The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 6, 2012. It coincided with the reelection of President Barack Obama. Elections were held for all 435 seats representing the 50 U.S. states and also for the delegates from the District of Columbia and five major U.S. territories. The winners of this election cycle served in the 113th United States Congress. This was the first congressional election using districts drawn up based on the 2010 United States census. Although Democratic candidates received a nationwide plurality of more than 1.4 million votes (1.1%) in the aggregated vote totals from all House elections, the Republican Party won a 33-seat advantage in seats, thus retaining its House majority by 17 seats. Democrats picked up 27 previously Republican-held seats, but most of these gains were canceled out due to Republican pick-ups of Democratic-held seats, and reapportionment gains that benefited Republicans, leaving the Democrats with a net gain of just eight seats. This disparity — common in close elections involving single-member district (especially plurality) voting — has sometimes been attributed to targeted Republican gerrymandering in the congressional redistricting process following the 2010 United States Census. "Unintentional gerrymandering," — the high concentration of Democrats in urban centers—leading to "wasted votes" in districts that easily elected Democratic candidates, has also been cited as causing some of the efficiency gap. The GOP also benefited from having a greater number of incumbents, who tend to have an advantage in elections which may have helped Republicans win close elections for individual seats. In the 20th century, the party with a plurality of the popular vote was unable to receive a majority in the House on four occasions- 1952 and 1996, in which the Republicans held a majority in the House. Meanwhile, the 1914 and 1942 elections were the last time that the Democrats won a majority in the House without winning the popular vote. As of 2025, this is the last congressional election in which Democrats won a House seat in West Virginia.

Results summary

Federal

! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:center;" rowspan="2" colspan="2"| Parties ! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:center;" colspan="4"| Seats ! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:center;" colspan="3"| Popular vote change'''

Per state

Maps

Retiring incumbents

Forty-one Representatives retired. Thirty-four of those seats were held by the same party, six seats changed party.

Democrats

Twenty-two Democrats retired. Fourteen of those seats were held by Democrats, five were won by Republicans, and three seats were eliminated in redistricting.

Democratic held

Republican gain

Seats eliminated in redistricting

Republicans

Nineteen Republicans retired. Fifteen of those seats were held by Republicans, one was won by a Democrat, and three seats were eliminated in redistricting.

Republican held

Democratic gain

Seats eliminated in redistricting

Incumbents defeated

As a result of redistricting, many incumbents were forced to compete against each other in the same district, which resulted in a larger number of incumbents being defeated in primaries.

In primary elections

Thirteen representatives lost renomination: Eight were lost in redistricting battles pitting incumbents against each other, and five incumbents lost nomination to non-incumbent challengers.

Democrats

Seven Democrats lost renomination: five in redistricting and two to a non-incumbent challenger.

Seat held by a Democrat

These primary winners later won the general election.

Seat lost to a Republican

Republicans

Six Republicans lost renomination: three in redistricting races and three to a non-incumbent challenger. All the seats were held by Republicans.

In general elections

Democrats

Ten incumbent Democrats lost re-election; four to fellow Democrats and six to Republicans. Four losses were in California: two due to redistricting putting two incumbents together (resulting in a net loss of two for the Democrats) and two due to the state's top two primary. Two incumbents outside of California lost to Republican incumbents after being redistricted to the same district.

Seat held by a Democrat

Seat lost to a Republican incumbent

Seat lost to a Republican challenger

Republicans

Seventeen incumbent Republicans lost re-election.

Seat held by a Republican

One incumbent Republican lost re-election to a fellow incumbent Republican.

Seat lost to a Democratic challenger

Sixteen incumbent Republicans, ten of whom were first elected in 2010, lost re-election to Democrats.

Reapportionment

The 2010 United States census determined how many of the 435 congressional districts each state receives for the 2010 redistricting cycle. Due to population shifts, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania each lost one seat; and New York and Ohio each lost two seats. Conversely, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington each gained one seat; Florida gained two seats; and Texas gained four seats.

New seats

Twelve new districts were created after the 2010 redistricting process:

Seats eliminated

The following districts were eliminated and became obsolete:

Newly created seats

Of the 435 districts created in the 2010 redistricting, nineteen had no incumbent representative.

Democratic gain

Twelve Democrats were elected in newly created seats.

Republican gain

Seven Republicans were elected in newly created seats.

Closest races

Sixty-four races were decided by 10% or lower.

