United States presidential election in North Carolina, 2012

United States presidential election in North 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 15 0 Popular vote 2,270,395 2,178,391 Percentage 50.39% 48.35%

County Results   Obama—70-80%   Obama—60-70%   Obama—50-60%   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 North 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. North Carolina voters chose 15 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.

On election day, Mitt Romney narrowly carried the state of North Carolina, winning 50.39% of the vote to Barack Obama's 48.35%, a margin of 2.04%. North Carolina was one of just two states (along with Indiana) which flipped from voting for Obama in 2008 to voting Republican in 2012. Like Indiana, North Carolina had been a reliably Republican state prior to Obama's 2008 win, having not previously gone Democratic since 1976. Unlike Indiana, however, North Carolina was still considered a competitive swing state in 2012, and both campaigns targeted it heavily, with the Democrats even holding their convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Despite Obama's loss, the closeness of the race suggests North Carolina will likely remain a vital swing state in future elections.

Primary Elections

Democratic primary

The 2012 North Carolina Democratic primary was held May 8, 2012. North Carolina awarded 157 delegates proportionally.^[1]

No candidate ran against incumbent Pres. Barack Obama in North Carolina's Democratic presidential preference primary. Obama received 766,079 votes, or 79.23% of the vote, with the remainder (200,810 votes, or 20.77%) going to elect delegates with "No Preference."^[1]

At the North Carolina Democratic state convention, 152 delegates were awarded to Barack Obama, with 5 delegates remaining unannounced.^[1]

Democratic Primary Election in NC[1]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Awarded Delegates
Barack Obama	766,079	79.23%	152
No Preference	200,810	20.77%
Unannounced			5
Totals	966,889	100.00%	157

Republican primary

Republican presidential primary in North Carolina, 2012

May 8, 2012

Candidate Mitt Romney Ron Paul Party Republican Republican Home state Massachusetts Texas Delegate count 36 6 Popular vote 638,601 108,217 Percentage 65.62% 11.12%

Results by county. Orange indicates a win by Romney.

The 2012 North Carolina Republican primary was held May 8, 2012.^[2][3] North Carolina awarded 55 delegates proportionally.^[4] Ron Paul and Mitt Romney were the only active contenders on the ballot.

Romney won the North Carolina GOP Presidential primary with 65.62% of the vote. Paul (with 11.12% of the vote) narrowly edged out Santorum (with 10.39% of the vote), and Gingrich came in last with only 7.64% of the vote. 5.23% of voters registered "no preference". The awarded delegate count from North Carolina's Republican state convention was Romney with 48 delegates and Paul with 7 delegates.^[4]

Republican Primary Election in NC[4]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Awarded Delegates
Mitt Romney	638,601	65.62%	48
Ron Paul	108,217	11.12%	7
Rick Santorum (withdrawn)	101,093	10.39%
Newt Gingrich (withdrawn)	74,367	7.64%
No Preference	50,928	5.23%
Totals	973,206	100.00%	55

General Election

Overview

United States presidential election in North Carolina, 2012[5]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Mitt Romney	Paul Ryan	2,270,395	50.39%	15
	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	2,178,391	48.35%	0
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson	Jim Gray	44,515	0.99%	0
	Others (write-in)			12,071	0.27%	0
Totals				4,505,372	100.00%	15
Voter turnout (registered voters)						67.74%

North Carolina 2012 Presidential Election by Voting District

By county^[5]

