2012 United States Senate election in New York


The 2012 United States Senate election in New York took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate and House of Representatives as well as various state and local elections.
Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand won re-election to her first full term. She was opposed in the general election by Wendy Long and by three minor party candidates. Gillibrand was re-elected with 72% of the vote, by a margin of 46%, the highest margin for any statewide candidate in New York. She performed 9 points better than President Barack Obama did in the presidential race in New York. She carried 60 out of 62 counties statewide. There was one debate, held in October 2012, in which Gillibrand and Long debated various issues such as the economy, abortion rights, the debt and deficit, foreign policy, jobs, and tax and regulatory policy.

Background

appointed then-U.S. Representative Kirsten Gillibrand to serve as U.S. Senator from New York until the 2010 special election, succeeding former U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, who resigned to serve as U.S. Secretary of State in the Obama administration. Gillibrand won the special election in 2010 with 62.95% of the vote over former U.S. Representative Joseph DioGuardi.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Gillibrand has also been endorsed by the Independence Party of New York and the Working Families Party, and also appeared on the ballot lines of both of those parties in the general election.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

The 2012 New York State Republican Convention took place on March 16, 2012. Candidates Wendy Long, George Maragos, and Congressman Bob Turner each reached the threshold of 25% of the weighted vote necessary to qualify for the June 26 primary ballot; however, none of the candidates achieved a majority. Long prevailed by a sizeable margin in the June 26 Republican primary, receiving 50.9% of the vote; Turner received 35.6% and Maragos 13.5%.
Long was designated as the nominee for the Conservative Party of New York State, and appeared on its ballot line in the general election as well as the Republican Party line.

Withdrew

Endorsements

Source: Update for US Senate Election NY 2012: http://www.elections.ny.gov/NYSBOE/elections/2012/General/USSenator_07292013.pdf

Results

General election

Candidates

Top contributors

Kirsten GillibrandContributionWendy LongContribution
Boies, Schiller & Flexner$394,664Citizens United$10,000
Davis Polk & Wardwell$314,600Susan B. Anthony List$10,000
Corning Inc.$150,650Davis, Polk & Wardwell$8,500
JPMorgan Chase & Co$143,800Kirkland & Ellis$7,000
Morgan Stanley$140,800Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz$6,000
National Amusements Inc.$126,850Alta Partners$5,500
Goldman Sachs$117,400Actimize$5,000
Blackstone Group$106,700Carlyle Group$5,000
Sullivan & Cromwell$100,750Credit Suisse Group$5,000
Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett$95,700Crow Holdings$5,000

Top industries

Kirsten GillibrandContributionWendy LongContribution
Lawyers/law firms$4,050,294Lawyers/law firms$38,550
Financial Institutions$2,748,640Financial institutions$31,750
Real estate$1,257,504Real estate$26,250
Retired$921,738Retired$25,050
Women's issues$853,517Misc. finance$16,000
Entertainment industry$764,677Women's issues$15,150
Lobbyists$723,596Republican/Conservative$11,250
Misc. finance$644,953Education$7,250
Business services$621,286Misc. business$7,000
Insurance$518,275Construction services$5,000

Predictions

Polling


Hypothetical polling		-------

;with George Maragos

Results

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