Roads to Congress 2012

Robert Dewhirst is a Professor of Political Science at Northwest Missouri State University and serves on the Executive Board of the National Social Science Association. Before his academic career, Dewhirst served as a public affairs officer for the U.S. Army in Vietnam, a public affairs director for the Illinois state government, and a reporter for the Kansas City Star and several other newspapers in the Midwest. Dewhirst’s teaching and research cover American government/politics, state politics, Congress, the American presidency, campaigns and elections, media and politics, political parties, and public policy. He has published several books and numerous book chapters, articles, and essays. His books include Rites of Passage: Congress Makes Laws, Government at Work and Congress Responds to the Twentieth Century. He also directed such reference projects as The Almanac of Missouri Politics and The Encyclopedia of the United States Congress and co-edited several earlier editions of The Roadsto Congress series.Sean D. Foreman is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Barry University. He is co-editor of The Roads to Congress 2010 (Lexington Press, 2011) where he also wrote about Marco Rubio’s election to the U.S. Senate. He the author of a chapter about the Florida Districts 21 and 25 U.S. Congressional elections for The Roads to Congress 2008 (Lexington Press, 2010) and of “Marco Rubio in Florida: The First Tea Party Senator—Or Not?” in Stuck in the Middle to Lose: Tea Party Effects on 2010 U.S. Senate Elections (Lexington Press, 2011). He hosts a weekly radio show called World of Politics on Barry’s WBRY radio station that streams on the Internet at www.barry.edu/radiostation. Foreman is quoted in many publications on Florida and national elections and is a frequent guest on talk radio and television programs in Florida and around the United States and has been quoted in newspapers around the world. In 2012-13 he was the President of the Florida Political Science Association.

• Preface by Sean D. Foreman and Robert DewhirstPart I: 2012 Congressional ElectionChapter 1: Democrats increase their seats in Congress and keep control of the White HouseSean D. ForemanChapter 2: Voting Suppression of the American Electorate, 2009-2012Robert Dewhirst and Daniel E. SmithChapter 3: Campaign Finance: The Impact of Citizen’s United DecisionWilliam Curtis Ellis and Holly PetersonChapter 4: Redistricting: An OverviewJosh StockleyPart II: U.S. House of Representatives ElectionsChapter 5: California House 31 (Miller v. Dutton):Top Two Primary Turns a Democratic Seat into a Safe Republican OneMarcia L. Godwin and Richard GelmChapter 6: Florida House 26 (Rivera v. Garcia): Third Time is a Charm for Cuban DemocratSean D. ForemanChapter 7: Illinois District 10 (Dold v. Schneider): A Fight between Demographics and DollarsJeffrey Ashley and Christophe AmeganChapter 8: Illinois District 17 (Schilling v. Bustos): A Carefully Constructed Gerrymander Dooms an IncumbentWilliam K. Hall and Kyle D. McEvillyChapter 9: New York House 24 (Buerkle v. Maffei v. Rozum): Rematch goes to the DemocratJeffrey KrausChapter 10: Ohio House 6 (Johnson v. Wilson): Same Players, New FieldWill MillerChapter 11: Texas House 23 (Canseco v. Gallego): Congressional Bellwether, Partisan Prophet: Texas 23 and the Past, Present, and Future of Party FortunesWalter Clark Wilson and Christopher Tyler CamarilloPart III: U.S. Senate ElectionsChapter 12: Florida (Nelson v. Mack): All Show and No GoPeter Bergerson and Margaret BanyanChapter 13: Massachusetts (Brown vs. Warren): The Professor v. The Model: How grassroots organizing and fundraising returned a Democrat to Ted Kennedy's former seat.Joe CaiazzoChapter 14: Missouri (Akin v. McCaskill): “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over”: Missouri’s Tumultuous and Unpredictable Senate ContestKimberly L. Casey and Michelle WadeChapter 15: Ohio (Brown v. Mandel): The Key to a Majority: A Very Expensive and Dirty CampaignWilliam Binning and Sunil AhujaChapter 16: Virginia (Allen vs. Kaine): Clash of the TitansBob N. RobertsChapter 17: Wisconsin (Baldwin v. Thompson): The Most Negative Senate Race in State HistoryTom LansfordPart IV: ConclusionsChapter 18: The Legacy of the 2012 Congressional ElectionRobert DewhirstIndexAbout the Contributors