The Green Papers: 2011 Off-Year Election |
112th Congress Senate Seats by State |
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Arizona 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Republican | |||||
Republican | Wilford R. "Wil" Cardon FEC S2AZ00190; 30 Sep 11; Tot $1,218,096; Dsb $83,022 |
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Republican | Congressman Jeff Flake CD 6 FEC S2AZ00141; 30 Sep 11; Tot $1,517,128; Dsb $769,064 |
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Republican | Bryan Karl Hackbarth FEC S2AZ00166; 15 Oct 11; Tot $4,985; Dsb $4,939 |
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10 February 2011: Announced retirement FEC S4AZ00030; 30 Sep 11; Tot $35,883; Dsb $204,878 |
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Republican | John Jeffrey Lyon FEC S2AZ00240 |
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Republican | Douglas Craig "Doug" McKee FEC S2AZ00174; 30 Sep 11; Tot $26,350; Dsb $15,203 |
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Republican | Clair "Van the Radio Man" Van Steenwyk FEC S2AZ00216 |
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California 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
Republican | Timothy Charles "Tim" Kalemkarian Also running for Congress CD 24 and the Presidency in 2012 FEC S6CA00477 |
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Republican | John Edward Boruff FEC S2CA00666 |
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Republican | Elizabeth Emken FEC S2CA00641 |
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Republican | Keith Mallory Holbrook FEC S2CA00609; 02 Aug 11; Tot $500; Dsb $496 |
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Republican | Daniel J. "Dan" Hughes FEC S2CA00682 |
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Republican | Dirk Allen Konopik FEC S2CA00625; 30 Sep 11; Tot $18,844; Dsb $16,370 |
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Republican | Jonathan Durand Owens FEC S2CA00658 |
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Republican | Michael Alan Stollaire Also Known Aa: Michael Alan Stollery FEC S2CA00617; 15 Oct 11; Tot $2,960; Dsb $40 |
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Republican | Orly Taitz FEC S2CA00633 |
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Connecticut 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 1 Independent Democrat, 1 Democratic | |||||
Republican | Brian Keith Hill 16 July 2010: Filed as an Independent with the FEC for the 2010 election. 8 June 2011: Filed as a Republican with the FEC for the 2012 election. FEC S0CT00219; 30 Sep 11; Tot $7,588; Dsb $7,186 |
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Republican | Pjerin "Peter" Lumaj FEC S2CT00173 |
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Republican | former Vernon Mayor Jason L. McCoy FEC S2CT00199 |
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Republican | Linda E. McMahon FEC S0CT00151; 30 Sep 11; Tot $760,006; Dsb $760,800 |
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Republican | former Congressman Christopher H. "Chris" Shays FEC S2CT00165 |
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Republican | Kie Westby FEC S2CT00181 |
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Delaware 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
Republican | Kevin L. Wade | ||||
Florida 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic, 1 Republican | |||||
Republican | Akinyemi Agbede FEC S2FL00235 |
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Republican | George Edward Bollinger | ||||
Republican | William E. "Bill" Fisher, Jr. | ||||
28 September 2011: Withdrew |
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18 July 2011: " I am announcing that I will no longer be a candidate for the United States Senate nor will I seek any other office this year or next." FEC S2FL00193; 30 Sep 11; Tot $3,533,573; Dsb $2,017,360 |
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Republican | former state Representative Adam Hasner FEC S2FL00250; 30 Sep 11; Tot $1,100,358; Dsb $314,639 |
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Republican | Alexander Ilnyckyj | ||||
Republican | Joshua "Josue" Larose FEC S2FL00185; 30 Sep 11; Tot $0; Dsb $0 |
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Republican | former Senator George S. LeMieux Appointed to the U.S. Senate 9 September 2009 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Melquiades R. Martinez. Served from 10 September 2009 to 3 January 2011. Did not run in 2010. FEC S2FL00227; 30 Sep 11; Tot $1,354,516; Dsb $331,435 |
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Republican | Deon Long FEC S2FL00284; 30 Sep 11; Tot $2,200; Dsb $0 |
