2012 United States Senate election in Virginia


The 2012 United States Senate election in Virginia took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate and House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Jim Webb retired instead of running for reelection to a second term, and former Democratic governor of Virginia Tim Kaine won the open seat over Republican former senator and governor George Allen. Kaine was unopposed for the Democratic nomination, and the Republicans nominated Allen through a primary on June 12, 2012. Allen had previously held this seat for one term before narrowly losing reelection to Webb in 2006 [United States Senate election in Virginia|2006].

Democratic Party

Nominee

Republican primary

In Virginia, parties have the option of whether to hold a primary or to nominate their candidate through a party convention. In November 2010, the Virginia GOP announced that it had chosen to hold a primary.

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in Primary

Withdrawn

  • Tim Donner, founder of Horizons Television and LibertyNation.com
  • David McCormick, attorney

Declined

Debates

Three debates between Republican candidates were announced before the primary on June 12, 2012. The debates took place in Richmond, Northern Virginia, and Hampton Roads.

Polling

Poll sourceGeorge
Allen		E. W.
Jackson		Bob
Marshall		David
McCormick		Jamie
Radtke		Undecided
July 21–24, 2011400±4.9%68%2%2%0%6%22%
Public Policy Polling350±5.2%67%2%3%2%5%21%
Public Policy PollingApril 26–29, 2012400±4.9%66%2%8%—3%20%
The Washington Post1,101±3.5%62%3%12%—5%18%

Hank the Cat

On February 27, 2012, a Maine Coon cat named Hank the Cat was announced to be running a write-in campaign as a joke candidate. Hank's campaign raised for animal charities throughout the world.

General election

Candidates

Only Allen and Kaine qualified for the ballot.

Debates

David Gregory moderated a debate between Kaine and Allen on September 20, 2012. Topics included partisan gridlock in Washington policy making, job creation, tax policy, and Middle East unrest.
External links

Campaign

Once incumbent U.S. Senator Jim Webb decided to retire, 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.

Fundraising

Top contributors

Tim KaineContributionGeorge AllenContributionKevin ChisholmContribution
League of Conservation Voters$76,568McGuireWoods LLP$76,950Valu Net$2,475
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld$51,650Altria Group$64,749Geolq Inc$1,500
University of Virginia$42,075Alpha Natural Resources$38,000--
McGuireWoods LLP$38,550Elliott Management Corporation$35,913--
Covington & Burling$36,700Koch Industries$35,000--
DLA Piper$31,750Lorillard Tobacco Company$34,715--
Bain Capital$30,000Alliance Resource Partners$33,500--
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom$28,250Dominion Resources$31,800--
Patton Boggs LLP$26,750Norfolk Southern$31,550--
Norfolk Southern$26,000Boeing$23,750--

Top industries

Tim KaineContributionGeorge AllenContributionKevin ChisholmContributionTerrence ModglinContribution
Lawyers/Law Firms$1,297,792Retired$709,693Misc Energy$250Lawyers/Law Firms$200
Retired$762,722Real Estate$384,038----
Financial Institutions$477,700Lawyers/Law Firms$348,459----
Business Services$373,900Financial Institutions$299,115----
Real Estate$372,829Leadership PACs$277,000----
Lobbyists$287,545Lobbyists$275,600----
Education$282,475Mining$197,206----
Misc Finance$218,600Oil & Gas$196,400----
Leadership PACs$201,500Insurance$159,065----
Entertainment industry$156,279Misc Finance$157,963----

Independent expenditures

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.

Polling

Democratic primary

General election

Poll sourceTim
Kaine 		Bob
Marshall 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 24–27, 2011524±3.5%49%35%—16%
CNU/Times-DispatchFebruary 4–13, 20121,018±3.1%39%28%4%29%
Public Policy PollingApril 26–29, 2012680±3.8%49%36%—15%

Poll sourceTim
Kaine 		Jamie
Radtke 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 24–27, 2011524±3.5%49%33%—17%
The Washington PostApril 28 – May 4, 20111,040±3.5%57%31%1%9%
Public Policy PollingMay 5–8, 2011547±4.2%49%33%—18%
Public Policy PollingJuly 21–24, 2011500±4.4%47%31%—22%
CNU/Times-DispatchOctober 3–8, 20111,027±3.1%46%32%3%19%
Public Policy PollingDecember 10–12, 2011600±4.0%49%33%—19%
CNU/Times-DispatchFebruary 4–13, 20121,018±3.1%40%26%3%31%
Public Policy PollingApril 26–29, 2012680±3.8%50%35%—15%

with Rick Boucher

Poll sourceRick
Boucher 		George
Allen 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 24–27, 2011524±3.542%47%—11%

Poll sourceRick
Boucher 		Bob
Marshall 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 24–27, 2011524±3.5%40%32%—28%

Poll sourceRick
Boucher 		Jamie
Radtke 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 24–27, 2011524±3.5%40%29%—31%

with Tom Perriello

Poll sourceTom
Perriello 		George
Allen 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingNovember 10–13, 2010551±4.2%42%47%—11%
Public Policy PollingFebruary 24–27, 2011524±3.5%41%48%—11%

Poll sourceTom
Perriello 		Bob
Marshall 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 24–27, 2011524±3.5%39%35%—26%

Poll sourceTom
Periello 		Jamie
Radtke 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingFebruary 24–27, 2011524±3.5%40%32%—28%

with Bobby Scott

Poll sourceBobby
Scott 		George
Allen 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingMay 5–8, 2011547±4.2%39%44%—17%

Poll sourceBobby
Scott 		Jamie
Radtke 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingMay 5–8, 2011547±4.2%39%34%—27%

with Jim Webb

Poll sourceJim
Webb 		George
Allen 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingJuly 31 – August 3, 2009579—43%44%—13%
Public Policy PollingNovember 10–13, 2010551±4.2%49%45%—6%
Clarus Research GroupDecember 7–9, 2010600±4.0%41%40%—19%

Poll sourceJim
Webb 		Bill
Bolling 		OtherUndecided
Public Policy PollingNovember 10–13, 2010551±4.2%48%39%—12%

Poll sourceJim
Webb 		Bob
McDonnell 		OtherUndecided
Clarus Research GroupDecember 7–9, 2010600±4.0%39%42%—19%

Results

Counties and independent cities that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties and independent cities that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Kaine won six of 11 congressional districts, including three held by Republicans.
DistrictAllenKaineRepresentative
52.75%47.25%Rob Wittman
47.94%52.06%Scott Rigell
20.65%79.35%Robert C. Scott
49.92%50.08%Randy Forbes
52.96%47.04%Robert Hurt
59.04%40.96%Bob Goodlatte
55.17%44.83%Eric Cantor
30.54%69.46%Jim Moran
61.86%38.14%Morgan Griffith
49.55%50.45%Frank Wolf
36.24%63.76%Gerry Connolly