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The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2013
The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2013
The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2013
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The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2013

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The World Almanac® and Book of Facts is America's top-selling reference book of all time, with more than 82 million copies sold. Published annually since 1868, this compendium of information is the authoritative source for all your entertainment, reference, and learning needs. Praised as a “treasure trove of political, economic, scientific and educational statistics and information” by The Wall Street Journal, The World Almanac® contains thousands of facts that are unavailable publicly elsewhere—in fact, it has been featured as a category on Jeopardy! and is routinely used as a go-to, all-encompassing guide for aspiring game show contestants. The 2013 edition of The World Almanac® and Book of Facts will answer all of your trivia questions—from history and sports to geography, pop culture, and much more.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherWorld Almanac
Release dateDec 4, 2012
ISBN9781600571756
The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2013

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    I keep old almanacs around as a reference for previous information. I buy an almanac ever four or five years. These days, with internet information being so accessible, I doubt I'll ever buy a current almanac again. And used ones go SO cheaply. As a child, I devoured the almanac, reading about disasters, mountain heights, river lengths, most populous cities, etc. Though I no longer just read an almanac, they still fascinate me. There's something in the neat tabular presentation of data that implies that all knowledge could be captured, tamed and presented rationally.

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The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2013 - World Almanac

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This ebook is best read at the smallest font setting on your device. Portions of the text are best read in landscape view (device permitting).

CONTENTS

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

2012: SPECIAL FEATURES AND YEAR IN REVIEW

Top Ten News Topics

World at a Glance

The U.S. Economy: A Statistical Portrait

ELECTION, 2012

Results and Highlights

Campaign Trail Quotes

Electoral Vote, 2008 and 2012

Electoral Map

Presidential Nominee Profiles

113th Congress

Governors of States and Territories

Presidential Results by State and County

Chronology of the Year’s Events

Obituaries

Actions of Congress

Supreme Court Decisions

Notable Quotes

Offbeat News Stories

Historical Anniversaries

Time Capsule

2012: YEAR IN PICTURES

ECONOMY, BUSINESS, & ENERGY

Economics

Trade

Transportation & Travel

Agriculture

Employment

Energy

CRIME

MILITARY AFFAIRS

HEALTH & VITAL STATISTICS

Health

Vital Statistics

PERSONALITIES, ARTS, & MEDIA

Noted Personalities

Arts & Media

Awards, Medals, & Prizes

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Science

Environment

Meteorology

Disasters

Aerospace

Astronomy

Calendar

Weights & Measures

Computers & Telecommunications

CONSUMER INFORMATION

Postal Information

Social Security

Taxes

Education

Directory

U.S. FACTS & HISTORY

U.S. Facts

Chronology of Events in U.S. History

Historical Documents & Speeches

National Symbols

U.S. GOVERNMENT

Supreme Court

Presidents of the U.S.

Presidential Elections

Obama Administration

Cabinets

Congress

U.S. CITIES, STATES, & POPULATION

States & Other Areas of the U.S.

100 Most Populous Cities

U.S. Population

WORLD HISTORY & CULTURE

World History

Historical Figures

Exploration & Geography

Religion

Language

Buildings, Bridges, & Tunnels

NATIONS OF THE WORLD

WORLD MAPS & FLAGS

SPORTS

2012 Sports Highlights

Greatest College Football Games

Olympic Games

College Sports

College Basketball

College Football

Other College Sports

Professional Sports

Football

Baseball

Basketball

Hockey

Soccer

Golf

Tennis

Auto Racing

Boxing

Horse Racing

Other Sports

GENERAL INDEX

Quick Reference Index

THE WORLD ALMANAC AND BOOK OF FACTS 2013

Top 10 News Topics of 2012

1. Obama Wins Reelection. Pres. Barack Obama (D) won a narrow but clear victory over his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, on Nov. 6. Pending final official results, Obama apparently captured 332 electoral votes to Romney’s 206 (270 are needed to win). Except for Indiana and North Carolina, Obama held onto all of the states he won in 2008, though often by reduced margins. His share of the popular vote was about 51% (to 48% for Romney), down from almost 53% in 2008. Obama became the first president since Franklin Roosevelt to win reelection when unemployment was as high as the 7.9% rate that prevailed on Election Day. The economy and the federal government’s role were key campaign issues. Democrats held onto a majority in the Senate, while Republicans retained their majority in the House of Representatives.

2. Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare. In a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court, June 28, upheld a key provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The 2010 law is intended to extend coverage to some 30 mil uninsured Americans. Opponents challenged the law’s requirement that Americans either buy health insurance or pay a penalty to the federal government. The Obama administration defended it as a legitimate exercise of government power under the Constitution’s commerce clause. Chief Justice John Roberts rejected that argument but joined the Court’s liberal wing in a 5-4 decision upholding the requirement by relying on Congress’s power to levy taxes. By a 7-2 majority, the Court struck down one provision of the law, which would have required states to participate in the act’s expansion of Medicaid or lose their Medicaid funding.

3. Terrorism, Turmoil, and Transition Top Middle East News. In what was labeled an act of terrorism by U.S. officials, the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked Sept. 11, and four Americans, including ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens, were killed. Elsewhere in the Middle East, what began as protests in Mar. 2011 against the autocratic regime of Syrian Pres. Bashar al-Assad had become a full-blown civil war by 2012. Government forces battled a loose coalition of military defectors, secular opposition groups, and Islamic jihadists. More than 36,000 Syrians had been killed in the escalating violence by Oct. 2012. In Egypt, where massive protests had brought down the government of Pres. Hosni Mubarak in 2011, a runoff presidential election June 16-17, 2012, was won by Mohammed Morsi of the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.