County	Obama percentage	Obama Votes	Romney percentage	Romney Votes	Johnson percentage	Johnson Votes	Write-in percentage	Write-in Votes	Totals
Alamance	42.45%	28,342	56.48%	37,712	0.88%	585	0.19%	130	66,769
Alexander	26.80%	4,591	71.27%	12,207	1.53%	262	0.40%	69	17,129
Alleghany	31.19%	1,574	66.94%	3,378	1.45%	73	0.42%	21	5,046
Anson	62.16%	6,894	37.20%	4,125	0.48%	53	0.16%	18	11,090
Ashe	32.65%	4,100	65.35%	8,207	1.43%	179	0.57%	72	12,558
Avery	24.24%	1,861	74.36%	5,708	1.15%	88	0.25%	19	7,676
Beaufort	39.93%	9,388	59.20%	13,919	0.66%	155	0.21%	49	23,511
Bertie	65.73%	6,537	33.86%	3,367	0.37%	37	0.04%	4	9,945
Bladen	50.51%	8,044	48.57%	7,736	0.76%	121	0.16%	26	15,927
Brunswick	38.41%	21,932	60.58%	34,587	0.82%	466	0.19%	109	57,094
Buncombe	55.24%	70,066	42.91%	54,429	1.35%	1,706	0.50%	633	126,834
Burke	37.49%	13,701	60.93%	22,267	1.21%	444	0.36%	132	36,544
Cabarrus	39.23%	32,453	59.39%	49,125	1.05%	867	0.33%	270	82,715
Caldwell	31.33%	10,795	66.95%	23,069	1.38%	474	0.35%	120	34,458
Camden	31.99%	1,497	66.13%	3,094	1.54%	72	0.34%	16	4,679
Carteret	28.94%	10,197	69.82%	24,598	0.93%	329	0.30%	107	35,231
Caswell	48.22%	5,183	50.90%	5,471	0.76%	82	0.12%	13	10,749
Catawba	34.56%	23,954	64.03%	44,386	1.10%	762	0.32%	219	69,321
Chatham	51.80%	18,252	47.05%	16,578	0.93%	327	0.22%	77	35,234
Cherokee	26.19%	3,339	72.16%	9,201	1.22%	155	0.43%	55	12,750
Chowan	47.16%	3,507	52.07%	3,872	0.61%	45	0.16%	12	7,436
Clay	28.02%	1,573	70.40%	3,952	1.19%	67	0.39%	22	5,614
Cleveland	39.24%	16,734	59.65%	25,440	0.86%	368	0.25%	106	42,648
Columbus	45.58%	10,992	53.39%	12,876	0.75%	181	0.28%	68	24,117
Craven	40.62%	18,556	58.35%	26,654	0.82%	375	0.21%	94	45,679
Cumberland	59.35%	74,991	39.73%	50,191	0.72%	910	0.20%	252	126,344
Currituck	31.45%	3,521	66.38%	7,431	1.80%	201	0.38%	42	11,195
Dare	41.07%	7,258	57.16%	10,102	1.44%	254	0.33%	58	17,672
Davidson	28.93%	20,291	69.76%	48,935	1.09%	768	0.21%	149	70,143
Davie	27.62%	5,652	71.18%	14,568	0.97%	198	0.23%	48	20,466
Duplin	43.75%	8,923	55.55%	11,330	0.60%	122	0.10%	20	20,395
Durham	75.78%	110,653	23.03%	33,626	0.92%	1,342	0.27%	389	146,010
Edgecombe	67.94%	18,249	31.62%	8,494	0.31%	83	0.12%	33	26,859
Forsyth	53.03%	91,606	45.84%	79,177	0.90%	1,549	0.24%	407	172,739
Franklin	47.33%	13,317	51.46%	14,480	0.93%	262	0.28%	80	28,139
Gaston	36.61%	32,903	62.10%	55,817	1.02%	918	0.27%	242	89,880
Gates	51.57%	2,745	47.57%	2,532	0.62%	33	0.24%	13	5,323
Graham	28.34%	1,115	69.71%	2,743	1.32%	52	0.64%	25	3,935
Granville	51.77%	13,529	47.19%	12,332	0.79%	207	0.24%	63	26,131
Greene	45.86%	3,761	53.57%	4,393	0.49%	40	0.09%	7	8,201
Guilford	57.71%	145,483	41.24%	103,964	0.83%	2,082	0.23%	583	252,112
Halifax	65.74%	16,931	33.73%	8,686	0.42%	107	0.12%	30	25,754
Harnett	39.73%	16,858	59.09%	25,070	0.98%	415	0.20%	86	42,429
Haywood	42.28%	11,795	55.92%	15,599	1.38%	384	0.43%	119	27,897
Henderson	35.53%	18,519	63.04%	32,860	1.12%	582	0.32%	165	52,126
Hertford	71.80%	7,815	27.57%	3,001	0.51%	56	0.11%	12	10,884
Hoke	58.93%	9,915	39.95%	6,721	0.97%	164	0.15%	25	16,825
Hyde	48.98%	1,157	50.08%	1,183	0.76%	18	0.17%	4	2,362
Iredell	34.15%	25,952	64.56%	49,071	0.97%	739	0.32%	242	76,004
Jackson	48.43%	8,052	49.46%	8,224	1.68%	280	0.43%	71	16,627
Johnston	35.49%	27,052	63.24%	48,206	1.00%	763	0.27%	202	76,223
Jones	44.90%	2,335	54.32%	2,825	0.62%	32	0.17%	9	5,201
Lee	44.34%	10,577	54.50%	13,000	0.93%	223	0.23%	54	23,854
Lenoir	49.66%	13,948	49.78%	13,980	0.48%	136	0.08%	22	28,086
Lincoln	29.96%	10,980	68.72%	25,184	1.00%	368	0.31%	114	36,646
