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.

Quick Facts All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives 218 seats needed for a majority, Turnout ...

2012 United States House of Representatives elections

← 2010 November 6, 2012 2014 →
All 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives[lower-alpha 1] 218 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	52.0%[1] 11.1 pp
Majority party Minority party   Leader John Boehner Nancy Pelosi Party Republican Democratic Leader since January 3, 2007 January 3, 2003 Leader's seat Ohio 8th California 12th Last election 242 seats, 51.7%[2] 193 seats, 44.9% Seats won 234 201 Seat change 8 8 Popular vote 58,283,314 59,645,531 Percentage 47.7% 48.8% Swing 4.0% 3.9%
Results:      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold      Republican gain
Speaker before election John Boehner Republican Elected Speaker John Boehner Republican

Close

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,^[3] 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.^[4]

This disparity – common in close elections involving single-member district voting^[5] – has sometimes been attributed to targeted Republican gerrymandering in the congressional redistricting process following the 2010 United States Census.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} "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.^[11][9][12] The GOP also benefited from having a greater number of incumbents, who tend to have an advantage in elections^[9] 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.^[8][13]

As of 2023, this is the last congressional election in which the Democrats won a House seat in West Virginia.

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

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.

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.^[51]

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

In sixty-four races the margin of victory was less than 10%.

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.

Arizona gained one seat in reapportionment. A second open seat was created when a pair of Republicans were redistricted into the same district.^[54] Primary elections were August 28, 2012.

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.^[55] 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.^[56]

Primary elections were held August 14, 2012.

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.^[57] As a result, two incumbent Republicans, John Mica and Sandy Adams, were drawn into the same district, creating a third new seat.^[58]

Georgia gained one seat in reapportionment.