4. Storm Devastates U.S. Northeast. Sandy—a hurricane turned post-tropical cyclone—made landfall near Atlantic City, NJ, around 8 PM on Oct. 29, accompanied by a storm surge that flooded seaside towns up and down the New Jersey shore, lowlying areas of New York City, and other Northeast communities. An estimated 113 people in nine states died in the storm. Millions were left without power, many for more than a week, and tens of thousands were made homeless. Power outages and flooded rail and road tunnels crippled transportation in the New York City metropolitan area for days. Hurricane Sandy had wreaked havoc in the Caribbean Oct. 24-26, killing at least 69 people as it passed over or near Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas, and other areas.

5. London Hosts 2012 Olympics. Some 10,500 athletes from 204 nations and territories took part in the XXX Summer Olympiad, July 27-Aug. 12. The Games, hosted by London, England, UK, included 302 medal events in 26 sports. The U.S. finished on top in both overall (104) and gold medals (46) won. China (88) and Russia (82) finished second and third in the overall medal count. Host nation Great Britain was fourth in total medals (65) and third in gold medals (29) won. American swimmer Michael Phelps added 4 gold and 2 silver medals to his career medal count, which at 22 is the highest for any athlete in Olympic history. After initial concerns about security and other preparations, the Games went off smoothly over a two-week period that, by British standards, saw very little rain.

6. Gun Violence Shocks the Nation. Twelve people were killed and 58 injured when a heavily armed gunman opened fire in an Aurora, CO, movie theater July 20, at a midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. James E. Holmes was charged July 30 with murder and other crimes in connection with the attack, the largest mass shooting in U.S. history. In an act of domestic terrorism, a gunman opened fire Aug. 5 at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, WI. Six people were killed and three wounded by the attacker, Wade Page, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. On Oct. 21, Radcliffe F. Haughton opened fire at a day spa in Brookfield, WI, killing three (including his wife) and wounding four before taking his own life. Earlier in the year, in an incident with apparent racial overtones, unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin was fatally shot in Sanford, FL, Feb. 26 by George Zimmerman, who was patrolling, in an unofficial capacity, his gated community.

7. U.S. Economy Continues Slow Growth. Leading indicators showed an economy that was recovering—but at a sluggish pace—from the severe recession of 2007-09. The Dept. of Commerce’s estimate, released Oct. 26, was that the U.S. economy (as measured by real gross domestic product, or GDP) grew at an annual rate of 2.0% in the third quarter of 2012. This followed real GDP increases of 2.0% and 1.3% in the first and second quarters. Adding to the country’s economic difficulties was a severe drought that affected more than 30 Midwestern and other states by Aug., the most widespread U.S. drought in more than half a century. The U.S. unemployment rate remained high, hovering above 8% for much of the year before dipping to 7.8% in Sept. and 7.9% in Oct. In an attempt to stimulate the economy and reduce unemployment, the Federal Reserve announced, Sept.  13, an open-ended program of monthly purchases of mortgage-backed and other securities.

8. U.S. Draws Down Troops in Afghanistan, Confronts Iran. In keeping with the Obama administration’s timeline to remove all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by 2014, Defense Sec. Leon Panetta announced Sept. 21 that the U.S. had completed withdrawing the 33,000 surge troops sent to the country two years earlier; about 68,000 troops remained. U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, the commander of U.S. and other coalition forces in Afghanistan, took steps Sept. 16 to limit joint training missions with coalition and Afghan security forces after a series of green-on-blue attacks by Afghan trainees on coalition personnel. By the end of Sept., more than 50 coalition troops had died in such attacks in 2012. Amid growing evidence that Iran was increasing its production of enriched uranium, the U.S. and the European Union tightened economic sanctions on Iran several times in 2012. The sanctions, intended to encourage Iran to engage in substantive negotiations, appeared to have significantly reduced Iran’s oil exports and otherwise slowed its economy.

9. European Financial Woes Continue. Staggering levels of government debt and stagnant economies continued to plague some European Union members, in particular Greece, Spain, and Italy. EU finance ministers agreed Feb. 21 to a 130-bil-euro bail-out package to help Greece restructure its debt. Greek elections June 17 brought to power a government committed to keeping the nation in the eurozone and to taking austerity measures demanded as a condition for financial aid. Sharp cuts in government spending by Greece and Spain contributed to unemployment rates around 25% and large-scale demonstrations in the summer and fall of 2012. The European Central Bank announced a program, Sept. 6, to buy Spanish and Italian government bonds to bring down the interest rates those governments would have to pay on new borrowing, but the bond-buying plan was tied to strict oversight of the countries’ economic policies.

10. Penn State Football Program Sanctioned After Sandusky Conviction. In a scandal that rocked Penn State Univ.’s legendary football program, former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted June 22 of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period. A number of the instances of abuse were found to have occurred on university property. Sandusky was sentenced Oct. 9 to 30-60 years in prison. An investigation commissioned by Penn State’s board of trustees released a report July 12 that concluded that university officials, including longtime head football coach Joe Paterno, had concealed Sandusky’s activities to avoid tarnishing the football program. Paterno’s 46-year career as head coach—which included 37 bowl appearances and two national championships—had ended with his dismissal by the university Nov. 9, 2011; he died of lung cancer Jan. 22, 2012. On July 23, the NCAA fined Penn State $60 mil, voided the football team’s victories for the previous 14 seasons, and barred it from postseason play for the next four seasons.

