The Green Papers: 2012 General Election
 
Copyright www.flags.net/UNST.htm 112th Congress
Senate Seats by State

This is a list of the current Senate seats and the incumbents occupying them. 33 Senate Seats are up for election on 6 November 2012.

There have been 1 death, 1 resignation, and 0 changes re: party breakdown in the 112th Senate.

  • Senator John Eric Ensign (Republican, Nevada Class 1) resigned on 3 May 2011 following an ethics violation.
  • Congressman Dean Heller (Republican, Nevada CD 2) was appointed to Nevada's Class 1 U.S. Senate Seat on 3 May 2011.
  • Senator Daniel K. Inouye (Democratic, Hawaii Class 3) passed away on 17 December 2012 due to a respiratory illness.
  • Lieutenant Governor Brian E. Schatz (Democratic) was appointed to Hawaii's Class 3 U.S. Senate Seat on 26 December 2012.

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Legislative Links     Senate Electoral Classes

           

Delaware  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Thomas R. "Tom" Carper
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 2000; re-elected 2006
[also served in U.S. House- elected: 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1990;
elected Governor: 1992; re-elected: 1996]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 11 September 2012 Primary

Florida  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic, 1 Republican

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Bill Nelson
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 2000; re-elected 2006
[also served in U.S. House- elected: 1978, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 14 August 2012 Primary

Maryland  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Benjamin L. "Ben" Cardin
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 2006
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 3 April 2012 Primary

Massachusetts  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democratic

Class 1
Seat up for election
Republican Senator Scott P. Brown
First elected in a special election to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Senator Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy: 19 January 2010. He replaced Senator Paul G. Kirk, Jr. (Democratic) who had been appointed by Governor Deval L. Patrick (Democratic) to temporarily fill the vacancy.
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 6 September 2012 Primary

Michigan  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 2000; re-elected 2006
[also served in U.S. House- elected: 1996, 1998]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 7 August 2012 Primary

Minnesota  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Amy J. Klobuchar
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 2006
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 14 August 2012 Primary

Mississippi  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Republican

Class 1
Seat up for election
Republican Senator Roger F. Wicker
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
Appointed 31 December 2007 to fill the vacancy caused by the 18 December 2007 resignation of Senator Trent Lott. First elected in a special election: 4 November 2008
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 13 March 2012 Primary

Missouri  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic, 1 Republican

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Claire C. McCaskill
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 2006
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 7 August 2012 Primary

Montana  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Jon Tester
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 2006
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 5 June 2012 Primary

Nevada  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democratic

Class 1
Seat up for election
Republican Senator Dean Heller
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First appointed: 3 May 2011.
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 12 June 2012 Primary
  
Senator John Eric Ensign (Republican) resigned on 3 May 2011. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000 and re-elected in 2006. He also served in U.S. House being elected in 1994 and re-elected in 1996.
On 7 March 2011, the Senator announced his retirement at the end of his current term.
On 21 April 2011, he announced his resignation effective 3 May 2011-- "While I stand behind my firm belief that I have not violated any law, rule, or standard of conduct of the Senate, and I have fought to prove this publicly, I will not continue to subject my family, my constituents, or the Senate to any further rounds of investigation, depositions, drawn out proceedings, or especially public hearings. For my family and me, this continued personal cost is simply too great."
On 27 April 2011, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval (Republican) announced that he would appoint Congressman Dean Heller (Republican, CD 2) to fill the seat of Senator John Eric Ensign (Republican) upon Senator Ensign's 3 May resignation.
The next regular election for this seat is on Tuesday 6 November 2012.