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Republican | Congressman Connie Mack 28 November 2011: Announced his candidacy for the Florida Class 1 Senate seat in 2012. FEC H4FL14059; 30 Sep 11; Tot $423,716; Dsb $485,089 |
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Republican | Michael E. "Mike" McCalister FEC S2FL00201; 30 Sep 11; Tot $94,655; Dsb $18,711 |
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Republican | Ronald A. "Ron" McNeil FEC S2FL00318 |
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Republican | Craig S. Miller FEC S2FL00276; 30 Sep 11; Tot $226,184; Dsb $81,183 |
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18 July 2011: Withdrew FEC S2FL00219; 30 Sep 11; Tot $3,678; Dsb $3,278 |
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Republican | Mirand Reeb Sharma FEC S2FL00268 |
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Republican | Marielena Stuart FEC S2FL00300; 30 Sep 11; Tot $3,843; Dsb $3,791 |
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Hawaii 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
Republican | former state Senator John S. Carroll FEC S0HI00126; 30 Sep 11; Tot $5,500; Dsb $5,000 |
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Republican | former Governor Linda Lingle FEC S2HI00114 |
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Indiana 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Republican | |||||
Republican | Senator Richard G. Lugar FEC S4IN00014; 30 Sep 11; Tot $2,727,933; Dsb $1,275,109 |
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Republican | Treasurer Richard E. Mourdock FEC S2IN00083; 30 Sep 11; Tot $904,084; Dsb $612,445 |
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Republican | Bob Thomas | ||||
Maine 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Republican | |||||
Republican | Laurence Scott "Scott" D'Amboise FEC S2ME00042; 30 Sep 11; Tot $364,533; Dsb $182,512 |
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Republican | Andrew Ian Dodge Tea Party Patriots FEC S2ME00059 |
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Republican | Senator Olympia J. Snowe FEC S4ME00055; 30 Sep 11; Tot $2,683,578; Dsb $699,942 |
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Maryland 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
Republican | Daniel J. Bongino FEC S2MD00370; 30 Sep 11; Tot $64,180; Dsb $32,713 |
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Republican | William Thomas Capps, Jr. FEC S2MD00354; 30 Sep 11; Tot $606; Dsb $547 |
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Republican | Richard James Douglas FEC S2MD00388; 30 Sep 11; Tot $9,168; Dsb $9,168 |
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Republican | Rick Hoover | ||||
Republican | David Jones | ||||
3 November 2011: Announced that he will not run for the Senate. |
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Massachusetts 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democratic | |||||
Republican | Senator Scott P. Brown FEC S0MA00109; 30 Sep 11; Tot $5,325,218; Dsb $1,974,045 |
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Michigan 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
12 June 2011: "...I have decided NOT to run for the U.S. Senate in 2012." |
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Republican | Scott Avery "Scotty" Boman Libertarian FEC S8MI00315 |
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Republican | Chad Michael Dewey FEC S2MI00151; 10 Aug 11; Tot $0; Dsb $0 |
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Republican | Clark Durant FEC S0MI00056; 30 Sep 11; Tot $758,679; Dsb $56,944 |
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Republican | Gary Richard Glenn FEC S2MI00219; 30 Sep 11; Tot $24,057; Dsb $13,895 |
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Republican | former Juvenile Court Judge Randall John "Randy" Hekman FEC S2MI00177; 30 Sep 11; Tot $89,450; Dsb $62,771 |
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Republican | former Congressman Peter "Pete" Hoekstra FEC S2MI00193; 30 Sep 11; Tot $1,017,797; Dsb $70,166 |
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Republican | Peter D. Konetchy FEC S2MI00169; 30 Sep 11; Tot $9,415; Dsb $9,344 |
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Republican | Chuck Marino FEC S2MI00227 |
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26 July 2011: Dropped out endorsing former Congressman Pete Hoekstra FEC S2MI00201; 31 Aug 11; Tot $0; Dsb $0 |
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2 August 2011: "The campaign to defeat Debbie Stabenow will take ... 100% ... I cannot give all of my time to a campaign. I will not run ...." |
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Republican | Fredrick Phillip "Rick" Wilson FEC S2MI00185; 30 Sep 11; Tot $4,557; Dsb $4,466 |
