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2012 United States presidential election

The United States presidential election, 2012 was on November 6, 2012. There were also elections for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden won re-election for a second term.

United States presidential election, 2012
← 2008 November 6, 2012 2016 →
538 members of the Electoral College
270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout54.9%[1] Decrease 3.4 pp
  President Barack Obama, 2012 portrait crop.jpg Mitt Romney by Gage Skidmore 6 cropped.jpg
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%
ElectoralCollege2012.svg
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Obama/Biden. Red denotes states won by Romney/Ryan. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

By November 6, 2012, 11:30 PM ET (5:30 AM UTC), many broadcast networks said that Obama and Biden won the election. Mitt Romney of the Republican Party conceded the election to Obama around 1 AM ET on November 7. Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party came in third.

Electoral College changes

Between the 2008 and 2012 elections the Electoral College changed because of the 2010 Census. As a result, several states have lost electoral votes, and several states have gained electoral votes. Here are the states that have gained or lost electoral votes:

Gaining Votes

  • Texas +4
  • Florida +2
  • Arizona +1
  • Georgia +1
  • Nevada +1
  • South Carolina +1
  • Utah +1
  • Washington +1

Losing Votes

  • New York -2
  • Ohio -2
  • Illinois -1
  • Iowa -1
  • Louisiana -1
  • Massachusetts -1
  • Michigan -1
  • Missouri -1
  • New Jersey -1
  • Pennsylvania -1
 
What the Electoral College look liked in 2012

Conventions

The Republicans will hold their national convention the week of August 27 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.[2] The Democrats will hold their convention the week of September 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina.[3]

Both parties choose who to nominate and then the two nominees face each other.

Major candidates

Democrats

Main page: Democratic Party presidential candidates, 2012

Barack Obama declared that he was running for re-election in 2012 on April 4, 2011. He had challengers in 7 states, but still managed to win all 57 democratic primaries and therefore the democratic nomination.

Nominees

 
Democratic Party Ticket, 2012
Barack Obama Joe Biden
for President for Vice President
 
 
44th President of the United States
(2009–present) 		47th Vice President of the United States
(2009–present)
Campaign

Other candidates

Republicans

Nominees

 
Republican Party Ticket, 2012
Mitt Romney Paul Ryan
for President for Vice President
 
 
70th Governor of Massachusetts
(2003–2007) 		U.S. Representative from Wisconsin
(1999–present)
Campaign
 
[4][5]

Withdrawn

In the middle of 2011, there were many Republicans running: Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, Businessman Herman Cain, Speaker of the House of Representatives (in the 1990s) Newt Gingrich, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, Ambassador to China and Governor of Utah Jon Huntsman, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, Buddy Roemer, Thaddeus McCotter, and Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Scott Brown, Sarah Palin, Chris Christie, Donald Trump, Mike Huckabee, and Rudy Giuliani were considered possible candidates. All of them said that they were not going to run for president.

In May, a series of debates began between the Republicans. In August 2011, the Ames Straw Poll was conducted. It was won by Bachmann, with Paul coming in second. During the poll, Perry entered the race. After not placing in the top 2 in the poll, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty dropped out. Thaddeus McCotter dropped out a short time later.

Rick Perry became the frontrunner (person with the highest amount of support who is expected to win, according to polls) of the party, ahead of Romney in the polls. Rick Perry then had several bad debates and in one of them he said he wanted to remove 3 government departments, but forgot one of them. After these mistakes, Perry's poll numbers went down.

In the fall, Herman Cain became the new frontrunner for several months. He had an economic plan called 9-9-9 that would replace the entire tax system with a 9% income tax, a 9% national sales tax, and a 9% corporation tax. During foreign policy debates, he was not as successful. On December 3, 2011, Cain left the Presidential race. This was after several women said that he had sexually harassed them.

Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney were the two main competitors after that, but soon after Newt Gingrich lost much of his support. Gary Johnson withdrew on December 28, 2011 to run for the nomination of the Libertarian Party.