Surprising Facts

The number of U.S. households that owned televisions actually decreased in 2012 by 1.2 million, to 114.7 million. (p. 282)

Only 14.0 million smartphones were sold in the U.S. in 2006; an estimated 108.4 million were sold in 2012. (p. 390)

Sales of LP and EP records have steadily increased in the past half-decade, from $15.7 million in sales in 2006 to $119.4 million in sales in 2011. However, that is a small share of all music sales when compared to the $2.6 billion in digital music sales in 2011. (p. 282)

In 2010, 23.0% of Americans smoked cigarettes, down significantly from 38.7% of Americans in 1985. Yet Americans spent $96.1 billion on tobacco products in 2011—more than twice the $41.0 billion they spent in 1990. (pp. 83, 175)

In 1990, the average U.S. movie ticket cost $4.23; the average ticket in 2011 cost $7.93. (p. 274)

Americans paid an average of 22.8% of their total income in income tax and Social Security payments in 2011 (down from 24.7% in 2008); Belgians paid 42.2%. (p. 737)

U.S. public debt has more than tripled since 2000, from $3.4 trillion to $11.6 trillion in 2012. As a percentage of the U.S. gross domestic product, debt has doubled from 34.7% to 74.2%. (p. 92)

Since 1975, the fuel efficiency of U.S. cars has increased from 13.5 miles per gallon to 25.9 miles per gallon. (p. 115)

In almost half (45.4%) of motor vehicle accidents in 2010, state traffic authorities did not report that improper driving had occurred. (p. 207)

In the 2009-10 school year, 85.0% of undergraduates attending a four-year institution received financial aid. (p. 418)

Number Ones

America: By the Numbers

49.3 million: number of students enrolled in U.S. public schools in 2009-10 school year (p. 416)

1.6 million: number of students enrolled in U.S. charter schools in 2009-10 school year (p. 416)

90.7%: public high school graduation rate in Wisconsin, the highest of any state in the U.S. (p. 413)

56.3%: public high school graduation rate in Nevada, the lowest of any state in the U.S. (p. 413)

28.7: median age at first marriage for U.S. men in 2011 (the highest it has ever been) (p. 201)

26.5: median age at first marriage for U.S. women in 2011 (the highest it has ever been) (p. 201)

49: average total hours of TV viewed per week by U.S. women age 55 and over (p. 284)

43: average total hours of TV viewed per week by U.S. men age 55 and over (p. 284)

23: average total hours of TV viewed per week by young adults ages 12-17 (p. 284)

18.3: average total hours U.S. Internet users age 12 and older spent online per week (p. 394)

80%: percentage of U.S. Internet users age 12 and older who checked their email at least once daily (p. 394)

91%: percentage of U.S. households with at least one cell phone in 2012 (p. 395)

23.8%: percentage of the population of Texas without health insurance in 2011, higher than any other U.S. state (p. 171)

24.1%: percentage of U.S. deaths in 2010 caused by heart disease, the leading cause of death (p. 208)

35.7%: percentage of U.S. population age 20 and over that was obese in 2009-10 (p. 190)

949.1%: change in U.S. annual per capita consumption of fresh broccoli since 1970 (p. 125)

–22.6%: change in U.S. annual per capita consumption of red meat since 1970 (p. 126)

111.7%: change in U.S. annual per capita consumption of chicken since 1970 (p. 126)

Money in America (pp. 76-105)

Top of the World, 2011

Milestone Birthdays in 2013

90

Chuck Yeager, Feb. 13

Richard Attenborough, Aug. 29

Bob Barker, Dec. 12

80

Michael Caine, Mar. 14

Quincy Jones, Mar. 14

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mar. 15

Philip Roth, Mar. 19

Willie Nelson, Apr. 30

Joan Collins, May 23

Joan Rivers, June 8

Larry King, Nov. 19

70

Bob Woodward, Mar. 26

Christopher Walken, Mar. 31

Newt Gingrich, June 17

Barry Manilow, June 17

Geraldo Rivera, July 4

Mick Jagger, July 26

Robert De Niro, Aug. 17

Chevy Chase, Oct. 8

Joni Mitchell, Nov. 7

Randy Newman, Nov. 28

Keith Richards, Dec. 18

60

Jim Jarmusch, Jan. 22

Michael Bolton, Feb. 26

Chaka Khan, Mar. 23

Pierce Brosnan, May 16

Cyndi Lauper, June 22

Hulk Hogan, Aug. 11

Kathie Lee Gifford, Aug. 16

John Malkovich, Dec. 9

Ben Bernanke, Dec. 13

Bill Pullman, Dec. 17

Meredith Vieira, Dec. 30

50

Michael Jordan, Feb. 17

Charles Barkley, Feb. 20

Vanessa Williams, Mar. 18

Quentin Tarantino, Mar. 27

Conan O’Brien, Apr. 18

Mike Myers, May 25

Johnny Depp, June 9

George Michael, June 25

Edie Falco, July 5

Lisa Kudrow, July 30

Brad Pitt, Dec. 18

40

Portia de Rossi, Jan. 31

Oscar De La Hoya, Feb. 4

Jim Parsons, Mar. 24

Heidi Klum, June 1

Neil Patrick Harris, June 15

Sergey Brin, Aug. 21

Kristen Wiig, Aug. 22

Dave Chappelle, Aug. 24

Tyra Banks, Dec. 4

Stephenie Meyer, Dec. 24

30

Justin Verlander, Feb. 20

Carrie Underwood, Mar. 10

Mila Kunis, Aug. 14

Jesse Eisenberg, Oct. 5

Aaron Rodgers, Dec. 2

Jonah Hill, Dec. 20

21

Taylor Lautner, Feb. 11

Josh Hutcherson, Oct. 12

Miley Cyrus, Nov. 23

18

Missy Franklin, May 10

Gabrielle Gabby Douglas, Dec. 31

U.S. ECONOMY: A STATISTICAL PORTRAIT

ELECTION, 2012

Obama Retains Presidency; Split Congress Continues

Incumbent Pres. Barack Obama (D) Nov. 6, 2012, won 332 electoral votes in 26 states and the District of Columbia (62 more than the 270 needed) to retain the White House, comfortably defeating his Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. In Congress, Democrats kept control of the Senate, slightly increasing their majority, and Republicans held onto the House of Representatives.

