United States presidential election, 2012

This article is about the United States presidential election held in 2012. For information about other elections held within the United States in 2012, see United States elections, 2012.
United States presidential election, 2012
United States
November 6, 2012
538 members of the Electoral College
270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout 54.9%[1]
 
Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Illinois Massachusetts
Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan
Electoral vote 332 206
States carried 26 + DC 24
Popular vote 65,915,796 60,933,500
Percentage 51.1% 47.2%
United States presidential election in Alabama, 2012 United States presidential election in Alaska, 2012 United States presidential election in Arizona, 2012 United States presidential election in Arkansas, 2012 United States presidential election in California, 2012 United States presidential election in Colorado, 2012 United States presidential election in Connecticut, 2012 United States presidential election in Delaware, 2012 United States presidential election in Florida, 2012 United States presidential election in Georgia, 2012 United States presidential election in Hawaii, 2012 United States presidential election in Idaho, 2012 United States presidential election in Illinois, 2012 United States presidential election in Indiana, 2012 United States presidential election in Iowa, 2012 United States presidential election in Kansas, 2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky, 2012 United States presidential election in Louisiana, 2012 United States presidential election in Maine, 2012 United States presidential election in Maryland, 2012 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, 2012 United States presidential election in Michigan, 2012 United States presidential election in Minnesota, 2012 United States presidential election in Mississippi, 2012 United States presidential election in Missouri, 2012 United States presidential election in Montana, 2012 United States presidential election in Nebraska, 2012 United States presidential election in Nevada, 2012 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, 2012 United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012 United States presidential election in New Mexico, 2012 United States presidential election in New York, 2012 United States presidential election in North Carolina, 2012 United States presidential election in North Dakota, 2012 United States presidential election in Ohio, 2012 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, 2012 United States presidential election in Oregon, 2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, 2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 2012 United States presidential election in South Carolina, 2012 United States presidential election in South Dakota, 2012 United States presidential election in Tennessee, 2012 United States presidential election in Texas, 2012 United States presidential election in Utah, 2012 United States presidential election in Vermont, 2012 United States presidential election in Virginia, 2012 United States presidential election in Washington, 2012 United States presidential election in West Virginia, 2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin, 2012 United States presidential election in Wyoming, 2012 United States presidential election in Delaware, 2012 United States presidential election in Maryland, 2012 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, 2012 United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, 2012 United States presidential election in Connecticut, 2012 United States presidential election in West Virginia, 2012 United States presidential election in Vermont, 2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 2012ElectoralCollege2012.svg
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states/districts won by Obama/Biden. Red denotes those won by Romney/Ryan. Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state.
President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

 Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

The United States presidential election of 2012 was the 57th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. The Democratic nominee, incumbent President Barack Obama, and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, were elected to a second term, defeating the Republican nominee, former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney, and his running mate, Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

As the incumbent president, Obama secured the Democratic nomination with no serious opposition. The Republican Party was more fractured; Mitt Romney was consistently competitive in the polls, but faced challenges from a number of more conservative contenders whose popularity each fluctuated, often besting Romney's. Romney effectively secured the nomination by early May as the economy improved, albeit at a persistently laggard rate. The campaign was marked by a sharp rise in fundraising, including from new nominally independent Super PACs. The campaigns focused heavily on domestic issues: debate centered largely around sound responses to the Great Recession in terms of economic recovery and job creation. Other issues included long-term federal budget issues, the future of social insurance programs, and the Affordable Care Act. Foreign policy was also discussed including the phase-out of the Iraq War, the size of and spending on the military, preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and appropriate counteractions to terrorism.

Obama defeated Romney, winning both the popular vote and the electoral college, with 332 electoral votes to Romney's 206. He became the eleventh President and third Democrat to win a majority of the popular vote more than once. Obama carried all states and districts (among states that allocate electoral votes by district) that he had won in the 2008 presidential election except North Carolina, Indiana, and Nebraska's 2nd congressional district. However, his margin of victory decreased from 2008. Consequently, Obama became the first incumbent since Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1944 to get reelected with fewer electoral votes and a lower popular vote percentage.

The 2012 presidential election coincided with the United States Senate elections where 33 Senators faced re-election and the biennial United States House of Representatives elections to elect the members for the 113th Congress. Eleven gubernatorial elections and many elections for state legislatures also took place at the same time, as well as many local ballot initiatives.