New Jersey  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Robert "Bob" Menendez
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
Appointed by Governor Jon S. Corzine to fill the vacancy caused by Corzine having resigned this seat 17 January 2006 upon taking the Oath of Office as Governor of the State; first elected: 2006.
[Previously served in the U.S. House to which he was first elected in 1992: subsequently re-elected in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004]
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 5 June 2012 Primary

New York  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
23 January 2009: Appointed by Governor David Paterson to fill the vacancy caused by the 21 January 2009 resignation of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in order to enter upon her duties as U.S. Secretary of State. Sworn 27 January 2009 to serve until a Special Election was held in November 2010 for the remainder of the term ending 3 January 2013. First elected in a special election: 2010.
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 26 June 2012 Primary

Ohio  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic, 1 Republican

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 2006
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 6 March 2012 Primary

Pennsylvania  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic, 1 Republican

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Robert P. "Bob" Casey, Jr.
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 2006
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 24 April 2012 Primary

Rhode Island  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, II
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 2006
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 11 September 2012 Primary

Tennessee  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Republican

Class 1
Seat up for election
Republican Senator Robert P. "Bob" Corker, Jr.
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 2006
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 2 August Primary

Utah  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Republican

Class 1
Seat up for election
Republican Senator Orrin G. Hatch
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 1976; re-elected: 1982, 1988, 1994, 2000, 2006
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 26 June 2012 Primary

Vermont  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 1 Independent, 1 Democratic

Class 1
Seat up for election
Independent Senator Bernard "Bernie" Sanders
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected: 2006 (ran as a Democrat in the primary and as an Independent in the General Election)
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 28 August 2012 Primary

West Virginia  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic

Class 1
Seat up for election
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, III
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
First elected in a special election to a partial term to fill the vacancy caused by the 28 June 2010 death of Senator Robert C. Byrd (Democratic): 2 November 2010. He replaces Senator Carte P. Goodwin (Democrat) who had been appointed by Governor Joe Manchin (Democratic) to temporarily fill the vacancy until the special election.
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 8 May 2012 Primary
 

In 2012 there will be 2 elections for this Senate Class 1 seat-- both held on 6 November 2012- the date of the General Election. The candidate who wins the 6 November 2012 special election will serve from November 2012 until January 2013. The candidate who wins the regular election will serve from January 2013 until January 2019. Reference: West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant's Statement On Procedure To Fill Vacant Senate Seat.


Wyoming  6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes
Partisan Composition: 2 Republican

Class 1
Seat up for election
Republican Senator John A. Barrasso
• Re-elected Tuesday 6 November 2012
Appointed: 22 June 2007 by Governor Dave Freudenthal; first elected in a special election: 4 November 2008
Seat up for election: Tuesday 6 November 2012
Renominated - 21 August 2012 Primary

Political Parties    Parties appear in parenthesis and italics when a candidate receives the endorsement of a given Party and/or official sources indicate a candidate's association with a particular Party but only where the Party in question does not appear on the actual ballot as such.

Major Parties
  Democratic
  Democratic-Farmer Labor
  Democratic-Nonpartisan League
  Republican
Major Third Parties
  Constitution
  Green
  Libertarian
  Reform
Other Third Parties
  America First
  Common Sense
  Conservative
  Democratic/Republican
  Grassroots
  Independence
  Independent American
  Independent Party of Connecticut
  Independent Party Of Delaware
  Justice Party
  Liberty Union
  Marijuana
  Mountain
  Natural Law
  Progressive
  Socialist Party USA
  Socialist Workers Party
  U.S. Taxpayers
  Workers World
  Working Families
  Wyoming Country
Independents
  Independent
  Independent Democrat
  No Party Affiliation
  Nonpartisan
  Unaffiliated
Write-in/Scattered/otherwise not readily classifiable
  None of these candidates
  Scattering
  Write-in
 

Notes

Candidates for office appear on this page in italics where 'The Green Papers' does not yet have independent confirmation from a legal election authority that the person has been officially certified to appear on the ballot.


"FEC" indicates the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Campaign Finance Summary.

