2012 United States presidential election

2012 United States presidential election
538 members of the Electoral College; 270 electoral votes needed to win
	Opinion polls
Turnout	58.6% 3.0 pp
	<imagemap>File:ElectoralCollege2012.svg\|348px\|center\| poly 28 148 51 155 71 161 92 166 76 231 148 338 147 341 150 347 151 351 153 354 152 356 149 358 146 360 145 363 144 366 144 368 139 373 139 381 142 384 140 386 123 386 92 381 93 367 82 351 76 351 74 357 76 359 76 360 74 360 73 359 71 367 72 370 73 371 71 371 70 370 70 366 71 367 73 359 71 356 72 355 74 357 76 351 77 349 76 344 73 343 70 343 69 342 66 341 65 340 53 340 47 340 45 338 46 337 48 337 51 340 53 340 51 338 51 337 53 337 55 339 57 339 57 340 65 340 66 341 66 339 63 335 62 333 60 331 56 330 53 329 50 327 45 326 42 324 42 321 44 315 45 313 45 310 43 308 43 306 39 300 37 296 35 290 34 285 30 281 31 273 33 273 35 271 35 266 33 265 31 265 28 260 27 254 28 249 29 246 29 244 23 238 24 231 17 217 16 212 18 204 19 203 19 195 17 189 16 185 14 185 14 183 16 177 22 172 26 161 27 152 2012 United States presidential election in California poly 29 146 26 142 27 139 28 128 34 120 38 114 44 102 49 88 53 80 58 64 61 61 66 61 67 64 70 64 73 67 73 77 78 81 86 81 87 80 89 80 90 81 93 81 93 82 96 82 99 84 104 85 104 84 106 84 107 86 113 86 114 85 117 85 118 86 133 85 161 92 161 96 165 99 165 102 163 104 162 107 159 110 157 112 157 115 155 117 153 117 149 122 148 125 148 129 149 130 151 130 152 132 151 133 140 176 89 164 56 155 2012 United States presidential election in Oregon poly 161 91 161 82 174 28 116 13 93 7 92 8 93 10 94 13 90 12 88 12 86 13 85 12 84 12 85 15 87 16 87 15 88 15 88 18 89 18 90 16 91 12 94 13 95 16 94 18 94 26 94 28 95 30 94 31 93 31 92 28 90 26 90 23 92 22 92 20 91 20 89 21 88 23 88 25 85 24 80 22 74 21 72 19 69 18 64 12 62 12 61 13 61 17 60 18 60 21 61 23 61 37 61 38 62 39 62 42 65 44 65 45 61 45 60 46 60 48 62 49 63 51 62 52 61 54 59 55 59 58 60 59 60 60 61 60 61 59 65 59 65 60 68 60 68 63 72 63 73 65 75 67 75 77 80 80 84 80 87 78 92 80 98 81 99 83 106 83 109 84 114 84 115 83 119 83 119 84 136 84 2012 United States presidential election in Washington (state) poly 175 28 188 30 184 48 184 53 186 58 187 59 186 62 186 66 187 68 191 71 193 77 196 83 198 85 199 86 201 86 202 90 195 105 195 109 198 112 202 112 205 109 208 125 214 132 214 138 216 140 218 138 221 138 223 139 227 139 228 138 233 139 235 140 237 140 239 137 241 137 242 141 244 141 235 194 188 186 141 177 152 135 154 131 153 129 150 129 150 125 152 122 155 118 158 117 158 114 164 106 167 103 167 98 163 96 163 83 166 67 170 47 2012 United States presidential election in Idaho poly 148 336 77 231 94 167 136 177 187 187 163 313 161 316 159 313 153 311 151 313 150 335 2012 United States presidential election in Nevada poly 168 295 189 188 235 196 231 220 264 224 262 245 253 309 2012 United States presidential election in Utah poly 235 434 197 429 135 391 135 390 137 388 143 387 144 383 143 381 140 380 140 374 146 370 146 364 147 360 154 356 154 353 152 351 152 345 149 342 149 339 151 337 152 316 154 313 157 315 160 318 163 318 165 314 167 296 206 303 224 307 252 311 244 374 2012 United States presidential election in Arizona poly 189 31 252 43 304 50 361 56 358 102 354 142 302 137 246 129 245 140 243 139 242 134 239 134 236 138 234 138 232 137 226 137 225 137 223 137 221 136 217 137 215 137 215 131 210 124 207 108 205 107 202 110 199 110 197 109 197 105 204 87 203 85 200 85 196 79 195 75 193 72 191 69 187 67 187 62 188 58 185 53 2012 United States presidential election in Montana poly 233 218 248 131 298 138 354 144 350 194 346 230 2012 United States presidential election in Wyoming poly 254 309 261 259 265 223 324 230 380 235 374 321 316 316 2012 United States presidential election in Colorado poly 237 433 249 350 254 311 331 320 357 322 356 331 355 332 348 429 320 427 281 424 281 430 264 428 253 426 252 435 2012 United States presidential election in New Mexico poly 357 121 361 88 363 57 385 59 424 61 460 61 463 65 462 82 463 84 464 88 466 91 467 104 468 107 468 114 470 118 471 127 417 126 2012 United States presidential election in North Dakota poly 353 187 357 124 411 127 471 128 471 132 467 134 467 138 473 142 473 180 470 182 470 187 473 190 472 193 469 199 466 197 461 196 458 195 452 195 449 196 441 190 423 191 384 188 2012 United States presidential election in South Dakota poly 489 257 486 253 485 249 482 244 482 234 480 231 480 225 477 222 475 212 473 205 470 204 469 201 458 196 451 197 448 199 440 192 418 192 352 188 349 231 382 234 380 256 438 257 445 258 2012 United States presidential election in Nebraska poly 376 321 380 257 420 259 491 260 493 263 497 263 498 265 496 267 496 271 502 279 504 292 503 325 436 324 2012 United States presidential election in Kansas poly 358 332 359 322 404 324 446 326 503 326 503 334 504 341 506 363 507 400 505 399 500 397 497 394 495 394 492 396 490 395 488 394 486 394 484 396 481 395 479 395 479 397 476 399 473 398 469 396 465 396 465 394 463 394 463 396 461 398 459 398 455 397 454 394 449 393 448 395 445 395 444 392 442 391 442 389 437 389 437 390 435 390 433 389 432 388 428 388 427 387 423 387 423 384 421 382 419 383 417 383 417 382 414 383 410 378 410 359 411 343 412 334 2012 United States presidential election in Oklahoma poly 350 431 353 376 357 334 410 336 408 365 408 379 414 385 418 384 422 384 421 387 424 388 428 390 432 390 436 392 437 391 440 390 445 397 448 397 450 395 452 395 455 398 460 400 464 396 469 398 475 400 477 400 479 398 482 397 485 398 487 396 489 397 493 397 495 396 503 400 506 401 510 404 512 403 515 403 516 432 516 433 517 438 519 441 520 446 524 451 525 458 525 463 522 467 522 468 523 472 523 475 522 481 521 483 521 487 514 489 509 492 505 493 503 497 499 499 486 510 477 513 467 520 463 521 458 527 454 527 453 529 455 531 451 545 451 551 453 559 454 566 455 569 457 567 456 559 454 554 454 552 453 550 453 544 455 535 460 527 464 522 465 522 465 523 461 528 458 532 455 535 453 545 454 545 454 550 455 551 455 556 457 558 458 561 458 567 457 567 453 571 450 571 446 568 442 567 436 567 432 563 426 562 419 559 417 554 417 551 415 547 413 546 413 540 412 539 412 536 413 535 410 532 407 530 402 521 396 517 396 514 391 502 391 499 389 497 389 495 380 488 380 486 378 483 372 483 371 482 362 482 361 481 358 480 355 481 350 485 349 490 345 493 345 495 342 498 340 498 338 496 332 494 329 490 325 489 317 480 315 476 315 466 312 463 312 460 308 455 304 454 295 444 294 440 288 438 288 435 285 432 283 430 283 426 316 429 2012 United States presidential election in Texas poly 475 180 475 141 469 137 469 135 472 132 472 118 470 113 469 106 469 101 468 99 468 88 464 82 464 68 465 65 463 63 463 61 493 61 494 53 498 55 498 62 501 67 505 67 507 69 512 69 513 71 517 71 521 68 528 71 535 74 538 74 539 73 540 76 544 78 546 80 551 80 556 76 557 76 559 79 561 79 561 78 570 78 571 81 575 79 577 80 573 83 569 84 563 87 559 89 552 95 552 98 549 100 537 110 536 123 528 130 528 134 531 138 531 141 529 143 529 155 533 158 536 158 539 161 541 161 549 169 551 170 555 174 555 179 512 180 2012 United States presidential election in Minnesota poly 486 245 484 243 483 236 483 233 481 231 481 225 479 222 478 216 475 210 475 205 473 202 472 201 472 197 473 195 474 189 471 186 471 182 503 182 556 181 556 183 559 186 557 188 557 194 560 198 565 199 566 201 566 203 570 205 570 207 575 211 574 217 572 219 572 221 570 223 564 224 561 227 561 232 563 233 563 236 561 237 561 242 557 244 557 247 556 248 553 245 553 243 515 244 2012 United States presidential election in Iowa poly 505 335 505 284 504 281 504 277 497 270 497 268 499 266 499 264 498 262 493 261 487 252 486 247 551 245 555 249 555 257 557 261 557 264 566 272 570 275 570 280 572 281 578 281 580 283 580 286 578 288 576 296 585 305 589 305 591 307 591 310 593 312 593 314 593 316 594 320 596 322 599 323 600 327 593 333 593 339 591 340 592 343 588 345 584 344 583 342 587 339 586 335 584 333 541 335 2012 United States presidential election in Missouri poly 569 412 517 412 517 404 514 401 511 402 509 402 508 401 508 361 507 356 507 342 505 338 505 337 538 336 584 335 585 338 584 340 581 342 580 344 580 346 590 346 590 348 589 349 589 353 584 356 584 359 585 360 584 365 582 366 582 369 578 372 578 374 577 376 577 378 574 382 571 385 571 387 572 387 572 389 568 391 568 395 567 397 567 399 568 401 567 402 567 404 569 406 2012 United States presidential election in Arkansas