Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2012

Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2012
United States
January 3 to June 5, 2012
 
Candidate Barack Obama
Home state Illinois
Delegate count 3,166
Contests won 56
Popular vote 6,158,064
Percentage 88.87%
Previous Democratic nominee

Barack Obama

 Democratic nominee

The 2012 Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses were the process by which voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. Incumbent President Barack Obama won the Democratic Party nomination by securing more than the required 2778 delegates on April 3, 2012 after a series of primary elections and caucuses. He was formally nominated by the 2012 Democratic National Convention on September 5, 2012, in Charlotte, North Carolina.[1]

Primary race overview

The general expectation was that, with President Barack Obama having the advantage of incumbency and being the only viable candidate running, the race would be merely pro forma.

Several of the lesser-known candidates made efforts to raise visibility. Some Occupy movement activists made an attempt to take over the Iowa caucuses,[2] and managed to get about 2% of the vote for Uncommitted. With eight minor candidates on the ballot in New Hampshire, there was a debate at Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire on December 19, 2011,[3] in which seven candidates participated. Pro-life activist Randall Terry bought time on television in order to show graphic commercials denouncing abortion.[4]

Three candidates – other than Obama – who had been on the ballot in New Hampshire were also on the ballot in Missouri. One such candidate, Randall Terry, attempted to air graphic TV commercials during Super Bowl XLIV, but was met with resistance from various TV stations[5][6] in some locations. The Democratic National Committee also tried to stop the ads by claiming that Terry was not a legitimate Democratic candidate even though he was legally on the ballot.[7]

A number of partisans of Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories, challenging the legitimacy of Obama's birthright citizenship, attempted to have the President's name removed from the Georgia primary ballot. A state administrative judge upheld a subpoena, which was ignored by the President and his staff.[8] In February 2012, the activists' legal challenge was rejected by a Georgia state law judge and by the Secretary of State of Georgia, and Obama remained listed on the primary ballot.[9][10]

On May 8, 2012, Keith Russell Judd, an inmate serving a 210-month sentence, won 41% of the primary vote in West Virginia against incumbent Barack Obama, a higher percentage of the vote in one state than any other primary opponent of Obama had hitherto achieved in 2012.[11][12] Shortly thereafter, attorney John Wolfe, Jr. won 42% of the primary vote in Arkansas after widespread speculation that Wolfe could possibly pull off an upset of the state.[13]

Challengers to President Obama only qualified for the ballot in eight states – New Hampshire, Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Alaska – while a ninth (Ohio) was going to have Randall Terry on the ballot, but removed his name before the ballots were printed.

Darcy Richardson suspended his bid for the nomination on April 28, 2012. He still appeared on the ballot in Texas after suspending his campaign.

Despite the limited opposition and ultimately receiving 100% of the pledged delegates, Obama's total percentage of the national popular primary vote was the lowest of any incumbent since the contested 1992 election when George H. W. Bush was challenged by Pat Buchanan.

Candidates

Obama was on the ballot in all states, where he ran mostly unopposed. In addition to Obama, the following attained ballot status in at least one state:[14]

Candidate Votes Delegates States on ballot
  NP 426,336 72 9 (AL, DC, KY, MA, MD, MI, MO, MT, NC, RI, TN)
  John Wolfe, Jr. 117,033 0 (23) 5 (AR, LA, MO, NH, TX)
  Darcy Richardson 109,764 0 5 (LA, MO, NH, OK, TX)
  Keith Russell Judd[15] 73,138 0 (1) 1 (WV)
  Bob Ely 29,947 0 4 (LA, NH, OK, TX)
  Randall Terry 22,734 0 (7) 4 (AK, MO, NH, OK)
  Jim Rogers 15,535 0 (3) 1 (OK)
  Ed Cowan 945 0 1 (NH)
  Vermin Supreme 833 0 1 (NH)
  John D. Haywood 423 0 1 (NH)
  Edward Dobson 409 0 1 (AZ)
  Craig Freis 400 0 1 (NH)
  Cornelius Edward O'Connor 266 0 1 (NH)
  Edward T. O'Donnell 222 0 1 (NH)
  Bob Greene 213 0 1 (NH)
  Scott W. Stey 155 0 1 (NH)
  Aldous C. Tyler 106 0 1 (NH)

Counties carried

2012 Democratic primary results by county (or equivalent).

  Barack Obama
  Randall Terry
  Darcy Richardson
  John Wolfe, Jr.
  Jim Rogers
  Uncommitted
  Keith Judd
  Bob Ely
  No votes