In January 2012, after not doing well in the primaries, Bachmann, Huntsman, and Perry dropped out of the Presidential race. Rick Santorum, however, picked up a surprise win in Iowa, as did Gingrich in South Carolina.

For February, March and the beginning of April, Rick Santorum was Mitt Romney's main competitor. On April 10, However, with only 11 (primary) victories to Romney's 23, Rick Santorum announced that he was going to drop out of the race. Buddy Roemer dropped out on February 22nd to run for the nominations of americans elect and the reform party, before ending his campaign completely on May 31.

After Santorum dropped out, most people thought that Mitt Romney would win the most primaries, and therefore the most pledged delegates, and ultimately the nomination. His two remaining opponents, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, decided to stay in the race. Gingrich dropped out on May 2 after a disappointing showing in the Delaware primary that left his number of victories at 2 to Romney's 28. Paul, despite having only 1 victory to Romney's eventual 42 victories, did not end his campaign until after the 2012 republican national convention.

Santorum and Gingrich released their delegates ahead of the convention to vote for Romney.

At the republican national convention, with support from many pledged and unpledged delegates, Romney won the nomination in a landslide. The convention chose Paul Ryan as Romney's running mate.

Others

Other candidates for nomination included Virgil Goode, Roseanne Barr, Rocky Anderson, and Tom Hoefling.

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

Main pages: Libertarian Party (United States), 2012 Libertarian National Convention, and Gary Johnson presidential campaign, 2012

Green Party

Main pages: Green Party of the United States, 2012 Green National Convention, and Jill Stein presidential campaign, 2012

Constitution Party

Main pages: Constitution Party (United States), 2012 Constitution Party National Convention, and Virgil Goode presidential campaign, 2012

Justice Party

Main pages: Justice Party (United States) and Rocky Anderson
Candidates gallery

Polls

Many polls have been taken about the presidential election. Most polls show Obama beating Romney, aside from polls taken between the first and second presidential debates. In polls taken state-by-state, Obama usually wins states he won in 2008, and Republicans usually win states that McCain won in 2008. Indiana, North Carolina, and Nebraska's second congressional district are the main exceptions to the rule.

Results by state

Candidate (Party) Electoral
votes		 States
carried*		 Popular
vote		 Pct.
Obama (Democratic) 332 27 65,915,796 51.06%
Romney (Republican) 206 24 60,933,500 40.20%
Johnson (Libertarian) 0 0 1,275,971 0.99%
Stein (Green) 0 0 469,628 0.36%
Goode (Constitution) 0 0 122,388 0.09%
Barr (Peace and Freedom) 0 0 67,326 0.04%
Anderson (Justice) 0 0 43,018 0.03%
Hoefling (America's) 0 0 50,628 0.03%
Others 0 0 217,148 0.17%
Total   538 51 129,085,403 100%
* includes District of Columbia

Popular vote count is preliminary, and does not include all precincts.[41]

Projection by state

When you read "Consensus", it means that many news programs have said they believe Obama/Romney will win a particular state. A projection is when someone expresses their belief of something, in this case about the outcome of the election. An EV is an Electoral vote, from the Electoral college.

 
The Empire State Building was colored blue when Obama was said to have won the election.[42]
  • Alabama – 9 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Arkansas – 6 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Arizona – 11 EVs, Romney (CNN projection)
    • California – 55 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
    • Connecticut – 7 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • Colorado – 9 EVs, Obama (AP projection)
    • Delaware – 3 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • Florida - 29 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • Georgia – 16 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Hawaii – 4 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
    • Idaho – 4 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Illinois – 20 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • Indiana – 11 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Iowa – 6 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
    • Kansas – 6 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Kentucky – 8 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Louisiana – 8 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Maine – 4 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • Maryland – 10 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • Massachusetts – 11 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • Michigan – 16 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • Minnesota – 10 EVs, Obama (CBS projection)
    • Mississippi – 6 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Missouri – 10 EVs, Romney (CBS projection)
    • Montana – 3 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Nebraska – 3 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection) (4th and 5th Electoral votes Consensus projection)
    • Nevada – 6 EVs, Obama (ABC projection)
    • New Hampshire – 4 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • New Jersey – 14 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • New Mexico – 5 EVs, Obama (NBC projection)
    • New York – 29 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • North Carolina – 15 EVs, Romney (CNN projection)
    • North Dakota – 3 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Ohio - 18 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
    • Oklahoma – 7 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Oregon – 7 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
    • Pennsylvania – 20 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • Rhode Island – 4 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • South Carolina – 9 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • South Dakota – 3 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Tennessee – 11 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Texas – 38 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Utah – 6 EVs, Romney (CNN projection)
    • Vermont – 3 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • Virginia – 13 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
    • Washington, D.C. – 3 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • Washington – 12 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
    • West Virginia – 5 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
    • Wisconsin – 10 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
    • Wyoming – 3 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)

