ▌Colia Clark (Green) 0.6% ▌Chris Edes (Libertarian) 0.5% ▌John Mangelli (Common Sense) 0.3% Write-ins 0.03%
North Dakota	Kent Conrad	Democratic-NPL	1986 1992 (retired) 1992 (special) 1994 2000 2006	Incumbent retired. Democratic-NPL hold.	▌Y Heidi Heitkamp (Democratic-NPL) 50.2% ▌Rick Berg (Republican) 49.3% Other candidates 0.4%
Ohio	Sherrod Brown	Democratic	2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Sherrod Brown (Democratic) 50.7% ▌Josh Mandel (Republican) 44.7% ▌Scott A. Rupert (Independent) 4.6%
Pennsylvania	Bob Casey Jr.	Democratic	2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Bob Casey Jr. (Democratic) 53.7% ▌Tom Smith (Republican) 44.6% ▌Rayburn Douglas Smith (Libertarian) 1.7%
Rhode Island	Sheldon Whitehouse	Democratic	2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Sheldon Whitehouse (Democratic) 64.8% ▌Barry Hinckley (Republican) 35.0% ▌Write-ins 0.2%
Tennessee	Bob Corker	Republican	2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Bob Corker (Republican) 64.9% ▌Mark Clayton (Democratic) 30.4% Others ▌Martin Pleasant (Green) 1.7% ▌Shaun Crowell (Libertarian) 0.9% ▌Kermit Steck (Constitution) 0.8%
Texas	Kay Bailey Hutchison	Republican	1993 (special) 1994 2000 2006	Incumbent retired. Republican hold.	▌Y Ted Cruz (Republican) 56.5% ▌Paul Sadler (Democratic) 40.7% Others ▌John Jay Myers (Libertarian) 2.1% ▌David Collins (Green) 0.9%
Utah	Orrin Hatch	Republican	1976 1982 1988 1994 2000 2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Orrin Hatch (Republican) 65.3% ▌Scott Howell (Democratic) 30.0% ▌Shaun Lynn McCausland (Constitution) 3.2% ▌Daniel Geery (UT Justice) 0.8%
Vermont	Bernie Sanders	Independent	2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Bernie Sanders (Independent) 71% ▌John MacGovern (Republican) 24.9% Others ▌Cris Ericson (Marijuana) 2.0% ▌Pete Diamondstone (Liberty Union) 0.9% ▌Peter Moss (Peace and Prosperity) 0.8% ▌Laurel LaFramboise (VoteKISS) 0.3%
Virginia	Jim Webb	Democratic	2006	Incumbent retired. Democratic hold.	▌Y Tim Kaine (Democratic) 52.9% ▌George Allen (Republican) 47.0% Write-ins 0.17%
Washington	Maria Cantwell	Democratic	2000 2006	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Maria Cantwell (Democratic) 60.5% ▌Michael Baumgartner (Republican) 39.5%
West Virginia	Joe Manchin	Democratic	2010 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Joe Manchin (Democratic) 60.6% ▌John Raese (Republican) 36.5% ▌Bob Henry Baber (Mountain) 3.0%
Wisconsin	Herb Kohl	Democratic	1988 1994 2000 2006	Incumbent retired. New senator elected. Democratic hold.	▌Y Tammy Baldwin (Democratic) 51.4% ▌Tommy Thompson (Republican) 45.9% Others ▌Joseph Kexel (Libertarian) 2.1% ▌Nimrod Y. U. Allen III (IDEA) 0.6% Write-ins 0.1%
Wyoming	John Barrasso	Republican	2007 (appointed) 2008 (special)	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John Barrasso (Republican) 75.7% ▌Tim Chesnut (Democratic) 21.7% Others ▌Joel Otto (Country) 2.5% Write-ins 2%

Closest races

Elections with a margin less than 10.0%.

District	Winner	Margin
North Dakota	Democratic	0.9%
Nevada	Republican	1.2%
Arizona	Republican	3.0%
Montana	Democratic	4.0%
Wisconsin	Democratic	5.5%
New Mexico	Democratic	5.7%
Indiana	Democratic (flip)	5.7%
Virginia	Democratic	5.9%
Ohio	Democratic	6.0%
Massachusetts	Democratic (flip)	7.5%
Pennsylvania	Democratic	9.1%

Final pre-election predictions

The table below gives an overview of some final predictions of the November general elections by several well-known institutes and people. While there were very few mistakes (predictions in the wrong direction; essentially only Montana and North Dakota, by both Sabato's Crystal Ball and FiveThirtyEight), FiveThirtyEight and Princeton Election Consortium had 2-4 races in the Lean categories and no tossups, whereas all other sources had at least eleven races in the middle three categories, and in particular many Tossup races.

State	Incumbent	Last election	Roll Call Nov. 5, 2012	Sabato Nov. 5, 2012	Cook Nov. 1, 2012	Rothenberg Nov. 2, 2012	RCP Nov. 5, 2012	538 Nov. 6, 2012	Princeton Nov. 6, 2012	Winner
Arizona	Jon Kyl (retiring)	53.3% R	Tossup	Lean R	Tossup	Tossup	Lean R	Likely R	Likely R	Flake 49.2% R
California	Dianne Feinstein	59.4% D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Feinstein 62.5% D
Connecticut	Joe Lieberman (retiring)	49.7% I	Lean D (flip)	Lean D (flip)	Tossup	Lean D (flip)	Lean D (flip)	Safe D (flip)	Safe D (flip)	Murphy 54.8% D (flip)
Delaware	Tom Carper	67.1% D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Carper 64.2% D
Florida	Bill Nelson	60.3% D	Lean D	Likely D	Lean D	Likely D	Lean D	Safe D	Safe D	Nelson 55.2% D
Hawaii	Daniel Akaka (retiring)	61.4% D	Likely D	Likely D	Lean D	Likely D	Likely D	Safe D	Safe D	Hirono 62.6% D
Indiana	Richard Lugar (lost renomination)	87.3% R	Tossup	Lean D (flip)	Tossup	Tossup	Tossup	Lean D (flip)	Likely D (flip)	Donnelly 50.0% D (flip)
Maine	Olympia Snowe (retiring)	74.4% R	Likely I (flip)	Likely I (flip)	Tossup	Likely I (flip)	Likely I (flip)	Safe I (flip)	Safe I (flip)	King 52.9% I (flip)
Maryland	Ben Cardin	54.2% D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Cardin 56.0% D
Massachusetts	Scott Brown	51.9% R (2010 special)	Lean D (flip)	Lean D (flip)	Tossup	Tossup	Tossup	Safe D (flip)	Safe D (flip)	Warren 53.7% D (flip)
Michigan	Debbie Stabenow	56.9% D	Likely D	Likely D	Likely D	Safe D	Likely D	Safe D	Safe D	Stabenow 58.8% D
Minnesota	Amy Klobuchar	58.1% D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Klobuchar 65.2% D
Mississippi	Roger Wicker	55.0% R (2008 special)	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Wicker 57.2% R
Missouri	Claire McCaskill	49.6% D	Lean D	Lean D	Likely D	Likely D	Lean D	Likely D	Safe D	McCaskill 54.8% D
Montana	Jon Tester	49.2% D	Tossup	Lean R (flip)	Tossup	Tossup	Tossup	Lean R (flip)	Lean D	Tester 48.6% D
Nebraska	Ben Nelson (retiring)	63.9% D	Likely R (flip)	Likely R (flip)	Lean R (flip)	Likely R (flip)	Lean R (flip)	Safe R (flip)	Safe R (flip)	Fischer 57.8% R (flip)
Nevada	Dean Heller	Appointed (2011)	Tossup	Lean R	Tossup	Tossup	Tossup	Likely R	Lean R	Heller 45.9% R
New Jersey	Bob Menendez	53.4% D	Safe D	Likely D	Likely D	Safe D	Likely D	Safe D	Safe D	Menendez 58.9% D
New Mexico	Jeff Bingaman (retiring)	70.6% D	Likely D	Likely D	Lean D	Lean D	Likely D	Safe D	Safe D	Heinrich 51.0% D
New York	Kirsten Gillibrand	59.6% D (2010 special)	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Gillibrand 71.6% D
North Dakota	Kent Conrad (retiring)	68.8% D	Tossup	Lean R (flip)	Tossup	Tossup	Tossup	Safe R (flip)	Lean D	Heitkamp 50.24% D
Ohio	Sherrod Brown	56.2% D	Lean D	Lean D	Lean D	Lean D	Lean D	Safe D	Safe D	Brown 50.7% D
Pennsylvania	Bob Casey Jr.	58.7% D	Lean D	Lean D	Lean D	Likely D	Lean D	Safe D	Safe D	Casey 53.7% D
Rhode Island	Sheldon Whitehouse	53.5% D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Whitehouse 64.8% D
Tennessee	Bob Corker	50.7% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Corker 64.9% R
Texas	Kay Bailey Hutchison (retiring)	61.7% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Cruz 56.5% R
Utah	Orrin Hatch	62.6% R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Hatch 65.3% R
Vermont	Bernie Sanders	65.4% I	Safe I	Safe I	Safe I	Safe I	Safe I	Safe I	Safe I	Sanders 71% I
Virginia	Jim Webb (retiring)	49.6% D	Tossup	Lean D	Lean D	Tossup	Tossup	Likely D	Safe D	Kaine 52.9% D
Washington	Maria Cantwell	56.8% D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Safe D	Likely D	Safe D	Safe D	Cantwell 60.5% D
West Virginia	Joe Manchin	53.5% D (2010 special)	Safe D	Safe D	Likely D	Safe D	Likely D	Safe D	Safe D	Manchin 60.6% D
Wisconsin	Herb Kohl (retiring)	67.3% D	Tossup	Lean D	Tossup	Tossup	Tossup	Likely D	Lean D	Baldwin 51.4% D
Wyoming	John Barrasso	73.4% R (2008 special)	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Safe R	Barrasso 75.7% R

Gains and losses

Senate seats up for election in 2012
Democrat ran      Democrat retired	Republican ran      Republican retired	Independent ran      Independent retired
No Senate election

Results by county in 2012
30%+ Democratic      40%+ Democratic      50%+ Democratic      60%+ Democratic      70%+ Democratic      80%+ Democratic	30%+ Republican      40%+ Republican      50%+ Republican      60%+ Republican      70%+ Republican      80%+ Republican      90%+ Republican	40%+ Independent      50%+ Independent      60%+ Independent      70%+ Independent

Retirements

Six Democrats, one independent Democrat, and three Republicans retired instead of seeking re-election.

State	Senator	Replaced by
Arizona	Jon Kyl	Jeff Flake
Connecticut	Joe Lieberman	Chris Murphy
Hawaii	Daniel Akaka	Mazie Hirono
Maine	Olympia Snowe	Angus King
Nebraska	Ben Nelson	Deb Fischer
New Mexico	Jeff Bingaman	Martin Heinrich
North Dakota	Kent Conrad	Heidi Heitkamp
Texas	Kay Bailey Hutchison	Ted Cruz
Virginia	Jim Webb	Tim Kaine
Wisconsin	Herb Kohl	Tammy Baldwin

Defeats

Two Republicans sought re-election but lost in either the primary or general election.