poly 522 488 523 483 524 481 524 473 525 472 525 471 524 470 524 468 526 465 527 455 526 454 526 451 521 446 521 441 518 435 517 414 541 414 568 413 568 419 569 420 570 425 571 426 571 429 570 430 570 433 568 437 567 441 565 442 565 444 562 447 562 457 565 458 597 457 596 464 600 468 602 474 600 475 599 478 600 480 603 480 603 479 605 475 606 475 607 477 607 479 608 480 608 481 606 482 604 482 603 484 602 484 602 487 604 490 608 490 615 493 615 495 613 496 608 495 605 493 601 493 599 489 595 490 595 493 596 494 594 497 591 498 590 499 590 498 592 497 591 494 589 494 586 495 585 497 582 499 578 499 571 495 573 492 571 489 567 490 565 485 560 485 558 484 556 484 555 486 555 488 560 488 562 489 562 490 559 490 558 489 554 489 553 490 547 490 542 487 535 485 530 485 524 486 2012 United States presidential election in Louisiana poly 538 123 538 111 541 109 544 111 545 111 551 109 557 105 559 104 561 105 559 107 558 111 558 112 560 112 561 111 563 111 564 113 567 113 571 118 574 118 599 124 601 124 604 127 607 128 608 137 612 140 607 146 606 152 607 154 611 150 611 148 620 136 620 137 620 140 614 152 613 158 614 159 614 162 612 163 612 168 613 169 613 174 612 175 611 179 610 180 610 182 611 184 611 189 613 193 613 197 598 198 566 200 565 198 562 197 559 194 559 188 561 186 557 183 557 174 553 169 550 168 544 161 542 160 540 160 538 156 534 156 532 154 531 143 533 140 533 138 530 134 530 130 535 126 2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin poly 568 201 590 201 613 199 613 204 617 209 618 216 623 265 622 267 622 273 624 276 625 282 622 284 622 287 617 293 617 304 614 306 615 307 617 309 614 311 612 311 610 313 611 316 612 317 610 319 609 317 606 317 605 316 600 319 598 321 595 319 594 315 595 314 595 310 592 308 592 305 590 304 585 304 578 295 578 292 580 287 582 284 582 281 578 280 572 281 571 278 571 274 558 263 558 259 556 257 556 251 559 248 559 245 562 243 562 239 565 237 565 233 562 230 562 229 564 226 570 225 573 222 573 219 576 216 576 211 568 202 2012 United States presidential election in Illinois poly 632 211 685 206 686 203 690 200 690 194 692 193 693 188 694 186 696 187 698 187 698 177 692 160 688 155 682 158 682 161 679 164 678 167 675 167 672 165 672 161 674 159 677 156 676 153 679 151 679 140 676 137 675 135 678 134 674 129 670 129 662 124 658 125 654 122 654 118 655 116 664 115 666 116 671 117 673 114 670 112 667 113 667 114 669 114 668 116 666 116 661 112 661 106 660 104 659 105 651 107 647 107 647 101 646 100 639 104 632 104 629 105 624 110 621 111 619 110 618 109 617 109 616 110 611 110 609 107 609 105 606 103 601 102 600 101 599 101 596 104 594 104 594 102 597 98 597 96 600 94 601 92 603 91 605 91 605 90 604 89 602 89 598 90 595 92 591 97 589 98 588 100 588 101 585 102 583 103 582 105 579 106 575 106 574 108 569 110 569 112 570 114 572 116 575 116 588 119 591 120 595 121 597 122 600 122 602 123 603 123 604 125 607 126 609 127 609 133 610 137 612 138 613 136 615 131 615 128 617 126 618 124 620 124 621 125 622 124 624 123 626 123 627 124 628 124 629 122 630 119 639 118 641 116 648 116 652 117 654 117 654 122 652 123 649 125 649 128 652 129 653 130 653 131 650 132 646 133 647 137 647 142 645 144 642 145 642 140 644 137 644 135 642 135 641 137 641 140 636 142 636 147 634 148 634 156 632 159 632 166 633 167 633 169 632 169 632 173 636 180 639 188 639 195 638 198 638 201 635 205 635 209 2012 United States presidential election in Michigan poly 662 210 631 213 626 216 624 217 620 216 623 243 624 274 626 276 626 283 623 288 623 289 620 294 619 300 620 300 626 298 632 298 633 300 634 300 635 297 638 296 640 296 641 298 642 298 642 295 647 292 650 294 653 294 653 289 661 281 661 277 665 277 670 274 669 272 666 240 2012 United States presidential election in Indiana poly 670 267 664 211 688 208 690 211 697 210 699 213 704 213 707 211 714 210 722 201 731 196 736 224 734 225 734 230 735 230 734 246 728 253 724 253 720 258 720 263 719 264 718 263 716 263 714 266 714 273 713 274 713 277 709 277 705 274 705 272 703 271 700 272 698 274 697 274 696 273 691 273 690 274 689 274 687 272 683 273 682 272 681 269 677 266 2012 United States presidential election in Ohio poly 700 319 709 314 709 311 721 299 712 290 712 288 708 285 708 277 704 276 704 274 703 273 698 277 696 277 696 275 692 275 691 276 687 276 687 274 682 274 680 273 679 270 677 268 675 268 675 269 670 269 670 271 671 272 671 275 665 279 662 279 662 283 654 290 654 295 649 295 647 294 644 296 644 299 641 300 640 298 637 298 634 302 633 302 630 300 622 300 619 302 617 306 617 308 618 309 618 310 612 313 612 316 613 316 613 319 613 320 609 320 606 318 604 318 600 320 601 322 602 324 602 326 601 327 601 329 597 332 620 330 620 327 2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky poly 586 366 587 360 586 359 586 357 590 355 595 334 621 332 621 328 727 318 729 316 730 316 730 320 727 323 726 327 724 326 721 327 720 330 718 330 716 329 711 334 711 336 708 337 701 343 699 343 697 345 694 346 694 349 689 352 688 357 637 362 2012 United States presidential election in Tennessee poly 603 473 607 468 610 469 614 468 614 466 617 466 619 468 624 468 624 459 619 435 621 365 602 367 584 367 584 369 579 374 579 381 577 382 573 386 573 390 570 392 569 398 570 400 570 402 569 404 571 406 571 410 570 412 570 420 572 421 572 425 574 426 574 428 572 429 573 434 570 437 568 442 564 447 564 457 598 455 599 456 599 460 598 461 598 464 602 467 2012 United States presidential election in Mississippi poly 666 361 622 365 622 438 626 466 629 467 631 463 631 459 635 460 638 467 637 468 636 468 636 469 638 469 642 467 642 460 638 456 638 451 659 448 686 446 686 445 684 443 683 433 683 424 685 421 685 419 683 418 683 414 679 411 670 376 667 369 2012 United States presidential election in Alabama poly 710 356 668 361 668 367 673 377 681 411 684 413 684 417 686 417 686 421 685 425 684 431 686 435 686 440 685 441 685 443 687 444 688 448 691 452 742 450 742 453 743 453 744 448 743 445 743 444 745 443 748 444 756 444 754 440 754 437 758 425 758 421 761 416 760 414 758 415 755 413 755 409 752 406 748 403 747 399 744 394 740 392 737 388 733 384 730 381 723 378 717 367 712 367 707 363 707 359 2012 United States presidential election in Georgia poly 639 452 674 448 686 448 691 454 740 451 741 454 746 455 746 448 745 447 745 445 755 446 761 462 768 475 774 483 780 489 779 491 779 494 781 501 785 504 787 510 792 518 795 523 797 547 795 548 795 556 797 555 797 553 798 553 797 556 796 558 795 562 792 566 785 572 782 574 778 574 775 573 772 576 769 577 768 579 769 579 771 577 773 577 774 576 777 576 778 574 782 574 782 572 788 569 792 564 794 561 796 557 796 555 795 556 795 557 792 560 789 561 786 561 783 564 781 563 780 563 780 559 779 559 779 557 777 554 776 551 773 550 772 548 768 548 766 549 764 547 764 542 762 540 760 537 758 537 757 538 755 538 754 534 750 529 749 526 745 521 742 519 742 517 747 511 747 508 742 507 740 507 740 509 742 509 742 511 742 514 740 512 740 511 739 509 738 507 738 501 739 499 739 488 736 485 736 483 734 481 729 481 727 479 725 476 722 475 722 472 719 472 717 468 714 467 713 466 711 465 709 464 705 464 704 465 702 465 702 468 703 469 699 469 697 471 694 473 688 474 686 475 685 473 682 470 671 465 665 463 659 463 651 464 644 467 643 459 639 456 2012 United States presidential election in Florida poly 708 361 708 359 711 357 711 355 716 354 728 348 750 347 754 352 770 350 784 357 795 366 791 371 788 377 788 383 785 387 782 388 782 390 777 395 777 397 772 402 767 402 767 404 768 405 768 406 763 412 760 413 757 413 756 410 756 407 753 405 750 403 749 399 747 396 747 394 744 392 742 391 739 387 727 377 724 376 721 372 720 369 718 367 717 365 712 365 2012 United States presidential election in South Carolina poly 732 316 741 315 771 312 831 299 836 308 839 312 842 314 844 317 844 326 844 327 842 327 838 331 836 331 841 327 843 326 843 318 841 314 841 313 840 313 840 314 838 314 838 320 835 321 833 326 830 327 825 326 825 328 826 328 827 329 827 331 826 333 826 335 827 336 829 336 831 337 833 334 834 335 833 338 830 340 830 342 825 342 819 344 812 350 809 354 807 360 807 364 802 364 796 365 787 357 773 349 766 349 754 351 751 346 731 346 726 347 715 352 710 354 694 357 690 357 690 354 692 352 695 351 695 347 701 344 703 344 710 338 713 337 713 335 716 332 721 332 723 328 727 328 728 326 729 323 732 321 2012 United States presidential election in North Carolina poly 704 319 711 314 711 311 722 