Candidates gallery

Delegate allocation

The number of pledged delegates allocated to each of the 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. is based on two main factors: (1) the proportion of votes each state gave to the Democratic candidate in the last three presidential elections, and (2) the number of electoral votes each state has in the United States Electoral College. In addition, fixed numbers of delegates are allocated to Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Democrats Abroad under the party's delegate selection rules.[16] Depending on each state's law and each state's party rules, when voters cast ballots for a candidate in a presidential caucus or primary, they may be voting to actually award delegates bound to vote for a particular candidate at the state or national convention (binding primary or caucus), or they may simply be expressing an opinion that the state party is not bound to follow in selecting delegates to the national convention (non-binding primary or caucus).

States are awarded bonus pledged delegates if they schedule their primary or caucus later in the primary season. Those states with April dates are awarded a 10 percent increase, while those who schedule from May 1 to June 12 get a 20 percent increase. And starting on March 20, a 15 percent bonus is awarded when clusters of three or more neighboring states begin on the same day.[16]

The unpledged superdelegates will include members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate, state and territorial governors, members of the Democratic National Committee, and other party leaders. Because of possible deaths, resignations, or the results of intervening or special elections, the final number of these superdelegates may not be known until the week of the convention.

Some delegates committed to candidates other than the President, have not been permitted to be elected in contested primaries, for administrative reasons.[17][18][19]

Calendar

Primary schedule

Date State/territory Type Pledged delegates Superdelegates Total delegates[16] Votes for Obama Votes for other candidates Source
January 3, 2012 Iowa Nonbinding caucus 56 11 65 8,064 (98.9%) 88 (1.1%) [20]
January 10, 2012 New Hampshire Semi-closed primary 28 7 35 48,970 (82%) 10,215 (18%) [21]
January 21, 2012 Nevada Nonbinding caucus 36 8 44 (98.3%) (1.7%) [22]
January 28, 2012 South Carolina Open primary 55 6 62 (100%)* (0%)
January 31, 2012 Florida Nonbinding primary1 276 24 300 (100%)* (0%)
February 7, 2012 Minnesota Nonbinding caucus 91 16 107 1,116 (98.1%) 22 (1.9%)
February 7, 2012 Missouri primary 77 13 90 64,405 (88.3%) 8,518 (11.7%)
March 6, 2012 Oklahoma primary 45 5 50 64,258 (57.1%) 48,339 (42.9%)2 [23][24]
March 6, 2012 Massachusetts primary 110 26 136 125,431 (88.8%) 15,881 (11.2%)
March 6, 2012 Colorado caucus 72 14 86 (100%)* (0%)
March 6, 2012 Ohio primary 174 17 191 547,588 (100%)* (0%)
March 6, 2012 Tennessee primary 82 9 91 80,355 (88.5%) 10,411 (11.5%)
March 6, 2012 Georgia primary 110 14 124 139,273 (100%)* (0%)
March 6, 2012 Virginia primary 106 17 123 (0%)# (0%)
March 6, 2012 Vermont primary 18 9 27 40,954 (98.1%)* 675 (1.9%)
March 13, 2012 Alabama primary 63 6 69 166,428 (80.8%) 39,496 (19.2%)
March 13, 2012 Mississippi primary 40 5 45 97,304 (100%)* (0%)
March 13, 2012 Utah caucus 29 5 34 (100%)* (0%)
March 20, 2012 Illinois primary 189 26 215 (100%)* (0%)
March 24, 2012 Louisiana primary 64 7 71 115,087 (76.5%) 35,449 (23.5%)
March 31, 2012 Arizona caucuses 70 70 (100%)* (0%)
April 3, 2012 District of Columbia primary 70 22 92 51,394 (98.1%) 997 (1.9%) [25]
April 3, 2012 Maryland primary 97 23 120 275,281 (88.4%) 35,974 (11.6%) [26]
April 3, 2012 Wisconsin primary 100 11 111 292,836 (98.2%)* 5,381 (1.8%)
April 24, 2012 Connecticut primary 73 15 88 (0%)# (0%)
April 24, 2012 New York primary 337 47 384 (100%)* (0%)
April 24, 2012 Pennsylvania primary 228 22 250 610,401 (100%)* (0%)
April 24, 2012 Rhode Island primary 32 9 41 6,726 (83.36%)* 1,343 (16.64%)
May 1–6, 2012 Democrats Abroad primary 15 4 19 2,709 (99.09%)* 25 (0.91%)
May 5, 2012 Michigan caucus 183 20 203 174,410 (89.4%) 20,648 (10.6%)
May 8, 2012 Indiana primary 96 10 106 210,683 (100%)* (0%)
May 8, 2012 North Carolina primary 139 19 158 755,931 (79.15%)* 199,102 (20.85%)
May 8, 2012 West Virginia primary 36 10 46 106,770 (59.35%) 73,138 (40.65%) [27]
May 15, 2012 Oregon primary 70 14 84 267,382 (94.66%) 15,077 (5.34%) [28]
May 15, 2012 Nebraska Nonbinding primary 38 6 44 0% (#) 0%
May 22, 2012 Arkansas primary 47 8 55 94,852 (58.4%) 67,491 (41.6%) [29]
May 22, 2012 Kentucky primary 66 7 73 119,277 (57.9%) 86,857 (42.1%) [30]
May 29, 2012 Texas primary 260 28 288 516,437 (88.3%) 68,599 (11.7%) [31]
May 30, 2012 Delaware caucus 24 9 33 (0%)# (0%)
June 5, 2012 California primary 547 64 611
June 5, 2012 Montana primary 24 7 31
June 5, 2012 New Jersey primary 153 19 172 283,673 (100%) [30]
June 5, 2012 New Mexico primary 39 11 50
June 5, 2012 South Dakota primary 22 7 29
Puerto Rico primary
Guam caucus
U.S. Virgin Islands caucus
American Samoa caucus
Northern Marianas Islands caucus