State	Senator	Replaced by
Indiana	Richard Lugar	Joe Donnelly
Massachusetts	Scott Brown	Elizabeth Warren

Post-election changes

One Democrat died before the start of the 113th Congress on December 17, 2012. One Democrat died during the 113th Congress on June 3, 2013. Two Democrats and one Republican resigned. All were replaced, at least initially, by appointees. In New Jersey and Massachusetts, special elections were held prior to the 2014 Senate elections for the remainder of the Class 2 terms, where Democrat Cory Booker won the New Jersey special election to succeed Republican appointee Jeffrey Chiesa, who did not seek election; and in Massachusetts, where Ed Markey won to succeed Democrat appointee Mo Cowan, who did not seek election.

State	Senator	Replaced by
Hawaii (Class 3)	Daniel Inouye	Brian Schatz
South Carolina (Class 3)	Jim DeMint	Tim Scott
Massachusetts (Class 2)	John Kerry	Mo Cowan
New Jersey (Class 2)	Frank Lautenberg	Jeffrey Chiesa
Massachusetts (Class 2)	Mo Cowan	Ed Markey
New Jersey (Class 2)	Jeffrey Chiesa	Cory Booker
Montana (Class 2)	Max Baucus	John Walsh

Arizona

Arizona election

Turnout	52.9% (voting eligible)
Nominee Jeff Flake Richard Carmona Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,104,457 1,036,542 Percentage 49.2% 46.2%
Flake:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Carmona:      50–60%      60–70%
U.S. senator before election Jon Kyl Republican Elected U.S. senator Jeff Flake Republican

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Arizona

See also: List of United States senators from Arizona

Three-term incumbent and Senate Minority Whip Republican Jon Kyl, who was re-elected in 2006 with 53% of the vote, announced he would not seek a fourth term in 2012. Republican representative Jeff Flake won the August 28 primary with 69.1% of the vote, against three contenders, including real estate investor Wil Cardon who polled 21.2%. On the Democratic side, former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona won the primary election, which was held August 28, 2012.

Arizona Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard Carmona	289,881	100.00
Total votes			289,881	100.00

Arizona Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeff Flake	357,360	69.25
	Republican	Wil Cardon	110,150	21.35
	Republican	Clair Van Steenwyk	29,159	5.65
	Republican	Bryan Hackbarth	19,174	3.72
	Republican	John Lyon (write-in)	126	0.02
	Republican	Luis Acle (write-in)	56	0.01
Total votes			516,025	100.00

Preliminary general election results showed Flake leading 49.7%-45.7%, but 439,961 early votes had yet to be counted. The official results, as tabulated by the secretary of state, showed a slightly smaller win for Flake. Flake won the election with 49.7% of the vote against Carmona's 46.2% and Victor's 4.6%.

Arizona general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jeff Flake	1,104,457	49.23	−4.11%
	Democratic	Richard Carmona	1,036,542	46.20	+2.70%
	Libertarian	Marc Victor	102,109	4.55	+1.39%
	N/A	write-in	2,501	0.11	+0.02%
Majority			67,915	3.03	−6.81%
Turnout			2,245,609	100.00

California

California election

Turnout	55.2% (voting eligible)
Nominee Dianne Feinstein Elizabeth Emken Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 7,864,624 4,713,887 Percentage 62.5% 37.5%
Feinstein:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Emken:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
U.S. senator before election Dianne Feinstein Democratic Elected U.S. senator Dianne Feinstein Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in California

See also: List of United States senators from California

Incumbent Democrat Dianne Feinstein was re-elected. The primary election on June 5 took place under California's new blanket primary, where all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party. In the primary, voters voted for any candidate listed, or write-in any other candidate. The top two finishers — regardless of party — advanced to the general election in November, even if a candidate managed to receive a majority of the votes cast in the June primary. In the primary, less than 15% of the total 2010 census population voted. Incumbent Democrat Dianne Feinstein finished first in the blanket primary with 49.5% of the vote. The second-place finisher was Republican candidate and autism activist Elizabeth Emken, who won 12.7% of the vote.

California primary election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Dianne Feinstein (incumbent)	2,392,822	49.3
	Republican	Elizabeth Emken	613,613	12.6
	Republican	Dan Hughes	323,840	6.7
	Republican	Rick Williams	157,946	3.3
	Republican	Orly Taitz	154,781	3.2
	Republican	Dennis Jackson	137,120	2.8
	Republican	Greg Conlon	135,421	2.8
	Republican	Al Ramirez	109,399	2.3
	Libertarian	Gail Lightfoot	101,648	2.1
	Democratic	Diane Stewart	97,782	2.0
	Democratic	Mike Strimling	97,024	2.0
	Democratic	David Levitt	76,482	1.6
	Republican	Oscar Braun	75,842	1.6
	Republican	Robert Lauten	57,720	1.2
	Peace and Freedom	Marsha Feinland	54,129	1.2
	Democratic	Colleen Shea Fernald	51,623	1.1
	Republican	Donald Krampe	39,035	0.8
	American Independent	Don J. Grundmann	33,037	0.7
	Republican	Dirk Allen Konopik	29,997	0.6
	Republican	John Boruff	29,357	0.6
	Democratic	Nak Shah	27,203	0.6
	Republican	Rogelio T. Gloria	22,529	0.5
	Republican	Nachum Shifren	21,762	0.4
	Peace and Freedom	Kabiruddin Karim Ali	12,269	0.3
	Republican	Linda R. Price (write-in)	25	0.0
Total votes			4,852,406	100.0

Feinstein and Emken contested the general election on November 6, with Feinstein winning re-election in a landslide, by 62.5% to 37.5%. Feinstein's 7.86 million votes set the all-time record for the most votes cast for one candidate in one state in one election, beating senator Barbara Boxer's 6.96 million votes in 2004. This record was held until the 2016 presidential election in California, when Hillary Clinton won 8.75 million votes in the state.

California general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Dianne Feinstein (incumbent)	7,864,624	62.5	+3.1%
	Republican	Elizabeth Emken	4,713,887	37.5	+2.5%
Majority			3,150,737	25.0	+0.6%
Turnout			12,578,511	100.00

Connecticut

Connecticut election

Turnout	60.9% (voting eligible)
Nominee Chris Murphy Linda McMahon Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 815,077 637,857 Percentage 55.1% 43.3%
Murphy:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% McMahon:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
U.S. senator before election Joe Lieberman Independent Elected U.S. senator Chris Murphy Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut

See also: List of United States senators from Connecticut

Incumbent Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucused with the Democratic Party, retired instead of running for re-election to a fifth term. Republican businesswoman Linda McMahon faced Democratic representative Chris Murphy in the general election and lost, marking two defeats in as many years.

In the 2006 election, incumbent Joe Lieberman was defeated in the Democratic primary by businessman Ned Lamont and formed his own party, Connecticut for Lieberman, winning re-election. Lieberman promised to remain in the Senate Democratic Caucus, but had clashed with Democrats on many significant issues, including his endorsement of Republican 2008 presidential nominee John McCain over Barack Obama. As a result, Lieberman's poll numbers among Democrats had dropped significantly.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal was reportedly considering a run against Lieberman, but instead ran for and won Connecticut's other Senate seat in 2010 after U.S. senator Christopher Dodd announced his retirement.

Lieberman had publicly floated the possibility of running as a Democrat, Republican, or an independent. However, he announced on January 19, 2011, that he would not run for another term.

Connecticut Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Chris Murphy	89,283	67.4
	Democratic	Susan Bysiewicz	43,135	32.6
Total votes			132,418	100.0

Connecticut Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Linda McMahon	83,413	72.7
	Republican	Chris Shays	31,305	27.3
Total votes			114,718	100.0

Susan Bysiewicz was the first to declare herself as a candidate. However, by March 2011 Chris Murphy had raised over $1 million, while Bysiewicz had raised only $500,000. Murphy represented Connecticut's 5th congressional district, which was considered Republican-leaning, and he promoted himself as the most electable candidate against a Republican challenger. Bysiewicz, the former Secretary of the State of Connecticut, enjoyed high name recognition while a statewide officeholder, and had a formidable face-off with Murphy. William Tong, a state representative, joined the race touting his biography as the son of Chinese immigrants working at a Chinese restaurant. In January East Hartford resident Matthew John Oakes announced his candidacy. Oakes pointed to his real life experience being a disabled American, victim of crime, civil rights activist, growing up in the inner-city and being a political outsider for his candidacy.

Wide speculation continued on Linda McMahon, who had a widely publicized race for senator in 2010. She lost the election decisively, but had strong finances and a well-established political organization. McMahon met with her former campaign consultant to review her 2010 results, and said she was leaning towards running. She planned to make a decision regarding another run after the start of 2012. Congressman Chris Shays joined in August 2011, promoting his involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan's military contracting. Shays campaign also gained traction from a series of independent polls showing him beating or in dead heat with the top Democratic contenders in the general election, while those same polls showed McMahon losing handily to each of the top Democratic contenders. The Shays campaign has quickly capitalized on these polls, arguing for the former Congressman's electability while questioning McMahon's electability due to her loss in an open Senate seat contest in 2010 by a large margin despite spending $50 million of her own money, and also citing both her high unfavorable numbers among voters and her poor fundraising.

In July 2012, Shays declared that he would not support McMahon if she won the primary. He said that he had "never run against an opponent that I have respected less—ever—and there are a lot of candidates I have run against," adding that "I do not believe that Linda McMahon has spent the time, the energy to determine what [being] a senator really means." He also said that during the last debate he had with McMahon, "I thought she was embarrassingly clueless" and that "I think she is a terrible candidate and I think she would make a terrible senator." Although he said he would not support Chris Murphy, he expected him to win the Democratic nomination and the general election.

In September 2012, the records of the McMahons' 1976 bankruptcy and specifics of nearly $1 million unpaid debts from the proceeding were published. In days the candidate and her husband announced the "intention to reimburse all private individual creditors that can be located".

Connecticut general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Chris Murphy	828,761	55.1	+15.4%
	Republican	Linda McMahon	651,089	43.3	+33.7%
	Libertarian	Paul Passarelli	25,045	1.6	+1.6%
Majority			177,672	11.8
Total votes			1,504,895	100.0	-
Turnout
	Democratic gain from Independent Democrat		Swing

Note: Murphy also appeared on the line of the Connecticut Working Families Party and received 37,553 votes on it. His Working Families and Democratic votes have been aggregated together on this table.

Delaware

Delaware election

Turnout	62.7% (voting eligible)
Nominee Tom Carper Kevin Wade Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 265,374 115,694 Percentage 66.4% 29.0%
Carper:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
U.S. senator before election Tom Carper Democratic Elected U.S. senator Tom Carper Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Delaware

See also: List of United States senators from Delaware

Incumbent Democrat Tom Carper won re-election to a third term.

