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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
House of Representatives
ELECTIONS IN 2012

Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module

A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page

Parliament name Congress
Structure of parliament Bicameral
Chamber name House of Representatives
Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Senate
BACKGROUND
Dates of election / renewal (from/to) 6 November 2012
Purpose of elections The 2012 elections maintained the political balance in the US Congress. The Democrats retained control of the Senate with 53 of the 100 seats (of which 23 won in 2012), while the Republicans' tally was reduced from 47 to 45. Two independent candidates won the remaining seats in the Senate. In the House of Representatives, the Republicans took 234 of the 435 directly elected seats (down from 242).

The number of women reached a record high in both chambers: 20 in the Senate (of whom five elected in 2012) and 78 in the House of Representatives.

President Barack Obama (Democrat) was re-elected, defeating Mr. Mitt Romney (Republican). The President promised to "grow the economy from the middle class out, not the top down". Mr. Romney promised to cap federal spending at 20 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), instead of 23 per cent in 2011 - 2012.
Date of previous elections: 2 November 2010

Date of dissolution of the outgoing legislature: Not applicable

Timing of election: Upon normal expiry

Expected date of next elections: November 2014

Number of seats at stake (House): 435 (full renewal)

Number of parties winning seats: 2

Alternation of power: No (Presidential system)

Number of parties in government: 1

Names of parties in government: Democratic Party

Date of the first session of the new parliament: 3 January 2013

Name of the new Speaker: Mr. John Boehner (Republican Party)
STATISTICS
Voter turnout
Round no 16 November 2012
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes



Notes
Distribution of seats
Round no 1
Political Group Total Number of women
Republican Party 234 20
Democratic Party 201 58
Distribution of seats according to sex
Men
Women
Percent of women
356
78
17.97%
Distribution of seats according to age
Distribution of seats according to profession
Comments
Sources:
- Office of the Clerk (16.01.2014)
- US Congressional Research Service Library of Congress (13.11.2012, 20.11.2012, 03.12.2012, 24.01.2013, 16.05.2013, 16.07.2013, 02.08.2013, 27.09.2013, 21.10.2013, 18.11.2013, 12.12.2013, 31.01.2014, 27.02.2014, 13.03.2014, 25.06.2014, 13.08.2014)

Note:
In addition, there are three women among Democrats' delegates.

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