Timeline

Final poll closing times on Election Day.
  7 p.m. EST [00:00 UTC] (6)
  7:30 p.m. EST [00:30 UTC] (3)
  8 p.m. EST [01:00 UTC] (15+DC)
  8:30 p.m. EST [01:30 UTC] (1)
  9 p.m. EST [02:00 UTC] (15)
  10 p.m. EST [03:00 UTC] (4)
  11 p.m. EST [04:00 UTC] (5)
  1 a.m. EST [06:00 UTC] (1)

Electoral college changes

The 2010 Census changed the electoral vote apportionment for the presidential elections from 2012 to 2020 in the states listed below:

Changes in electoral vote apportionment (increases in green, decreases in orange) following the 2010 Census.[5]

States won by Democrats
in 2000, 2004, and 2008

  • Illinois −1
  • Massachusetts −1
  • Michigan −1
  • New Jersey −1
  • New York −2
  • Pennsylvania −1
  • Washington +1

States won by Republicans
in 2000, 2004, and 2008

  • Arizona +1
  • Georgia +1
  • Louisiana −1
  • Missouri −1
  • South Carolina +1
  • Texas +4
  • Utah +1

Swing states

  • Florida (Democratic in 2008, Republican in 2000 and 2004) +2
  • Iowa (Democratic in 2000 and 2008, Republican in 2004) −1
  • Nevada (Democratic in 2008, Republican in 2000 and 2004) +1
  • Ohio (Democratic in 2008, Republican in 2000 and 2004) −2
The electoral map in 2008.
Changes in electoral vote apportionment following the 2010 census.

Eight states (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington) gained votes due to reapportionment based on the 2010 Census. Ten states (Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) lost votes. This gave the Democratic Party a net loss of six electoral votes in states won by Democratic nominees in the previous three presidential elections, rendering the party a national total of 242 electoral votes. Conversely, the Republican Party achieved a net gain of six electoral votes in states won by Republican nominees in the previous three presidential elections, rendering the Republican Party a national total of 180 electoral votes.

State changes to voter registration and electoral rules

In 2011, several state legislatures passed new voting laws, especially pertaining to voter identification, with the stated purpose of combating voter fraud; the laws were attacked, however, by the Democratic Party as attempts to suppress voting among its supporters and to improve the Republican Party's presidential prospects. Florida, Georgia, Ohio,[6] Tennessee, and West Virginia's state legislatures approved measures to shorten early voting periods. Florida and Iowa barred all felons from voting. Kansas, South Carolina,[7] Tennessee, Texas[8] and Wisconsin[9] state legislatures passed laws requiring voters to have government-issued IDs before they could cast their ballots. This meant, typically, that people without driver's licenses or passports had to gain new forms of ID. Obama, the NAACP, and the Democratic Party fought against many of the new state laws.[10] Former President Bill Clinton denounced them, saying, "There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today".[11] He was referring to Jim Crow laws passed in southern states near the turn of the twentieth century that disenfranchised most blacks from voting and excluded them from the political process for more than six decades. Clinton said the moves would effectively disenfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal, including college students, Blacks, and Latinos.[12][13] Rolling Stone magazine criticized the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) for lobbying in states to bring about these laws, to "solve" a problem that does not exist.[10] The Obama campaign fought against the Ohio law, pushing for a petition and statewide referendum to repeal it in time for the 2012 election.[14]

In addition, the Pennsylvania legislature proposed a plan to change its representation in the electoral college from the traditional winner-take-all model to a district-by-district model.[15] As the governorship and both houses of its legislature were Republican-controlled, the move was viewed by some as an attempt to reduce Democratic chances.[16][17][18]

Nominations

Democratic Party

Primaries

With an incumbent president running for re-election against token opposition, the race for the Democratic nomination was largely uneventful. The nomination process consisted of primaries and caucuses, held by the 50 states, as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and Democrats Abroad. Additionally, high-ranking party members known as superdelegates each received one vote in the convention. A few of the primary challengers surpassed the president's vote total in individual counties in several of the seven contested primaries, though none made a significant impact in the delegate count. Running unopposed everywhere else, President Obama cemented his status as the Democratic presumptive nominee on April 3, 2012 by securing the minimum number of pledged delegates needed to obtain the nomination.[19][20]

Candidates

Republican Party

Primaries

Candidates with considerable name recognition who entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination in the early stages of the primary campaign included Representative and former Libertarian nominee Ron Paul, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, who co-chaired John McCain's campaign in 2008, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the runner-up for the nomination in the 2008 cycle, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

The first debate took place on May 5, 2011 in Greenville, South Carolina, with businessman Herman Cain, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty, and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum participating. Another debate took place a month later, with Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, and Rep. Michele Bachmann participating, and Gary Johnson excluded. A total of thirteen debates were held before the Iowa caucuses.

The first major event of the campaign was the Ames Straw Poll, which took place in Iowa on August 13, 2011. Michele Bachmann won the straw poll (this ultimately proved to be the acme of her campaign).[21] Pawlenty withdrew from the race after a poor showing in the straw poll, as did Thaddeus McCotter, the only candidate among those who qualified for the ballot who was refused entrance into the debate.[22]

It became clear at around this point in the nomination process that while Romney was considered to be the likely nominee by the Republican establishment, a large segment of the conservative primary electorate found him to be too moderate for their political views. As a result, a number of potential "anti-Romney" candidates were put forward,[23][24] including Donald Trump,[25] Sarah Palin,[26] Chris Christie,[27] and Texas Governor Rick Perry,[28] the last of whom decided to run in August 2011. Perry did poorly in the debates, however, and Herman Cain and then Newt Gingrich came into the fore in October and November.

