United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2012

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United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2012
← 2006 November 6, 2012 2018 →
  Amy Klobuchar, official portrait, 113th Congress.jpg Kurt Bills.jpg
Nominee Amy Klobuchar Kurt Bills
Party DFL Republican
Popular vote 1,854,595 867,874
Percentage 65.23% 30.53%
Mn-sen-2012-2.png
County results
U.S. senator before election

Amy Klobuchar
DFL

 Elected U.S. Senator

Amy Klobuchar
DFL

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The 2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate and House of Representatives as well as various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic–Farmer–Labor U.S. Senator 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.

Background

Incumbent Amy Klobuchar was first elected in 2006 to succeed the retiring DFL incumbent Mark Dayton. Klobuchar beat Republican candidate Mark Kennedy by 58% to 38%. Klobuchar served as Minnesota's only senator between January 3 and July 7, 2009, due to the contested results of Minnesota's senatorial election held the previous year, finally decided in favor of DFLer Al Franken.

DFL primary

The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party held its Senate primary on August 14, 2012.[1]

Candidates

Declared

  • Dick Franson, perennial candidate[2]
  • Amy Klobuchar, incumbent U.S. Senator
  • Jack Shepard, dentist, convicted felon, fugitive and perennial candidate[3][4]
  • Darryl Stanton

Results

Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary results[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
DFL Amy Klobuchar 183,702 90.79
DFL Dick Franson 6,832 3.38
DFL Jack Shepard 6,638 3.28
DFL Darryl Stanton 5,160 2.55
Total votes 202,332 100

Republican primary

The Republican Party of Minnesota held its nominating convention in May 2012 and held its Senate primary on August 14, 2012.[1]

Candidates

Declared

  • Kurt Bills, state representative; won May 2012 convention nomination[6]
  • David Carlson, former Marine Corps sergeant; candidate in August 2012 primary
  • Bob Carney Jr., inventor, independent businessman; finished 2nd in 2010 GOP primary for Governor of Minnesota, candidate in August 2012 primary[7]

Withdrew

  • Joe Arwood, St. Bonifacius city councilman; withdrew before May 2012 convention
  • Pete Hegseth, executive director of Vets for Freedom; withdrew after May 2012 convention
  • Anthony Hernandez, former state senate candidate; withdrew before May 2012 convention to run for Congress against Rep. Betty McCollum.
  • Dan Severson, former state representative; withdrew after May 2012 convention

Declined

Results

Republican primary results[5]
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

Independence primary

Campaign

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".[17] 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.[18]

Candidates

Results

Independence Party primary results[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Independence Stephen Williams 3,068 59.67
Independence Glen R. Anderson Menze 2,074 40.33
Total votes 5,142 100

General election

Candidates

Debates

Klobuchar and Bills held their second debate on August 29, 2012 at the State Fair, sponsored by MPR News. Their third debate, on September 16 in Duluth, was about the nation's struggle with deficit spending and unemployment. The audience was assembled by the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce and Duluth News Tribune.[20]

External links
  • Complete video at Minnesota Public Radio, second debate, August 29, 2012
  • Audio from Minnesota Public Radio, third debate, September 18, 2012

Fundraising

Candidate (party) Receipts Disbursements Cash on hand Debt Current Through
Amy Klobuchar (DFL) $6,301,413 $2,530,567 $5,393,798 $0 7/25/2012
Kurt Bills (R) $394,547 $388,720 $5,841 $0 7/25/2012
Source: Federal Election Commission[21]

Top contributors

This section lists the top contributors by employer. These organizations themselves didn't donate, but these numbers include donations from their PACs, members, employees, owners, and their immediate families.

Amy Klobuchar Contribution Kurt Bills Contribution
Dorsey & Whitney $61,100 Liberty PAC $10,000
Target Corp $56,050 Craw $10,000
General Mills $51,750 Primera Technology $10,000
U.S. Bancorp $51,139 Minnesota Limited Pipeline $7,500
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi $49,150 Ameriprise Financial $5,000
Medtronic Inc. $41,025 Bachmann for Congress $5,000
Toys R Us $36,500 Exactdrive $5,000
Leonard, Street & Deinard $34,350 New Spark Holdings $5,000
Comcast Corp $33,623 TACPAC $5,000
Wells Fargo $32,400 Twin City Fan Companies $5,000
Source: Center for Responsive Politics,[22] Current through: 9/3/2012

Top industries

Amy Klobuchar Contribution Kurt Bills Contribution
Lawyers/Law Firms $989,929 Leadership PACs $17,850
Retired $447,082 Republican/Conservative $13,750
Leadership PACs $302,150 Financial Institutions $13,250
Lobbyists $282,430 Real Estate $12,550
Financial Institutions $269,033 Retired $10,350
Entertainment industry $256,711 Energy Industry $10,250
Women's Issues $196,866 Electronics Manufacturing $10,000
Retail industry $181,850 Misc. Business $9,450
Commercial Banks $159,139 Manufacturing & Distributing $7,850
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $149,725 Computers/Internet $7,350
Source: Center for Responsive Politics,[23] Current through: 9/3/2012

Polling

Poll source Date(s)
administered		 Sample
size		 Margin of
error		 Amy
Klobuchar (DFL)		 Kurt
Bills (R)		 Other Undecided
Public Policy Polling November 2–3, 2012 1,164 ± 2.9% 62% 32% — 6%
KSTP/SurveyUSA November 1–3, 2012 556 ± 4.2% 60% 30% 3% 7%
SurveyUSA October 26–28, 2012 574 ± 4.1% 60% 29% 4% 7%
Star Tribune/Mason-Dixon October 23–25, 2012 800 ± 3.5% 65% 22% — 13%
Rasmussen Reports October 21, 2012 500 ± 4.5% 56% 33% 2% 9%
St. Cloud State U. October 15–21, 2012 600 ± 5% 63% 36% 1% —
SurveyUSA/KSTP October 12–14, 2012 550 ± 4.2% 58% 30% 5% 7%
Public Policy Polling October 5–8, 2012 937 ± 3.2% 57% 31% — 12%
Star Tribune/Mason-Dixon September 17–19, 2012 800 ± 3.5% 57% 28% 7% 8%
Public Policy Polling September 10–11, 2012 824 ± 3.4% 55% 36% — 10%
KSTP/Survey USA September 6–9, 2012 551 ± 4.2% 55% 34% — 11%
Survey USA July 17–19, 2012 552 ± 4.3% 55% 31% 5% 9%
Public Policy Polling May 31–June 3, 2012 973 ± 3.1% 55% 29% — 16%

Results

[24]

United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2012
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
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
Open Progressive Michael Cavlan 13,933 0.5 n/a
Majority 983,437 34.6 +14.4
Turnout
DFL hold Swing

See also

References

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External links

Official campaign websites
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=239
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ "Bills wins GOP nod for U.S. Senate", by Rachel E. Stassen, May 18, 2012, Minneapolis Star Tribune
  7. ↑ "Minnesota's Cookie Cutter GOP", by Bob Carney Jr., May 27, 2012, Minneapolis Star Tribune
  8. ↑ http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/138040813.html
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/127703568.html
  14. ↑ http://www.rollcall.com/news/pawlenty_rules_out_senate_run_after_ending_presidential_bid-208214-1.html?pos=hln
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/09/18/politics/klobuchar-bills-debate/
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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