299 727 304 732 304 734 302 737 303 742 302 743 297 745 299 748 296 753 294 753 288 756 281 759 275 759 269 763 272 767 271 768 269 768 263 772 262 772 260 777 256 777 254 778 253 778 247 789 251 789 248 794 254 794 262 798 260 798 264 803 266 809 268 811 268 814 270 817 270 818 271 818 277 820 278 820 280 820 281 817 281 817 284 820 285 822 287 822 289 820 291 820 293 824 293 827 292 827 286 826 282 826 277 828 273 829 267 834 265 834 268 831 271 831 283 829 286 827 285 827 292 831 298 770 310 728 315 728 316 2012 United States presidential election in Virginia poly 741 244 737 226 736 226 736 246 731 252 728 255 726 255 722 260 721 262 722 263 722 265 720 266 718 265 716 267 716 274 714 275 714 278 710 279 710 285 713 286 714 288 714 290 721 297 723 297 726 302 732 302 734 300 737 301 741 300 742 295 745 296 747 294 751 294 752 292 752 290 751 288 757 274 758 267 761 267 763 269 765 269 767 261 770 260 770 258 775 254 777 251 777 245 779 245 787 249 787 245 784 242 781 240 780 240 775 244 770 244 767 248 765 248 760 254 758 254 756 242 2012 United States presidential election in West Virginia poly 795 260 800 257 807 260 806 253 810 248 803 248 800 241 797 248 790 248 796 254 2012 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia poly 758 242 759 252 764 247 766 247 770 242 774 242 778 239 781 239 784 240 789 244 791 245 793 247 796 247 800 239 804 247 811 247 811 248 807 253 808 261 801 258 800 259 800 263 803 264 810 265 814 267 816 267 815 264 811 257 810 251 811 249 811 247 810 244 811 240 815 236 816 237 816 239 813 241 813 243 816 245 816 250 814 251 814 255 816 253 817 255 815 256 815 260 819 263 821 263 821 265 822 270 823 270 823 266 821 264 821 263 822 262 824 263 826 266 828 266 830 265 835 264 836 262 837 256 834 256 832 257 824 257 822 245 819 236 817 230 2012 United States presidential election in Maryland poly 822 227 819 229 819 232 820 234 821 238 823 240 823 245 824 247 825 252 826 256 836 254 836 251 835 250 834 248 830 246 826 238 823 236 822 231 2012 United States presidential election in Delaware poly 743 186 738 192 733 194 734 201 742 242 772 237 819 228 822 225 825 224 828 220 832 216 826 212 825 210 821 210 821 206 824 203 824 201 822 200 823 197 824 196 824 192 827 189 823 189 821 187 820 182 815 181 814 179 773 188 744 193 2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania poly 842 195 832 192 828 190 826 192 826 197 824 198 824 200 825 201 825 204 823 206 824 208 826 209 827 211 833 215 833 218 830 220 826 226 824 227 824 232 829 236 833 238 836 238 836 244 839 240 839 235 841 235 846 224 845 211 843 207 840 208 840 206 842 204 2012 United States presidential election in New Jersey poly 830 107 818 111 811 112 806 114 797 126 794 131 790 134 790 138 794 138 794 141 793 142 793 144 795 145 795 148 793 150 790 150 789 153 786 156 779 158 776 160 772 160 771 158 763 158 751 163 751 165 752 165 753 168 755 169 756 172 756 175 753 177 753 179 745 186 745 192 816 177 817 180 821 180 822 182 822 185 825 188 828 188 833 190 841 193 844 194 844 204 850 203 857 200 865 194 871 189 868 187 864 191 857 195 854 195 851 194 847 198 845 200 845 198 846 196 846 194 844 193 844 191 845 190 845 181 842 168 843 151 840 140 839 138 836 137 836 136 837 135 837 133 834 128 834 122 834 117 2012 United States presidential election in New York poly 869 166 861 168 845 171 845 176 847 180 847 195 857 186 861 184 868 182 872 180 871 172 2012 United States presidential election in Connecticut poly 877 164 872 165 873 170 874 180 877 179 880 175 883 175 884 173 2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island poly 854 152 855 144 854 142 854 132 855 130 855 120 854 119 854 116 856 116 860 112 860 107 858 105 858 99 844 104 832 107 833 113 835 116 836 124 835 125 835 128 838 131 838 134 839 137 841 137 843 146 844 148 844 154 2012 United States presidential election in Vermont poly 863 93 860 93 859 94 860 105 862 108 862 112 855 118 855 119 856 119 856 151 876 146 877 143 882 141 882 139 880 137 880 134 877 133 875 133 873 123 2012 United States presidential election in New Hampshire poly 868 92 865 92 869 106 875 125 877 132 879 132 881 134 881 136 883 137 883 133 884 133 884 126 886 125 886 124 885 123 885 121 886 120 887 118 889 118 890 120 891 120 894 117 896 116 897 113 900 113 901 111 901 104 900 102 901 100 903 102 905 103 905 105 905 106 903 106 903 107 903 109 904 110 906 110 906 109 904 107 904 106 905 106 907 106 908 104 908 102 907 102 907 100 910 97 913 97 914 99 911 99 909 100 909 102 910 103 911 103 912 101 913 100 913 99 915 99 919 94 923 91 924 90 926 89 927 85 927 82 924 78 924 77 922 77 921 79 919 79 917 77 916 71 909 71 901 41 892 37 886 42 885 44 882 43 880 40 879 39 878 39 876 44 874 52 872 56 872 65 870 68 870 73 872 74 872 77 870 80 868 84 2012 United States presidential election in Maine poly 844 169 844 155 857 153 876 148 877 146 879 144 881 144 883 146 883 149 881 150 881 154 883 158 884 156 886 156 893 165 896 165 900 163 900 161 899 158 895 158 895 157 898 157 900 159 902 163 902 164 901 165 897 166 894 168 893 169 892 171 892 172 894 172 895 173 902 173 903 172 904 172 904 174 902 174 902 173 896 173 895 174 893 174 893 175 891 175 891 174 892 172 889 174 889 173 891 171 891 168 890 167 887 168 887 173 885 173 882 167 877 162 859 166 2012 United States presidential election in Massachusetts poly 215 493 215 550 250 592 354 592 354 546 301 493 2012 United States presidential election in Hawaii poly 160 539 160 454 154 450 152 449 149 451 145 449 142 448 140 449 134 445 128 445 125 443 125 439 122 439 119 440 119 438 115 434 113 434 111 437 104 437 99 439 96 438 92 440 92 443 88 447 78 447 77 447 76 449 78 453 82 458 82 462 83 465 85 465 85 468 87 472 87 475 83 475 78 473 77 470 79 469 78 467 74 467 72 468 72 469 70 468 61 468 61 469 62 471 65 474 65 477 64 478 64 481 68 485 74 485 77 487 80 487 80 486 84 486 85 488 83 489 83 495 80 499 76 498 76 497 71 499 68 497 65 496 63 498 63 501 55 506 54 512 57 513 56 516 54 517 55 520 57 522 58 526 64 527 65 526 67 527 67 533 64 533 65 537 64 539 66 540 67 539 72 539 72 541 74 540 75 541 75 546 76 546 77 543 78 542 80 542 80 545 85 543 85 545 81 550 80 555 75 557 74 559 74 561 68 561 63 563 62 565 58 564 53 565 49 567 45 569 42 568 39 568 37 569 37 571 38 572 40 571 43 570 45 571 47 571 50 570 53 569 55 568 58 568 58 569 62 568 65 567 66 568 67 568 68 567 72 567 73 568 75 566 73 565 74 564 78 561 83 560 94 555 103 548 100 545 100 543 104 539 106 539 108 537 108 536 114 530 116 529 117 527 122 527 122 529 123 531 120 532 119 531 116 532 114 535 112 538 112 539 111 541 114 541 114 543 110 543 110 545 115 545 122 539 124 539 125 541 126 541 127 540 129 540 129 543 130 543 134 538 134 537 131 540 130 539 132 536 131 535 129 537 129 533 132 531 136 531 138 535 139 536 141 538 143 538 146 541 156 541 162 544 166 543 167 541 168 542 168 545 167 546 167 547 170 548 176 552 178 554 181 556 184 556 184 557 183 559 183 561 185 563 186 568 188 569 193 575 193 569 195 571 195 575 196 576 197 573 199 574 199 578 201 580 200 581 199 581 200 583 201 582 202 585 205 590 205 589 204 586 204 585 207 586 208 587 208 582 207 581 207 579 209 580 212 582 214 585 216 586 218 582 218 578 217 574 209 571 206 570 206 568 202 562 198 556 197 554 192 551 192 549 189 549 189 545 186 544 182 546 182 549 177 552 177 549 170 543 170 540 169 539 167 539 166 540 162 540 2012 United States presidential election in Alaska rect 865 306 928 326 2012 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia rect 883 288 970 306 2012 United States presidential election in Maryland rect 892 264 949 285 2012 United States presidential election in Delaware rect 899 244 971 261 2012 United States presidential election in New Jersey rect 919 211 976 229 2012 United States presidential election in Connecticut rect 926 183 979 200 2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island rect 928 148 1012 165 2012 United States presidential election in Massachusetts rect 790 62 850 82 2012 United States presidential election in Vermont rect 801 42 868 58 2012 United States presidential election in New Hampshire </imagemap> Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Obama/Biden and red denotes those won by Romney/Ryan. Numbers indicate electoral votes cast by each state and the District of Columbia.
President before election; Barack Obama; Democratic	Elected President ; Barack Obama; Democratic