Due to a number of scandals, Cain withdrew just before the end of the year, after having gotten on the ballot in several states.[29] Around the same time, Johnson, who had been able to get into only one other debate, withdrew to seek the Libertarian Party nomination.[30]

For the first time in modern Republican Party history, three different candidates won the first three state contests in January (the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire primary, and the South Carolina primary).[31] Although Romney had been expected to win in at least Iowa and New Hampshire, Rick Santorum won the non-binding poll at caucus sites in Iowa by 34 votes, as near as can be determined from the incomplete tally, earning him a declaration as winner by state party leaders, although vote totals were missing from eight precincts.[32][33] The election of county delegates at the caucuses would eventually lead to Ron Paul earning 22 of the 28 Iowa delegates to the Republican National Convention.[34] Newt Gingrich won South Carolina by a surprisingly large margin,[35] and Romney won only in New Hampshire.

Those who understood the dynamics of the Iowa caucus process realized after the Iowa caucuses that Paul could dominate the delegate selection process at the Iowa Republican Convention,[36] but national media significantly underestimated Paul's delegate count during the first half of 2012. The New York Times and the Associated Press projected until the Iowa Republican convention in June that Paul would only get one Iowa delegate at the national convention.[37]

An accurate delegate projection would have had Paul in the lead after the January 3 Iowa caucuses and after the January 10 New Hampshire primary, where Romney earned 8 delegates, Paul earned 3 delegates and Jon Huntsman earned 1 delegate.[38]

A number of candidates dropped out at this point in the nomination process. Bachmann withdrew after finishing sixth in the Iowa caucuses,[39] Huntsman withdrew after coming in third in New Hampshire, and Perry withdrew when polls showed him drawing low numbers in South Carolina.[40]

Mitt Romney on the campaign trail.

Santorum, who had previously run an essentially one-state campaign in Iowa, was able to organize a national campaign after his surprising victory there. He unexpectedly carried three states in a row on February 7 and overtook Romney in nationwide opinion polls, becoming the only candidate in the race to effectively challenge the notion that Romney was the inevitable nominee.[41] However, Romney won all of the other contests between South Carolina and the Super Tuesday primaries, and regained his first-place status in nationwide opinion polls by the end of February.

The Super Tuesday primaries took place on March 6. Romney carried six states, Santorum carried three, and Gingrich won only in his home state of Georgia.[42] Throughout the rest of March, 266 delegates were allocated in 12 events, including the territorial contests and the first local conventions that allocated delegates (Wyoming's county conventions). Santorum won Kansas and three Southern primaries, but he was unable to make any substantial gain on Romney, who became a formidable frontrunner after securing more than half of the delegates allocated in March.

On April 10, Santorum suspended his campaign due to a variety of reasons, such as a low delegate count, unfavorable polls in his home state of Pennsylvania, and his daughter's health, leaving Mitt Romney as the undisputed front-runner for the presidential nomination and allowing Gingrich to claim that he was "the last conservative standing" in the campaign for the nomination.[43] After disappointing results in the April 24 primaries (finishing second in one state, third in three, and fourth in one[44]), Gingrich dropped out on May 2 in a move that was seen as an effective end to the nomination contest.[45] After Gingrich's spokesman announced his upcoming withdrawal, the Republican National Committee declared Romney the party's presumptive nominee.[46] Ron Paul officially remained in the race, but he stopped campaigning on May 14 to focus on state conventions.

On May 29, after winning the Texas primary, Romney had received a sufficient number of delegates to clinch the party's nomination with the inclusion of unpledged delegates. After winning the June 5 primaries in California and several other states, Romney had received more than enough pledged delegates to clinch the nomination without counting unpledged delegates, making the June 26 Utah Primary, the last contest of the cycle, purely symbolic. CNN's final delegate estimate, released on July 27, 2012, put Romney at 1,462 pledged delegates and 62 unpledged delegates, for a total estimate of 1,524 delegates. No other candidate had unpledged delegates. The delegate estimates for the other candidates were Santorum at 261 delegates, Paul at 154, Gingrich at 142, Bachmann at 1, Huntsman at 1, and all others at 0.[47]

On August 28, 2012, delegates at the Republican National Convention officially named Romney the party's presidential nominee.[48] Romney formally accepted the delegates' nomination on August 30, 2012.[49]

Candidates

Other nominations

Four other parties nominated candidates that had ballot access or write-in access to at least 270 electoral votes, the minimum number of votes needed in the 2012 election to win the presidency through a majority of the electoral college.