The Obama Victory

Obama won an estimated 51% of the total popular vote (down from 53% in 2008), compared to Romney’s 48%, with third-party and independent candidates winning the balance. About 30 mil people, in 34 states and the District of Columbia, voted early, either by mail or in person.

The president held onto all the states he had won in 2008, except for traditionally Republican North Carolina and Indiana. As expected, he swept the Northeast and the West Coast, while Romney won most of the other Western states and nearly the entire South. Throughout the campaign both candidates concentrated their resources on the few battleground states that analysts believed could go either way. Obama captured nearly all of them, including heavily contested Florida, Virginia, and Ohio.

Obama’s victory reflected strong though somewhat reduced support from the demographic coalition that swept him into power in 2008. He remained overwhelmingly popular among African Americans, who turned out to give him 93% of their vote (vs. 95% in 2008), according to Pew Research Center exit poll data. He also captured 71% of the fast-growing Hispanic vote, up from 67%, an increase partly attributed to relatively hard-line policies on immigration espoused by Romney and the Republican platform. Despite concerns over an expected enthusiasm gap, young voters (ages 18 to 29) came out in high numbers, with 60% (down from 66%) supporting the president. Among non-Hispanic white voters, however, Obama fell well short of a majority, winning 39% (vs. 43% in 2008). There was a sizable decline in independents’ support for Obama. He won 45% of their vote in 2012, down from 52% in 2008, but Democrats turned out in big enough numbers to offset the loss.

Obama continued to enjoy strong support from women, who backed him over Romney 55% to 44% (while 52% of men supported Romney). Romney’s views opposing abortion (except in special circumstances), mandated insurance coverage of contraception, and funding for Planned Parenthood were cited in campaign rhetoric. At the same time, these views helped the GOP ticket win big (79%) among white Protestant evangelicals (73% in 2008). Catholics roughly mirrored the population at large, supporting Obama by 50% in 2012, down from 53% in 2008.

Both candidates focused strongly on energizing their bases. Democrats especially launched massive registration and get-out-the-vote efforts. Preliminary reports suggested, however, that overall turnout for 2012 was somewhat lower than in 2008.

The Fall Campaign

The economy was the biggest issue in the campaign. No president since Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) had been reelected with unemployment so high (7.9% in Oct.). Some 12 mil people remained out of work, while millions of others had dropped out of the labor force or had found only part-time work. The federal government continued to pile up trillion-dollar budget deficits and faced ballooning entitlement costs, with a fiscal cliff—consisting of tax increases and deep automatic spending cuts in government programs—looming at year’s end if Congress and the White House did not act decisively to avert it.

Romney blamed Obama for a failed economy. But Obama blamed the fiscal crisis and recession that emerged under Pres. George W. Bush and claimed credit for 25 consecutive months of job growth and for slow but steady economic growth. Consumer confidence and housing sales were improving as the election approached, though serious challenges lay ahead.

Romney argued that his business experience and successes as governor of Massachusetts made him more capable than Obama of leading the nation out of its economic doldrums. But the Obama campaign put Romney on the defensive, portraying his business experience as devoted to profits at the expense of job creation and Romney himself as a multimillionaire out of touch with the needs of ordinary Americans. That image was reinforced in Sept. by a leaked video of a Romney speech to rich donors, in which he appeared to dismiss the 47% of the electorate who paid no income taxes as victims who believed they were entitled to government handouts.

There was a surge in support for Romney after the first presidential debate Oct. 3 in Denver, CO. He attacked Obama’s record and sought to project a centrist image, stressing concern for the middle class and their economic future, while Obama turned in what was viewed as a lackluster performance. In the remaining debates, Oct. 16 and Oct. 22, Obama fought back aggressively and appeared to score points. Romney sought to keep the focus on the domestic economy and his determination to bring about change. Romney did not draw sharp contrasts with Obama foreign policy in the third debate, so much as present himself as competent and avoid being painted as an extremist.

Polls conducted shortly before the election predicted a tight race, with a modest Obama advantage in swing states.

Paths to Nomination

Obama had officially announced his candidacy for reelection in Apr. 2011 and had encountered no serious opposition. He again chose Vice Pres. Joe Biden as his running mate. The two were nominated Sept. 6 at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.

Romney, who had run unsuccessfully for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, officially announced his 2012 candidacy in June 2011. He was the presumed front-runner, but several generally more conservative rivals offered challenges. Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN) gained brief momentum after winning the Iowa straw poll in Aug. 2011. Texas Gov. Rick Perry then surged in opinion polls, emerging as a possible threat, but fumbled badly in Sept. 2011 debates. Businessman Herman Cain became a surprise favorite, but his campaign died out by early Dec. amid allegations of sexual misconduct, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (GA) rose in the polls. Gingrich gained traction with attacks on Romney’s record at Bain Capital, a theme enthusiastically taken up by Democrats.

Romney placed first in the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary, followed by maverick libertarian Rep. Ron Paul (TX) and moderate former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. Paul had respectable showings in some later primaries but never won, though he continued his candidacy. Huntsman soon dropped out. Gingrich revived his campaign with a win in South Carolina Jan. 21 but could not gain lasting traction. Romney’s biggest rival through much of the primary season was former Sen. Rick Santorum (PA), an ardent social conservative, who had narrowly outpolled him in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses and scored several wins in Feb. and Mar. But he bowed out in Apr. after his fortunes declined.

Romney soon accumulated enough delegates to assure his nomination, but he had needed to woo a base that was more conservative than the electorate he would face in Nov. in order to win. As his running mate, he chose Rep. Paul Ryan (WI), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, who was especially popular among conservative Republicans. The two were nominated Aug. 28 at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, FL.

Big Money

The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group, estimated that total spending on the 2012 election would reach a record $6 bil (some $2.6 bil on the presidential race alone), most of it by the campaigns and political parties. But close to $1 bil of that total was spent by outside groups.