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Minnesota 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
Republican | St. Bonifacius City Councilman Joe Edward Arwood, III FEC S2MN00233; 30 Sep 11; Tot $10,534; Dsb $3,356 |
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Republican | Anthony John Hernandez FEC S2MN00241 |
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Republican | former state Representative Daniel Mark "Dan" "Doc" Severson FEC S2MN00225; 30 Sep 11; Tot $42,386; Dsb $14,565 |
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Mississippi 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Republican | |||||
Republican | Senator Roger F. Wicker FEC S8MS00196; 30 Sep 11; Tot $1,856,400; Dsb $232,928 |
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Missouri 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic, 1 Republican | |||||
Republican | Congressman William Todd "Todd" Akin FEC S2MO00429; 30 Sep 11; Tot $1,255,164; Dsb $539,350 |
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Republican | John Brunner FEC S2MO00437 |
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Republican | Sarah Steelman FEC S2MO00403; 30 Sep 11; Tot $883,593; Dsb $510,510 |
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Montana 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
Republican | Congressman Dennis Ray "Denny" Rehberg Congressman At-Large FEC S6MT00097; 30 Sep 11; Tot $2,659,002; Dsb $855,820 |
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Nebraska 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic, 1 Republican | |||||
Republican | Attorney General Jon C. Bruning FEC S8NE00091; 30 Sep 11; Tot $2,402,372; Dsb $806,409 |
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Republican | state Senator Debra S. "Deb" Fischer FEC S2NE00094; 30 Sep 11; Tot $228,620; Dsb $22,588 |
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Republican | Patrick J. "Pat" Flynn FEC S8NE00109; 30 Sep 11; Tot $99,025; Dsb $116,531 |
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Republican | Treasurer Don Stenberg FEC S6NE00079; 30 Sep 11; Tot $133,044; Dsb $114,631 |
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Republican | Spencer Zimmerman | ||||
Nevada 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican, 1 Democratic | |||||
Republican | Edward "Ed" "Eddie" "Mr. Clean" Hamilton Also running in the Special Election in CD 2. FEC S6NV00168 |
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Republican | Senator Dean Heller Congressman from Congressional District 2. 10 March 2011: Media reports state that Congressman Heller will run for the Class 1 Senate seat in 2012. The congressman made it official on 15 March. 23 April 2011: Likely appointee once Senator John Ensign resigns. 27 April 2011: Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval (Republican) announced today that he will appoint Congressman Dean Heller (Republican) to fill the seat of Senator John Eric Ensign (Republican) upon Senator Ensign's 3 May resignation. FEC S2NV00183; 30 Sep 11; Tot $3,153,229; Dsb $380,595 |
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New Jersey 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
Republican | state Senator Joseph M. "Joe" Kyrillos, Jr. | ||||
Republican | Ian S. Linker FEC S2NJ00338; 30 Sep 11; Tot $17,014; Dsb $15,488 |
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Republican | Joseph R. Rullo FEC S2NJ00361 |
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New Mexico 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
Republican | William Scott "Bill" English FEC S2NM00062 |
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Republican | Lieutenant Governor John A. Sanchez FEC S2NM00104; 30 Sep 11; Tot $476,048; Dsb $227,148 |
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Republican | Greg Sowards FEC S2NM00070; 30 Sep 11; Tot $613,644; Dsb $116,968 |
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Republican | former Congressman Heather A. Wilson FEC S8NM00168; 30 Sep 11; Tot $1,287,731; Dsb $334,832 |
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New York 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
Republican | Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos FEC S0NY00600; 30 Sep 11; Tot $121,611; Dsb $23,458 |
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Republican | Jay Townsend FEC S0NY00550; 30 Sep 11; Tot $6,400; Dsb $6,328 |
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North Carolina 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic, 1 Republican | |||||
Republican | Theodore H. "Ted" "Teddy" Corriher | ||||
North Dakota 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic, 1 Republican | |||||
Republican | Congressman Richard A. "Rick" Berg FEC S2ND00073; 30 Sep 11; Tot $1,204,195; Dsb $199,453 |