Libertarian Party

Green Party

Constitution Party

Justice Party

Candidates gallery

Campaigns

Ballot access

Presidential ticket Party Ballot access[87] % of voters
seeing name on ballot		 Votes Percentage
Obama / Biden Democratic 50 + DC 100% 65,915,796 51.19
Romney / Ryan Republican 50 + DC 100% 60,933,500 47.32
Johnson / Gray Libertarian 48 + DC 95.1% 1,275,951 0.99
Stein / Honkala Green 36 + DC 83.1% 469,628 0.36
Goode / Clymer Constitution 26 49.9% 122,388 0.10
Anderson / Rodriguez Justice 15 28.1% 43,018 0.03
Lindsay / Osorio Socialism & Liberation 13 28.6% 7,791 0.006

All other candidates were on the ballots of fewer than 10 states, and less than 20% of voters nationwide saw their names on the ballot.

Financing and advertising

The United States presidential election of 2012 broke new records in financing, fundraising, and negative campaigning. Through grassroots campaign contributions, online donations, and Super PACs, Obama and Romney raised a combined total of more than $2 billion.[88] Super PACs constituted nearly one-fourth of the total financing, with most coming from pro-Romney PACs.[89] Obama raised $690 million through online channels, beating his record of $500 million in 2008.[90] Most of the advertising in the 2012 presidential campaign was decidedly negative—80% of Obama's ads and 84% of Romney's ads were negative.[91] The tax-exempt non-profit Americans for Prosperity, a so-called "outside group," that is, a political advocacy group that is not a political action committee or super-PAC, ran a television advertising campaign opposing Obama described by The Washington Post as "early and relentless."[92][93] Americans for Prosperity spent $8.4 million in swing states on television advertisements denouncing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 loan guarantee to Solyndra, a manufacturer of solar panels that went bankrupt,[94] an advertising campaign described by The Wall Street Journal in November 2011 as "perhaps the biggest attack on Mr. Obama so far."[95][96]

Party conventions

Charlotte
Tampa
Nashville
Las Vegas
Baltimore
Sites of the 2012 national party conventions.

Debates

The Commission on Presidential Debates held four debates during the last weeks of the campaign: three presidential and one vice-presidential. The major issues debated were the economy and jobs, the federal budget deficit, taxation and spending, the future of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, healthcare reform, education, social issues, immigration, and foreign policy.

Debate schedule:

President Obama talks with Ron Klain during presidential debate preparations. Senator John Kerry, at podium, played the role of Mitt Romney during the preparatory sessions.

An independent presidential debate featuring minor party candidates took place on Tuesday, October 23 at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois.[106][107] The debate was moderated by Larry King[108] and organized by the Free & Equal Elections Foundation.[107] The participants were Gary Johnson (Libertarian), Jill Stein (Green), Virgil Goode (Constitution), and Rocky Anderson (Justice).[107][108] A second debate between Stein and Johnson took place on Monday, November 5 in Washington, D.C.[109][110] It was hosted by RT and moderated by Thom Hartmann and Christina Tobin.[111]

Notable expressions, phrases, and statements

Results

Popular vote totals are from the official Federal Election Commission report. The results of the electoral vote were certified by Congress on January 4, 2013.[122]

Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote Electoral
vote		 Running mate
Count Pct Vice-presidential candidate Home state Elect. vote
Barack Obama (Incumbent) Democratic Illinois 65,915,796 51.06% 332 Joe Biden Delaware 332
Mitt Romney Republican Massachusetts 60,933,500 47.20% 206 Paul Ryan Wisconsin 206
Gary Johnson Libertarian New Mexico 1,275,971 0.99% 0 James P. Gray California 0
Jill Stein Green Massachusetts 469,627 0.36% 0 Cheri Honkala Pennsylvania 0
Virgil Goode Constitution Virginia 122,388 0.09% 0 Jim Clymer Pennsylvania 0
Roseanne Barr Peace and Freedom Hawaii 67,326 0.05% 0 Cindy Sheehan California 0
Rocky Anderson Justice Utah 43,018 0.03% 0 Luis J. Rodriguez California 0
Tom Hoefling America's Iowa 40,628 0.03% 0 Jonathan D. Ellis Tennessee 0
Other 217,148 0.17% — Other —
Total 129,085,403 100% 538 538
Needed to win 270 270
President Obama casts his ballot at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Chicago.
Popular vote
Obama
  
 51.06%
Romney
  
 47.20%
Johnson
  
 0.99%
Stein
  
 0.36%
Others
  
 0.38%
Electoral vote
Obama
  
 61.71%
Romney
  
 38.29%

Votes by electoral college

The table below displays the official vote tallies by each state's Electoral College voting method. The source for the results of all states, except those that amended their official results, is the official Federal Election Commission report. The column labeled "Margin" shows Obama's margin of victory over Romney (the margin is negative for states won by Romney).