The explosion in that spending stemmed from a Jan. 2010 Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. It allowed corporations, labor unions, and other interest groups to use their funds to promote issues and candidates. They could also contribute indirectly to parties and campaigns through political action committees (PACs). A federal appellate court ruled soon after that PACs could receive unlimited contributions as long as they did not give the money to candidates and parties. Republicans created the first of these so-called super PACs with big contributions from corporations and wealthy individuals, but Democrats soon formed their own super PACs to attract big donors. Super PACs ran many of the highly charged negative ads that flooded the airwaves in battleground states. Because super PACs were not allowed to coordinate with candidates, the candidates were insulated from responsibility for their ads. Critics bemoaned the influence of PACs in the election; at the same time, the biggest Republican donors fell short of their goals. For example, billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson spent at least $53 mil on Republican primary and general election candidates, but only one of those he backed was elected.

Congressional Contests

Republicans’ early hopes of gaining control of the Senate faded as the election approached. With a reelected Vice Pres. Biden holding a deciding vote in case of ties, they would need a net gain of four seats in the chamber; instead they lost ground.

In one of the highest-profile races, incumbent Scott Brown (R, MA), who had won a special election in Jan. 2010 to take the seat formerly held by veteran liberal Sen. Edward Ted Kennedy (D), lost to Elizabeth Warren, a former Obama adviser and favorite of liberals.

Repeating a trend from 2010, extreme Tea Party candidates cost the Republicans Senate seats that had been regarded as safe. In Missouri, Rep. Todd Akin (R), who had won a crowded GOP primary, drew national attention after he claimed in a TV interview that women’s bodies could avert pregnancies in cases of legitimate rape. He was defeated by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D), once considered among the most vulnerable incumbents. In Republican-leaning Indiana, Joe Donnelly, a moderate Democrat, defeated former state treasurer Richard Mourdock (R), a Tea Party candidate who upset veteran Sen. Richard Lugar in the primary. Mourdock was criticized late in the campaign for comments that pregnancies from rape were intended by God.

McCaskill was one of a few Democrats who distanced themselves from Obama as they competed in GOP strongholds. In North Dakota, former state attorney general Heidi Heitkamp (D) criticized environmental regulations and elements of Obama’s health-care reform measure and defeated Rep. Rick Berg (R) for the seat vacated by Kent Conrad (D). Incumbent Sen. Jon Tester (D, MT), who bragged about votes against Wall Street and auto bailouts, won a tight race against Rep. Denny Rehberg (R).

Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D) defeated former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) in Wisconsin to become the first openly gay senator. The new Senate was set to have a record total of 20 women.

In the contest to succeed retiring Sen. Ben Nelson (D, NE), a well-known moderate, former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D) lost to Deb Fischer (R), a little-known state senator. Republicans held onto the seat of retiring Sen. Jon Kyl (AZ), as Rep. Jeff Flake (R) defeated Richard Carmona (D), who had served as George W. Bush’s surgeon general (2002-06). In the swing state of Nevada, incumbent Sen. Dean Heller (R), who was appointed when Sen. John Ensign (R) resigned over a scandal in 2011, defeated Rep. Shelley Berkley (D) in a tight race.

In Connecticut, where independent Democrat Joe Lieberman was retiring, former wresting executive Linda McMahon (R) spent over $40 mil of her own money in her second Senate race but lost to Rep. Chris Murphy (D). In what was reportedly the costliest Senate race, former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) defeated former Sen. George Allen (R) to replace retiring centrist Jim Webb (D).

In the House, Republicans did not suffer heavy losses. Benefitting in part from favorable redistricting, they retained a comfortable majority. Vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan, who ran for reelection in his district, was among those easily reelected. However, prominent Tea Party candidate Joe Walsh lost decisively in Illinois, and conservative firebrand Allen West appeared to have narrowly lost in Florida. Former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann fought hard to retain her Minnesota House seat. In other high-profile races, Joseph P. Kennedy III (D) won easily in the Massachusetts district held by retiring veteran Rep. Barney Frank (D). Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D, IL) was reelected despite mental health problems that had caused him to be absent from his district since June.

Ballot Issues

Among prominent ballot issues, Maine, Maryland, and Washington became the first states to approve same-sex marriage through popular vote, while a measure in Minnesota to constitutionally block gay marriage was defeated. Colorado and Washington voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana. Californians backed a proposal to raise taxes to avoid education funding cuts and rejected a proposal to end the death penalty. In Puerto Rico, voters endorsed a proposal for the commonwealth to become the 51st U.S. state, subject to the approval of Congress.

Balance of Power, 2012

(as of Nov. 9, 2012)

Campaign Trail Quotes, 2012

I think it’s been the worst campaign I’ve ever seen in my life.

—Former first lady Barbara Bush commenting Mar. 5 on the presidential campaign during primary season.

If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help ... Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business—you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.

—Pres. Barack Obama, in a July 13 speech to a VFW convention, interpreted by many opponents as denying people true credit for their own success.

It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

—Rep. Todd Akin (R), Senate candidate in Missouri, speaking of pregnancy from rape in a TV interview Aug. 19.

So I ... so I’ve got Mr. Obama sitting here. And he’s ... I was going to ask him a couple of questions.

—Actor-director Clint Eastwood, speaking to an empty chair, in an off-the-cuff riff at the GOP convention in Tampa, FL, Aug. 30.

[I]nstead of inspiring us by reminding us of what makes us special, [Obama] divides us against each other. He tells Americans they’re worse off because others are better off. That people got rich by making others poor. Hope and Change has become Divide and Conquer.

—Sen. Marco Rubio (R, FL), speaking at the GOP convention, Aug. 30.

President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family.

—Former Gov. Mitt Romney, in his speech accepting the GOP presidential nomination, Aug. 30.

No president—no president, not me, not any of my predecessors—no one could have fully repaired all the damage that he found in just four years.

