The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012, to elect the four

U.S. representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from the state of

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

Overview

Redistricting

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

reflected a shift of population "primarily from rural western and northern Kansas to urban and suburban areas in the eastern part of the state." In spite of

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

political control of the governor's office, the

state senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

, the state house, and the entire U.S. Congressional delegation, redistricting had to be decided by a federal court. To decide the case, a three-judge panel was appointed by

Mary Beck Briscoe Mary Kathryn Beck Briscoe (born April 4, 1947) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Early life and education Briscoe was born in Council Grove, Kansas, and grew up on a farm ne ...

, the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit: Briscoe appointed herself, along with two judges from the District Court for Kansas: Chief District Judge Kathryn Hoefer Vratil, and District Judge

John Watson Lungstrum John Watson Lungstrum (born November 2, 1945) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Education and career Born in Topeka, Kansas, Lungstrum grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, wher ...

. According to the Court:

While legislators publicly demurred that they had done the best they could, the impasse resulted from a bitter ideological feud—largely over new Senate districts. The feud primarily pitted GOP moderates against their more conservative GOP colleagues. Failing consensus, the process degenerated into blatant efforts to
gerrymander In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...
various districts for ideological political advantage and to serve the political ambitions of various legislators.

Once redistricting was finalized in federal court, primary elections were held on August 7, 2012.

District 1

The redrawn 1st district will continue to encompass all or parts of 62 counties in western and central Kansas, and also taking in a sliver of the

Flint Hills The Flint Hills, historically known as Bluestem Pastures or Blue Stem Hills, are a region in eastern Kansas and north-central Oklahoma named for the abundant residual flint eroded from the bedrock that lies near or at the surface. It consists of ...

region. The district will now also include

Pottawatomie The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

and Riley counties, including

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and Kansas State University, but will no longer include

Barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

, Comanche, Edwards,

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

, Pratt, and Stafford counties, and parts of Greenwood,

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

, Nemaha, and

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska ...

counties. Republican

Tim Huelskamp Timothy Alan Huelskamp (; born November 11, 1968) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2017. Huelskamp, a member of the Republican Party, was rated the least bipartisan member of the House during the 114th ...

, who has represented the 1st district since 2011, ran for re-election. Huelskamp ran without challengers from any party.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

Primary results

General election

Endorsements

Results

District 2

The redrawn 2nd district will continue to encompass

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Unive ...

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...

Atchison Atchison may refer to: Places In the United States: *Atchison, California, a former settlement *Atchison, Kansas, a city *Atchison County, Kansas *Atchison County, Missouri People with the surname * Bob Atchison (born 1941), Canadian drag race ...

, Bourbon,

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

, Coffey,

Crawford Crawford may refer to: Places Canada * Crawford Bay Airport, British Columbia * Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Ontario United Kingdom * Crawford, Lancashire, a small village near Rainford, Merseyside, England * Crawford, South Lanarkshire, a ...

, Doniphan, Franklin,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

, Jefferson, Labette, Leavenworth,

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Places Germany * Linn (Gangkofen), a part ...

, Neosho, Osage,

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

, Wilson, and Woodson, and parts of

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

, and Nemaha counties. The district will now also include Montgomery County, parts of

County, and the remainder of Douglas and Nemaha counties, but will no longer include

, Riley, and parts of Miami counties. The district lost Kansas State University to the first district, but gained the state's other major college, the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

. Republican

Lynn Jenkins Lynn Haag Jenkins (born June 10, 1963) is an American politician and lobbyist who served as the U.S. representative for , in office from 2009 to 2019. She previously served as Kansas State Treasurer from 2003 to 2008, in the Kansas House of Repr ...

, who has represented the 2nd district since 2009, is running for re-election. Dennis Hawver is running as the Libertarian nominee.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Tobias Schlingensiepen, a pastor and police chaplain

=Eliminated in primary

= * Scott Barnhart, farmer and Lawrence attorney * Bob Eye, attorney

Primary results

General election

Endorsements

Results

;External links
Lynn Jenkins campaign websiteTobias Schlingensiepen campaign websiteJenkins, Schlingensiepen spar in 2nd District forum

The Topeka Capital-Journal ''The Topeka Capital-Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Topeka, Kansas, owned by Gannett. History The paper was formed following numerous name changes and mergers, including the merger of ''The Topeka Daily Capital'' and ''The Topeka State Jou ...

, September 30, 2012

District 3

The redrawn 3rd district will continue to encompass

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

and Wyandotte counties. The district will now also include the northeastern part of

County, but will no longer include the eastern part of

County. Republican

Kevin Yoder Kevin Wayne Yoder (born January 8, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Yoder was the Kansas State Representative for the 20th distr ...

, who has represented the 3rd district since 2011, is running for re-election. Joel Balam, a college professor, ran as the Libertarian nominee. Even though he lost, Balam's 31.5% set a new record for the highest percentage a Libertarian candidate ever received in any U.S. House election, mostly because Yoder had no Democratic opponent running against him.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

Primary results

General election

Endorsements

Results

District 4

The redrawn 4th district will continue to encompass Butler,

Chautauqua Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua br ...

, Cowley, Elk, Harper,

Harvey Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...

, Kingman, Sedgwick, and Sumner counties, as well as the southern part of Greenwood county. The district will now also include

, Comanche, Edwards,

, Pratt, and Stafford counties, the remainder of Greenwood County, and the southwestern part of

County, but will no longer include Montgomery County. Republican

Mike Pompeo Michael Richard Pompeo (; born December 30, 1963) is an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served under President Donald Trump as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 2017 to 2018 and as the 70th United State ...

, who has represented the 4th district since 2011, is running for re-election. Thomas Jefferson, a computer technician formerly known as Jack Talbert, is running as the Libertarian nominee.

Republican primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= *

, incumbent U.S. Representative

Primary results

Democratic primary

Candidates

=Nominee

= * Robert Tillman, retired court officer and candidate for this seat in 2010

=Eliminated in primary

= * Esau Freeman, painter

Primary results

General election

Endorsements

Results

References

External links

Robyn Renee Essex v. Kris W. Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State
from the U.S. District Court for Kansas
United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas, 2012
at Ballotpedia
Kansas U.S. House
at OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions for U.S. Congressional races in Kansas
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

Outside spending
at the Sunlight Foundation {{United States elections, 2012

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...