United States presidential election in South Carolina, 2012

United States presidential election in South Carolina, 2012

November 6, 2012

Nominee Mitt Romney Barack Obama Party Republican Democratic Home state Massachusetts Illinois Running mate Paul Ryan Joe Biden Electoral vote 9 0 Popular vote 1,071,645 865,941 Percentage 54.56% 44.09%

County Results   Obama—70-80%   Obama—60-70%   Obama—50-60%   Obama—<50%   Romney—<50%   Romney—50-60%   Romney—60-70%   Romney—70-80%

President before election Barack Obama Democratic Elected President Barack Obama Democratic

The 2012 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 6, 2012 as part of the 2012 General Election in which all 50 states plus The District of Columbia participated. South Carolina voters chose 9 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan. Romney defeated Obama in the state by 54.56% to 44.09%, a margin of 10.47%.^[1]

Democratic primary

President Obama was unopposed in the Democratic primary and easily won with more than 99% of the vote. The Democratic election was held on January 28, 2012, one week after the Republican election.

Republican primary

South Carolina Republican presidential primary, 2012

January 21, 2012

Candidate Newt Gingrich Mitt Romney Party Republican Republican Home state Georgia Massachusetts Delegate count 23 2 Popular vote 244,065 168,123 Percentage 40.4% 27.9%   Candidate Rick Santorum Ron Paul Party Republican Republican Home state Pennsylvania Texas Delegate count 0 0 Popular vote 102,475 78,360 Percentage 17.0% 13.0%

Results by county. Orange indicates counties won by Romney, and purple, those won by Gingrich.

The Republican primary was held on January 21, 2012.

During the primary election campaign, the candidates ran on a platform of government reform in Washington. Domestic, foreign and economic policy emerged as the main themes in the election campaign following the onset of the 2008 economic crisis, as well as policies implemented by the Obama administration. This included the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, termed "Obamacare" by its opponents, as well as government spending as a whole.

The primary has become one of several key early state nominating contests in the process of choosing the nominee of the Republican Party for the election for President of the United States. It has historically been more important for the Republican Party than for the Democratic Party; from its inception in 1980, until the nomination of Mitt Romney in 2012, the winner of the Republican presidential primary had gone on to win the nomination.^[2] As of 2012, the primary has cemented its place as the "First in the South" primary for both parties.^[3] Newt Gingrich was declared the winner of the race as soon as polls closed, however, Mitt Romney went on to win the nomination.

Date of primary

The 2012 South Carolina Republican primary was tentatively scheduled to occur on February 28, 2012,^[4] much later than the date in 2008, which almost immediately followed the beginning of the year in January 2008.^[5] On September 29, 2011, the entire schedule of caucuses and primaries was disrupted, however, when it was announced that the Republican Party of Florida had decided to move up its primary to January 31, in an attempt to bring attention to its own primary contest, and attract the presidential candidates to visit the state.^[6] Because of the move, the Republican National Committee decided to strip Florida of half of its delegates.^[7] Also as a result, the South Carolina Republican Party, along with Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada then sought to move their primaries and caucuses back into early January.^[7] All but Nevada, who agreed to follow Florida,^[8] confirmed their caucus and primary dates to take place throughout January, with South Carolina deciding to hold their contest on January 21, 2012.^[7] It is an open primary.^[9]

Ballot

Nine candidates appeared on the presidential primary ballot.^[10] South Carolina had only 25 delegates up for grabs because it moved its primary to January 21. Eleven delegates were awarded for the statewide winner, Newt Gingrich, and two additional delegates were awarded to the winner of each of the seven congressional districts. Six districts were won by Gingrich, and one by Romney, giving Gingrich twelve additional delegates and Romney two delegates.^[11]

Polling

Results

Official results with 100% (2,117 of 2,117) precincts reporting.^[12]

There were 2,804,231 registered voters, for a turnout of 21.60%.^[12]

South Carolina Republican primary, 2012
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Estimated national delegates
Newt Gingrich	244,065	40.42%	23
Mitt Romney	168,123	27.85%	2
Rick Santorum	102,475	16.97%	0
Ron Paul	78,360	12.98%	0
Stephen Colbert	6,338	1.05%	0
Rick Perry	2,534	0.42%	0
Jon Huntsman	1,173	0.19%	0
Michele Bachmann	491	0.08%	0
Gary Johnson	211	0.03%	0
Totals	603,770	100.00%	25

Key:	Withdrew prior to contest

General Election

Results

United States presidential election in South Carolina, 2012
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Mitt Romney	Paul Ryan	1,071,645	54.56%	9
	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	865,941	44.09%	0
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson	Jim Gray	16,321	0.83%	0
	Green	Jill Stein	Cheri Honkala	5,446	0.28%	0
	Constitution	Virgil Goode	Jim Clymer	4,765	0.22%	0
Totals				1,964,118	100.00%	9