Note: Florida was not called until November 10 due to an extremely close race.

References

  1. ↑ "Federal Elections 2012: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. p. 5. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  2. ↑ Lush, Tamara (May 12, 2010) "Tampa wins bid to host 2012 GOP convention", The Associated Press. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  3. ↑ WSOC-TV: Charlotte wins DNC 2012
  4. ↑ "Mitt Romney announces bid to be US president in 2012", BBC. June 2, 2011
  5. ↑ Elliott, Philip (June 2, 2011). Romney opens presidential bid — he's got company. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700141023/Romney-opens-presidential-bid-2-hes-got-company.html. Retrieved October 5, 2012. 
  6. ↑ Good, Chris (May 14, 2012). Ron Paul to Stop Campaigning in New States. ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/ron-paul-to-stop-campaigning-in-new-states/. Retrieved October 8, 2012. 
  7. ↑ "Fred Karger officially ends 2012 presidential campaign". Wikinews. June 30, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
  8. ↑ Marr, Kendra (May 11, 2011). "Newt Gingrich running for president". Politico. Archived from the original on May 11, 2011. https://www.webcitation.org/5yc0egH4Q?url=http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/54780.html. Retrieved May 11, 2011. 
  9. ↑ Shear, Michael (May 11, 2011) "Video: Gingrich Announces for President", The New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
  10. ↑ Montopoli, Brian (May 2, 2012) "Newt Gingrich suspends presidential campaign", CBS News. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
  11. ↑ George, Stephanopoulos (June 6, 2011). Rick Santorum Will Run for President: 'We're In It to Win'. ABC News. http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2011/06/exclusive-rick-santorum-we-are-in-it-to-win.html. Retrieved June 6, 2011. 
  12. ↑ Salant, Jonathan D. (June 6, 2011). Ex-Pennsylvania Senator Santorum Announces '12 Republican Presidential Bid. Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-06/ex-senator-santorum-announces-bid-for-republican-presidential-nomination.html. Retrieved June 6, 2011. 
  13. ↑ "Republican Rick Santorum announces presidential run". The Patriot News. June 6, 2011. http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/06/rick_santorum_announces_presid.html. Retrieved June 6, 2011. 
  14. ↑ Roemer kicks off 2012 presidential bid. July 21, 2011. http://www.krqe.com/dpps/elections/president/roemer-kicks-off-2012-presidential-bid-nt11-jpe_3888834. Retrieved October 5, 2012. 
  15. ↑ McKinnon, Mark (July 21, 2011). "Listen to Candidate Roemer". The Daily Beast. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/07/21/buddy-roemer-announcing-2012-gop-bid-for-president-deserves-attention.html. Retrieved July 21, 2011. 
  16. ↑ "Texas Gov. Rick Perry Jumps In Presidential Race". ABC News. August 11, 2011. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  17. ↑ Hamby, Peter (January 19, 2012). "BREAKING: Perry drops out, endorses Gingrich". CNN. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/19/breaking-perry-endorses-gingrich/. Retrieved January 25, 2012. 
  18. ↑ Reston, Maeve (August 13, 2011). "Texas Gov. Rick Perry declares GOP presidential bid". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-perry-president-20110813,0,6052473.story. Retrieved August 18, 2011. 
  19. ↑ "Huntsman's sly web strategy", The Hill. May 11, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Jon Huntsman: My Mormonism is 'tough to define'", Politico. May 12, 2011.
  21. ↑ Rucker, Philip (January 4, 2012). "Michele Bachmann drops out of GOP race after Iowa caucuses". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michele-bachmann-drops-out-of-gop-race-after-iowa-caucuses/2012/01/04/gIQAP6L9aP_story.html. Retrieved January 5, 2012. 