Delaware Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tom Carper (incumbent)	43,866	87.8
	Democratic	Keith Spanarelli	6,074	12.2
Total votes			49,940	100.0

2012 United States Senate election in Delaware

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tom Carper (incumbent)	265,374	66.42	−0.71%
	Republican	Kevin Wade	115,694	28.96	+1.52%
	Independent Party	Alex Pires	15,300	3.83	—
	Green	Andrew Groff	3,191	0.80	—
Margin of victory			149,680	37.46	−2.22%
Turnout			399,559	63.14	+17.58%
	Democratic hold

Note: The ±% column reflects the change in total number of votes won by each party from the previous election. Neither the vote shares nor the turnout figures account for write-ins. Turnout percentage is the portion of registered voters (632,805 as of January 11, 2012) who voted.

Florida

Florida election

Turnout	63.5% (voting eligible)
Nominee Bill Nelson Connie Mack IV Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 4,523,451 3,458,267 Percentage 55.2% 42.2%
County results Nelson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Mack:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
U.S. senator before election Bill Nelson Democratic Elected U.S. senator Bill Nelson Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Florida

See also: List of United States senators from Florida

The primary election was held August 14, 2012. Incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson won re-election to a third term, defeating Republican U.S. Representative Connie Mack IV by 13%, winning 55% to 42%. Nelson defeated Mack by over 1 million votes.

Florida Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bill Nelson (incumbent)	684,804	78.7
	Democratic	Glenn Burkett	184,815	21.3
Total votes			869,619	100.0

Florida Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Connie Mack IV	657,331	58.7
	Republican	Dave Weldon	226,083	20.2
	Republican	Mike McCalister	155,421	13.9
	Republican	Marielena Stuart	81,808	7.3
Total votes			1,120,643	100.0

From a long way out Nelson appeared to be vulnerable, with some earlier polls showing Mack leading. However, in the last few weeks with new polls conducted it appeared as though Nelson was headed for a victory. The last poll place him 5 percentage points ahead of Mack. In fact Nelson would win easily by 13 percentage points. Nelson performed well in Southeast Florida (the Miami area), Tampa, Gainesville, typically Democratic areas. Nelson however managed to win in areas that lean Republican. For example, Nelson won in Duval County home of Jacksonville, and Volusia County home of Daytona Beach. Nelson's ability to outperform President Obama led to him winning the Election easily. President Obama would still win Florida, but by just about 74,000 votes, and less than a percentage point. Nelson began his third term in the Senate on January 3, 2013.

General election results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Bill Nelson (incumbent)	4,523,451	55.2	−5.1%
	Republican	Connie Mack IV	3,458,267	42.2	+4.1%
	Independent	Bill Gaylor	126,079	1.5	n/a
	Independent	Chris Borgia	82,089	1.0	n/a
	Write-ins		60	0.0	n/a
Majority			1,065,184	13.0	−9.2%
Turnout			8,189,946
	Democratic hold		Swing

Hawaii

Hawaii election

Turnout	44.2% (voting eligible)
Nominee Mazie Hirono Linda Lingle Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 269,489 160,994 Percentage 62.6% 37.4%
County results Hirono:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
U.S. senator before election Daniel Akaka Democratic Elected U.S. senator Mazie Hirono Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Hawaii

See also: List of United States senators from Hawaii

Incumbent Democrat Daniel Akaka retired instead of running for re-election to a fourth term. Democratic Congresswoman Mazie Hirono defeated former Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle in a rematch of the 2002 Hawaii gubernatorial election.

Hawaii Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mazie Hirono	134,745	57
	Democratic	Ed Case	95,553	40
		Blank Votes	3,331	1
	Democratic	Arturo Reyes	1,720	1
	Democratic	Michael Gillespie	1,104	1
	Democratic	Antonio Gimbernat	517	0.2
		Over Votes	110	0
Total votes			237,080	100

Hawaii Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Linda Lingle	44,252	90
	Republican	John Carroll	2,900	6
		Blank Votes	749	2
	Republican	John Roco	545	1
	Republican	Charles Collins	366	1
	Republican	Eddie Pirkowski	232	0.5
		Over Votes	25	0.1
Total votes			49,069	100

Hawaii general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Mazie Hirono	269,489	62.6
	Republican	Linda Lingle	160,994	37.4
Majority			108,495	25.20
Turnout			430,483	44.2

Indiana

2012 United States Senate election in Indiana

Turnout	58.5%
Nominee Joe Donnelly Richard Mourdock Andrew Horning Party Democratic Republican Libertarian Popular vote 1,281,181 1,133,621 145,282 Percentage 50.0% 44.3% 5.7%
County results Donnelly:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Mourdock:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
U.S. senator before election Richard Lugar Republican Elected U.S. senator Joe Donnelly Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Indiana

See also: List of United States senators from Indiana and Rape and pregnancy statement controversies in the 2012 United States elections

Incumbent Republican Richard Lugar ran for re-election to a seventh term, but was defeated in the primary by Tea Party-backed Richard Mourdock. Congressman Joe Donnelly, a moderate Democrat from Indiana's 2nd Congressional District, received his party's nomination after running unopposed in the primary contest, and then defeated both Mourdock and Libertarian Andrew Horning in the general election.

Due to Lugar's unpopularity among some Tea Party voters on his positions regarding illegal immigration, voting to confirm then-U.S. Supreme Court nominees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, the DREAM Act, the START Treaty, some gun control bills, and congressional earmarks, he was challenged by a Tea Party-backed candidate.

The Indiana Debate Commission's GOP primary debate with Sen. Richard Lugar and State Treasurer Richard Mourdock was set to air at 7 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 11. In a widely published poll taken March 26 to 28, Lugar was still in the lead, but by the time of a second published poll from April 30 to May 1, Mourdock was leading 48% to 38% for Lugar.

Mourdock defeated senator Lugar in the Republican primary on May 8, 2012.

According to Indiana law, Lugar's defeat meant that he would not be permitted to run in the election either as a third party or an independent candidate after he lost the primary.

Indiana Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Richard Mourdock	400,321	60.5
	Republican	Richard Lugar (incumbent)	261,285	39.5
Total votes			661,606	100.0

Indiana Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joe Donnelly	207,715	100.0
Total votes			207,715	100.0

Mourdock became embroiled in a controversy after stating that pregnancy from rape is "something that God intended". His remarks were made during a debate on October 23, 2012, while explaining his opposition to abortion even in the case of rape. At the debate Mourdock, when asked what his position on abortion was, responded:

"I know there are some who disagree and I respect their point of view but I believe that life begins at conception. The only exception I have to have an abortion is in that case of the life of the mother. I just struggled with it myself for a long time but I came to realize: "Life is that gift from God that I think even if life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen."

Media speculated that this could affect the outcome of the Senate race and Presidential race, and multiple sources noted the similarities with the rape and pregnancy statement controversies in the 2012 United States elections.

Responding to the criticism, Mourdock issued a statement saying: "God creates life, and that was my point. God does not want rape, and by no means was I suggesting that he does. Rape is a horrible thing, and for anyone to twist my words otherwise is absurd and sick." He was later quoted at a press conference also saying: "I believe God controls the universe. I don't believe biology works in an uncontrolled fashion." He however refused to issue an apology, even while prominent Republicans, including Sen. John McCain, called for him to do so.

On election night Donnelly won by about six percent. He performed well in Marion County, home of Indianapolis. Donnelly also won areas with major college campuses, such as Indiana University in Bloomington, Purdue University in Lafayette. Mourdock performed well, as expected in the Indianapolis suburbs, such as Hamilton County. Mourdock conceded defeat to Donnelly at around 11:30 P.M. EST.

Indiana general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joe Donnelly	1,281,181	50.04	+50.04%
	Republican	Richard Mourdock	1,133,621	44.28	−43.08%
	Libertarian	Andy Horning	145,282	5.67	−6.92%
	No party	Write-ins	18	0.00	n/a
Majority			147,560	5.76	−69.49%
Turnout			2,560,102	56.20	+26.98%
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

Maine

2012 United States Senate election in Maine

Nominee Angus King Charlie Summers Party Independent Republican Popular vote 368,724 214,114 Percentage 52.9% 30.7%   Nominee Cynthia Dill Party Democratic Popular vote 91,635 Percentage 13.2%

King:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90% Summers:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      >90% Dill:      40–50%      60–70%      >90% Tie:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%

U.S. senator before election Olympia Snowe Republican Elected U.S. senator Angus King Independent

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Maine

See also: List of United States senators from Maine

Despite initially being in the race early on and poised to easily win, popular Republican Olympia Snowe suddenly retired instead of running for re-election to a fourth term. Former Independent Governor Angus King won the open seat. Following senator Joe Lieberman's retirement from the Senate in 2013, King became the second Independent incumbent senator, after Vermont's Bernie Sanders.

Incumbent Olympia Snowe won re-election to a third term in 2006 with 74.01% of the vote over Democrat Jean Hay Bright and independent Bill Slavick. Due to the unpopularity of some of Snowe's votes among conservative voters, namely for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and initial support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, there was speculation that she would face competition in the 2012 Republican primary from more conservative challengers. The Tea Party Express had promised to aid in a primary against Snowe. There had also been speculation that Snowe would switch parties, though she has always denied this. By June 2011, Snowe had officially entered her name with signatures to run in the Republican primary, saying, she "would never switch parties".

However, on February 28, 2012, Snowe announced that she would be retiring from the U.S. Senate at the end of her term, citing the "atmosphere of polarization and 'my way or the highway' ideologies has become pervasive in campaigns and in our governing institutions" as the reason for her retirement. Her announcement opened the door for candidates from all parties and creating a much more contested 2012 election.

The primary election was held June 12.

Maine Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Charlie Summers	20,578	29.46
	Republican	Bruce Poliquin	15,973	22.86
	Republican	Rick Bennett	12,544	17.96
	Republican	Scott D'Amboise	7,735	11.07
	Republican	William Schneider	6,784	9.71
	Republican	Deborah Plowman	6,244	8.94
Total votes			69,098	100.00

Maine Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Cynthia Dill	22,629	44.31
	Democratic	Matt Dunlap	18,202	35.64
	Democratic	Jon Hinck	6,302	12.34
	Democratic	Benjamin Pollard	3,945	7.72
Total votes			51,078	100.00

Maine general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Angus King	368,724	52.92	+47.55%
	Republican	Charlie Summers	211,114	30.73	−43.28%
	Democratic	Cynthia Dill	91,635	13.15	−7.44%
	Independent	Steve Woods	10,321	1.48	n/a
	Independent	Danny Dalton	6,450	0.93	n/a
	Libertarian	Andrew Ian Dodge	5,543	0.80	n/a
	Independent gain from Republican		Swing

Maryland

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Maryland

See also: List of United States senators from Maryland

Maryland election

Nominee Ben Cardin Dan Bongino Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,402,092 674,649 Percentage 55.4% 26.7%   Nominee Rob Sobhani Party Independent Popular vote 420,554 Percentage 16.6%

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

Incumbent Democrat Ben Cardin won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican nominee Dan Bongino and independent Rob Sobhani.