—Former Pres. Bill Clinton, at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC, Sept. 5.

I’m sorry, Jim. I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you too. But I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.

—Former Gov. Romney, in the first televised presidential debate Oct. 3 at Univ. of Denver, addressing moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS.

Mr. Vice President, I know you’re under a lot of duress to make up for lost ground, but I think people would be better served if we don’t keep interrupting each other.

—Rep. Paul Ryan, in the vice-presidential debate Oct. 11 at Centre College in Danville, KY.

With all due respect, that’s a bunch of malarkey.

—Vice Pres. Joe Biden, responding to Rep. Ryan’s criticism of administration foreign policy, in the vice-presidential debate Oct. 11.

Gov. Romney was a very successful investor. If somebody came to you, Governor, with a plan that said, ‘Here, I want to spend $7 or $8 trillion and we’re going to pay for it but we can’t tell you until maybe after the election how we’re going to do it.’ You wouldn’t have taken such a sketchy deal and neither should you, the American people.

—Pres. Obama, in the second televised presidential debate Oct. 16 at Hofstra Univ. in Hempstead, NY.

We took a concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members of our cabinet. I went to a number of women’s groups and said, ‘Can you help us find folks.’ And they brought us whole binders full of women.

—Gov. Romney, in the second presidential debate, Oct. 16.

I’m optimistic about the future. I’m excited about our prospects as a nation ... We have an opportunity to have real leadership. America’s going to have that kind of leadership and continue to promote principles of peace that’ll make the world a safer place and make people in this country more confident that their future is secure.

—Gov. Romney, in the third presidential debate Oct. 22 at Lynn Univ. in Boca Raton, FL.

You mentioned the Navy, for example, and that we have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military’s changed ... And so the question is not a game of Battleship where we’re counting ships, it’s what are our capabilities.

—Pres. Obama, in the third presidential debate, Oct. 22.

Electoral and Popular Vote, 2008 and 2012

Source: © Associated Press; all rights reserved. 2012 results are preliminary as of Nov. 7, 2012. 2008 results, Federal Election Commission.

Candidates’ Closing Remarks

"And tonight, despite all the hardship we’ve been through, despite all the frustrations of Washington, I’ve never been more hopeful about our future. I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to sustain that hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism, the kind of hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. I’m not talking about the wishful idealism that allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight. I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting.

"America, I believe we can build on the progress we’ve made and continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founding, the idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or straight, you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try.

I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and forever will be the United States of America. And together with your help and God’s grace we will continue our journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the greatest nation on Earth.

—Pres. Barack Obama, Chicago, IL, Nov. 7, 2012

"The nation, as you know, is at a critical point. At a time like this, we can’t risk partisan bickering and political posturing. Our leaders have to reach across the aisle to do the people’s work. And we citizens also have to rise to the occasion.

"We look to our teachers and professors. We count on you not just to teach, but to inspire our children with a passion for learning and discovery. We look to our pastors and priests and rabbis and counselors of all kinds to testify of the enduring principles upon which our society is built: honesty, charity, integrity, and family. We look to our parents, for in the final analysis everything depends on the success of our homes. We look to job creators of all kinds. We’re counting on you to invest, to hire, to step forward. And we look to Democrats and Republicans in government at all levels to put the people before the politics.

I believe in America. I believe in the people of America. And I ran for office because I’m concerned about America. This election is over, but our principles endure. I believe that the principles upon which this nation was founded are the only sure guide to a resurgent economy and to renewed greatness.

—Former Gov. Mitt Romney, Boston, MA, Nov. 7, 2012

Electoral Votes for President, 2012

Electoral votes based on the 2010 Census were in force beginning with the 2012 elections.

Democratic Nominees

For President: Barack Obama

Born: Barack Hussein Obama, Aug. 4, 1961, Honolulu, HI. Education: BA, Columbia Univ., 1983; JD, Harvard Univ., 1991. Career: research assistant, Business Intl. Corp., NYC, 1983-84; community organizer, Chicago, 1985-88; lecturer, Univ. of Chicago Law School, 1992-2004; associate, then partner, Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, Chicago, 1993-2004; Illinois state senator, 1997-2004; U.S. senator (D, IL), 2005-08; U.S. president, 2009-present. Net worth: $5.7 mil. Religion: Protestant. Family: married Michelle LaVaughn Robinson (b. 1964), 1992; children: Malia (b. 1998), Natasha (Sasha) (b. 2001).

Obama’s father, Barack Obama Sr., a Kenyan economics student, met his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, an American fellow student, at the Univ. of Hawaii. They married but separated soon after his birth and later divorced. After his mother married an Indonesian man, Obama lived with them in Indonesia from ages 6 to 10; he then lived with his maternal grandparents in Hawaii. Obama attended Occidental Coll. in Los Angeles before completing his degree at Columbia Univ. in New York. After working as a community organizer in Chicago, he went to Harvard Law School, becoming the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review.

While a lecturer at the Univ. of Chicago Law School, Obama wrote a memoir, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1995). He served eight years as an Illinois state senator. Obama lost a primary race for a U.S. House seat in 2000 but won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 2004. After a stirring keynote address at that year’s Democratic National Convention, he easily defeated his conservative Republican opponent in Nov. to become the Senate’s only African-American member. He wrote a second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (2006).

Campaigning for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, Obama stressed his opposition to the Iraq war and determination to change Washington. He pulled ahead of Sen. Hillary Clinton (NY) to win the nomination. The economic crisis dominated the fall campaign. He took 53% of the popular vote, defeating Sen. John McCain (R, AZ) to become the first African-American president.