  22. ↑ Rosenwald, Michael S. (June 14, 2011). "Michele Bachmann files paperwork to run for president". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michele-bachmann-files-paperwork-to-run-for-president/2011/06/13/AGPaXlTH_story.html. 
  23. ↑ Burns, Alexander (June 13, 2011). "Michele Bachmann is in". Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56881.html. Retrieved December 3, 2011. 
  24. ↑ Camia, Catalina (April 21, 2011). "Ex-N.M. governor Gary Johnson announces for president". USA Today. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2011/04/gary-johnson-president-new-mexico-governor-/1. 
  25. ↑ "Gary Johnson throws his hat into the GOP presidential ring, will he be the 2012 Ron Paul?". Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/04/gary-johnson-throws-his-hat-into-the-gop-presidential-ring-will-he-be-the-2012-ron-paul.html. 
  26. ↑ Green, Joshua (May 21, 2011) "Herman Cain Makes It Official", The Atlantic. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
  27. ↑ Creed, Ryan (May 21, 2011) "Herman Cain, Former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, Announces His Candidacy", ABC News. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  28. ↑ Madison, Lucy (July 1, 2011). "Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter to jump into Republican presidential race". CBS News. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
  29. ↑ Summers, Juana (July 20, 2011). "Candidates face off on Twitter". Politico. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
  30. ↑ Bakst, Brian (August 14, 2011). "Ex-Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty ends White House bid". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20110814/us-pawlenty-2012/. Retrieved August 14, 2011. 
  31. ↑ Reinhard, Beth (August 13, 2011). "Bachmann Boom; TPaw Bust?". National Journal. http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2011/08/ames-a-strongly.php. Retrieved August 14, 2011. 
  32. ↑ Libertarians nominate ex-Governor Gary Johnson for president. May 5, 2012. https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/06/us-usa-libertarians-idUSBRE8440BZ20120506. Retrieved May 6, 2012. 
  33. ↑ Riggs, Mike (May 5, 2012). "Judge Jim Gray Is the 2012 Libertarian Party Vice Presidential Nominee". Reason. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  34. ↑ "Mass. doctor Jill Stein wins Green Party's presidential nod". USA Today. July 14, 2012. https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-07-14/green-party-jill-stein/56226288/1. Retrieved July 15, 2012. 
  35. ↑ Kilar, Steve (July 14, 2012). "Green Party nominates Jill Stein for president at Baltimore convention". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 15, 2012.
  36. ↑ Steinmetz, Katy (July 11, 2012) "The Green Team: Jill Stein's Third-Party Bid to Shake Up 2012", Time.com. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  37. ↑ "Goode gets Constitution Party's nomination for president". www.viralworldnews.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  38. ↑ "Constitution Party Convention Wrap-Up: vice Presidential Candidate and Officer Elections". Independent Political Report. April 21, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  39. ↑ Gehrke, Robert (July 17, 2012). "Rocky picks activist-author as his VP running mate". The Salt Lake Tribune. http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/54506925-90/rodriguez-activist-anderson-author.html.csp. Retrieved July 18, 2012. 
  40. ↑ Schwarz, Hunter (January 13, 2012). "Rocky Anderson accepts his newly-formed party's presidential nomination". Deseret News. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  41. ↑ "President Results". Retrieved November 6, 2012.
  42. ↑ Empire State Building lights up to broadcast election results, Charlie Wells, New York Daily News, November 6, 2012

United States presidential election, 2012

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