How many U.S. Senate seats changed party in 2012?

5 seats changed party in the 2012 Senate elections: Connecticut (Independent to Democrat), Indiana (Republican to Democrat), Maine (Republican to Independent), Massachusetts (Republican to Democrat), Nebraska (Democrat to Republican).

Which new senators were elected in 2012?

12 new senators won seats in 2012: Jeff Flake (Republican-AZ), Chris Murphy (Democrat-CT), Mazie Hirono (Democrat-HI), Joe Donnelly (Democrat-IN), Angus King (Independent-ME), Elizabeth Warren (Democrat-MA), Deb Fischer (Republican-NE), Martin Heinrich (Democrat-NM), Heidi Heitkamp (Democrat-ND), Ted Cruz (Republican-TX), Tim Kaine (Democrat-VA), Tammy Baldwin (Democrat-WI).

2012 U.S. Senate Elections: Results

33 Senate seats were decided on Tuesday, November 6, 2012: the 33 Class I seats. 21 incumbents kept their seats, 12 new senators were elected, and 5 seats changed party.

All cycles 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 2030

Seats on the ballot

33 Class I

Held going in

21 Democrat · 10 Republican · 2 Independent

New senators

21 incumbents re-elected

Seats that changed party

CT, IN, ME, MA, NE

Every Seat on the 2012 Ballot

Incumbent is whoever held the seat on election day; the result is who was sworn in for it afterwards.

State ▲	Incumbent ↕	Party ↕	Seat ↕	Since ↕	Age on Election Day ↕	Result ↕
Arizona	Jon Kyl Since 1995	Republican	Class I	1995		Jeff Flake (Republican)
California	Dianne Feinstein Since 1992	Democrat	Class I	1992		Re-elected
Connecticut	Joseph Lieberman Since 1989	Independent	Class I	1989		Chris Murphy (Democrat) Party change
Delaware	Tom Carper Since 2001 · age 65	Democrat	Class I	2001	65	Re-elected
Florida	Bill Nelson Since 2001	Democrat	Class I	2001		Re-elected
Hawaii	Daniel Akaka Since 1990	Democrat	Class I	1990		Mazie Hirono (Democrat)
Indiana	Richard Lugar Since 1977	Republican	Class I	1977		Joe Donnelly (Democrat) Party change
Maine	Olympia Snowe Since 1995	Republican	Class I	1995		Angus King (Independent) Party change
Maryland	Benjamin Cardin Since 2007	Democrat	Class I	2007		Re-elected
Massachusetts	Scott Brown Since 2010	Republican	Class I	2010		Elizabeth Warren (Democrat) Party change
Michigan	Debbie Stabenow Since 2001	Democrat	Class I	2001		Re-elected
Minnesota	Amy Klobuchar Since 2007 · age 52	Democrat	Class I	2007	52	Re-elected
Mississippi	Roger Wicker Since 2007 · age 61	Republican	Class I Appointed	2007	61	Re-elected
Missouri	Claire McCaskill Since 2007	Democrat	Class I	2007		Re-elected
Montana	Jon Tester Since 2007 · age 56	Democrat	Class I	2007	56	Re-elected
Nebraska	Ben Nelson Since 2001	Democrat	Class I	2001		Deb Fischer (Republican) Party change
Nevada	Dean Heller Since 2011	Republican	Class I Appointed	2011		Re-elected
New Jersey	Robert Menendez Since 2006	Democrat	Class I	2006		Re-elected
New Mexico	Jeff Bingaman, Jr. Since 1983	Democrat	Class I	1983		Martin Heinrich (Democrat)
New York	Kirsten Gillibrand Since 2009 · age 45	Democrat	Class I Appointed	2009	45	Re-elected
North Dakota	Kent Conrad Since 1987	Democrat	Class I	1987		Heidi Heitkamp (Democrat)
Ohio	Sherrod Brown Since 2007 · age 59	Democrat	Class I	2007	59	Re-elected
Pennsylvania	Bob Casey Since 2007 · age 52	Democrat	Class I	2007	52	Re-elected
Rhode Island	Sheldon Whitehouse Since 2007 · age 57	Democrat	Class I	2007	57	Re-elected
Tennessee	Bob Corker Since 2007	Republican	Class I	2007		Re-elected
Texas	Kay Hutchison Since 1993	Republican	Class I	1993		Ted Cruz (Republican)
Utah	Orrin Hatch Since 1977	Republican	Class I	1977		Re-elected
Vermont	Bernie Sanders Since 2007 · age 71	Independent	Class I	2007	71	Re-elected
Virginia	Jim Webb Since 2007	Democrat	Class I	2007		Tim Kaine (Democrat)
Washington	Maria Cantwell Since 2001 · age 54	Democrat	Class I	2001	54	Re-elected
West Virginia	Joe Manchin, III Since 2010	Democrat	Class I	2010		Re-elected
Wisconsin	Herbert Kohl Since 1989	Democrat	Class I	1989		Tammy Baldwin (Democrat)
Wyoming	John Barrasso Since 2007 · age 60	Republican	Class I Appointed	2007	60	Re-elected

New Senators Elected in 2012

Jeff Flake

Republican · Arizona

Succeeded Jon Kyl

Chris Murphy

Democrat · Connecticut

Succeeded Joseph Lieberman (Independent)

Mazie Hirono

Democrat · Hawaii

Succeeded Daniel Akaka

Joe Donnelly

Democrat · Indiana

Succeeded Richard Lugar (Republican)

Angus King

Independent · Maine

Succeeded Olympia Snowe (Republican)

Elizabeth Warren

Democrat · Massachusetts

Succeeded Scott Brown (Republican)

Deb Fischer

Republican · Nebraska

Succeeded Ben Nelson (Democrat)

Martin Heinrich

Democrat · New Mexico

Succeeded Jeff Bingaman, Jr.

Heidi Heitkamp

Democrat · North Dakota

Succeeded Kent Conrad

Ted Cruz

Republican · Texas

Succeeded Kay Hutchison

Tim Kaine

Democrat · Virginia

Succeeded Jim Webb

Tammy Baldwin

Democrat · Wisconsin

Succeeded Herbert Kohl

About this page

Seats, incumbents and results are derived from the Senate's service records (via the congress-legislators dataset): the seats on a year's ballot are the class whose terms end the following January, plus any seat held by appointment pending a special election, and a result is recorded when the winner is sworn in. Incumbent status and candidates for the next election come from FEC candidate filings; a seat is listed as open when the FEC tags its candidates as running for a seat with no incumbent. Election day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. See every cycle since 1990, the seniority list and the voting analysis.