The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were elected to a second term.^[3] They defeated the Republican ticket of former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney and U.S. Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

As the incumbent president, Obama secured the Democratic nomination without serious opposition. The Republicans experienced a competitive primary. Romney was consistently competitive in the polls and won the support of many party leaders, but he faced challenges from a number of more conservative contenders. Romney secured his party's nomination in May, defeating former senator Rick Santorum, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and Texas congressman Ron Paul, among other candidates.

The campaigns focused heavily on domestic issues, and debate centered largely around sound responses to the Great Recession. Other issues included long-term federal budget issues, the future of social insurance programs, and the Affordable Care Act, Obama's marquee legislative program. Foreign policy was also discussed, including the end of the Iraq War in 2011, military spending, the Iranian nuclear program, and appropriate counteractions to terrorism. Romney attacked Obama's domestic policies as ineffective and financially insolvent while Obama's campaign sought to characterize Romney as a plutocratic businessman who was out of touch with the average American.^[4]^[5] The campaign was marked by a sharp rise in fundraising, including from nominally independent Super PACs.

Obama defeated Romney, winning a majority of both the Electoral College and the popular vote. Obama won 332 electoral votes and 51.1% of the popular vote compared to Romney's 206 electoral votes and 47.2%.^[2] The results of the electoral vote were certified by Congress on January 4, 2013.^[6] Obama was the first president since Ronald Reagan in 1984 to win a majority of the national popular vote more than once, and the first Democrat to do so since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944. Obama also became only the sixth Democratic president in history to win a second term (after Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton), and the third sitting president in a row (after Clinton and George W. Bush) to win a second term.

Obama did not hold onto Indiana, North Carolina, or Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, but crucially won all 18 "blue wall" states and defeated Romney in other swing states the Republicans had won in 2000 and 2004, most notably Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Ohio, and Virginia. Ultimately, of the nine swing states identified by The Washington Post in the 2012 election, Obama won eight, losing only North Carolina.^[7] This is the most recent presidential election in which the Democratic candidate won the states of Iowa, Ohio, and Florida, along with Maine's 2nd congressional district, the most recent presidential election in which the incumbent president won reelection, and the most recent in which neither major party's ticket included a woman. This was the most recent election in which a presidential candidate received above 70% of the vote in any state, with Hawaii for Obama and Utah for Romney, as well as the most recent election in which Donald Trump was not the Republican nominee.

All four major candidates for president and vice president went on to hold significant public office after this election. Obama served his second term as president, while Biden also served his second term as vice president and initially retired from politics but was later elected president in 2020, defeating Obama's successor, then-incumbent Donald Trump. This is the most recent election in which two major party nominees would go on to become president. Romney moved to Utah in 2014 and was elected to the Senate there in 2018, succeeding Orrin Hatch. Ryan served three more terms in the House and eventually became Speaker from 2015 until his retirement from politics in 2019.

Background

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,^[8] 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,^[9] Tennessee, Texas,^[10] and Wisconsin^[11] 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. 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".^[12] 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, black people, and Latinos.^[13]^[14] The Obama campaign fought against the Ohio law, pushing for a petition and statewide referendum to repeal it in time for the 2012 election.^[15]

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.^[16] 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.^[17]^[18]^[19] Ultimately they did not do it, leaving their winner take all format intact as of 2020.

Nominations

Democratic Party nomination

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, 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.^[20]^[21]

Candidate

Barack Obama	Joe Biden
Democratic Party (United States) 2012 Democratic Party ticket
for President	for Vice President

44th President of the United States (2009–2017)	47th Vice President of the United States (2009–2017)
Campaign

Republican Party nomination

Primaries

Candidates with considerable name recognition who entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination in the early stages of the primary campaign included U.S. 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 Minnesota congresswoman 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).^[22] 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.^[23]

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,^[24]^[25] including future president Donald Trump,^[26] former Alaska governor and 2008 vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin,^[27] New Jersey governor Chris Christie,^[28] and Texas governor Rick Perry,^[29] 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 to the fore in October and November.

Due to a number of scandals, Cain withdrew just before the end of the year, after having ballot placement in several states.^[30] Around the same time, Johnson, who had been able to get into only one other debate, withdrew to seek the Libertarian Party nomination.^[31]

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).^[32] 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 could be determined from the incomplete tally, earning him a declaration as winner by state party leaders, although vote totals were missing from eight precincts.^[33]^[34] 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.^[35] Newt Gingrich won South Carolina by a surprisingly large margin,^[36] and Romney won only in New Hampshire.