Election ratings

Special elections

There were six special elections in 2012. Winners would have a seniority advantage over other freshmen. Two elections were held separate from the November elections and four elections were held concurrent with the November elections.

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arizona gained one seat in reapportionment. A second open seat was created when a pair of Republicans were redistricted into the same district. Primary elections were August 28, 2012.

Arkansas

California

California retained its fifty-three seats: four new seats were created when four pairs of Representatives were redistricted to run against each other. An additional Republican incumbent, Gary Miller, won re-election in an entirely different district from the one he had previously represented. The election featured the first use of the top-two primary system in which primary elections list candidates from all parties on one ballot, and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election. Two elections (30th and 44th districts) featured two Democratic incumbents running against each other.

Colorado

Connecticut

Primary elections were held August 14, 2012.

Delaware

Florida

Florida gained two seats in reapportionment. As a result of the Fair Districts Amendment, approved by voters via referendum in 2010, the legislature could not take incumbency into account in drawing the lines. As a result, two incumbent Republicans, John Mica and Sandy Adams, were drawn into the same district, creating a third new seat.

Georgia

Georgia gained one seat in reapportionment.

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Illinois lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of incumbent Republicans into the same district.

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of incumbents, a Democrat and a Republican, into the same district.

Kansas

Primary elections were held August 7, 2012.

Kentucky

Louisiana

Louisiana lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of incumbent Republicans into the same district.

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Massachusetts lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of incumbent Democrats into the same district, although one, John Olver, retired in advance of the legislature's approval of new maps. Primary elections were held September 6, 2012.

Michigan

Michigan lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing a pair of Democrats into the same district. Primary elections were held August 7, 2012.

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Missouri lost one seat in reapportionment; two Democrats were drawn into the same district as a result. Primary elections were held August 7, 2012.

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

Nevada gained one seat in reapportionment.

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Jersey lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing two incumbent Democrats into the same district.

New Mexico

New York

New York lost two seats in reapportionment. After the legislature failed to reach agreement, New York conducted its 2012 congressional elections under a map drawn by a federal magistrate judge. Two incumbent Representatives saw their districts eliminated; one, Maurice Hinchey, chose to retire, while the other, Bob Turner, chose to run for the U.S. Senate. A third incumbent impacted by redistricting, Gary Ackerman, chose to retire, creating an open seat.

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Ohio lost two seats in reapportionment. Three pairs of incumbents were redistricted together, and one new seat was created.

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania lost one seat in reapportionment, forcing two incumbent Democrats to run against each other, with the seat ultimately being won by a Republican challenger in November.

Rhode Island

The primary election was held September 11, 2012.

South Carolina

South Carolina gained one seat in reapportionment.

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Texas gained four seats in reapportionment. After the initial redistricting map drawn by the Texas Legislature was denied pre-clearance by a federal district court under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, Texas conducted its 2012 congressional elections under a court-ordered interim map.

Utah

Utah gained one seat in reapportionment.

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

Washington gained one seat in reapportionment. Primary elections were held August 7, 2012.

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Non-voting delegates

Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner is elected to a four-year term during U.S. presidential election years. It is the only seat in the House elected for a four-year term. ! American Samoa at-large ✅ Eni Faleomavaega (Democratic) 55.2% Amata Coleman Radewagen (Conservative) 33.8% Rosie Fuala'au Tago Lancaster (Independent) 5.3% ! District of Columbia at-large ✅ Eleanor Holmes Norton (Democratic) 89.4% Bruce Majors (Libertarian) 5.8% Natale Stracuzzi (DC Statehood Green) 4.8% ! Guam at-large ✅ Madeleine Bordallo (Democratic) 58.4% Frank Blas Jr. (Republican) 38.4% ! Northern Mariana Islands at-large ✅ Gregorio Sablan (Independent) 79.7% Ignacia T. Demapan (Republican) 20.3% ! Puerto Rico at-large ✅ Pedro Pierluisi (PNP/Democratic) 48.4% Rafael Cox Alomar (PPD/Democratic) 47.2% Juan Manuel Mercado Nieves (PIP) 2.1% ! U.S. Virgin Islands at-large ✅ Donna Christian-Christensen (Democratic) 60.1% Warren Mosler (Independent) 17.1% Holland Redfield II (Republican) 11.1% Norma Pickard-Samuel (Independent) 10.1%

Footnotes