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Republican | Duane Sand circa 13 May 2011: Candidate for the Senate Class 1 Seat. circa 17 May 2011: Switching candidacy from the U.S. Senate to the At-Large House Seat. 15 July 2011: Filed with the FEC for the U.S. Senate. FEC S0ND00069; 30 Sep 11; Tot $243,607; Dsb $179,851 |
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Ohio 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic, 1 Republican | |||||
Republican | Russell P. "Rusty" Bliss, Jr. FEC S2OH00162; 30 Sep 11; Tot $2,500; Dsb $1,623 |
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14 October 2011: Filed a termination report with the FEC. FEC S2OH00188; 14 Oct 11; Tot $64,615; Dsb $64,444 |
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Republican | Donna Karen Glisman FEC S2OH00196; 30 Sep 11; Tot $4,900; Dsb $4,650 |
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Republican | Eric LaMont Gregory | ||||
Republican | Treasurer Josh Mandel FEC S2OH00170; 30 Sep 11; Tot $3,840,482; Dsb $583,310 |
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Republican | Michael Lindsey Pryce Ran for Senate as an Independent in 2010 FEC S0OH00265; 30 Sep 11; Tot $2,460; Dsb $1,846 |
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Pennsylvania 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic, 1 Republican | |||||
Republican | Timothy Raymond "Tim" Burns FEC S2PA00240 |
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Republican | David A. "Dave" Christian FEC S2PA00216; 30 Sep 11; Tot $53,415; Dsb $555 |
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Republican | Laureen A. Cummings Scranton Tea Party |
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Republican | John Daniel Kensinger, II FEC S0PA00459 |
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Republican | Robert Allen Mansfield FEC S2PA00257 |
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5 December 2011: "After a great deal of careful consideration, I have decided not to enter the race for the United States Senate." |
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Republican | Sam Rohrer | ||||
Republican | Marc Anthony Scaringi FEC S0PA00491; 30 Sep 11; Tot $74,150; Dsb $78,945 |
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Republican | Tom Smith FEC S2PA00224; 30 Sep 11; Tot $874,431; Dsb $100,615 |
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Republican | John D. Vernon FEC S2PA00208; 30 Sep 11; Tot $135,705; Dsb $83,708 |
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Republican | Steven D. "Steve" Welch FEC S2PA00232; 30 Sep 11; Tot $0; Dsb $2,475 |
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Rhode Island 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
Republican | Benjamin Barrett "Barry" Hinckley, III FEC S2RI00071; 30 Sep 11; Tot $320,565; Dsb $171,421 |
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Tennessee 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Republican | |||||
Republican | Senator Robert P. "Bob" Corker, Jr. FEC S6TN00216; 30 Sep 11; Tot $5,855,109; Dsb $413,577 |
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Republican | James Patrick Durkan FEC S2TN00207; 30 Sep 11; Tot $8,715; Dsb $5,297 |
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Republican | Brenda Shivon Lenard FEC S2TN00231 |
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Republican | Zachary Scott "Zach" Poskevich FEC S2TN00215; 30 Sep 11; Tot $21,181; Dsb $14,145 |
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Texas 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Republican | |||||
Republican | Marshall Glenn Addison FEC S2TX00320; 30 Sep 11; Tot $67,422; Dsb $31,864 |
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Republican | Andrew Paredes "Cas" Castanuela FEC S0TX00175; 30 Sep 11; Tot $1,503; Dsb $1,508 |
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Republican | Curtis C. "Curt" Cleaver FEC S2TX00387; 30 Sep 11; Tot $3,208; Dsb $2,805 |
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Republican | former Solicitor General Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz FEC S2TX00312; 30 Sep 11; Tot $2,874,662; Dsb $453,150 |
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Republican | Timothy Terell "Tim" Day 5 August 2011: Filed with the FEC for the Senate Class 1 Seat. 16 August 2011: Filed with the FEC for the Senate Class 1 and U.S. House CD 14 seats. FEC S2TX00379 |
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Republican | Lieutenant Governor David H. Dewhurst 5 July 2011: Media reports indicate Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst will run for the Class 1 Senate seat in 2011. Formal announcement 19 July 2011. FEC S2TX00361; 30 Sep 11; Tot $4,653,784; Dsb $481,194 |