A number of candidates dropped out at this point in the nomination process. Bachmann withdrew after finishing sixth in the Iowa caucuses,^[37] Huntsman withdrew after coming in third in New Hampshire, and Perry withdrew when polls showed him drawing low numbers in South Carolina.^[38]

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.^[39] 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.^[40] 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.^[41] After disappointing results in the April 24 primaries (finishing second in one state, third in three, and fourth in one), Gingrich dropped out on May 2 in a move that was seen as an effective end to the contest for the nomination.^[42] After Gingrich's spokesman announced his upcoming withdrawal, the Republican National Committee declared Romney the party's presumptive nominee.^[43] 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.^[44]

On August 28, 2012, delegates at the Republican National Convention officially named Romney the party's presidential nominee.^[45] Romney formally accepted the delegates' nomination on August 30, 2012.^[46]

Candidate

Mitt Romney	Paul Ryan
Republican Party (United States) 2012 Republican Party ticket
for President	for Vice President

70th Governor of Massachusetts (2003–2007)	U.S. Representative from Wisconsin (1999–2019)
Campaign

^[47]^[48]

Withdrawn candidates

Ron Paul	Newt Gingrich	Rick Santorum	Buddy Roemer	Rick Perry	Jon Huntsman Jr.
Candidates in this section are sorted by reverse date of withdrawal from the primaries

U.S. Representative from Texas (1997–2013)	50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (1995–1999)	U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (1995–2007)	52nd Governor of Louisiana (1988–1992)	47th Governor of Texas (2000–2015)	U.S. Ambassador to China (2009–2011)

Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign
W: N/A 2,017,957 votes	W: May 2 2,737,442 votes	W: April 10 3,816,110 votes	W: Feb 22 33,212 votes	W: Jan 19 42,251 votes	W: Jan 16 83,173 votes
^[49]	^[50]^[51]	^[52]^[53]^[54]	^[55]^[56]	^[57]^[58]	^[59]^[60]
Michele Bachmann	Gary Johnson	Herman Cain	Thaddeus McCotter	Tim Pawlenty	Fred Karger

U.S. Representative from Minnesota (2007–2013)	29th Governor of New Mexico (1995–2003)	Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (1995–1996)	U.S. Representative from Michigan (2003–2012)	39th Governor of Minnesota (2003–2011)	Political Consultant

Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign	Campaign
W: Jan 4 35,089 votes	W: Dec 28, 2011 4,286 votes	W: Dec 3, 2011 13,538 votes	W: Sep 22, 2011 0 votes	W: Aug 14, 2011 0 votes	W: June 29, 2012 12,776 votes
^[61]^[62]^[63]	^[64]^[65]	^[66]^[67]	^[68]^[69]	^[70]^[71]	^[72]

Third party and 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

Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico.^[73] Vice-presidential nominee: Jim Gray, retired state court judge, from California.^[74]

Green Party

Jill Stein, medical doctor from Massachusetts.^[75]^[76] Vice-presidential nominee: Cheri Honkala, social organizer, from Pennsylvania.^[77]

Constitution Party

Virgil Goode, former representative from Virginia.^[78] Vice-presidential nominee: Jim Clymer from Pennsylvania.^[79]

Justice Party

Rocky Anderson, former mayor of Salt Lake City and founding member of the Justice Party, from Utah. Vice-presidential nominee: Luis J. Rodriguez from California.^[80]^[81]

Candidates gallery

Campaigns

Ballot access

Presidential ticket	Party	Ballot access^[82]			Votes	Percentage
Presidential ticket	Party	States	Electors	% of voters	Votes	Percentage
Obama / Biden	Democratic	50 + DC	538	100%	65,915,795	51.1%
Romney / Ryan	Republican	50 + DC	538	100%	60,933,504	47.2%
Johnson / Gray	Libertarian	48 + DC	515	95.1%	1,275,971	1.0%
Stein / Honkala	Green	36 + DC	436	83.1%	469,627	0.4%
Goode / Clymer	Constitution	26	257	49.9%	122,388	0.1%
Anderson / Rodriguez	Justice	15	145	28.1%	43,018	nil
Lindsay / Osorio	Socialism & Liberation	13	115	28.6%	7,791	nil

Candidates in bold were on ballots representing 270 electoral votes.

All other candidates were on the ballots of fewer than 10 states, 100 electors, and less than 20% of voters nationwide.

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.^[83] Super PACs constituted nearly one-fourth of the total financing, with most coming from pro-Romney PACs.^[84] Obama raised $690 million through online channels, beating his record of $500 million in 2008.^[85] 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.^[86] 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".^[87]^[88] 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,^[89] an advertising campaign described by The Wall Street Journal in November 2011 as "perhaps the biggest attack on Mr. Obama so far".^[90]^[91]

Party conventions

Charlotte

Tampa

Nashville

Las Vegas

Baltimore

class=notpageimage|

Sites of the 2012 national party conventions

April 18–21, 2012: 2012 Constitution Party National Convention held in Nashville, Tennessee;^[92] Virgil Goode won the nomination.
May 3–6, 2012: 2012 Libertarian National Convention held in Las Vegas, Nevada;^[93] Gary Johnson won the nomination.^[94]
July 13–15, 2012: 2012 Green National Convention held in Baltimore, Maryland;^[95] Jill Stein won the nomination.^[75]
August 27–30, 2012: 2012 Republican National Convention held in Tampa, Florida;^[96] Mitt Romney won the nomination.
September 3–6, 2012: 2012 Democratic National Convention held in Charlotte, North Carolina;^[97] Barack Obama won the nomination.

Presidential 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:^[98]^[99]

**Debates among candidates for the 2012 U.S. presidential election**
No.	Date	Host	City	Moderator	Participants	Viewership (million)
P1	Wednesday, October 3, 2012	University of Denver	Denver, Colorado	Jim Lehrer	Barack Obama Mitt Romney	67.2^[100]
VP	Thursday, October 11, 2012	Centre College	Danville, Kentucky	Martha Raddatz	Joe Biden Paul Ryan	51.4^[100]
P2	Tuesday, October 16, 2012	Hofstra University	Hempstead, New York	Candy Crowley	Barack Obama Mitt Romney	65.6^[100]
P3	Monday, October 22, 2012	Lynn University	Boca Raton, Florida	Bob Schieffer	Barack Obama Mitt Romney	59.2^[100]

An independent presidential debate featuring minor party candidates took place on Tuesday, October 23 at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois.^[101]^[102] The debate was moderated by Larry King^[103] and organized by the Free & Equal Elections Foundation.^[102] The participants were Gary Johnson (Libertarian), Jill Stein (Green), Virgil Goode (Constitution), and Rocky Anderson (Justice).^[102]^[103] A second debate between Stein and Johnson took place on Sunday, November 4, and was moderated by Ralph Nader.^[104]

Notable expressions, phrases, and statements

Severely conservative – In a speech he made at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February 2012, Romney claimed that he had been a "severely conservative Republican governor". Romney's description of his record as "severely conservative" was widely criticized by political commentators as both rhetorically clumsy and factually inaccurate.^[105]^[106]^[107] Later, the phrase "severely conservative" was frequently brought up by Democrats to make fun of Romney's willingness to associate himself with the far-right of the Republican Party as well as his apparent lack of sincerity while doing so.^[108] Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who played the clip on his radio show, said: "I have never heard anybody say, 'I'm severely conservative.' "^[109]
You didn't build that – A portion of a statement that Obama made in a July 2012 campaign speech in Roanoke, Virginia. Obama said that businesses depend on government-provided infrastructure to succeed, but critics of his remarks argued that he was underplaying the work of entrepreneurs and giving the government credit for individuals' success. The Romney campaign immediately used the statement in an effort to contrast Romney's economic policies with Obama's and to appeal to small business owners/employees. A major theme of the 2012 Republican National Convention was "We Built It".
47 percent – An expression Romney used at a private campaign fundraising event, which was secretly recorded and publicly released. At the private event, Romney said that 47 percent of the people would vote for Barack Obama no matter what Romney said or did because those people "...are dependent upon government... I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives." Ironically, Romney received almost exactly 47% of the vote.
The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back – A portion of a statement that Obama made in an October 2012 debate. In the debate, Obama was deriding an earlier Romney statement in the campaign that Russia is "without question, our No. 1 geopolitical foe."^[110]
Binders full of women – A phrase that Romney used in the second presidential debate to refer to the long list of female candidates that he considered when choosing his cabinet members as Governor of Massachusetts.
Horses and bayonets – After Romney said in the third presidential debate that the U.S. Navy was smaller than at any time since 1917, Obama replied, "We have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military's changed."^[111]
Shovel-ready jobs – a phrase used to describe some stimulus projects promoted by the administration. During the debate on September 23, 2011, Gary Johnson quipped, "My next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this president."^[112]
Romnesia – A term coined by a blogger in April 2011 and used by Obama late in the campaign to describe Romney's alleged inability to take responsibility for his past statements.^[113]^[114]
$10,000 bet – During a Republican debate, Romney facetiously bet Texas governor Rick Perry $10,000 that he (Perry) was wrong about Romney's position on the individual mandate under the Affordable Healthcare Act. The statement was vilified by Democrats as exemplary of Romney being out of touch with working-class and middle-class Americans.
Romneyshambles – a word used by the British press after Romney criticized British preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The word is a play on omnishambles, and it became a popular hashtag on Twitter. It was subsequently chosen as one of Collins English Dictionary's words of the year.^[115]^[116]
Malarkey – a word used by Joe Biden in his debate with Paul Ryan to mean bullshit. Biden later used the word in his own campaign in 2020.^[117]

Results

Electoral results

On the day of the election, spread betting firm Spreadex were offering an Obama Electoral College Votes spread of 296–300 to Romney's 239–243.^[118] In reality Obama's victory over Romney was far greater, winning 332 electoral votes to Romney's 206. Romney lost all but one of nine battleground states, and received 47 percent of the nationwide popular vote to Obama's 51 percent.^[119]^[120]

Of the 3,154 counties/districts/independent cities making returns, Romney won the most popular votes in 2,447 (77.58%) while Obama carried 707 (22.42%).