Macon	33.83%	5,692	64.30%	10,817	1.43%	241	0.43%	73	16,823
Madison	44.35%	4,466	53.41%	5,379	1.77%	178	0.48%	48	10,071
Martin	51.90%	6,514	47.51%	5,963	0.51%	64	0.08%	10	12,551
McDowell	33.31%	6,006	65.07%	11,732	1.19%	215	0.43%	78	18,031
Mecklenburg	60.68%	270,705	38.22%	170,490	0.87%	3,867	0.23%	1,030	446,092
Mitchell	23.49%	1,810	75.00%	5,778	1.10%	85	0.40%	31	7,704
Montgomery	41.87%	4,689	57.05%	6,389	0.89%	100	0.19%	21	11,199
Moore	35.50%	16,371	63.61%	29,336	0.73%	337	0.16%	72	46,116
Nash	50.11%	24,214	49.19%	23,769	0.52%	252	0.17%	83	48,318
New Hanover	46.95%	48,148	51.55%	52,865	1.21%	1,237	0.30%	308	102,558
Northampton	67.23%	7,210	32.39%	3,474	0.33%	35	0.06%	6	10,725
Onslow	35.87%	18,115	62.77%	31,695	1.08%	543	0.28%	142	50,495
Orange	70.18%	53,404	28.12%	21,398	1.37%	1,046	0.33%	253	76,101
Pamlico	39.13%	2,632	59.94%	4,032	0.71%	48	0.22%	15	6,727
Pasquotank	56.71%	10,208	42.23%	7,602	0.88%	158	0.18%	32	18,000
Pender	39.24%	9,455	59.63%	14,368	0.88%	213	0.24%	59	24,095
Perquimans	41.42%	2,747	57.51%	3,814	0.90%	60	0.17%	11	6,632
Person	44.03%	8,384	54.97%	10,467	0.82%	157	0.18%	35	19,043
Pitt	52.86%	40,701	46.15%	35,534	0.75%	579	0.24%	186	77,000
Polk	38.63%	4,000	60.06%	6,219	1.00%	104	0.31%	32	10,355
Randolph	24.31%	14,675	74.41%	44,913	1.02%	614	0.25%	153	60,355
Richmond	50.86%	9,747	48.20%	9,236	0.75%	144	0.19%	36	19,163
Robeson	57.74%	23,957	41.20%	17,093	0.80%	330	0.26%	109	41,489
Rockingham	38.83%	16,170	60.13%	25,037	0.82%	342	0.22%	91	41,640
Rowan	36.32%	22,529	62.26%	38,622	1.05%	652	0.37%	230	62,033
Rutherford	32.61%	9,277	66.08%	18,797	1.05%	299	0.25%	71	28,444
Sampson	44.15%	11,496	55.14%	14,358	0.58%	151	0.13%	35	26,040
Scotland	57.92%	8,131	41.31%	5,799	0.64%	90	0.14%	19	14,039
Stanly	29.22%	8,287	69.46%	19,698	1.03%	291	0.30%	84	28,360
Stokes	27.80%	5,969	70.51%	15,142	1.33%	285	0.36%	78	21,474
Surry	30.86%	9,005	67.68%	19,753	1.16%	338	0.30%	88	29,184
Swain	45.71%	2,618	51.96%	2,976	1.94%	111	0.40%	23	5,728
Transylvania	40.71%	6,740	57.52%	9,522	1.25%	207	0.52%	86	16,555
Tyrrell	46.91%	835	52.19%	929	0.62%	11	0.28%	5	1,780
Union	34.22%	32,257	64.57%	60,870	0.96%	902	0.26%	241	94,270
Vance	63.89%	13,286	35.62%	7,406	0.38%	78	0.12%	24	20,794
Wake	54.93%	264,836	43.52%	209,797	1.26%	6,082	0.29%	1,375	482,090
Warren	67.79%	6,635	31.79%	3,111	0.32%	31	0.10%	10	9,787
Washington	58.90%	3,811	40.42%	2,615	0.46%	30	0.22%	14	6,470
Watauga	46.98%	12,959	50.10%	13,818	2.24%	619	0.68%	187	27,583
Wayne	45.32%	23,154	53.90%	27,536	0.58%	298	0.19%	98	51,086
Wilkes	27.92%	8,089	70.44%	20,410	1.22%	353	0.43%	124	28,976
Wilson	53.29%	20,745	45.99%	17,904	0.62%	241	0.10%	38	38,928
Yadkin	23.50%	3,929	74.84%	12,511	1.37%	229	0.28%	47	16,716
Yancey	42.08%	3,954	55.86%	5,249	1.50%	141	0.55%	52	9,396
Totals	48.30%	2,157,909	50.45%	2,253,689	0.98%	43,947	0.27%	11,870	4,467,415

See also

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

References

1. "North Carolina Democrat". The Green Papers. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
2. "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
3. "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
4. "North Carolina Republican". The Green Papers. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
5. "North Carolina State Board of Elections". Retrieved November 14, 2012.

External links

• North Carolina State Board of Elections
• North Carolina Democratic Party
• North Carolina Republican Party
• The Green Papers: for North Carolina
• The Green Papers: Major state elections in chronological order