* - Unopposed # - Primary Canceled

Notes
  1. Florida's legislature set the date for its primary on January 31, violating the scheduling guidelines of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The DNC has since declared Florida's primary as nonbinding, and therefore an alternate delegate selection system consisting of county caucuses will now take place on May 5, followed by a state convention in June.
  2. Randall Terry collected 18% of the votes, winning twelve counties, in the Oklahoma primary, qualifying him for seven delegates to the 2012 Democratic National Convention. Jim Rogers collected 13% of the votes, winning three counties, qualifying him for three delegates (one from each of three congressional districts where he collected over 15%).[32]

State results

New Hampshire

A Democratic presidential candidates debate, held at Saint Anselm College in December 2011, was attended by seven candidates; Obama did not participate.[3] A total of 60,659 votes were cast in the primary. Obama won with 49,080 votes. The total votes cast were more than 30 percent fewer than in 1996, the last time that a Democratic president ran for re-election without significant opposition.[33]

Candidate Votes[34] Percentage Delegates
  Barack Obama 49,080 80.91% 10
  Ron Paul 2,289 3.77% -
  Mitt Romney 1,814 2.99% -
  Jon Huntsman 1,238 2.04% -
  Ed Cowan 945 1.56% -
  Vermin Supreme 833 1.37% -
  Randall Terry 446 1% -
  Scatter 772 1.27% -
  John D. Haywood 423 0.70% -
  Craig Freis 400 0.66% -
  Rick Santorum 302 0.50% -
  Bob Ely 287 0.47% -
  Newt Gingrich 276 0.46% -
  Cornelius Edward O'Connor 265 0.44% -
  Darcy Richardson 264 0.44% -
  John Wolfe, Jr. 245 0.40% -
  Edward T. O'Donnell 222 0.37% -
  Bob Greene 213 0.35% -
  Robert B. Jordan 155 0.26% -
  Aldous C. Tyler 106 0.17% -
  Buddy Roemer 29 0.05% -
  Fred Karger 26 0.04% -
  Rick Perry 17 0.03% -
  Stewart Greenleaf 4 0.01% -
  Gary Johnson 4 0.01% -
  Michael Meehan 4 0.01% -
  Michele Bachmann 2 0.00% -
  Herman Cain 1 0.00% -
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Democratic primary, March 6, 2012[35]
Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates
Barack Obama 64,330 57.09% 35
Randall Terry 20,302 18.02% 7
Jim Rogers 15,540 13.79% 3
Darcy Richardson 7,197 6.39% 0
Bob Ely 5,322 4.72% 0
Unprojected delegates: 45
Total: - - 45
Louisiana
Louisiana Democratic primary, March 22, 2012
Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates
Barack Obama 115,087 76.45% 62
John Wolfe, Jr. 17,804 11.83% 3
Bob Ely 9,895 6.57% -
Darcy Richardson 7,750 5.15% -
uncommitted 0 0% -
Missouri
Missouri Democratic primary, February 7, 2012
Candidate Votes percentage Delegates
Barack Obama 64,366 88.39% 89
Randall Terry 1,998 2.74% -
John Wolfe, Jr. 1,000 1.37% -
Darcy Richardson 873 1.20% -
uncommitted 4,580 6.29% -
Arkansas
Arkansas Democratic primary, May 22, 2012
Candidate Votes percentage Delegates
Barack Obama 94,936 58.37% 55
John Wolfe, Jr. 67,711 41.63% -