Results breakdown

By county

County	Romney%	Romney#	Obama%	Obama#	Others%	Others	Total
Abbeville	56.05%	5,981	42.57%	4,543	1.38%	147	10,671
Aiken	62.59%	44,042	35.99%	25,322	1.42%	999	70,363
Allendale	20.13%	838	79.20%	3,297	0.67%	28	4,163
Anderson	67.45%	48,709	31.03%	22,405	1.52%	1,098	72,212
Bamberg	31.88%	2,194	67.19%	4,624	0.93%	64	6,882
Barnwell	46.95%	4,659	52.28%	5,188	0.76%	76	9,923
Beaufort	58.24%	42,687	40.72%	29,848	1.04%	762	73,297
Berkeley	56.42%	38,475	41.85%	28,542	1.73%	1,178	68,195
Calhoun	47.32%	3,707	51.63%	4,045	1.05%	82	7,834
Charleston	48.01%	77,629	50.39%	81,487	1.61%	2,591	161,707
Cherokee	64.09%	13,314	34.81%	7,231	1.10%	228	20,773
Chester	44.19%	6,367	54.77%	7,891	1.03%	149	14,407
Chesterfield	51.16%	8,490	47.96%	7,958	0.88%	146	16,594
Clarendon	43.40%	7,071	55.80%	9,091	0.80%	130	16,292
Colleton	49.41%	8,443	49.60%	8,475	0.98%	168	17,086
Darlington	47.87%	14,434	51.27%	15,457	0.85%	259	30,150
Dillon	41.63%	5,427	57.71%	7,523	0.65%	85	13,035
Dorchester	57.22%	32,531	41.24%	23,445	1.54%	879	56,855
Edgefield	56.21%	6,512	42.87%	4,967	0.92%	107	11,586
Fairfield	33.62%	3,999	65.38%	7,777	1.00%	119	11,895
Florence	49.83%	28,961	49.23%	28,614	0.94%	547	58,122
Georgetown	53.37%	16,526	45.74%	14,163	0.89%	276	30,965
Greenville	62.99%	121,685	35.23%	68,070	1.77%	3,434	193,189
Greenwood	57.02%	16,348	41.76%	11,972	1.23%	352	28,672
Hampton	35.98%	3,312	63.37%	5,834	0.65%	60	9,206
Horry	64.17%	72,127	34.60%	38,885	1.23%	1,381	112,393
Jasper	41.60%	4,169	57.45%	5,757	0.95%	95	10,021
Kershaw	58.41%	16,324	40.29%	11,259	1.30%	363	27,946
Lancaster	58.33%	19,333	40.49%	13,419	1.19%	392	33,144
Laurens	58.02%	14,746	40.60%	10,318	1.39%	352	25,416
Lee	31.80%	2,832	67.10%	5,977	1.09%	98	8,907
Lexington	68.07%	76,662	30.32%	34,148	1.61%	1,813	112,623
Marion	34.46%	5,164	64.65%	9,688	0.89%	134	14,986
Marlboro	37.31%	3,676	61.91%	6,100	0.78%	77	9,853
McCormick	47.81%	2,467	51.41%	2,653	0.78%	40	5,160
Newberry	56.63%	9,260	42.28%	6,913	1.08%	178	16,351
Oconee	70.47%	21,611	27.88%	8,550	1.66%	505	30,666
Orangeburg	27.93%	12,022	71.37%	30,720	0.69%	299	43,041
Pickens	73.49%	33,474	24.49%	11,156	2.02%	919	45,549
Richland	33.37%	53,105	65.34%	103,989	1.30%	2,060	159,154
Saluda	59.96%	5,135	38.86%	3,328	1.19%	101	8,564
Spartanburg	60.93%	66,969	37.72%	41,461	1.34%	1,476	109,906
Sumter	40.74%	19,274	58.32%	27,589	0.94%	446	47,309
Union	52.50%	6,584	46.22%	5,796	1.28%	181	12,541
Williamsburg	29.59%	4,824	69.52%	11,335	0.88%	145	16,304
York	59.42%	59,546	39.05%	39,131	1.53%	1,533	100,210

See also

• South Carolina primary
• Republican Party presidential debates, 2012
• Republican Party presidential primaries, 2012
• Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
• South Carolina Republican Party

References

1. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Retrieved December 7, 2012.
2. "GOP bellwether South Carolina shows a tangled race: Pg 1". Retrieved January 20, 2008.
3. "First in the South". Fox News. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
4. Falcone, Michael (September 2, 2011). "South Carolina GOP Officials Hope To Strike Deal With Florida To ‘Calm’ 2012 Primary Waters". ABC News. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
5. "South Carolina Primary Results". The New York Times. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
6. Taylor, Steven (September 29, 2011). "Florida Moves its Primary". Outside the Beltway. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
7. Jacobs, Jennifer (October 25, 2011). "GOP chairman: Florida will be penalized, and 2012 race is now set". Des Moines Register. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
8. Nir, David (October 24, 2011). "Nevada Republicans cave, move caucuses to Feb. 4". Daily Kos. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
9. Richard E. Berg-Andersson. "South Carolina Republican". The Green Papers. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
10. Whitmire, C. "2012 Republican Presidential Primary Candidates". South Carolina State Election Commission. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
11. Kleefeld, Eric (January 4, 2012). "South Carolina GOP Chairman: ‘Anyone Can Win’ In Our Primary". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
12. "South Carolina Primary". South Carolina State Election Commission. February 3, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.

External links

• South Carolina State Election Commission
• South Carolina's Secretary of State
• South Carolina Republican Party
• The Green Papers: for South Carolina
• The Green Papers: Major state elections in chronological order