States/districts won by Obama/Biden
States/districts won by Romney/Ryan

Electoral methods

Barack Obama
Democratic		 Mitt Romney
Republican		 Gary Johnson
Libertarian		 Jill Stein
Green		 Others Margin Total
State or
district		 Electoral
method		 # % Electoral
votes		 # % Electoral
votes		 # % Electoral
votes		 # % Electoral
votes		 # % Electoral
votes		 # % #
Alabama WTA 795,69638.36%–1,255,92560.55%912,3280.59%–3,3970.16%–6,9920.34%––460,229−22.19%2,074,338AL
Alaska WTA 122,64040.81%–164,67654.80%37,3922.46%–2,9170.97%–2,8700.96%––42,036−13.99%300,495AK
Arizona WTA 1,025,23244.59%–1,233,65453.65%1132,1001.40%–7,8160.34%–4520.02%––208,422−9.06%2,299,254AZ
Arkansas WTA 394,40936.88%–647,74460.57%616,2761.52%–9,3050.87%–1,7340.16%––253,335−23.69%1,069,468AR
California WTA 7,854,28560.24%554,839,95837.12%–143,2211.10%–85,6380.66%–115,4450.89%–3,014,32723.12%13,038,547CA
Colorado WTA 1,323,10151.49%91,185,24346.13%–35,5451.38%–7,5080.29%–18,1230.71%–137,8585.37%2,569,520CO
Connecticut WTA 905,08358.06%7634,89240.73%–12,5800.81%–8630.06%–5,5420.36%–270,19117.33%1,558,960CT
Delaware WTA 242,58458.61%3165,48439.98%–3,8820.94%–1,9400.47%–310.01%–77,10018.63%413,921DE
D.C. WTA 267,07090.91%321,3817.28%–2,0830.71%–2,4580.84%–7720.26%–245,68983.63%293,764DC
Florida WTA 4,237,75650.01%294,163,44749.13%–44,7260.53%–8,9470.11%–19,3030.23%–74,3090.88%8,474,179FL
Georgia WTA 1,773,82745.48%–2,078,68853.30%1645,3241.16%–1,5160.04%–6950.02%––304,861−7.82%3,900,050GA
Hawaii WTA 306,65870.55%4121,01527.84%–3,8400.88%–3,1840.73%–00.00%–185,64342.71%434,697HI
Idaho WTA 212,78732.62%–420,91164.53%49,4531.45%–4,4020.67%–4,7210.72%––208,124−31.91%652,274ID
Illinois WTA 3,019,51257.60%202,135,21640.73%–56,2291.07%–30,2220.58%–8350.02%–884,29616.87%5,242,014IL
Indiana WTA 1,152,88743.93%–1,420,54354.13%1150,1111.91%–6250.02%–3680.01%––267,656−10.20%2,624,534IN
Iowa WTA 822,54451.99%6730,61746.18%–12,9260.82%–3,7690.24%–12,3240.78%–91,9275.81%1,582,180IA
Kansas WTA 440,72637.99%–692,63459.71%620,4561.76%–7140.06%–5,4410.47%––251,908−21.72%1,159,971KS
Kentucky WTA 679,37037.80%–1,087,19060.49%817,0630.95%–6,3370.35%–7,2520.40%––407,820−22.69%1,797,212KY
Louisiana WTA 809,14140.58%–1,152,26257.78%818,1570.91%–6,9780.35%–7,5270.38%––343,121−17.21%1,994,065LA
Maine (at-large) WTA 401,30656.27%2292,27640.98%–9,3521.31%–8,1191.14%–2,1270.30%–109,03015.29%713,180ME–a/l
Maine, 1st CD 223,03559.57%1142,93738.18%–4,5011.20%–3,9461.05%–N/AN/A–80,09821.39%374,419ME–1
Maine, 2nd CD 177,99852.94%1149,21544.38%–4,8431.44%–4,1701.24%–N/AN/A–28,7838.56%336,226ME–2
Maryland WTA 1,677,84461.97%10971,86935.90%–30,1951.12%–17,1100.63%–10,3090.38%–705,97526.08%2,707,327MD
Massachusetts WTA 1,921,29060.65%111,188,31437.51%–30,9200.98%–20,6910.65%–6,5520.21%–732,97623.14%3,167,767MA
Michigan WTA 2,564,56954.21%162,115,25644.71%–7,7740.16%–21,8970.46%–21,4650.45%–449,3139.50%4,730,961MI
Minnesota WTA 1,546,16752.65%101,320,22544.96%–35,0981.20%–13,0230.44%–22,0480.75%–225,9427.69%2,936,561MN
Mississippi WTA 562,94943.79%–710,74655.29%66,6760.52%–1,5880.12%–3,6250.28%––147,797−11.50%1,285,584MS