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Dems formally nominate Obama after Clinton hails both his calm, passion". Dallas News. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  2. ↑ Pearce, Matt (2012-01-04). "The complete failure (and unnoticed success) of Occupy Iowa Caucus". Salon.com. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  3. 1 2 Simón RíosUnion Leader Correspondent (2012-07-20). "Lesser-known candidates bring colorful campaigns to St. Anselm | New Hampshire NEWS0605". Unionleader.com. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  4. ↑ Tim Murphy (2011-12-06). "Aborted Fetus Campaign Ads Hit the Airwaves in Iowa". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  5. ↑ Eggerton, John (February 6, 2012). "FCC Says WMAQ Had Right to Deny Super Bowl Ad to Candidate". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  6. ↑ Boliek, Brooks (February 3, 2012). "FCC: TV can nix Super Bowl abortion ad". Politico. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  7. ↑ Winger, Richard (February 1, 2012). "Democratic National Committee Says Randall Terry Should Not be Considered a Bona Fide Candidate for Broadcast Purposes". Ballot Access News. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  8. ↑ Williams, Chuck (January 23, 2012). "Georgia judge orders President Obama to appear in court over 'birthers' suit". The Miami Herald. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
  9. ↑ Rankin, Bill (February 3, 2012). "Judge: Obama eligible to be Georgia candidate". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Ga. SOS says Obama to remain on primary ballot". Macon Telegraph. Associated Press. February 7, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
  11. ↑ Weigel, David (May 8, 2012). "Meet Keith Judd, the Superhero Inmate Winning Delegates Against Barack Obama". Slate. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  12. ↑ Little, M. (May 9, 2012). "Texas inmate wins 41% of vote vs. Obama in West Virginia primary". LA Times. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  13. ↑ Parker, Suzi (May 23, 2012). Obama struggles in Kentucky, Arkansas primaries. Reuters. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
  14. ↑ "New Hampshire Democratic Delegation 2012". Thegreenpapers.com. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  15. ↑ "W.Va. candidates file for Congress, state offices - Politics - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports". Wvgazette.com. 2012-01-28. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  16. 1 2 3 "Democratic Detailed Delegate Allocation - 2012". The Green Papers. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  17. ↑ Jonathan Tilove, The Times-Picayune. "John Wolfe sues Arkansas Dems to get delegates he won in 42 percent showing against Obama". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  18. ↑ "State anti-abortion candidate won't get presidential delegates". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  19. ↑ heath_harrison. "West Virginia Blue:: No W.Va. DNC delegates for Judd". Wvablue.com. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  20. ↑ "Iowa Caucus Night Reporting". Iowa Democratic Party. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  21. ↑ Richard E. Berg-Andersson. "New Hampshire Democratic". The Green Papers. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  22. ↑ Memoli, Michael A. (January 21, 2012). "Nevada Democratic caucuses rally support for Obama". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  23. ↑ "Obama loses Dem primary in 15 Oklahoma counties". Associated Press. March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  24. ↑ "For President-Democratic". Unofficial Results. Oklahoma State Elections Board. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  25. ↑ "Unofficial Election Results District of Columbia Primary Election - April 3, 2012".
  26. ↑ "Maryland 2012 Presidential Primary Election results for President of the United States".
  27. ↑ "West Virginia Secretary of State -- Election Results - Statewide Results Primary Election - May 8, 2012 Official Results". Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  28. ↑ "Unofficial Election Results Oregon Primary Election - May 15, 2012".
  29. ↑ "Arkansas Caucus Results - May 22, 2012". USA Today.
  30. 1 2 "Kentucky Primary Results - May 22, 2012". USA Today.
  31. ↑ "Texas Primary Results - May 29, 2012". USA Today.
  32. ↑ "Oklahoma-Democratic Primary". The Green Papers. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  33. ↑ John Nichols (January 11, 2012). "New Hampshire Results Point to a Notable Democratic Enthusiasm Gap". The Nation. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  34. ↑ "New Hampshire Democratic Delegation 2012". The Green Papers. January 28, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  35. ↑ Oklahoma Election Board. "Candidates for President of the United States". Retrieved 2012-01-19.
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