Obama’s administration won passage in Feb. 2009 of a $787-bil stimulus package. The economy began to grow slowly, but unemployment rose, peaking at 10% in Oct. 2009. In Mar. 2010, Obama won passage of a controversial health-care reform bill (nicknamed Obamacare), which sought to expand coverage to the uninsured. The Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, aimed at changing regulations blamed for the 2007-09 recession, was enacted in July 2010. Obama took a conciliatory tone in foreign policy, as in a June 2009 speech in Cairo, calling for a new beginning in relations with the Muslim world, and received the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Over the next two years he gradually ended the presence of U.S. combat troops in Iraq while increasing, then reducing, U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan.

Following Nov. 2010 elections, Democrats lost their majority in the House and saw it reduced in the Senate. During the ensuing lame-duck session, Obama compromised with Republicans on an $858-bil spending plan that temporarily kept all Bush-era tax cuts while extending unemployment benefits and reducing the payroll tax. The bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission, formed by the president, released a $4-tril deficit reduction plan in Dec. 2010, calling for steep entitlement and other spending cuts along with tax increases. Obama instead outlined a plan calling for no entitlement cuts and higher taxes on the wealthy. In summer 2011, a battle in Congress over raising the federal debt ceiling left the government threatened with default. A last-minute compromise raised the debt ceiling with compensating spending cuts, more than half of which were left to a bipartisan congressional committee. It deadlocked, leaving a fiscal cliff of automatic cuts in domestic programs and defense slated to go into effect in 2013.

As the Arab Spring uprisings unfolded, the U.S. joined in air strikes in Libya with the stated aim of protecting civilians, but resisted material involvement in the Syrian civil war and in other troubled nations. The killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in a May 2011 Navy SEAL operation proved to be a major achievement. Many other known or suspected terrorists were killed in U.S. drone attacks. But the fatal Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, along with Iran’s nuclear development program and apparent tensions with Israel, brought criticism.

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney blamed Obama for continued high unemployment, trillion-dollar deficits, and trickle-down big-government economics. After losing traction in a first debate with Romney, Obama campaigned forcefully on several themes. He blamed the recession on failed Republican policy, defended the recovery as progressing well despite Republican obstruction in Congress, and faulted Romney’s policies as favoring the rich at the expense of the middle class. Obama also highlighted concern for so-called women’s issues, including access to abortion and insurance coverage for contraception.

For Vice President: Joe Biden

Born: Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., Nov. 20, 1942, Scranton, PA. Education: BA, Univ. of Delaware, 1965; JD, Syracuse Univ., 1968. Career: attorney/public defender, Wilmington, DE, 1969-72; member, New Castle County Council, 1970-72; U.S. senator (D, DE), 1973-2009; chair, Senate Judiciary Committee, 1987-95; chair, Foreign Relations Committee, 2001-03, 2007-09; contender for Dem. presidential nomination, 1988, 2008; U.S. vice president, 2009-present. Net worth: between –$1.2 mil and $191,000. Religion: Roman Catholic. Family: married Neilia Hunter (1942-72), 1966; children: Beau (b. 1969), Hunter (b. 1970), Naomi (1971-72); married Jill Tracy Jacobs (b. 1951), 1977; children: Ashley (b. 1981).

Biden was the oldest of four children in a working-class household. He went to law school, married as a student, and then practiced law while becoming active in the Democratic Party. In Nov. 1972, Biden won a U.S. Senate seat in an upset victory over the Republican incumbent. The following month, his wife and infant daughter were killed, and their two sons injured, in a car crash. Biden remarried in 1977.

In the Senate, Biden focused on foreign policy, judicial affairs, and criminal justice. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he presided over contentious Supreme Court nomination hearings that ended in the defeat of Robert Bork’s nomination (1987) and in Clarence Thomas’s confirmation (1991). He ran for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination but withdrew, damaged by charges he had plagiarized parts of a speech. The following year he made a full recovery after emergency brain surgery.

Biden initially voted (2002) for use of force in Iraq, but later criticized the Bush administration’s Iraq war policy. His son Beau Biden became attorney general of Delaware in 2007 and was deployed to Iraq with the Delaware National Guard in 2008. Biden published a memoir, Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics (2007). He ran again for the party’s presidential nomination in 2008 but dropped out after a poor finish in the Iowa caucus. Obama selected him as his running mate. As vice president, the sometimes-contrarian presidential adviser chaired a White House Task Force on Working Families, made frequent visits to Iraq, and served as a liaison to Congress. He played a key role in negotiations to resolve the federal debt crisis in 2011.

Known for his loquaciousness and occasional gaffes, Biden was nevertheless an effective campaigner. He gave a spirited defense of the administration at the 2012 Democratic National Convention and waged a strong attack on the Republican ticket in his debate Oct. 11 with GOP counterpart Paul Ryan, though some thought his effectiveness was undermined by a mocking attitude.

Republican Nominees

For President: Mitt Romney

Born: Willard Mitt Romney, Mar. 12, 1947, Detroit, MI. Education: BA, Brigham Young Univ., 1971; MBA, Harvard Business School, 1975; JD, Harvard Law School, 1975. Career: vice president, Bain & Co. consulting firm, 1978-84, CEO, 1991-92; founder and CEO, Bain Capital, 1984-2001; CEO, organizing committee, 2002 Olympic Games, Salt Lake City; Massachusetts governor, 2003-07; chair, Republican Governors’ Assn., 2006; contender for Republican presidential nomination, 2008. Net worth: $230 mil. Religion: Mormon. Family: married Ann Lois Davies (b. 1949), 1969; children: Taggart (b. 1970), Matthew (b. 1971), Joshua (b. 1975), Benjamin (b. 1978), Craig (b. 1981).

Mitt Romney was the youngest of four children. His father, auto executive George Romney, was governor of Michigan (1963-69) and an unsuccessful contender for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination. His mother, Lenore LaFount Romney, ran unsuccessfully for a Senate seat in 1970. Romney began his undergraduate work at Stanford Univ. but left to serve for two years as a Mormon missionary in France. He married and finished college at Brigham Young Univ. before earning advanced degrees from Harvard. Afterward, he worked in management consulting in Boston. In 1984, after serving as vice president of Bain & Co., he cofounded a lucrative investment and venture capital firm, Bain Capital. He took a break from the firm to oversee a major restructuring at Bain & Co.