Popular vote totals are from the Federal Election Commission report.^[2]

Electoral results
Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote		Electoral vote	Running mate
Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Count	Percentage	Electoral vote	Vice-presidential candidate	Home state	Electoral vote
Barack Obama (incumbent)	Democratic	Illinois	65,915,795	51.06%	332	Joe Biden (incumbent)	Delaware	332
Mitt Romney	Republican	Massachusetts	60,933,504	47.20%	206	Paul Ryan	Wisconsin	206
Gary Johnson	Libertarian	New Mexico	1,275,971	0.99%	0	Jim Gray	California	0
Jill Stein	Green	Massachusetts	469,627	0.36%	0	Cheri Honkala	Minnesota	0
Virgil Goode	Constitution	Virginia	122,389	0.11%	0	James N. Clymer	Pennsylvania	0
Roseanne Barr	Peace and Freedom	Utah	67,326	0.05%	0	Cindy Sheehan	California	0
Rocky Anderson	Justice	Utah	43,018	0.03%	0	Luis J. Rodriguez	Texas	0
Tom Hoefling	America's	Nebraska	40,628	0.03%	0	J.D. Ellis	Tennessee	0
Other			217,152	0.17%	—	Other		—
Total			129,085,410	100%	538			538
Needed to win					270			270

Popular vote

Obama			51.06%
Romney			47.20%
Johnson			0.99%
Stein			0.36%
Others			0.39%

Electoral vote

Obama			61.71%
Romney			38.29%

Results by state

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.^[2] The column labeled "Margin" shows Obama's margin of victory over Romney (the margin is negative for every state that Romney won).

Legend
States/districts won by Obama/Biden
States/districts won by Romney/Ryan
†	At-large results (for states that split electoral votes)

State/District	Barack Obama Democratic			Mitt Romney Republican			Gary Johnson Libertarian			Jill Stein Green			Others			Margin		Total
State/District	#	%	EV	#	%	EV	#	%	EV	#	%	EV	#	%	EV	#	%	#
Alabama	795,696	38.36%	–	1,255,925	60.55%	9	12,328	0.59%	–	3,397	0.16%	–	6,992	0.3%	–	−460,229	−22.19%	2,074,338	AL
Alaska	122,640	40.81%	–	164,676	54.80%	3	7,392	2.46%	–	2,917	0.97%	–	2,870	1.0%	–	−42,036	−13.99%	300,495	AK
Arizona	1,025,232	44.59%	–	1,233,654	53.65%	11	32,100	1.39%	–	7,816	0.34%	–	452	nil	–	−208,422	−9.06%	2,299,254	AZ
Arkansas	394,409	36.88%	–	647,744	60.57%	6	16,276	1.52%	–	9,305	0.87%	–	1,734	0.16%	–	−253,335	−23.69%	1,069,468	AR
California	7,854,285	60.24%	55	4,839,958	37.12%	–	143,221	1.10%	–	85,638	0.66%	–	115,445	0.88%	–	3,014,327	23.12%	13,038,547	CA
Colorado	1,323,102	51.49%	9	1,185,243	46.13%	–	35,545	1.38%	–	7,508	0.29%	–	18,121	0.71%	–	137,858	5.36%	2,569,518	CO
Connecticut	905,083	58.06%	7	634,892	40.73%	–	12,580	0.81%	–	863	0.06%	–	5,542	0.36%	–	270,191	17.33%	1,558,960	CT
Delaware	242,584	58.61%	3	165,484	39.98%	–	3,882	0.94%	–	1,940	0.47%	–	31	nil	–	77,100	18.63%	413,921	DE
District of ColumbiaDistrict of Columbia	267,070	90.91%	3	21,381	7.28%	–	2,083	0.71%	–	2,458	0.84%	–	772	0.26%	–	245,689	83.63%	293,764	DC
Florida	4,237,756	50.01%	29	4,163,447	49.13%	–	44,726	0.5%	–	8,947	0.1%	–	19,303	0.2%	–	74,309	0.88%	8,474,179	FL
Georgia	1,773,827	45.48%	–	2,078,688	53.30%	16	45,324	1.2%	–	1,516	nil	–	695	nil	–	−304,861	−7.82%	3,900,050	GA
Hawaii	306,658	70.55%	4	121,015	27.84%	–	3,840	0.9%	–	3,184	0.7%	–	–	–	–	185,643	42.71%	434,697	HI
Idaho	212,787	32.40%	–	420,911	64.09%	4	9,453	1.5%	–	4,402	0.7%	–	4,721	0.7%	–	−208,124	−31.69%	652,274	ID
Illinois	3,019,512	57.60%	20	2,135,216	40.73%	–	56,229	1.1%	–	30,222	0.6%	–	835	nil	–	884,296	16.87%	5,242,014	IL
Indiana	1,152,887	43.93%	–	1,420,543	54.13%	11	50,111	1.9%	–	625	nil	–	368	nil	–	−267,656	−10.20%	2,624,534	IN
Iowa	822,544	51.99%	6	730,617	46.18%	–	12,926	0.8%	–	3,769	0.2%	–	12,324	0.8%	–	91,927	5.81%	1,582,180	IA
Kansas	440,726	38.05%	–	692,634	59.66%	6	20,456	1.8%	–	714	0.1%	–	5,441	0.5%	–	−251,908	−21.71%	1,159,971	KS
Kentucky	679,370	37.80%	–	1,087,190	60.49%	8	17,063	1.0%	–	6,337	0.4%	–	7,252	0.4%	–	−407,820	−22.69%	1,797,212	KY
Louisiana	809,141	40.58%	–	1,152,262	57.78%	8	18,157	0.9%	–	6,978	0.4%	–	7,527	0.4%	–	−343,121	−17.20%	1,994,065	LA
Maine^†	401,306	56.27%	2	292,276	40.98%	–	9,352	1.3%	–	8,119	1.1%	–	2,127	0.3%	–	109,030	15.29%	713,180	ME–AL
ME-1Tooltip Maine's 1st congressional district	223,035	59.57%	1	142,937	38.18%	–	4,501	1.2%	–	3,946	1.1%	–	–	–	–	80,098	21.39%	374,149	ME1
ME-2Tooltip Maine's 2nd congressional district	177,998	52.94%	1	149,215	44.38%	–	4,843	1.4%	–	4,170	1.2%	–	–	–	–	28,783	8.56%	336,226	ME2
Maryland	1,677,844	61.97%	10	971,869	35.90%	–	30,195	1.1%	–	17,110	0.6%	–	10,309	0.4%	–	705,975	26.07%	2,707,327	MD
Massachusetts	1,921,290	60.65%	11	1,188,314	37.51%	–	30,920	1.0%	–	20,691	0.7%	–	6,552	0.2%	–	732,976	23.14%	3,167,767	MA
Michigan	2,564,569	54.21%	16	2,115,256	44.71%	–	7,774	0.2%	–	21,897	0.5%	–	21,465	0.5%	–	449,313	9.50%	4,730,961	MI
Minnesota	1,546,167	52.65%	10	1,320,225	44.96%	–	35,098	1.2%	–	13,023	0.4%	–	22,048	0.8%	–	225,942	7.69%	2,936,561	MN
Mississippi	562,949	43.79%	–	710,746	55.29%	6	6,676	0.5%	–	1,588	0.1%	–	3,625	0.3%	–	−147,797	−11.50%	1,285,584	MS
Missouri	1,223,796	44.38%	–	1,482,440	53.76%	10	43,151	1.6%	–	–	–	–	7,936	0.3%	–	−258,644	−9.38%	2,757,323	MO
Montana	201,839	41.70%	–	267,928	55.35%	3	14,165	2.9%	–	–	–	–	116	nil	–	−66,089	−13.65%	484,048	MT
Nebraska^†	302,081	38.03%	–	475,064	59.80%	2	11,109	1.4%	–	–	–	–	6,125	0.8%	–	−172,983	−21.77%	794,379	NE–AL
NE-1Tooltip Nebraska's 1st congressional district	108,082	40.83%	–	152,021	57.43%	1	3,847	1.2%	–	–	–	–	762	0.3%	–	-43,949	-16.60%	264,712	NE1
NE-2Tooltip Nebraska's 2nd congressional district	121,889	45.70%	–	140,976	52.85%	1	3,393	1.3%	–	–	–	–	469	0.2%	–	-19,087	-7.15%	266,727	NE2
NE-3Tooltip Nebraska's 3rd congressional district	72,110	27.82%	–	182,067	70.23%	1	3,869	1.5%	–	–	–	–	1,177	0.5%	–	−109,957	−42.41%	259,223	NE3
Nevada	531,373	52.36%	6	463,567	45.68%	–	10,968	1.1%	–	–	–	–	9,010	0.9%	–	67,806	6.68%	1,014,918	NV
New Hampshire	369,561	51.98%	4	329,918	46.40%	–	8,212	1.2%	–	324	0.1%	–	2,957	0.4%	–	39,643	5.58%	710,972	NH
New Jersey^[121]	2,125,101	58.38%	14	1,477,568	40.59%	–	21,045	0.6%	–	9,888	0.3%	–	6,690	0.2%	–	647,533	17.79%	3,640,292	NJ
New Mexico	415,335	52.99%	5	335,788	42.84%	–	27,788	3.6%	–	2,691	0.3%	–	2,156	0.3%	–	79,547	10.15%	783,758	NM
New York^[122]	4,485,741	63.35%	29	2,490,431	35.17%	–	47,256	0.7%	–	39,982	0.6%	–	17,749	0.3%	–	1,995,310	28.18%	7,081,159	NY
North Carolina	2,178,391	48.35%	–	2,270,395	50.39%	15	44,515	1.0%	–	–	–	–	12,071	0.3%	–	−92,004	−2.04%	4,505,372	NC
North Dakota	124,827	38.70%	–	188,163	58.32%	3	5,231	1.6%	–	1,361	0.4%	–	3,045	0.9%	–	−63,336	−19.62%	322,627	ND
Ohio^[123]	2,827,709	50.67%	18	2,661,437	47.69%	–	49,493	0.9%	–	18,573	0.3%	–	23,635	0.4%	–	166,272	2.98%	5,580,847	OH
Oklahoma	443,547	33.23%	–	891,325	66.77%	7	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	−447,778	−33.44%	1,334,872	OK
Oregon	970,488	54.24%	7	754,175	42.15%	–	24,089	1.4%	–	19,427	1.1%	–	21,091	1.2%	–	216,313	12.09%	1,789,270	OR
Pennsylvania	2,990,274	51.97%	20	2,680,434	46.59%	–	49,991	0.9%	–	21,341	0.4%	–	11,630	0.2%	–	309,840	5.38%	5,753,670	PA
Rhode Island	279,677	62.70%	4	157,204	35.24%	–	4,388	1.0%	–	2,421	0.5%	–	2,359	0.5%	–	122,473	27.46%	446,049	RI
South Carolina	865,941	44.09%	–	1,071,645	54.56%	9	16,321	0.8%	–	5,446	0.3%	–	4,765	0.2%	–	−205,704	−10.47%	1,964,118	SC
South Dakota	145,039	39.87%	–	210,610	57.89%	3	5,795	1.6%	–	–	–	–	2,371	0.7%	–	−65,571	−18.02%	363,815	SD
Tennessee	960,709	39.08%	–	1,462,330	59.48%	11	18,623	0.8%	–	6,515	0.3%	–	10,400	0.4%	–	−501,621	−20.40%	2,458,577	TN
Texas	3,308,124	41.38%	–	4,569,843	57.17%	38	88,580	1.1%	–	24,657	0.3%	–	2,647	nil	–	−1,261,719	−15.79%	7,993,851	TX
Utah	251,813	24.69%	–	740,600	72.62%	6	12,572	1.2%	–	3,817	0.4%	–	8,638	0.9%	–	−488,787	−47.93%	1,017,440	UT
Vermont	199,239	66.57%	3	92,698	30.97%	–	3,487	1.2%	–	594	0.2%	–	3,272	1.1%	–	106,541	35.60%	299,290	VT
Virginia	1,971,820	51.16%	13	1,822,522	47.28%	–	31,216	0.8%	–	8,627	0.2%	–	20,304	0.5%	–	149,298	3.88%	3,854,489	VA
Washington	1,755,396	56.16%	12	1,290,670	41.29%	–	42,202	1.4%	–	20,928	0.7%	–	16,320	0.5%	–	464,726	14.87%	3,125,516	WA
West Virginia	238,269	35.54%	–	417,655	62.30%	5	6,302	0.9%	–	4,406	0.7%	–	3,806	0.6%	–	−179,386	−26.76%	670,438	WV
Wisconsin^[124]	1,620,985	52.83%	10	1,407,966	45.89%	–	20,439	0.7%	–	7,665	0.3%	–	11,379	0.4%	–	213,019	6.94%	3,068,434	WI
Wyoming	69,286	27.82%	–	170,962	68.64%	3	5,326	2.1%	–	–	–	–	3,487	1.4%	–	−101,676	−40.82%	249,061	WY
U.S. Total	65,915,795	51.06%	332	60,933,504	47.20%	206	1,275,971	1.0%	–	469,627	0.4%	–	490,510	0.4%	–	4,982,291	3.86%	129,085,410	US