Maryland Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ben Cardin (incumbent)	240,704	74.2
	Democratic	C. Anthony Muse	50,807	15.7
	Democratic	Chris Garner	9,274	2.9
	Democratic	Raymond Levi Blagmon	5,909	1.8
	Democratic	J. P. Cusick	4,778	1.5
	Democratic	Blaine Taylor	4,376	1.3
	Democratic	Lih Young	3,993	1.2
	Democratic	Ralph Jaffe	3,313	1.0
	Democratic	Ed Tinus	1,064	0.3
Total votes			324,218	100.0

Maryland Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Daniel Bongino	68,597	33.6
	Republican	Richard J. Douglas	57,776	28.3
	Republican	Joseph Alexander	18,171	8.9
	Republican	Bro Broadus	11,020	5.4
	Republican	Rick Hoover	10,787	5.3
	Republican	John B. Kimble	10,506	5.1
	Republican	David Jones	8,380	4.1
	Republican	Corrogan R. Vaughn	8,158	4.0
	Republican	William Thomas Capps, Jr.	7,092	3.5
	Republican	Brian Vaeth	3,781	1.9
Total votes			204,268	100.0

In both 2010 and 2009, 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.

Maryland general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ben Cardin (incumbent)	1,402,092	55.41	+1.20%
	Republican	Daniel Bongino	674,649	26.66	−17.53%
	Independent	S. Rob Sobhani	420,554	16.62	N/A
	Libertarian	Dean Ahmad	30,672	1.21	+1.21%
	N/A	Others (write-in)	2,583	0.10	+0.05%
Majority			727,443	100.00
Turnout			2,530,550	68.23
	Democratic hold		Swing

Massachusetts

2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

Nominee Elizabeth Warren Scott Brown Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,696,346 1,458,048 Percentage 53.7% 46.2%

Warren:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Brown:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election Scott Brown Republican Elected U.S. senator Elizabeth Warren Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts

See also: List of United States senators from Massachusetts and 2013 United States Senate special election in Massachusetts

Incumbent Republican Scott Brown ran for re-election to a first full term. He had been elected in a special election in 2010 following the death of incumbent Democrat Ted Kennedy. Brown faced no challengers from his own party. For the Democrats, an initial wide field of prospective candidates narrowed after the entry of Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren, the architect of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Warren clinched near-unanimous party support, with all but one of the other Democratic candidates withdrawing following her entrance. After winning her party's nomination, eliminating any need for a primary, she faced Brown in the general election.

The election was one of the most-followed races in 2012 and cost approximately $82 million, which made it the most expensive election in Massachusetts history and the second-most expensive in the entire 2012 election cycle, next to that year's presidential election. This was despite the two candidates' having agreed not to allow outside money to influence the race. Opinion polling indicated a close race for much of the campaign, though Warren opened up a small but consistent lead in the final few weeks. She went on to defeat Brown by over 236,000 votes, 54% to 46%.

Democratic U.S. senator Ted Kennedy was re-elected in 2006, and died on August 25, 2009, from a malignant brain tumor. On September 24, 2009, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick appointed longtime friend of Kennedy and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul G. Kirk to succeed Kennedy until a special election could be held. Kirk's appointment was especially controversial, as the Governor's ability to appoint an interim senator was removed during the Romney administration by the Democratic-controlled legislature, as a precaution if senator and presidential nominee John Kerry was elected President in 2004. Laws surrounding Senate appointment were quickly changed following Kennedy's death. The Massachusetts Republican Party sued in an attempt to halt Kirk's appointment, but it was rejected by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly.

In the special election held January 19, 2010, Republican State senator Scott Brown defeated Democratic State Attorney General Martha Coakley in an upset victory. Brown thus became the first Republican to be elected from Massachusetts to the United States Senate since Edward Brooke in 1972 and he began serving the remainder of Kennedy's term on February 4, 2010.

Incumbent Scott Brown faced no challenges from within his party. The political action committee National Republican Trust, a group integral to Brown's election in 2010, vowed to draft a challenger for Brown but were unable to find one.

Massachusetts Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Scott Brown	133,860	99.46
	Republican	Write-ins	733	0.54
Total votes			134,593	100.00

The Massachusetts Democratic Convention was held June 2, 2012, where Warren received 95.77% of delegate votes. As the only candidate with 15% of delegate votes necessary to qualify for the primary ballot, Warren eliminated her challenger Marisa DeFranco, becoming the de facto nominee. The Democratic primary was held September 6, 2012, with Warren running unopposed.

Democratic primary vote

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Elizabeth Warren	308,979	97.59
	Democratic	Write-ins	7,638	2.41
Total votes			316,617	100.00

Brown ran as a moderate, stressing his ability to cross party lines and highlighting his votes for the Dodd-Frank financial reform law and to repeal "don't ask, don't tell". Warren campaigned on a platform championing the middle class, and supporting Wall Street regulation. Warren criticized Brown for continually voting with Republican leadership, and argued that he was not the bipartisan moderate he claimed to be. A staple of Brown's attack tactics against Warren was his consistent reference to her as "Professor Warren", in attempt to portray her as an elitist academic. Brown faced blowback after the second debate, during which he claimed conservative Antonin Scalia was a "model" Supreme Court Justice, prompting boos from the debate audience.

Warren spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention immediately before Bill Clinton on the penultimate night of the convention. Warren contrasted President Obama's economic plan with Mitt Romney's in the 2012 election and rebuked the Republican Party's economic policy stating: "Their vision is clear: 'I've got mine, and the rest of you are on your own.'" Warren positioned herself as a champion of a beleaguered middle class that, as she said, "has been chipped, squeezed and hammered." Brown attended the 2012 Republican National Convention, but was not a speaker there. According to Brown, he had rejected an offer to play a larger role, and limited his attendance to a single day because of scheduling demands.

Following Todd Akin's controversial "legitimate rape" comments, Brown was the first sitting senator to demand he drop out of the Missouri U.S. Senate race. He also called on his Party to "recognize in its platform that you can be pro-choice and still be a good Republican." Brown's campaign had been endorsed by many Massachusetts Democrats, many of whom were prominently featured in his campaign ads.

In September 2011, a video of Warren explaining her approach to economic policy gained popularity on the internet. In the video, Warren rebuts the charge that asking the rich to pay more taxes is "class warfare", pointing out that no one grew rich in America without depending on infrastructure paid for by the rest of society, stating:

There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. ... You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did. Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea. God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.

On July 13, 2012, President Obama sparked a controversy when he echoed her thoughts in a campaign speech saying, "Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business—you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."

Warren encountered significant opposition from business interests. In August 2012, Rob Engstrom, political director for the United States Chamber of Commerce, claimed that "no other candidate in 2012 represents a greater threat to free enterprise than Professor Warren." She nonetheless raised $39 million for her campaign, the most of any Senate candidate in 2012.

Despite President Obama's winning the state easily, and winning all of the state's counties, this race was fairly close. As expected, Warren performed very well in Suffolk County, which is home to the state's largest city and its capital Boston. Brown performed well in the southern part of the state near Cape Cod. Warren made history by becoming the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate in the state of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Elizabeth Warren	1,696,346	53.74%	6.6%
	Republican	Scott Brown (incumbent)	1,458,048	46.19%	4.9%
	All others		2,159	0.07%	0.9%
Majority			236,139	7.48%
Turnout			3,156,553
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing	6.2%

Michigan

Michigan election

Nominee Debbie Stabenow Pete Hoekstra Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,735,826 1,767,386 Percentage 58.8% 38.0%

Stabenow:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Hoekstra:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Debbie Stabenow Democratic Elected U.S. senator Debbie Stabenow Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Michigan

See also: List of United States senators from Michigan

Incumbent Democrat Debbie Stabenow was re-elected to a third term after being unopposed in the Democratic primary. The Republican nominee was former Congressman Pete Hoekstra. Stabenow defeated Hoekstra by a landslide 21% margin and by almost one million votes.

Michigan Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Debbie Stabenow (incumbent)	702,773	100.00
Total votes			702,773	100.00%

The GOP primary campaign was mainly a battle between Hoekstra and Durant as they were the most visible in running campaign ads. Despite Durant's attack ads, Hoekstra was leading in the polls for the Republican nomination.

Republican primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Pete Hoekstra	398,793	54.2
	Republican	Clark Durant	246,584	33.5
	Republican	Randy Hekman	49,080	6.7
	Republican	Gary Glenn	40,726	5.5
Total votes			735,183	100.0

Michigan general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Debbie Stabenow (incumbent)	2,735,826	58.8	+1.9%
	Republican	Pete Hoekstra	1,767,386	38.0	−3.3%
	Libertarian	Scotty Boman	84,480	1.8	+1.1%
	Green	Harley Mikkelson	27,890	0.6	−
	Constitution	Richard Matkin	26,038	0.6	+0.1%
	Natural Law	John Litle	11,229	0.2	+0.1%
	Others	Write-in	69	0.0	−
Majority			968,440	20.8
Turnout			4,652,918
	Democratic hold		Swing	2.6%

Minnesota

Minnesota election

Nominee Amy Klobuchar Kurt Bills Party Democratic (DFL) Republican Popular vote 1,854,595 867,874 Percentage 65.2% 30.5%

Klobuchar:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Bills:      40–50%

U.S. senator before election Amy Klobuchar Democratic (DFL) Elected U.S. senator Amy Klobuchar Democratic (DFL)

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota

See also: List of United States senators from Minnesota

Incumbent Democrat Amy Klobuchar was re-elected to a second term in a landslide, defeating the Republican nominee, State Representative Kurt Bills by almost one million votes, and carrying all but two of the state's counties.

Incumbent Amy Klobuchar was first elected in 2006 to succeed the retiring DFL incumbent Mark Dayton.

Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic (DFL)	Amy Klobuchar	183,702	90.79
	Democratic (DFL)	Dick Franson	6,832	3.38
	Democratic (DFL)	Jack Shepard	6,638	3.28
	Democratic (DFL)	Darryl Stanton	5,160	2.55
Total votes			202,332	100.00

Minnesota Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kurt Bills	63,380	51.12
	Republican	David Carlson	43,847	35.37
	Republican	Bob Carney, Jr.	16,755	13.51
Total votes			123,982	100.00

The Independence Party of Minnesota did not plan to run a candidate in the general election. Party chairman Mark Jenkins said in November 2011 that he saw the Senate election as "a distraction from having our best and brightest engaged in state legislative races". At the party's convention in June 2012, neither candidate was endorsed although Williams won a majority of the votes and came within two votes of the required 60% needed for the party's endorsement. He proceeded with his run for the Senate but the party focused its attention on state legislative races.

Minnesota general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic (DFL)	Amy Klobuchar (incumbent)	1,852,526	65.2	+7.1%
	Republican	Kurt Bills	869,089	30.6	−7.3%
	Independence	Stephen Williams	73,559	2.6	−0.6%
	Grassroots	Tim Davis	30,465	1.1	n/a
	Minnesota Open Progressive Party	Michael Cavlan	13,933	0.5	n/a
Majority			983,437	34.6	+14.4%
	Democratic (DFL) hold		Swing

Mississippi

Mississippi election

Turnout	59.7% (voting eligible)
Nominee Roger Wicker Albert N. Gore Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 709,626 503,467 Percentage 57.2% 40.6%
County results Wicker:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Gore:      40-50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
U.S. senator before election Roger Wicker Republican Elected U.S. senator Roger Wicker Republican

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Mississippi

See also: List of United States senators from Mississippi

Incumbent Republican Roger Wicker won re-election to his first full term over Democrat Albert N. Gore. Former U.S. representative Roger Wicker was appointed by Governor Haley Barbour after then-incumbent Trent Lott resigned at the end of 2007. A 2008 special election was later scheduled to determine who would serve the remainder of the term. Wicker defeated former Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove with 54.96% of the vote in the special election.