In 1994, Romney ran for a U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts but lost to incumbent Sen. Ted Kennedy (D). As head of the organizing committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT, which had been mired in an ethics scandal and deficits, he was credited with its successful turnaround. Courted by Massachusetts Republican officials, he ran unopposed for the gubernatorial nomination after the unpopular acting governor dropped out of the race; he went on to win in Nov. 2002. The Romney administration closed a $3 bil budget gap without income or sales tax increases. He claimed credit for rescuing the state’s economy and led a bipartisan effort to reform the state’s health care system, extending health insurance to almost all residents.

In Feb. 2007, Romney announced his candidacy for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. Critics from the right objected to less conservative positions he had taken on issues such as abortion and gun control, as well as his health care plan in Massachusetts. Though he was considered a front-runner, he dropped out after losses in early primaries. Romney declared his candidacy for the party’s 2012 presidential nomination in June 2011, citing his business and government experience. He vowed to repeal Obamacare, arguing in part that health care reform should be determined at the state level. Competing with a large field of generally more conservative rivals, whom he outspent, Romney was accused of flip-flopping on issues to appear more conservative, but he clinched the nomination by May 2012.

Democrats faulted Romney’s business experience as being focused on profits, not job creation, and depicted him as the candidate of the rich. This impression was reinforced by a video of a speech to wealthy donors, leaked in Sept. 2012, in which he appeared to dismiss 47% of Americans as looking for handouts from big government. Romney vowed to create 12 mil jobs through a 5-point plan stressing energy independence, trade promotion, education improvement, debt and deficit reduction, and reforms to aid small business, especially through reducing regulations and cutting tax rates.

Romney’s campaign was lifted by a vigorous performance in his first debate with Obama: He blasted Obama’s record while taking relatively centrist stands on some issues. He vowed not to support legislation that would increase taxes for the middle class or add to deficits. Democrats argued that Romney’s program would benefit the rich and accused Romney of participating in a war on women with his stands on abortion and mandated insurance coverage for contraceptives. Romney initially questioned the administration’s preparedness for and response to the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. In the last presidential debate, on foreign policy, he attacked Obama’s leadership but did not renew the Libya criticism.

For Vice President: Paul Ryan

Born: Paul Davis Ryan, Jan. 29, 1970, Janesville, WI. Education: BA, Miami Univ. of Ohio, 1992. Career: aide to Sen. Robert Kasten (R, WI), 1992; speechwriter/analyst, Empower America, 1993-95; legislative director for Sen. Sam Brownback (R, KS), 1995-97; U.S. representative (R, WI), 1999-present; chair, House Budget Committee, 2011-present. Net worth: $2.0-$7.7 mil. Religion: Roman Catholic. Family: married Janna Christine Little (b. 1969), 2000; children: Elizabeth (b. 2002), Charles (b. 2003), Samuel (b. 2004).

Paul Ryan was the youngest of four children born into a family with a long history in Janesville, WI. His great-grandfather started an earth-moving business there in 1884. Family members say Ryan became more serious and determined after his father died of a heart attack when he was 16. With the help of social security survivors benefits, he went to college, earning a degree in political science and economics. After working as a congressional aide, he took a job with conservative think tank Empower America and became a protégé of former HUD secretary and Rep. Jack Kemp (NY), a champion of so-called supply side economics, who was the Republican nominee for vice president in 1996. Ryan wrote speeches for Kemp and shared his belief that low taxes and small government were the keys to economic growth. Ryan has also cited the influence of author Ayn Rand, whose philosophy exalts individualism and free-market capitalism.

In 1998, Ryan won an open seat in Congress to become, at age 28, the second-youngest House member. He repeatedly won reelection by wide margins and devoted himself to budget issues. At the 2004 Republican National Convention, he gave a speech criticizing the tax plans of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (MA). In 2006 he was selected as ranking minority member on the House Budget Committee. Pres. Obama named him in 2010 to the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission on budget deficits and debt; he voted against the final report, which proposed a 2-1 mix of spending cuts and tax hikes. His own budget plans, beginning with his 2008 Roadmap for America’s Future, have proposed lower tax rates along with spending and entitlement cuts.

In Jan. 2011, Ryan, now Budget Committee chair, gave the Republican response to Obama’s State of the Union address, stressing that the U.S. faced a crushing burden of debt. In Apr. 2011, he unveiled a budget plan that included controversial proposals to convert Medicaid to a program of block grants to states and Medicare to a program of vouchers for seniors to purchase private insurance (Medicare changes going into effect only for those reaching retirement age after 2021). In his 2012 budget plan, Ryan proposed savings of $5.3 tril over 10 years, with a proposal allowing retirees the option of using vouchers to purchase traditional Medicare coverage. Both plans passed the House but not the Democrat-controlled Senate.

In Aug. 2012, Romney named Ryan his running mate. The choice was popular among conservatives lukewarm toward Romney. Many fellow Catholics cited his consistent pro-life credentials, while other Catholics criticized his economic philosophy. Most pundits credited Ryan with an able, if not necessarily winning, performance in his Oct. 11 debate with an aggressive Vice Pres. Biden.

Members of the 113th Congress: Senate

Source: © Associated Press; all rights reserved. 2012 results are preliminary as of Nov. 7, 2012.

53 Democrats, 45 Republicans, 2 independents (who were both expected to caucus with Democrats). Boldface denotes the 2012 election winner. * = Incumbent. Third-party or independent candidates receiving fewer than 10,000 votes are not necessarily listed.

Terms are for 6 years and end Jan. 3 of the year preceding the senator’s name in the following

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