Maine and Nebraska each allow for their election results 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. In the 2012 election, all four of Maine's electoral votes were won by Obama and all five of Nebraska's electoral votes were won by Romney.^[125]^[126]

States and EV districts that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Close states

Swing from 2008 to 2012 in each state. Only six states swung 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.

State where the margin of victory was under 1% (29 electoral votes):

Florida, 0.88% (74,309 votes)

States where the margin of victory was under 5% (46 electoral votes):

North Carolina, 2.04% (92,004 votes)
Ohio, 2.98% (166,272 votes)
Virginia, 3.88% (149,298 votes)

States/districts where the margin of victory was between 5% and 10% (120 electoral votes):

Colorado, 5.36% (137,858 votes) (tipping point state)
Pennsylvania, 5.38% (309,840 votes)
New Hampshire, 5.58% (39,643 votes)
Iowa, 5.81% (91,927 votes)
Nevada, 6.68% (67,806 votes)
Wisconsin, 6.94% (213,019 votes)
Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, 7.15% (19,087 votes)
Minnesota, 7.69% (225,942 votes)
Georgia, 7.82% (304,861 votes)
Maine's 2nd Congressional District, 8.56% (28,783 votes)
Arizona, 9.06% (208,422 votes)
Missouri, 9.38% (258,644 votes)
Michigan, 9.50% (449,313 votes)

Statistics

^[127]

Counties with highest percent of vote (Democratic)

Counties with highest percent of vote (Republican)

Romney's concession

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.^[128]^[129] 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.^[130] 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.^[131]^[132]

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.^[133] In addition, the Romney campaign had assumed that they would win Florida, North Carolina and Virginia.^[134] 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.^[135]^[136]

Reactions

Foreign leaders reacted with both positive and mixed messages. Most world leaders congratulated and praised 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.^[137]

All 50 states had a petition on the White House website We The People calling for their state to secede from the union. These petitions were created by individual people, with some gaining thousands of signatures.^[138]

Voter demographics

2012 presidential election 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
Marital status
Married	42	56	2	60
Unmarried	62	35	3	40
Sex by marital status
Married men	38	60	2	29
Married women	46	53	1	31
Single men	56	40	4	18
Single 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	42	57	1	53
Catholic	50	48	2	25
Mormon	21	78	1	2
Jewish	69	30	1	2
Muslim	85	4	11	1
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
Age by race
Whites 18–29 years old	44	51	5	11
Whites 30–44 years old	38	59	3	18
Whites 45–64 years old	38	61	1	29
Whites 65 and older	39	61	n/a	14
Blacks 18–29 years old	91	8	1	3
Blacks 30–44 years old	94	5	1	4
Blacks 45–64 years old	93	7	n/a	4
Blacks 65 and older	93	6	1	1
Latinos 18–29 years old	74	23	3	4
Latinos 30–44 years old	71	28	1	3
Latinos 45–64 years old	68	31	1	3
Latinos 65 and older	65	35	n/a	1
Others	67	31	2	5
LGBT
Yes	76	22	2	5
No	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
Union households
Union	58	40	2	18
Non-union	49	48	3	82
Issue regarded as most important
Economy	47	51	2	59
Federal budget deficit	32	66	2	15
Foreign policy	56	33	11	5
Health care	75	24	1	18
Region
Northeast	59	40	1	18
Midwest	50	48	2	24
South	46	53	1	36
West	54	43	3	22
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

Hispanic vote

The United States has a population of 50 million Hispanic and Latino Americans, 27 million of whom are citizens eligible to vote (13% of total eligible voters). Traditionally, only half of eligible Hispanic voters vote (around 7% of voters); of them, 71% voted for Barack Obama (increasing his percentage of the vote by 5%); therefore, the Hispanic vote was an important factor in Obama's re-election, since the vote difference between the two main parties was only 3.9%^[139]^[140]^[141]^[142]

Exit polls were conducted by Edison Research of Somerville, New Jersey, for the National Election Pool, a consortium which at the time consisted of ABC News, Associated Press, CBS News, CNN,^[143] Fox News,^[144] and NBC News.^[145]

Analysis

Combined with the re-election victories of his two immediate predecessors, Bill Clinton (1996) and George W. Bush (2004), Obama's victory in the 2012 election marked only the second time in American history that three consecutive presidents were each elected to two full terms after the consecutive two-term presidencies of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe ending in 1820, which is the only other time any two-term president succeeded another.^[146] This was also the first election since 1928 in which neither of the major candidates had any military experience.^[147] Eight years later, Obama's successor, Donald Trump, also ran for his own re-election in 2020, but was ultimately defeated by Joe Biden, who served as vice president under Obama.

