2012 Pennsylvania Attorney General election

November 6, 2012


Nominee	Kathleen Kane	David Freed
Party	Democratic	Republican
Popular vote	3,125,557	2,313,506
Percentage	56.1%	41.6%

Kane: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%
Freed: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70%

Attorney General before election

Linda L. Kelly
Republican

Elected Attorney General

Kathleen Kane
Democratic

Federal government

U.S. President
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State government

Governor
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Lieutenant Governor
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Attorney General
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Auditor General
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State Treasurer
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Philadelphia

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Allegheny County elections
2025

Other localities

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Northampton County Executive elections
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Scranton mayoral elections
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The Pennsylvania Attorney General election of 2012 was held on November 6, 2012. The primary election was held on April 24.^[1]^[2]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

David Freed, Cumberland County District Attorney^[3]

Withdrew

John Rafferty, state senator^[4]^[5]

Declined

Linda Kelly, incumbent Attorney General^[6]

Results

Republican primary results^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	David J. Freed	659,077	100.0%
Total votes			659,077	100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Kathleen Kane, prosecutor, former Lackawanna County assistant district attorney^[8]

Eliminated in primary

Patrick Murphy, former U.S. Representative (2007–2011)^[9]

Withdrew

Dan McCaffery, former Philadelphia assistant district attorney^[10]^[11]

Declined

Lynne Abraham, former Philadelphia district attorney (1991–2010)^[12]

Results

Democratic primary results^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Kathleen Kane	375,500	52.82%
	Democratic	Patrick Murphy	335,438	47.18%
Total votes			710,938	100.0%

General election

Results

2012 Pennsylvania Attorney General election^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Kathleen Kane	3,125,557	56.14%	+10.44%
	Republican	David Freed	2,313,506	41.56%	−10.82%
	Libertarian	Marakay Rogers	128,140	2.30%	+0.38%
Total votes			5,567,203	100.0%
	Democratic gain from Republican

By congressional district

Kane won 13 of the 18 congressional districts, including eight that elected Republicans.^[14]

District	Kane	Freed	Representative
1st	83%	16%	Bob Brady
2nd	90%	9%	Chaka Fattah
3rd	48%	49%	Mike Kelly
4th	45%	52%	Jason Altmire
4th	45%	52%	Scott Perry
5th	47.8%	48.4%	Glenn Thompson
6th	50%	47%	Jim Gerlach
7th	50%	49%	Pat Meehan
8th	51%	47%	Mike Fitzpatrick
9th	46%	51%	Bill Shuster
10th	45%	53%	Tom Marino
11th	50%	48%	Lou Barletta
12th	50%	47%	Mark Critz
12th	50%	47%	Keith Rothfus
13th	68%	31%	Allyson Schwartz
14th	72%	25%	Mike Doyle
15th	52%	46%	Charlie Dent
16th	49.0%	48.7%	Joe Pitts
17th	62%	36%	Tim Holden
17th	62%	36%	Matt Cartwright
18th	49%	48%	Tim Murphy

References

^ "2012 General Primary - Attorney General". Pennsylvania Department of State. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
^ "2012 General Election - Attorney General". Pennsylvania Department of State. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
^ "Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed runs alone for Republican attorney general nod". The Patriot-News. January 12, 2012.
^ "Website: Sen. Rafferty to run for state Attorney General". The Mercury. August 31, 2011.
^ "Without Corbett's Endorsement, John Rafferty Ends Run For Attorney General". CBS News Philadelphia. January 12, 2012.
^ McLane, Lauren (December 6, 2011). "DA David Freed announces run for state attorney general". The Sentinel. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "2012 General Primary - Official Returns". Pennsylvania Department of State.
^ Snyder, Sy (March 29, 2011). "PoliticsPA Exclusive: Kathleen Granahan Kane to Announce AG Candidacy on Wednesday". Politics PA.
^ Toeplitz, Shira (April 20, 2011). "Patrick Murphy to Run for Pennsylvania AG". Roll Call.
^ Gibson, Keegan (September 27, 2011). "McCaffery Announces for AG". Politics PA.
^ Campisi, Jon (January 26, 2012). "Attorney Dan McCaffery ends race for Pa. Attorney General". Pennsylvania Record.
^ "Former Philadelphia DA Lynne Abraham Won't Run For Penna. Attorney-General". CBS News Philadelphia. October 7, 2011.
^ "2012 General Election - Official Returns". Pennsylvania Department of State.
^ "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts". Daily Kos. Retrieved July 13, 2024.

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