Missouri WTA 1,223,79644.38%–1,482,44053.76%1043,1511.56%–00.00%–7,9360.29%––258,644−9.38%2,757,323MO
Montana WTA 201,83941.70%–267,92855.35%314,1652.93%–00.00%–1160.02%––66,089−13.65%484,048MT
Nebraska (at-large) WTA 302,08138.03%–475,06459.80%211,1091.40%–00.00%–6,1250.77%––172,983−21.78%794,379NE–a/l
Nebraska, 1st CD 108,08240.95%–152,02157.59%13,8471.46%–00.00%–N/AN/A––43,939−16.65%263,950NE–1
Nebraska, 2nd CD 121,88945.78%–140,97652.95%13,3931.27%–00.00%–N/AN/A––19,087−7.17%266,258NE–2
Nebraska, 3rd CD 72,11027.94%–182,06770.56%13,8691.50%–00.00%–N/AN/A––109,957−42.61%258,046NE–3
Nevada WTA 531,37352.36%6463,56745.68%–10,9681.08%–00.00%–9,0100.89%–67,8066.68%1,014,918NV
New Hampshire WTA 369,56151.98%4329,91846.40%–8,2121.16%–3240.05%–2,9570.42%–39,6435.58%710,972NH
New Jersey[123] WTA 2,125,10158.38%141,477,56840.59%–21,0450.58%–9,8880.27%–6,6900.18%–647,53317.81%3,640,292NJ
New Mexico WTA 415,33552.99%5335,78842.84%–27,7883.55%–2,6910.34%–2,1560.28%–79,54710.15%783,758NM
New York[124] WTA 4,485,74163.35%292,490,43135.17%–47,2560.67%–39,9820.56%–17,7490.25%–1,995,31028.18%7,081,159NY
North Carolina WTA 2,178,39148.35%–2,270,39550.39%1544,5150.99%–00.00%–12,0710.27%––92,004−2.04%4,505,372NC
North Dakota WTA 124,82738.69%–188,16358.32%35,2311.62%–1,3610.42%–3,0450.94%––63,336−19.63%322,627ND
Ohio[125] WTA 2,827,71050.67%182,661,43347.69%–49,4930.89%–18,5740.33%–23,6300.42%–166,2772.98%5,580,840OH
Oklahoma WTA 443,54733.23%–891,32566.77%700.00%–00.00%–00.00%––447,778−33.54%1,334,872OK
Oregon WTA 970,48854.24%7754,17542.15%–24,0891.35%–19,4271.09%–21,0911.18%–216,31312.09%1,789,270OR
Pennsylvania WTA 2,990,27451.97%202,680,43446.59%–49,9910.87%–21,3410.37%–11,6300.20%–309,8405.39%5,753,670PA
Rhode Island WTA 279,67762.70%4157,20435.24%–4,3880.98%–2,4210.54%–2,3590.53%–122,47327.46%446,049RI
South Carolina WTA 865,94144.09%–1,071,64554.56%916,3210.83%–5,4460.28%–4,7650.24%––205,704−10.47%1,964,118SC
South Dakota WTA 145,03939.87%–210,61057.89%35,7951.59%–00.00%–2,3710.65%––65,571−18.02%363,815SD
Tennessee WTA 960,70939.08%–1,462,33059.48%1118,6230.76%–6,5150.26%–10,4000.42%––501,621−20.40%2,458,577TN
Texas WTA 3,308,12441.38%–4,569,84357.17%3888,5801.11%–24,6570.31%–2,6470.03%––1,261,719−15.78%7,993,851TX
Utah WTA 251,81324.75%–740,60072.79%612,5721.24%–3,8170.38%–8,6380.85%––488,787−48.04%1,017,440UT
Vermont WTA 199,23966.57%392,69830.97%–3,4871.17%–5940.20%–3,2721.09%–106,54135.60%299,290VT
Virginia WTA 1,971,82051.16%131,822,52247.28%–31,2160.81%–8,6270.22%–20,3040.53%–149,2983.87%3,854,489VA
Washington WTA 1,755,39656.16%121,290,67041.29%–42,2021.35%–20,9280.67%–16,3200.52%–464,72614.87%3,125,516WA
West Virginia WTA 238,26935.54%–417,65562.30%56,3020.94%–4,4060.66%–3,8060.57%––179,386−26.76%670,438WV
Wisconsin[126] WTA 1,620,98552.83%101,407,96645.89%–20,4390.67%–7,6650.25%–11,3790.37%–213,0196.94%3,068,434WI
Wyoming WTA 69,28627.82%–170,96268.64%35,3262.14%–00.00%–3,4871.40%––101,676−40.82%249,061WY
U.S. Total–65,915,79651.06%33260,933,50047.20%2061,275,9710.99%–469,6280.36%–490,5080.38%–4,982,2963.86%129,085,403US