Mississippi Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Roger Wicker	254,936	89.17
	Republican	Robert Maloney	18,857	6.60
	Republican	Allen Hathcock	12,106	4.23
Total votes			285,899	100.00

Mississippi Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Albert Gore	49,157	56.77
	Democratic	Roger Weiner	21,131	24.40
	Democratic	Will Oatis	16,300	18.83
Total votes			86,588	100.00

Mississippi general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Roger Wicker (incumbent)	709,626	57.16
	Democratic	Albert Gore	503,467	40.55
	Constitution	Thomas Cramer	15,281	1.23
	Reform	Shawn O'Hara	13,194	1.06
Majority			206,159	16.6
Turnout			1,241,568

Missouri

2012 United States Senate election in Missouri

Nominee Claire McCaskill Todd Akin Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,484,683 1,063,698 Percentage 54.8% 39.1%   Nominee Jonathan Dine Party Libertarian Popular vote 164,991 Percentage 6.1%

McCaskill:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70-80%      80–90% Akin:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election Claire McCaskill Democratic Elected U.S. senator Claire McCaskill Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Missouri

See also: List of United States senators from Missouri and Rape and pregnancy statement controversies in the 2012 United States elections

Incumbent Democrat Claire McCaskill was unopposed in her primary and U.S. Representative Todd Akin won the Republican nomination with a plurality in a close three-way race. McCaskill was re-elected to a second term.

Time featured the race in their Senate article. Similar to other races, the article mentioned how McCaskill was fading in pre-election polls, and she was considered the most vulnerable/endangered Democratic incumbent that year. But Akin's comments about a woman's body preventing pregnancy if it was "legitimate rape" quickly shot McCaskill back up, winning her the election.

Missouri Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Claire McCaskill (incumbent)	289,481	100.00
Total votes			289,481	100.00

The Republican primary, held August 7, 2012, was one of the three most anticipated of summer 2012. This was due to the projected closeness of the Federal races in Missouri in November 2012, and the potential to change the control of the Senate in January 2013. Democrats believed that Todd Akin would be the weakest among the likely challengers for the Senate seat, and ads attacking him as "too conservative" were largely viewed as a veiled support for his nomination.

Missouri Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Todd Akin	217,404	36.05
	Republican	John Brunner	180,788	29.98
	Republican	Sarah Steelman	176,127	29.20
	Republican	Jerry Beck	9,801	1.62
	Republican	Hector Maldonado	7,410	1.23
	Republican	Robert Poole	6,100	1.01
	Republican	Mark Memoly	3,205	0.53
	Republican	Mark Lodes	2,285	0.38
Total votes			603,120	100.00

Libertarian primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Libertarian	Jonathan Dine	2,470	100.00
Total votes			2,470	100.00

While making remarks on rape and abortion on August 19, 2012, Akin made the claim that women victims of what he described as "legitimate rape" rarely experience pregnancy from rape. In an interview aired on St. Louis television station KTVI-TV, Aiken was asked his views on whether women who became pregnant due to rape should have the option of abortion. He replied:

Well you know, people always want to try to make that as one of those things, well how do you, how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question. First of all, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child.

The comments from Akin almost immediately led to uproar, with the term "legitimate rape" being taken to imply belief in a view that some kinds of rape are "legitimate", or alternatively that the many victims who do become pregnant from rape are likely to be lying about their claim. His claims about the likelihood of pregnancy resulting from rape were widely seen as being based on long-discredited pseudoscience with experts seeing the claims as lacking any basis of medical validity. Akin was not the first to make such claims, but was perhaps one of the most prominent. While some voices such as Iowa congressman Steve King supported Akin, senior figures in both parties condemned his remarks and some Republicans called for him to resign. In the resulting furor, Akin received widespread calls to drop out of his Senate race from both Republicans and Democrats. Akin apologized after making the comment, saying he "misspoke", and he stated he planned to remain in the Senate race. This response was itself attacked by many commentators who saw the initial comments as representative of his long-held views, rather than an accidental gaffe.

The comment was widely characterized as misogynistic and recklessly inaccurate, with many commentators remarking on the use of the words "legitimate rape". Related news articles cited a 1996 article in an obstetrics and gynecology journal, which found that 5% of women who were raped became pregnant, which equaled about 32,000 pregnancies each year in the US alone. A separate 2003 article in the journal Human Nature estimated that rapes are twice as likely to result in pregnancies as consensual sex. (See also pregnancy from rape.)

The incident was seen as having an impact on Akin's senate race and the Republicans' chances of gaining a majority in the U.S. Senate, by making news in the week before the 2012 Republican National Convention and by "shift[ing] the national discussion to divisive social issues that could repel swing voters rather than economic issues that could attract them". Akin, along with other Republican candidates with controversial positions on rape, lost due to backlash from women voters.

On October 20, at a fundraiser, Akin compared McCaskill to a dog. After being criticized, Akin's campaign aide wrote on his official Twitter page that if Claire McCaskill "were a dog, she'd be a 'Bullshitsu.'" The aide later said that he was joking. Akin was caught on tape commenting that "Sen. Claire McCaskill goes to Washington, D.C., to 'fetch' higher taxes and regulations."

Even though the last poll before the election showed Akin only losing by four percentage points, McCaskill defeated him handily, by a 15.5% margin of victory and a vote margin of 420,985. Both McCaskill and incumbent governor Jay Nixon, running at the same time, were able to get a large number of votes from rural parts of the state, something President Barack Obama was not able to do. McCaskill and Nixon were declared the winners of their respective races even before the known big Democratic strongholds of St. Louis and Kansas City came in. Akin conceded defeat to McCaskill at 10:38 P.M. Central Time.

Missouri general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Claire McCaskill (incumbent)	1,484,683	54.71	+5.13%
	Republican	Todd Akin	1,063,698	39.20	−8.11%
	Libertarian	Jonathan Dine	164,991	6.08	+3.83%
	Write-ins		251	0.01	n/a
Margin of victory			420,985	15.51	+13.24%
Turnout			2,713,623	64.75

Note: The ±% column reflects the change in total number of votes won by each party from the previous election. Turnout percentage is the portion of registered voters (4,190,936 as of October 24, 2012) who voted.

Montana

2012 United States Senate election in Montana

Nominee Jon Tester Denny Rehberg Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 236,123 218,051 Percentage 48.6% 44.9%   Nominee Dan Cox Party Libertarian Popular vote 31,892 Percentage 6.6%

County results Tester:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Rehberg:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election Jon Tester Democratic Elected U.S. senator Jon Tester Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Montana

See also: List of United States senators from Montana

Incumbent Democrat Jon Tester successfully ran for re-election to a second term.

Montana Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Denny Rehberg	105,632	76.2
	Republican	Dennis Teske	33,079	23.8
Total votes			138,711	100.00

Former president of the Montana Senate and farmer Jon Tester was elected with 49.2% of the vote in 2006, defeating incumbent Conrad Burns.

As of June 30, 2011, Jon Tester had saved $2.34 million in campaign funds. Tester has been accused by Republican Denny Rehberg's senate campaign of depending on financial contributions from Wall Street banking executives and movie stars.

On February 5, 2011, U.S. Representative Denny Rehberg announced his intention to run for the U.S. Senate. Steve Daines had announced he would seek the Republican nomination on November 13, 2010, but just before Rehberg's announcement he dropped out of the primary and announced he would instead seek the Republican nomination for Montana's at-large congressional district in 2012.

As of early July 2010, Denny Rehberg had saved $1.5 million of an original $2 million in campaign funds. Rehberg accused Democrat Jon Tester's senate campaign of depending on financial contributions from Wall Street banking executives and Hollywood while Rehberg's campaign relies primarily on in state donations. Tester's campaign countered that Rehberg has been funded by petroleum special interests and Wall Street.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee aired an attack ad against Jon Tester that mistakenly included a digitally manipulated photo of Tester (who has only two fingers on his left hand) with full sets of fingers. Another ad against Tester, from the Karl Rove group Crossroads GPS, falsely asserted that Tester had voted in favor of Environmental Protection Agency regulation of farm dust. In fact, Tester had praised the EPA for not attempting such a regulation. The vote cited in the anti-Tester ad concerned currency exchange rates.

In early October 2012, Crossroads GPS announced it would launch a $16 million advertising buy in national races, of which four were this and three other Senate elections.

Montana general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jon Tester (incumbent)	236,123	48.58	−0.58%
	Republican	Denny Rehberg	218,051	44.86	−3.43%
	Libertarian	Dan Cox	31,892	6.56	+4.01%
Margin of victory			18,072	3.72	+2.84%
Turnout			486,066
	Democratic hold		Swing

*Note: The ±% column reflects the change in the percent of the votes won by each party from the 2006 Senate election. Neither the vote shares nor turnout figure account for write-ins.

Nebraska

2012 United States Senate election in Nebraska

Nominee Deb Fischer Bob Kerrey Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 455,593 332,979 Percentage 57.8% 42.2%

Fischer:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Kerrey:      50–60%

U.S. senator before election Ben Nelson Democratic Elected U.S. senator Deb Fischer Republican

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Nebraska

See also: List of United States senators from Nebraska

Incumbent Democrat Ben Nelson retired instead of seeking a third term. Former U.S. senator Bob Kerrey, a Democrat, and state senator Deb Fischer, a Republican, won their respective parties' primary elections on May 15, 2012. Fischer won the general election with 58% of the vote.

Nebraska Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Kerrey	66,586	81.0
	Democratic	Chuck Hassebrook	9,886	12.0
	Democratic	Steven Lustgarten	2,177	2.6
	Democratic	Larry Marvin	2,076	2.5
	Democratic	Sherman Yates	1,500	1.9
Total votes			82,225	100.0

Nebraska Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Deb Fischer	79,941	41.0
	Republican	Jon Bruning	70,067	35.9
	Republican	Don Stenberg	36,727	18.8
	Republican	Pat Flynn	5,413	2.8
	Republican	Spencer Zimmerman	1,601	0.8
	Republican	Sharyn Elander	1,294	0.7
Total votes			195,043	100.0

Nebraska general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Deb Fischer	455,593	57.8
	Democratic	Bob Kerrey	332,979	42.2
Total votes			788,572	100.0

Nevada

Nevada election

Turnout	57.1% (voting eligible)
Nominee Dean Heller Shelley Berkley Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 457,656 446,080 Percentage 45.9% 44.7%
Heller:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Berkley:      50–60%
U.S. senator before election Dean Heller Republican Elected U.S. senator Dean Heller Republican

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Nevada

See also: List of United States senators from Nevada

Incumbent Republican Dean Heller, who was recently appointed to this seat left vacant by resigning U.S. senator John Ensign, was narrowly elected to his first full term over Congresswoman Shelley Berkley.