When available, we post each candidate's FEC identification number, the date of their most recently filed Report of Receipts and Disbursements, their "Tot" [Total Receipts (contributions received or what came in: FEC Form 3, Line 16, Column B)] and their "Dsb" [Total Disbursements (expenditures or what was spent: FEC Form 3, Line 23, Column B)]. A link is provided to the Federal Election Commission's Summary Report for those who might wish to explore the details.

If a candidate raises or spends $5,000 or less, he or she is not subject to FEC reporting requirements.


Senate Class

Class 1 seats end their current terms at noon on 3 January 2013... next regular election for these seats is in 6 November 2012.
Class 2 seats end their current terms at noon on 3 January 2015... next regular election for these seats is 4 November 2014.
Class 3 seats begin their current terms at noon on 3 January 2011... next regular election for these seats is 8 November 2016.

For more information on Senate Classes refer to UNITED STATES SENATE: Electoral "Classes".


Article I, Section 3, clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States reads as follows:

"Immediately after [the Senate of the United States] shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year..."

Pursuant to this Constitutional provision, a three-Senator Committee was appointed by the Senate on 11 May 1789 to come up with a plan to carry out the requirements of that provision; this Committee reported to the Senate on 14 May 1789 a plan to divide the then 20 Senators (there were 10 of the 13 original States represented in the Senate at the time- each having 2 Senators: North Carolina and Rhode Island had yet to ratify the U.S. Constitution, while New York had so ratified but had failed to elect Senators as of that date) into the requisite three electoral Classes: under this plan, three groups of Senators (set up in such a way so as no State had its two Senators in the same group) were to be listed and the first Senator on each list (a list which was set up geographically north-to-south in the manner in which the Electoral Vote for President was counted before Congress at that time, so that two of the first Senators on these lists were from New Hampshire and the third was the first Senator in alphabetical order from Massachusetts) was to each blindly draw a piece of paper numbered either "1", "2" or "3" out of a box in the possession of the Secretary of the Senate. This plan being agreeable to the Senate and so approved, the drawing of lots in this manner was carried out the following day (15 May 1789)- such lot drawing ultimately determining that, to start with, Classes 1 and 2 were to have 7 Senators each and Class 3 was to have only 6 Senators.

When New York finally seated its two Senators during the ensuing Summer, there was another lot drawing (actually a double-lot drawing) on 28 July 1789 to determine the Classes for these seats: since one of the seats had to be Class 3 to make it equal in number to that of the other two Classes so far, the two New York Senators each blindly drew between two pieces of paper, one marked "3", the other which was blank- after this, there was a second lot drawing in which the New York Senator who had drawn the blank paper blindly drew again between two pieces of paper marked "1" and "2": he drew "1" so that New York would henceforth have Senators of electoral Classes 1 and 3.

When North Carolina seated its two Senators after ratifying the Constitution on 21 November 1789, there was yet another lot drawing (on 29 January 1790) in which North Carolina's two Senators each blindly drew between pieces of paper marked "2" and "3" (since there were now 12 States and, thus, 24 Senators: 24 being equally divisible by 3, there would now have to be 8 Senators in each of the three Classes to fulfill the Constitutional provision that, as nearly as was practicable, one third of the Senate be elected every second year).

After Rhode Island- the last of the 13 original States- finally ratified the Constitution on 29 May 1790 and subsequently seated its two Senators that Summer, there was yet one more lot drawing in the First Congress (on 25 June 1790) in which Rhode Island's two Senators blindly drew between pieces of paper marked "1", "2" and "3": one Senator drew "2", the other drew "1"- thereby determining electoral Classes 1 and 2 as those for the Senators from this State. When Vermont was admitted to the Union as the 14th state on 4 March 1791, there was again a double lot drawing as there had been for New York. From that day until this, whenever a new State has been admitted to the Union, these types of lot drawings (the type determined by the necessity of keeping the number of Senators in each electoral Class as close to one third as possible at the time of said lot drawing) between the new State's first Senators is held before the Senate to determine in just which of the three electoral Classes that State's Senate seats will be placed from then on.


 


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