The election was arguably decided by three counties: Miami-Dade County (Florida); Cuyahoga County (Ohio) and Philadelphia (Pennsylvania). If these three counties had cast zero votes, Obama would have lost all three states and the election.^[148]

The 2012 election marked the first time since Franklin D. Roosevelt's last two re-elections in 1940 and 1944 that the incumbent Democratic president won a majority of the popular vote in two consecutive elections.^[149] Obama was also the first president of either party to secure a majority of the popular vote in two elections since Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984.^[150] Obama is the third Democratic president to secure at least 51% of the vote twice, after Andrew Jackson and Franklin D. Roosevelt.^[151] Romney won the popular vote in 226 congressional districts making this the first time since 1960 that the winner of the election did not win the popular vote in a majority of the congressional districts.^[152]

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.^[153] Romney lost his home state by more than 23%, the worst losing margin for a major party candidate since John Frémont in 1856.^[154] Even worse than Frémont, Romney failed to win a single county in his home state, something last seen by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912.^[155]^[156] 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.^[157] 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.^[158]

Romney's loss prompted the Republican National Committee to try to appeal to the American Latino population by concentrating on different approaches to immigration. These were short-lived due to activity and anger from the Republican base and may have contributed to the selection of Donald Trump as their presidential candidate four years later.^[159]

Gary Johnson's popular vote total set a Libertarian Party record, and his popular vote percentage was the second-best showing for a Libertarian in a presidential election, trailing only Ed Clark's in 1980.^[160] Johnson would go on to beat this record in the 2016 presidential election, winning the most votes for the Libertarian ticket in history. At the time, Green Party candidate Jill Stein's popular vote total made her the most successful female presidential candidate in a general election in United States history.^[161]^[162] This was later surpassed by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election.

Obama's vote total was the fourth most votes received in the history of presidential elections (behind Obama's 2008 victory and both major candidates in 2020) and the most ever for a reelected president. The 2012 election marked the first time since 1988 in which no state was won by a candidate with a plurality of the state's popular vote. Furthermore, it is the only post-World War II presidential election in which no states were won by margins smaller than 30,000 votes. Obama's narrowest victories were in New Hampshire by 39,643 votes, followed by Florida by 74,309 votes. Every other presidential election in modern history has seen states narrowly won by several thousand votes. So far, this is the only presidential election in history where both the Republican and Democratic vice presidential candidates are practicing Roman Catholics. It is also the only presidential election where there are no white Protestants on a major party ticket.

Obama was the fourth of just four presidents in United States history to win re-election with a lower percentage of the electoral vote than in their prior elections, the other three were James Madison in 1812, Woodrow Wilson in 1916 and Franklin Roosevelt in 1940 and 1944. Additionally, Obama was the fifth of only five presidents to win re-election with a smaller percentage of the popular vote than in prior elections, the other four are James Madison in 1812, Andrew Jackson in 1832, Grover Cleveland in 1892, and Franklin Roosevelt in 1940 and 1944.

Maps

Results by state, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote
Results by county. Blue denotes counties that went to Obama; red denotes counties that went to Romney. Hawaii, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont had all counties go to Obama. Oklahoma, Utah, and West Virginia had all counties go to Romney.
Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote
Popular vote by county shaded on a scale from red/Republican to blue/Democratic
Results by state and the District of Columbia, scaled by number of electors per state
Cartogram of popular vote by county shaded on a scale from red/Republican to blue/Democratic where each county has been rescaled in proportion to its population
Cartogram of the electoral vote results, with each square representing one electoral vote
Results by congressional district
County swing from 2008 to 2012
Treemap of the popular vote by county, state, and locally predominant recipient
Results by state with pie charts for the electoral college and popular vote.

Gallery

The Empire State Building in New York City was lit blue when CNN called Ohio for Obama, projecting him the winner of the election. Likewise, red would have been used if Romney won.^[163]
The Obamas and the Bidens embrace following the television announcement of their victory.
The Obamas and the Bidens walk on stage at the election night victory celebration at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Former governor Mitt Romney meets with President Barack Obama at the White House after the 2012 presidential election.

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External links

The 9 Swing States of 2012
2012 Presidential Form 2 Filers at the Federal Election Commission (FEC)
Election 2012 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions
2012 United States presidential election at Curlie
2012 Interactive Electoral Map
Election of 2012 in Counting the Votes Archived August 28, 2019, at the Wayback Machine

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v t e (2011 ←) 2012 United States elections (→ 2013)
U.S. President	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Guam (straw poll)
U.S. Senate	Arizona California Connecticut Delaware Florida Hawaii Indiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York North Dakota Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
U.S. House (Election ratings)	Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona 8th sp Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois 2nd sp Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky 4th sp Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan 11th 11th sp Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey 10th sp New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon 1st sp Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia U.S. Virgin Islands Washington 1st sp West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Governors	American Samoa Delaware Lt. Gov Indiana Missouri Lt. Gov Montana New Hampshire North Carolina Lt. Gov North Dakota Puerto Rico Utah Vermont Washington West Virginia Wisconsin (recall)
Attorneys general	Missouri North Carolina Pennsylvania
Other statewide elections	Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor (recall)
State legislatures	Arizona Senate California Assembly Senate Connecticut Senate Delaware House Senate Florida House Hawaii House Senate Illinois House Senate Iowa Senate Michigan House Minnesota House Senate Montana House New Mexico House Senate New York Senate North Carolina House Senate Oregon Legislative Assembly Pennsylvania House Senate Texas House Senate Washington House Senate Wisconsin Assembly Senate recalls
Mayoral	Alexandria, VA Anchorage, AK Augusta, GA Austin, TX Bakersfield, CA Baton Rouge, LA Cheyenne, WY Corpus Christi, TX Fort Lauderdale, FL Fresno, CA Glendale, AZ Honolulu, HI Huntsville, AL Irvine, CA Juneau, AK Lubbock, TX Mesa, AZ Miami-Dade County, FL Milwaukee, WI Orlando, FL Portland, OR Richmond, VA Riverside, CA Sacramento, CA San Diego, CA San Juan, PR Santa Ana, CA Stockton, CA Virginia Beach, VA Wilmington, DE
States and territories	Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas U.S. Virgin Islands Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

v t e United States presidential elections
Elections by year	1788 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Elections by state	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Primaries and caucuses	Iowa caucuses New Hampshire presidential primary Nevada presidential caucuses South Carolina presidential primary Super Tuesday
Nominating conventions	List of nominating conventions Brokered convention Convention bounce Superdelegate
Electoral College and popular vote	Results summary elections in which the winner lost the popular vote Electoral College margins Electoral College results by state electoral vote changes between elections electoral vote recipients popular votes received popular-vote margins Electoral Count Act Certificate of ascertainment Certificate of vote Contingent election Faithless elector Unpledged elector Voter turnout
Related	Campaign slogans Historical election polling Election Day Major party tickets Major party losers Presidential debates October surprise Red states and blue states Swing state Tipping-point state Election recount (2000) Guam straw poll Vice presidential confirmations: 1973 1974
House elections Senate elections Gubernatorial elections

v t e Mitt Romney
U.S. Senator from Utah (2019–present) 70th Governor of Massachusetts (2003–2007)
Politics	1994 senatorial election 2002 gubernatorial election Governor of Massachusetts health care reform 2008 presidential campaign 2012 presidential campaign vice presidential candidate selection 2012 Republican National Convention Planned presidential transition 2012 U.S. presidential election "Binders full of women" Mitt 2016 anti-Trump speech 2018 senatorial election Political positions Electoral history Public image
Business	Bain & Company Bain Capital
Olympics	Salt Lake Organizing Committee
Bibliography	Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games No Apology: The Case for American Greatness
Family	Ann Romney (spouse) Tagg Romney (eldest son) George W. Romney (father) Lenore Romney (mother) Gaskell Romney (grandfather) Harold A. Lafount (grandfather) Miles Park Romney (great-grandfather) Milton Romney (cousin) Ronna Romney McDaniel (niece)
Category Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 346: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal').

2012 United States presidential election

Background

State changes to voter registration and electoral rules

Nominations

Democratic Party nomination

Primaries

Candidate

Republican Party nomination

Primaries

Candidate

Withdrawn candidates

Third party and other nominations

Libertarian Party

Green Party

Constitution Party

Justice Party

Candidates gallery

Campaigns

Ballot access

Financing and advertising

Party conventions

Presidential debates

Notable expressions, phrases, and statements

Results

Electoral results

Results by state

States and EV districts that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Close states

Statistics

Romney's concession

Reactions

Voter demographics

Hispanic vote

Analysis

Maps

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links