Ensign had been re-elected in 2006 over Jack Carter, son of former president Jimmy Carter, by a margin of 55–41%. Ensign's re-election campaign was expected to be complicated after it was revealed in 2009 that he had been involved in an extramarital affair with the wife of one of his campaign staffers, allegedly made payments to the woman's family and arranged work for her husband to cover himself.

Ensign faced an investigation from the Senate Ethics Committee and his poll numbers declined significantly. There was speculation that Ensign might resign before the election, but he denied these charges and initially stated he would run. However, he changed his mind and on March 7, 2011, Ensign announced that he would not seek re-election. On April 22, Ensign announced that he was resigning effective May 3. This is the only senate election in 2012 to vote Republican while Obama carried it on the presidential level.

Nevada Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dean Heller (incumbent)	88,958	86.3
	Republican	Sherry Brooks	5,356	5.2
		None of These Candidates	3,358	3.3
	Republican	Eddie "In Liberty" Hamilton	2,628	2.6
	Republican	Richard Charles	2,295	2.2
	Republican	Carlo "Nakusa" Poliak	512	0.5
Total votes			103,107	100.0

Nevada Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Shelley Berkley	62,081	79.5
	Democratic	Nancy Price	4,210	5.4
	Democratic	Steve Brown	3,998	5.1
		None of These Candidates	3,637	4.7
	Democratic	Barry Ellsworth	2,491	3.2
	Democratic	Louis Macias	1,714	2.2
Total votes			78,131	100.0

2012 United States Senate election in Nevada

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Dean Heller (incumbent)	457,656	45.87	−9.53%
	Democratic	Shelley Berkley	446,080	44.71	+3.71%
	Independent American	David Lory VanDerBeek	48,792	4.89	+3.56%
		None of These Candidates	44,277	4.54	+3.13%
Majority			12,034	1.20
Turnout			997,805
	Republican hold

New Jersey

New Jersey election

Nominee Bob Menendez Joe Kyrillos Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,987,680 1,329,534 Percentage 58.9% 39.4%

Menendez:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Kyrillos:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%

U.S. senator before election Bob Menendez Democratic Elected U.S. senator Bob Menendez Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in New Jersey

See also: List of United States senators from New Jersey and 2013 United States Senate special election in New Jersey

Incumbent Democrat Bob Menendez won re-election to a second full term. This was the first time since 1976 that a candidate for this seat received over 55% of the vote. Bob Menendez became the first Hispanic-American U.S. senator to represent New Jersey in January 2006 when former U.S. senator Jon Corzine appointed him to the seat after having resigned to become governor of New Jersey, following his election in November 2005. In November 2006, after a tough and painful election, Menendez defeated Republican state senator Thomas Kean, Jr. with 53.3% of the vote.

New Jersey Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Menendez (incumbent)	235,321	100.0
Total votes			235,321	100.0

New Jersey Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Joseph Kyrillos	161,146	77.1
	Republican	David Brown	18,671	8.9
	Republican	Joseph Rullo	16,690	8.0
	Republican	Bader Qarmout	12,637	6.0
Total votes			209,144	100.0

New Jersey general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Bob Menendez (incumbent)	1,987,680	58.87%	+5.50%
	Republican	Joseph Kyrillos	1,329,534	39.37%	−4.98%
	Libertarian	Kenneth R. Kaplan	16,803	0.50%	−0.15%
	Green	Ken Wolski	15,801	0.47%
	Independent	Gwen Diakos	9,359	0.28%
	Independent	J. David Dranikoff	3,834	0.11%
	Independent	Inder "Andy" Soni	3,593	0.11%
	Independent	Robert "Turk" Turkavage	3,532	0.10%
	Socialist	Greg Pason	2,249	0.07%
	Independent	Eugene M. LaVergne	2,198	0.07%
	Independent	Daryl Brooks	2,066	0.06%
Majority			658,146	19.49
Turnout			3,376,649

New Mexico

New Mexico election

Nominee Martin Heinrich Heather Wilson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 395,717 351,260 Percentage 51.0% 45.3%

County results Heinrich:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Wilson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%

U.S. senator before election Jeff Bingaman Democratic Elected U.S. senator Martin Heinrich Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in New Mexico

See also: List of United States senators from New Mexico

Incumbent Democrat Jeff Bingaman retired instead of running for re-election to a sixth term. Democratic U.S. Representative Martin Heinrich won the open seat. Incumbent Jeff Bingaman won re-election to a fifth term with 70.61% of the vote against Allen McCulloch in the 2006 U.S. senatorial election in New Mexico.

New Mexico Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Martin Heinrich	83,432	58.9
	Democratic	Hector Balderas	58,128	41.1
Total votes			141,560	100.0

New Mexico Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Heather Wilson	63,631	70.0
	Republican	Greg Sowards	27,214	30.0
Total votes			90,845	100.0

New Mexico general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Martin Heinrich	395,717	51.01	−19.81%
	Republican	Heather Wilson	351,295	45.28	+16.17%
	American Independent	Jon Barrie	27,649	3.6
	Write-in	Write-in	617	0.08%
Majority			44,458	6.1
Turnout			775,278

New York

2012 United States Senate election in New York

Turnout	53.2% (voting eligible)
Nominee Kirsten Gillibrand Wendy Long Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 4,822,330 1,758,702 Percentage 72.2% 26.3%
Gillibrand:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Long:      40–50%      50–60%
U.S. senator before election Kirsten Gillibrand Democratic Elected U.S. senator Kirsten Gillibrand Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in New York

See also: List of United States senators from New York

Incumbent Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand won re-election to her first full term. Gillibrand was opposed in the general election by Wendy Long (who ran on the Republican and Conservative Party tickets) and by three minor party candidates. Gillibrand was re-elected with 72% of the vote, by a margin of 46%, the highest margin for any statewide candidate in New York. Gillibrand performed 9 points better than President Barack Obama did in the presidential race in New York. She carried 60 out of 62 counties statewide. There was one debate, held in October 2012 where Gillibrand and Long debated various issues such as the economy, abortion rights, the debt and deficit, foreign policy, jobs, and tax and regulatory policy.

Governor David Paterson appointed then-U.S. Representative Kirsten Gillibrand to serve as U.S. senator from New York until the 2010 special election, succeeding former U.S. senator Hillary Clinton, who resigned to serve as U.S. Secretary of State in the Obama administration. Gillibrand won the special election in 2010 with 62.95% of the vote over former U.S. Representative Joseph DioGuardi.

According to preliminary results, Gillibrand won re-election by a landslide of over 70% of the vote on November 6, 2012.

New York general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (incumbent)	4,822,330	72.22	+9.22%
	Republican	Wendy Elizabeth Long	1,758,702	26.34
	Green	Colia Clark	36,547	0.60
	Libertarian	Chris Edes	28,315	0.50
	Independent	John Mangelli	20,223	0.30
	Write-in	Write-in	2,001	0.02
Majority			3,053,412
Turnout			6,677,666	100.00

North Dakota

2012 United States Senate election in North Dakota

Turnout	60.6% (voting eligible)
Nominee Heidi Heitkamp Rick Berg Party Democratic–NPL Republican Popular vote 161,337 158,401 Percentage 50.2% 49.3%
Heitkamp:      50–60%      60–70%      80–90% Berg:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
U.S. senator before election Kent Conrad Democratic–NPL Elected U.S. senator Heidi Heitkamp Democratic–NPL

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in North Dakota

See also: List of United States senators from North Dakota

Incumbent Democrat Kent Conrad retired instead of running for re-election to a fifth term. Though each party endorses a single candidate in state political conventions in the spring, North Dakota determines actual ballot access for the general election in a statewide primary election that was held June 12, 2012. Former Democratic-NPL Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp ran for and won the open seat in a close-fought victory.

North Dakota Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rick Berg	67,849	66.41
	Republican	Duane Sand	34,209	33.48
	Republican	Write-ins	111	0.41
Total votes			102,281	100.00

North Dakota general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic–NPL	Heidi Heitkamp	161,337	50.24	−18.26%
	Republican	Rick Berg	158,401	49.32	+20.04%
		Write-ins	1,406	0.44
Majority			2,936	0.92	−
Turnout			322,509
	Democratic–NPL hold		Swing

Ohio

Ohio election

Turnout	64.6% (voting eligible)
Nominee Sherrod Brown Josh Mandel Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,762,757 2,435,740 Percentage 50.7% 44.7%
Brown:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70% Mandel:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
U.S. senator before election Sherrod Brown Democratic Elected U.S. senator Sherrod Brown Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Ohio

See also: List of United States senators from Ohio

Incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown won re-election to a second term. He was unopposed in the Democratic primary and Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel won the Republican primary with 63% of the vote.

Ohio Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sherrod Brown (incumbent)	802,678	100.00
Total votes			802,678	100.00%

Ohio Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Josh Mandel	580,525	63.00
	Republican	Michael Pryce	130,370	14.15
	Republican	Donna Glisman	114,183	12.39
	Republican	David Dodt	47,278	5.13
	Republican	Eric Gregory	47,123	5.11
	Republican	Russell Bliss	1,927	0.21
Total votes			921,406	100.00

In 2006, U.S. Representative Sherrod Brown had defeated two-term incumbent Republican Mike DeWine 56%-44% 2006 election. Over the past six years, he established a very liberal, progressive, and populist record. The National Journal named Brown the most liberal U.S. senator in the past two years. The Washington Post called him a "modern-day Paul Wellstone." One article said "Brown is way to the left of Ohio in general, but probably the only person who could outwork Brown is Portman." Brown was the only candidate the 60 Plus Association targeted in the 2012 election cycle.

Mandel, 34, was elected state treasurer in 2010. Before that, he was a Lyndhurst City Councilman and Ohio State Representative. He was criticized as Ohio Treasurer for not fulfilling his pledge to serve a four-year term and for not attending any of the Board of Deposit monthly meetings. However, Mandel raised a lot of money. He was called a rising star in the Republican Party and was called "the rock star of the party." He was also compared to Marco Rubio.

Mandel's campaign was singled out by the independent fact-checking group Politifact for its "casual relationship with the truth" and its tendency to "double down" after inaccuracies were pointed out. The fact-checking group wrote: "For all the gifts Mandel has, from his compelling personal narrative as an Iraq war veteran to a well-oiled fundraising machine, whoppers are fast becoming a calling card of his candidacy."

Mandel raised $7.2 million through the first quarter of 2012. He had $5.3 million cash on hand, trailing Brown's $6.3 million. However, Mandel benefited from massive support from conservative out-of-state superPACs, which raise unlimited amounts of money from anonymous donors. These outside groups, including Crossroads GPS, aired over $60 million in TV advertising supporting Mandel and attacking Brown, outspending Democratically aligned outside groups by more than five-to-one. Mandel's campaign was aided by over $1 million spent primarily on attack ads by a 501(c)(4) organization called the Government Integrity Fund. The group was funded by anonymous donors and run by lobbyist Tom Norris of Columbus, Ohio-based Cap Square Solutions.