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Republican | Michael Louis "Mike" George FEC S0TX00183 |
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7 November 2011: Switched from U.S. Senate to state Senate. FEC S2TX00262; 30 Sep 11; Tot $670,160; Dsb $683,241 |
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Republican | Nick Latham | ||||
Republican | former Dallas Mayor Thomas C. "Tom" Leppert FEC S2TX00338; 30 Sep 11; Tot $5,123,399; Dsb $952,329 |
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7 September 2011: Announced he is not running "... unless something unforeseen happens ...". |
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Republican | Lela Mae Pittenger FEC S0TX00217 |
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circa 12 October 2011: "Due to the fact I could not effectively run against the money, I have dropped out of the race..." |
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31 March 2011: Railroad Commissioner Williams resigned to run for the U.S. Senate Class 1 seat in 2012. 5 June 2011: Mr. Williams filed a Statement of Candidacy with the FEC to run for U.S. House Seat 33. 29 July 2011: Mr. Williams amended his Statement of Candidacy with the FEC to run for U.S. House Seat 25. FEC S0TX00142; 30 Sep 11; Tot $720,699; Dsb $482,199 |
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28 June 2011: Former Secretary of State Roger Williams announced that he is leaving the Senate Class 1 race and will run for Congress in the new CD 33. FEC S2TX00270; 14 Sep 11; Tot $1,171,755; Dsb $1,985,676 |
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Utah 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Republican | |||||
Republican | Kevin Dee Fisk FEC S2UT00179 |
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Republican | Senator Orrin G. Hatch FEC S6UT00063; 30 Sep 11; Tot $3,699,715; Dsb $2,208,328 |
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Vermont 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 1 Independent, 1 Democratic | |||||
23 September 2011: Decided to run for a 3rd term as State Auditor. |
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Virginia 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
Republican | former Senator George F. Allen 24 January 2011: Announced his candidacy. FEC S8VA00214; 30 Sep 11; Tot $3,518,003; Dsb $1,719,702 |
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Republican | Tim Donner FEC S2VA00159; 30 Sep 11; Tot $339,345; Dsb $183,040 |
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Republican | Earl W. "E.W." Jackson, Sr. FEC S2VA00167; 30 Sep 11; Tot $53,286; Dsb $46,527 |
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Republican | David M. McCormick FEC S2VA00126; 30 Sep 11; Tot $262,840; Dsb $68,714 |
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Republican | Jamie L. Radtke Tea Party FEC S0VA00054; 30 Sep 11; Tot $291,680; Dsb $348,979 |
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Washington 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Democratic | |||||
Republican | state Senator Michael James Baumgartner FEC S2WA00288 |
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Republican | Philip Yin | ||||
Wisconsin 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic, 1 Republican | |||||
Republican | state Representative Jeff Fitzgerald FEC S2WI00227 |
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Republican | state Senator Frank G. Lasee FEC S2WI00243 |
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Republican | former Congressman Mark W. Neumann FEC S8WI00158; 30 Sep 11; Tot $307,758; Dsb $25,588 |
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Republican | John T. Schiess FEC S2WI00193 |
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Republican | former Wisconsin Governor Tommy G. Thompson FEC S2WI00235 |
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Wyoming 6-year term. No Term Limit. Senate Electoral Classes | |||||
Partisan Composition: 2 Republican | |||||
Republican | Senator John A. Barrasso FEC S6WY00068; 30 Sep 11; Tot $1,909,755; Dsb $409,526 |
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 | |
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Democratic-Farmer Labor | |
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Major Third Parties | |
Constitution | |
Green | |
Libertarian | |
Other Third Parties | |
American Independent | |
Independence | |
Marijuana | |
Independents | |
Independent | |
Independent Democrat | |
No Party Affiliation |
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 ClassClass 1 seats end their current terms at noon on 3 January 2013... next regular election for these seats is in 6 November 2012. 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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