★Two states (Maine and Nebraska) allow for their electoral votes to be split between candidates. The winner within each congressional district gets one electoral vote for the district. The winner of the statewide vote gets two additional electoral votes.[127][128]

Close races

Swing from 2008 to 2012 in each state. Only six states trended more Democratic in 2012: Alaska, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, and New York. The arrows to the right represent how many places up or down on the list the state moved since 2008. States are listed by (increasing) percentage of Democratic votes.

Red denotes states (or congressional districts that contribute an electoral vote) won by Republican Mitt Romney; blue denotes those won by Democrat Barack Obama.

States where the margin of victory was under 5% (75 electoral votes):

  1. Florida, 0.88%
  2. North Carolina, 2.04%
  3. Ohio, 2.98%
  4. Virginia, 3.87%

States/districts where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10% (119 electoral votes):

  1. Colorado, 5.37%
  2. Pennsylvania, 5.39%
  3. New Hampshire, 5.58%
  4. Iowa, 5.81%
  5. Nevada, 6.68%
  6. Wisconsin, 6.94%
  7. Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, 7.16%
  8. Minnesota, 7.69%
  9. Georgia, 7.82%
  10. Maine's 2nd Congressional District, 8.56%
  11. Arizona, 9.06%
  12. Missouri, 9.38%
  13. Michigan, 9.50%

Romney's concession

Obama takes a phone call from Romney conceding the election early Wednesday morning in Chicago.

After the networks called Ohio (the state that was arguably the most critical for Romney, as no Republican had ever won the Presidency without carrying it) for Obama at around 11:15 PM EST on Election Day, Romney was ready to concede the race, but hesitated when Karl Rove strenuously objected on Fox News to the network's decision to make that call.[129][130] However, after Colorado and Nevada were called for the President (giving Obama enough electoral votes to win even if Ohio were to leave his column), in tandem with Obama's apparent lead in Florida and Virginia (both were eventually called for Obama), Romney acknowledged that he had lost and conceded at around 1:00 AM EST on November 7.

Despite public polling showing Romney behind Obama in the swing states of Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, and New Hampshire, tied with Obama in Virginia, and just barely ahead of Obama in Florida, the Romney campaign said they were genuinely surprised by the loss, having believed that public polling was oversampling Democrats.[131] The Romney campaign had already set up a transition website, and had scheduled and purchased a fireworks display to celebrate in case he won the election.[132][133]

On November 30, 2012, it was revealed that shortly before the election, internal polling done by the Romney campaign had shown Romney ahead in Colorado and New Hampshire, tied in Iowa, and within a few points of Obama in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Ohio.[134] In addition, the Romney campaign had assumed that they would win Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia.[135] The polls had made Romney and his campaign team so confident of their victory that Romney did not write a concession speech until Obama's victory was announced.[136][137]

Reactions

Foreign leaders reacted with both positive and mixed messages. Most world leaders congratulated and praised Barack Obama on his re-election victory. However, Venezuela and some other states had tempered reactions. Pakistan commented that Romney's defeat had made Pakistan-United States relations safer. Stock markets fell noticeably after Obama's re-election, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ, and the S&P 500 each declining over two percent the day after the election.[138]

Voter demographics

2012 Presidential vote by demographic subgroup
Demographic subgroup Obama Romney Other % of
total vote
Total vote 51 47 2 100
Ideology
Liberals 86 11 3 25
Moderates 56 41 3 41
Conservatives 17 82 1 35
Party
Democrats 92 7 1 38
Republicans 6 93 1 32
Independents 45 50 5 29
Gender
Men 45 52 3 47
Women 55 44 1 53
Gender by marital status
Married men 38 60 2 29
Married women 46 53 1 31
Non-married men 56 40 4 18
Non-married women 67 31 2 23
Race/ethnicity
White 39 59 2 72
Black 93 6 1 13
Asian 73 26 1 3
Other 58 38 4 2
Hispanic 71 27 2 10
Religion
Protestant or other Christian 43 56 1 51
Catholic 50 48 2 25
Mormon 21 78 1 2
Jewish 69 30 1 2
Other 74 23 3 7
None 70 26 4 12
Religious service attendance
More than once a week 36 63 1 14
Once a week 41 58 1 28
A few times a month 55 44 1 13
A few times a year 56 42 2 27
Never 62 34 4 17
White evangelical or born-again Christian?
White evangelical or born-again Christian 21 78 1 26
Everyone else 60 37 3 74
Age
18–24 years old 60 36 4 11
25–29 years old 60 38 2 8
30–39 years old 55 42 3 17
40–49 years old 48 50 2 20
50–64 years old 47 52 1 28
65 and older 44 56 0 16
Sexual orientation
Gay, lesbian, or bisexual 76 22 2 5
Heterosexual 49 49 2 95
Education
Not a high school graduate 64 35 1 3
High school graduate 51 48 1 21
Some college education 49 48 3 29
College graduate 47 51 2 29
Postgraduate education 55 42 3 18
Family income
Under $30,000 63 35 2 20
$30,000–49,999 57 42 1 21
$50,000–99,999 46 52 2 31
$100,000–199,999 44 54 2 21
$200,000–249,999 47 52 1 3
Over $250,000 42 55 3 4
Region
Northeast 59 39 2 21
Midwest 51 47 2 24
South 44 54 2 34
West 54 43 3 21
Community size
Big cities (population over 500,000) 69 29 2 11
Mid-sized cities (population 50,000 to 500,000) 58 40 2 21
Suburbs 48 50 2 47
Towns (population 10,000 to 50,000) 42 56 2 8
Rural areas 37 61 2 14

Source: Exit polls conducted by Edison Research of Somerville, New Jersey, for the National Election Pool, a consortium of ABC News, Associated Press, CBS News, CNN, Fox News,[139] and NBC News.[140] Total vote and results by region are based on the "Votes by state" section of this article.