Brown did better than polls right before the election suggested. Instead of winning by two points (which polls right before the election had suggested) Brown won by six points. Republicans could not come back from the huge margins for the Democrats of Cuyahoga County, Franklin County, Lucas County, and Hamilton County.

Ohio general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Sherrod Brown (incumbent)	2,762,757	50.7	−5.90%
	Republican	Josh Mandel	2,435,740	44.7	+1.30%
	Independent	Scott Rupert	250,617	4.6	+4.58%
Majority			327,017	6.0
Turnout			5,449,414
	Democratic hold		Swing

Pennsylvania

2012 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

Turnout	59.4% (voting eligible)
Nominee Bob Casey, Jr. Tom Smith Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 3,021,364 2,509,132 Percentage 53.7% 44.6%
Casey:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      80–90% Smith:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
U.S. senator before election Bob Casey, Jr. Democratic Elected U.S. senator Bob Casey, Jr. Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania

See also: List of United States senators from Pennsylvania

Incumbent Democrat Bob Casey, Jr. won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican nominee Tom Smith, and Libertarian nominee Rayburn Smith.

The primary elections occurred on April 24, 2012, during which the Republicans and Democrats selected nominees for the general election. The Republican primary was a five-way contest. Tom Smith, the eventual nominee, faced David A. Christian, Sam Rohrer, Marc Scaringi, and Steve Welch. The Democratic primary was not heavily contested. Incumbent Bob Casey, Jr., defeated Joseph Vodvarka by a wide margin. The Libertarian Party nominated Rayburn Smith.

Casey led most pre-election polls and eventually defeated his opponents to win re-election to a second term in the U.S. Senate. In so doing, Casey became the first Democratic senator from Pennsylvania elected to a second term in 50 years.

Pennsylvania was considered a battleground state; since the 1970 election of Governor Milton Shapp, partisan control of the governorship had alternated between Democratic and Republican. Additionally, Republicans had controlled the State Senate since 1995, while Democrats assumed control of the State House following the 2006 election, only to lose control in the 2010 election, though the Democrats had won the state in every presidential election from 1992 to 2012.

Pennsylvania Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Bob Casey, Jr. (incumbent)	565,488	80.9
	Democratic	Joseph Vodvarka	133,683	19.1
Total votes			699,171	100.0

Despite many predictions of a close race, the election was not close. Casey, the incumbent, despite being seen as somewhat vulnerable, went into election night with most analysts thinking he would win. Casey would win by more than expected. This can be traced to several factors. Casey trounced Smith in Philadelphia County home of Philadelphia. Casey also won the surrounding collar counties of, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery, which are seen as vital in statewide elections in Pennsylvania. Casey also performed well in Allegheny County, home of Pittsburgh. Casey also performed well in Erie. Casey also performed strongly in the Scranton area. Smith did well in rural counties, but it wasn't enough to overcome the lead Casey had built in the huge population centers. Casey was sworn in for his second term beginning at noon on January 3, 2013.

Pennsylvania general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Bob Casey, Jr. (incumbent)	3,021,364	53.7	−4.9%
	Republican	Tom Smith	2,509,114	44.6	+3.3%
	Libertarian	Rayburn Smith	96,926	1.7	+1.7%
Majority			512,250	9.1	−
Turnout			5,627,404
	Democratic hold		Swing	-4.9%

Rhode Island

Rhode Island election

Turnout	58.0% (voting eligible)
Nominee Sheldon Whitehouse Barry Hinckley Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 271,034 146,222 Percentage 65.0% 35.0%
Whitehouse:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Hinckley:      50–60%
U.S. senator before election Sheldon Whitehouse Democratic Elected U.S. senator Sheldon Whitehouse Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Rhode Island

See also: List of United States senators from Rhode Island

Incumbent Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse was re-elected to a second term in a landslide by a 30% margin of 65% – 35%. Whitehouse won 53.52% of the vote in 2006.

Rhode Island Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Sheldon Whitehouse	60,223	100.00
Total votes			60,223	100.00

Rhode Island Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Barry Hinckley	6,890	100.00
Total votes			6,890	100.00

Rhode Island general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Sheldon Whitehouse	271,034	64.81	+11.29%
	Republican	Barry Hinckley	146,222	34.97	−11.51%
	Other	Write-ins	933	0.22	n/a
Majority			124,812	29.85	+22.81%
Total votes			418,189	100.00
Turnout			418,189	58
	Democratic hold		Swing

Tennessee

Tennessee election

November 6, 2012
Turnout	61.86% 11.89 pp
Nominee Bob Corker Mark Clayton Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,506,443 705,882 Percentage 64.89% 30.41%
Corker:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Clayton:      50–60%      60–70%
U.S. senator before election Bob Corker Republican Elected U.S. Senator Bob Corker Republican

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Tennessee

See also: List of United States senators from Tennessee

Incumbent Republican Bob Corker won a second term. Corker easily won the Republican primary with 85% of the vote. He faced Democratic Party nominee Mark E. Clayton as well as several third-party candidates and several independents.

Clayton won the Democratic nomination with 30% of the vote, despite raising no money and having a website that was four years out of date. The next day Tennessee's Democratic Party disavowed the candidate over his active role in the Public Advocate of the United States, which they described as a "known hate group". They blamed his victory among candidates for whom the TNDP provided little forums to become known on the fact that his name appeared first on the ballot, and said they would do nothing to help his campaign, urging Democrats to vote for "the write-in candidate of their choice" in November. One of the Democratic candidates, Larry Crim, filed a petition seeking to offer the voters a new primary in which to select a Democratic nominee among the remaining candidates the party had affirmed as bona fide and as a preliminary motion sought a temporary restraining order against certification of the results, but after a judge denied the temporary order Crim withdrew his petition

Tennessee Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bob Corker (incumbent)	389,483	85.25%
	Republican	Zach Poskevich	28,299	6.19%
	Republican	Fred Anderson	15,942	3.49%
	Republican	Mark Twain Clemens	11,788	2.58%
	Republican	Brenda Lenard	11,378	2.49%
Total votes			456,890	100.00%

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Mark E. Clayton	48,126	29.99%
	Democratic	Gary Gene Davis	24,789	15.45%
	Democratic	Park Overall	24,263	15.12%
	Democratic	Larry Crim	17,383	10.83%
	Democratic	Benjamin Roberts	16,369	10.20%
	Democratic	David Hancock	16,167	10.08
	Democratic	Thomas Owens	13,366	8.33
Total votes			160,463	100.00

Tennessee general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Bob Corker (incumbent)	1,506,443	64.89%	+14.18%
	Democratic	Mark Clayton	705,882	30.41%	−17.59%
	Green	Martin Pleasant	38,472	1.66%	+1.52%
	Independent	Shaun Crowell	20,936	0.90%	N/A
	Constitution	Kermit Steck	18,620	0.80%	N/A
	Independent	James Higdon	8,085	0.35%	N/A
	Independent	Michael Joseph Long	8,080	0.35%	N/A
	Independent	Troy Stephen Scoggin	7,148	0.31%	N/A
	Independent	David Gatchell	6,523	0.28%	N/A
	n/a	Write-ins	1,288	0.05%	N/A
Total votes			2,321,477	100.00%	N/A
	Republican hold

Texas

Texas election

Turnout	49.7% (voting eligible)
Nominee Ted Cruz Paul Sadler Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 4,440,137 3,194,927 Percentage 56.6% 40.5%
Cruz:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Sadler:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
U.S. senator before election Kay Bailey Hutchison Republican Elected U.S. senator Ted Cruz Republican

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Texas

See also: List of United States senators from Texas

Incumbent Republican Kay Bailey Hutchison retired instead of running for re-election to a fourth full term. Libertarian John Jay Myers was elected by nomination at the Texas Libertarian Party State Convention on June 8, 2012. After the first round of primary on May 29, 2012, a runoff was held July 31, 2012, for both the Democratic and Republican parties, with Paul Sadler and Ted Cruz winning, respectively. Cruz won the open seat.

Democratic runoff results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Paul Sadler	148,940	63.03
	Democratic	Grady Yarbrough	87,365	36.97
Total votes			236,305	100.00

Texas Republican primary runoff

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ted Cruz	631,812	56.82
	Republican	David Dewhurst	480,126	43.18
Total votes			1,111,938	100.00

Texas general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ted Cruz	4,440,137	56.46	−5.23%
	Democratic	Paul Lindsey Sadler	3,194,927	40.62	+4.58%
	Libertarian	John Jay Myers	162,354	2.06	−0.20%
	Green	David Collins	67,404	0.86	+0.86%
Majority			1,245,210	15.84
Turnout			7,864,822
	Republican hold		Swing

Utah

2012 United States Senate election in Utah

Turnout	55.4% (voting eligible)
Nominee Orrin Hatch Scott Howell Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 595,972 275,880 Percentage 65.2% 30.2%
County results Hatch:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Howell:      40–50%
U.S. senator before election Orrin Hatch Republican Elected U.S. senator Orrin Hatch Republican

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Utah

See also: List of United States senators from Utah

Incumbent Republican Orrin Hatch won re-election to a seventh term against former state senator and IBM executive, Scott Howell the Democratic candidate.

In 2006, incumbent Orrin Hatch won re-election to a sixth term. In 2008, Jason Chaffetz defeated the incumbent Republican U.S. Representative, Chris Cannon, in the 2008 primary for Utah's 3rd congressional district. In 2010, Mike Lee defeated Bob Bennett in the 2010 Utah Senate election. In March 2011, just-elected U.S. senator Mike Lee said he will not endorse Hatch in the primary. In May 2011, Chaffetz told several Utah political insiders that he planned to run, but he would not make an official decision until after Labor Day of 2011.

In June 2011, prominent conservative radio talk show host Mark Levin endorsed Hatch. The fiscally conservative 501(c)4 organization Club for Growth encouraged Chaffetz to run. The group cited Hatch's support for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, State Children's Health Insurance Program, No Child Left Behind Act, Bridge to Nowhere, and other votes among the reasons why they opposed his re-election. In an interview with Politico, Chaffetz stated, "After 34 years of service, I think most Utahans want a change. They want to thank him for his service, but it's time to move on. And for me personally, I think he's been on the wrong side of a host of major issues." The congressman cited Hatch's vote in favor of Equal Opportunity to Serve Act and the Health Equity and Access Reform Today Act of 1993. However, Chaffetz ultimately decided against a run.

Democratic convention results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Scott Howell	-	63.0
	Democratic	Pete Ashdown	-	37.0
Total votes			-	100.0

Utah Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Orrin Hatch (incumbent)	146,394	66.0
	Republican	Dan Liljenquist	73,668	34.0
Total votes			220,062	100.0

Utah general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Orrin Hatch (incumbent)	595,972	65.21	+2.85%
	Democratic	Scott Howell	275,880	30.19	−0.87%
	Constitution	Shaun McCausland	28,367	3.10	−0.67%
	Justice	Daniel Geery	7,444	0.81
	Independent	Bill Barron	6,261	0.69
Majority			320,092	35.02
Turnout			913,924	60.40
	Republican hold		Swing

Note: The ±% column reflects the change in total number of votes won by each party from the previous election. Neither the vote shares nor the turnout figure account for write-ins. Turnout percentage is the portion of registered voters who voted (1,513,241 as of June 11, 2012)

Vermont

Vermont election

Turnout	63.47% (voting eligible)
Nominee Bernie Sanders John MacGovern Party Independent Republican Popular vote 207,848 72,898 Percentage 71.0% 24.9%
Sanders:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
U.S. senator before election Bernie Sanders Independent Elected U.S. senator Bernie Sanders Independent

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Vermont

See also: List of United States senators from Vermont

Incumbent Independent Bernie Sanders won re-election to a second term in a landslide, capturing nearly three-quarters of the vote. Sanders also received the nomination of the Vermont Progressive Party, but declined both the Democratic and Progressive nominations after the primary.

Vermont Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John MacGovern	6,343	75.4
	Republican	H. Brooke Paige	2,073	24.6
Total votes			8,416	100.0

Vermont general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Bernie Sanders (incumbent)(a)	207,848	71.00	+5.59%
	Republican	John MacGovern	72,898	24.90	−7.46%
	Marijuana	Cris Ericson	5,924	2.02	+1.36%
	Liberty Union	Pete Diamondstone	2,511	0.86	+0.55%
	Peace and Prosperity	Peter Moss	2,452	0.84	+0.26%
	VoteKISS	Laurel LaFramboise	877	0.30	—
	No party	Write-ins	252	0.09	—
Margin of victory			134,950	46.10	+13.06%
Turnout			292,762	63.47(b)	+2.95%
	Independent hold		Swing

Note: The ±% column reflects the change in total number of votes won by each party or independent candidate.

Virginia

Virginia election

Turnout	66.4% (voting eligible)
Nominee Tim Kaine George Allen Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,010,067 1,785,542 Percentage 52.9% 47.0%
County and independent city results Kaine:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Allen:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
U.S. senator before election Jim Webb Democratic Elected U.S. senator Tim Kaine Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Virginia

See also: List of United States senators from Virginia

Incumbent Democrat Jim Webb retired instead of running for re-election to a second term. Former Governor of Virginia Tim Kaine was unopposed for the Democratic nomination and the Republican party nominated former senator and Governor George Allen through a primary on June 12, 2012. Kaine won the open seat.

Virginia Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George Allen	167,607	65.5
	Republican	Jamie Radtke	59,005	23.0
	Republican	Bob Marshall	17,302	6.8
	Republican	E.W. Jackson	12,083	4.7
Total votes			255,997	100.0

Once Democrat Jim Webb retired, many Democratic candidates were speculated. These included U.S. Congressmen Rick Boucher, Gerry Connolly, Glenn Nye, Tom Perriello and Bobby Scott. However, they all declined and encouraged Kaine to run for the seat, believing he would be by far the most electable candidate. Courtney Lynch, former Marine Corps Officer and Fairfax business consultant and Julien Modica, former CEO of the Brain Trauma Recovery & Policy Institute, eventually withdrew from the election, allowing Kaine to be unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Virginia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tim Kaine	2,010,067	52.87	+3.28%
	Republican	George Allen	1,785,542	46.96	−2.24%
	Write-ins		6,587	0.17	+0.07%
Majority			224,525	5.91	+5.52%
Turnout			3,802,196
	Democratic hold		Swing

Washington

Washington election

Turnout	64.1% (voting eligible)
Nominee Maria Cantwell Michael Baumgartner Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,855,493 1,213,924 Percentage 60.5% 39.5%
Cantwell:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Baumgartner:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
U.S. senator before election Maria Cantwell Democratic Elected U.S. senator Maria Cantwell Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Washington

See also: List of United States senators from Washington

Incumbent Democrat Maria Cantwell won re-election to a third term in a landslide.

Washington blanket primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Maria Cantwell (incumbent)	626,360	55.42
	Republican	Michael Baumgartner	344,729	30.50
	Republican	Art Coday	59,255	5.24
	Democratic	Timothy Wilson	26,850	2.38
	Republican	Chuck Jackson	21,870	1.94
	Republican	Glenn R. Stockwell	21,731	1.92
	Republican	Mike the Mover	16,459	1.46
	Reform	Will Baker	12,865	1.14
Total votes			1,130,119	100.00

Washington general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Maria Cantwell (incumbent)	1,855,493	60.45	+3.64%
	Republican	Michael Baumgartner	1,213,924	39.55	−0.36%
Majority			641,569	20.90
Turnout			3,069,417	81.25

West Virginia

West Virginia election

Turnout	46.3% (voting eligible)
Nominee Joe Manchin John Raese Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 394,532 237,825 Percentage 60.6% 36.5%
Manchin:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Raese:      50–60%      60–70%
U.S. senator before election Joe Manchin Democratic Elected U.S. senator Joe Manchin Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in West Virginia

See also: List of United States senators from West Virginia

Incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin won re-election to a first full term.

Robert Byrd held this seat in the U.S. Senate since 1959, after having served in the House of Representatives since 1953, making him the longest-serving person in Congress. Byrd led his party in the Senate from 1977 to 1989, as Majority Leader or Minority Leader. Afterward, as the most senior Democrat in the Senate, he served as President pro tempore of the Senate whenever his party was in the majority, including at the time of his death. After Byrd's death, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant initially announced that a special election would be held the same day as the regular election for the six-year term. However, that special election was rescheduled to 2010 for it to coincide with the 2010 mid-term elections. Governor Joe Manchin made a temporary appointment of Carte Goodwin to the vacant seat. Goodwin was later replaced by Manchin who won the 2010 special election.

West Virginia Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Joe Manchin (incumbent)	163,891	79.9
	Democratic	Sheirl Fletcher	41,118	20.1
Total votes			205,009	100

Raese filed a rematch against Manchin, arguing that he now had more material to criticize Manchin for. One example is how Manchin lost his long-time endorsement from West Virginians for Life because of his vote against defunding Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. Another example is how he is undecided about whether or not to support Obama's re-election campaign. Senior Obama campaign advisor David Axelrod commented in response, "His concern is about his own political well-being." In addition, he voted against U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan's Republican budget.

Raese wrote an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette saying about Manchin, "Yes, he'll talk like a conservative and act like he's fiscally responsible to appeal to more moderate voters, but under that outward appearance of a lovable rube is the heart of a tax-and-spend liberal."

Raese continued to make controversial statements. In April 2012, he equated smoking bans with Adolf Hitler's yellow badge. He said "in Monongalia County now, I have to put a huge sticker on my buildings to say this is a smoke-free environment. This is brought to you by the government of Monongalia County. Okay? Remember Hitler used to put Star of David on everybody's lapel, remember that? Same thing." That same day, he referred to President Franklin D. Roosevelt as "Fidel Roosevelt." Raese didn't apologize for his statements on Hitler saying "I am not going to be intimidated by a bunch of bullshit. I'm not apologizing to anybody or any organization. It's my perfect right to make a speech about meaningful subject matters in this country." He also called rocker Ted Nugent a "patriot" for criticizing President Barack Obama.

West Virginia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joe Manchin	394,532	60.55	+7.08%
	Republican	John Raese	237,825	36.50	−6.90%
	Mountain	Bob Henry Baber	19,231	2.95	+1.03%
Margin of victory			156,707	24.05	+13.98%
Turnout			651,588	52.79	+9.21%
	Democratic hold		Swing

Note: The ±% column reflects the change in total number of votes won by each party from the previous (special) election. Neither the vote shares nor the turnout figure account for write-ins. Turnout percentage is the portion of registered voters (1,234,367 as of January 10, 2012) who voted.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin election

Turnout	72.5% (voting eligible)
Nominee Tammy Baldwin Tommy Thompson Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,547,104 1,380,126 Percentage 51.4% 45.9%
Baldwin:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Thompson:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%
U.S. senator before election Herb Kohl Democratic Elected U.S. senator Tammy Baldwin Democratic

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Wisconsin

See also: List of United States senators from Wisconsin

Incumbent Democrat Herb Kohl retired instead of running for re-election to a fifth term. Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district ran unopposed for her party's nomination. The Republican nominee was former Governor of Wisconsin and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, who won with a plurality in a four-way race. In the general election, Baldwin defeated Thompson and won the open seat. She became the first woman elected to represent Wisconsin in the Senate and the first openly gay U.S. senator in history. This is also the first time Thompson lost a statewide race.

Democratic primary results

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tammy Baldwin	185,265	99.77
	Democratic	Write ins	424	0.23
Total votes			185,689	100

Wisconsin Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tommy Thompson	197,928	34.0
	Republican	Eric Hovde	179,557	30.8
	Republican	Mark Neumann	132,786	22.8
	Republican	Jeff Fitzgerald	71,871	12.3
	Republican	Write ins	244	0.04
Total votes			582,630	100

Wisconsin general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tammy Baldwin	1,547,104	51.41	−15.9
	Republican	Tommy Thompson	1,380,126	45.86	+16.4
	Libertarian	Joseph Kexel	62,240	2.07	+2.1
	Independent	Nimrod Allen, III	16,455	0.55	n/a
	Other	Scattered	3,486	0.12	+0.1
Majority			166,978	5.55
Turnout			3,009,411	72.5
	Democratic hold		Swing

Wyoming

Wyoming election

Turnout	58.9% (voting eligible)
Nominee John Barrasso Tim Chesnut Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 184,531 52,596 Percentage 75.9% 21.6%
County results Barrasso:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
U.S. senator before election John Barrasso Republican Elected U.S. senator John Barrasso Republican

Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Wyoming

See also: List of United States senators from Wyoming

Incumbent Republican John Barrasso won re-election to a first full term.

Republican state senator John Barrasso was appointed to the U.S. Senate on June 22, 2007, by then-governor Dave Freudenthal after U.S. senator Craig Thomas died on June 4, 2007. John Barrasso defeated Nick Carter with 73.4% of the vote in the 2008 special U.S. senatorial election to serve the remainder of the senatorial term. Barrasso remained highly popular in the state with 69% of voters approving of him.

Wyoming Republican primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Barrasso (incumbent)	73,516	89.9
	Republican	Thomas Bleming	5,080	6.2
	Republican	Emmett Mavy	2,873	3.5
	Republican	Write-in	279	0.3
Total votes			81,748	100

Wyoming Democratic primary

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Tim Chesnut	9,173	53.7
	Democratic	Al Hamburg	4,630	27.1
	Democratic	William Bryk	3,047	17.8
	Democratic	Write-in	222	1.3
Total votes			17,072	100

2012 United States Senate election in Wyoming

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John Barrasso (incumbent)	184,531	75.90	+2.55%
	Democratic	Tim Chesnut	52,596	21.60	−4.93%
	Wyoming Country	Joel Otto	6,138	2.60
Majority			131,935	54.30	+7.47%
Turnout			243,265
	Republican hold		Swing

See also

• 2012 United States elections
  • 2012 United States gubernatorial elections
  • 2012 United States presidential election
  • 2012 United States House of Representatives elections
• 112th United States Congress
• 113th United States Congress

External links

• U.S. Senate Elections in 2012 from Ballotpedia