Analysis

Combined with the re-elections of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Obama's victory in the 2012 election marked only the second time in American history that three consecutive presidents were each elected to two or more full terms (the first time being the consecutive two-term presidencies of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe).[141] This was also the first election since 1944 in which neither of the major candidates had any military experience.[142]

The 2012 election marked the first time since Franklin D. Roosevelt's last two re-elections in 1940 and 1944 that a Democratic presidential candidate won a majority of the popular vote in two consecutive elections.[143] Obama was also the first president of either party to secure at least 51% of the popular vote in two elections since Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956.[144] Obama is the third Democratic president to secure at least 51% of the vote twice, after Andrew Jackson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.[145]

Romney lost his home state of Massachusetts, becoming the first major party presidential candidate to lose his home state since Democrat Al Gore lost his home state of Tennessee to Republican George W. Bush in the 2000 election.[146] Romney lost his home state by more than 23%, the worst losing margin for a major party candidate since John Frémont in 1856.[147] Even worse than Frémont, Romney failed to win a single county in his home state.[148][149] In addition, since Obama carried Ryan's home state of Wisconsin, the Romney–Ryan ticket was the first major party ticket since the 1972 election to have both of its nominees lose their home states.[150]

Gary Johnson's popular vote total set a Libertarian Party record, and his popular vote percentage is the second-best showing for a Libertarian in a presidential election, trailing only Ed Clark's in 1980.[151]

Romney won the popular vote in every county of three states: Utah, Oklahoma, and West Virginia; Obama did so in four states: Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Hawaii.[152]

Obama's vote total was the second most votes received in the history of presidential elections and the most ever for a reelected president. Obama owns the all-time record for votes in a single election as well in 2008.

Maps

Gallery

  1. ^ Wells, Charlie (November 6, 2012). "Empire State Building lights up to broadcast election results". Daily News (New York). 

See also

References

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  139. ↑ "Fox News Exit Polls". Archived from the original on January 26, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  140. ↑ "President Exit Polls". The New York Times. Retrieved January 27, 2013.
  141. ↑ Hum, Robert (November 7, 2012). "Two-Term Presidency Musings". CNBC. Archived from the original on July 29, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  142. ↑ Dilanian, Ken (August 11, 2012) "Ryan pick cements lack of military service in presidential race", Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  143. ↑ Nichols, John (November 9, 2012). "Obama's 3 Million Vote, Electoral College Landslide, Majority of States Mandate". The Nation (New York). Retrieved November 18, 2012.
  144. ↑ Giroux, Greg (January 4, 2013). "Final Tally Shows Obama First Since '56 to Win 51% Twice". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  145. ↑ Frank, Steve (January 7, 2014) "Obama first presidential candidate since Eisenhower to top 51% twice", MSNBC.com. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  146. ↑ Gabbatt, Adam (October 19, 2012). "Romney poised to lose home state by wider margin than any other candidate". The Guardian (London). Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  147. ↑ Ostermeier, Eric (November 14, 2012). "20 Presidential Tickets That Lost Both Home States". Smart Politics (University of Minnesota blog). Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  148. ↑ "2012 Presidential General Election Data – Massachusetts by County". Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  149. ↑ "Presidential Election of 1856 – Map by counties". Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  150. ↑ Ostermeier, Eric (November 14, 2012). "20 Presidential Tickets That Lost Both Home States". Smart Politics.
  151. ↑ Harrington, Gerry (November 8, 2012). "Libertarian Party buoyant; Greens hopeful". United Press International. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  152. ↑ Blow, Charles M. (November 9, 2012) "Election Data Dive", The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2014.

Further reading

  • Hansen, Wendy L., Michael S. Rocca, and Brittany Leigh Ortiz. "The effects of Citizens United on corporate spending in the 2012 presidential election." Journal of Politics 77.2 (2015): 535-545. in JSTOR
  • Heilemann, John; Halperin, Mark (2013). Double Down: Game Change 2012. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 1594204403. 
  • Masket, Seth, John Sides, and Lynn Vavreck. "The Ground Game in the 2012 Presidential Election." Political Communication (2015) 33#2 pp: 1-19.
  • Mayer, William G.; Bernstein, Jonathan, eds. (2012). The Making of the Presidential Candidates, 2012. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-1170-4.  Scholars explore nominations in the post-public-funding era, digital media and campaigns, television coverage, and the Tea Party.
  • Miller, William J., ed. The 2012 Nomination and the Future of the Republican Party: The Internal Battle (Lexington Books; 2013) 265 pages; essays by experts on Romney and each of his main rivals
  • Nelson, Michael, ed. The Elections of 2012 (2013) excerpt and text search; topical essays by experts
  • Sides, John, and Lynn Vavreck. The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Presidential Election (Princeton U.P. 2013) excerpt and text search

External links

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