2012 United States presidential election in Alaska

2012 United States presidential election in Alaska
Romney 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80%	Obama 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80%
President before election; Barack Obama; Democratic	Elected President ; Barack Obama; Democratic

The 2012 United States presidential election in Alaska took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Alaska voters chose three electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan.

Prior to the election, 17 news organizations considered this a state Romney would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Mitt Romney won the state of Alaska with 54.80% of the vote. Barack Obama received 40.81% of the vote.^[1] This was the first time since 1968 that a Democrat received more than 40% of the vote in Alaska. No Democrat has won Alaska since it was won by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. While the Republicans handily won its 3 electoral votes, Alaska's 2012 result made it one of just six states to swing toward President Obama between 2008 and 2012; in 2008 Alaska had been won by Republican nominee John McCain with a 21.5% margin of victory. This can be explained by the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee being Sarah Palin, the incumbent Governor of Alaska at the time. Obama flipped eight boroughs and census areas he had lost in 2008.^[2]

Obama closed his margin of defeat in Alaska by 7.55% compared to his 2008 loss, making it the state with the strongest Democratic gain in 2012.

Caucuses

Democratic caucuses

The Alaska Democratic caucuses were held from April 10 to 14, 2012, with the state party convention being held from May 11 to 13.^[3] Precincts within House Districts combined to hold caucuses to pledge delegates to the State Convention. Obama ran mostly unopposed (with the exception of Randall Terry, who was on the ballot but received no votes) and consequently received all of the 500 popular votes and 24 delegates.

Republican caucuses

The Alaska Republican caucuses were held Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012.^[4]^[5]^[6] The presidential preference poll portion of the caucuses was scheduled between 4 pm and 8 pm local time (which is 8 pm to midnight EST) at locations across the state and one caucus in Washington, DC.^[7]

Similar to the Nevada Republican caucuses, 2012, the results of the presidential preference poll will be used to directly and proportionately apportion 24 national convention delegates among the candidates.^[8] Another 3 super delegates are unbound and not determined by the caucus results.^[9]

Alaska Republican caucuses, 2012^[10]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Estimated national delegates
Mitt Romney	4,285	32.4%	8
Rick Santorum	3,860	29.2%	7
Ron Paul	3,175	24.0%	6
Newt Gingrich	1,865	14.1%	3
Uncommitted	34	0.3%
Unprojected delegates:			3
Totals	13,219	100.0%	27

General election

Candidate Ballot Access

Write-In Candidate Access

Rocky Anderson/Luis J. Rodriguez, Justice

Results

2012 United States presidential election in Alaska
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Mitt Romney	Paul Ryan	164,676	54.80%	3
	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	122,640	40.81%	0
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson	Jim Gray	7,392	2.46%	0
	Green	Jill Stein	Cheri Honkala	2,917	0.97%	0
	Write-ins	Write-ins		2,870	0.96%	0
Totals				300,495	100.00%	3

Boroughs and census areas that flipped from Republican to Democratic

^[2]

Aleutians West Census Area (largest city: Unalaska)
Dilingham Census Area (largest city: Dilingham)
Lake & Peninsula Borough (largest city: Newhalen)
North Slope Borough (largest city: Utqiagvik)
Northwest Arctic Borough (largest city: Kotzebue)
Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area (largest city: Craig)
Yukon–Koyukok Census Area (largest city: Fort Yukon)
Wrangell Borough (coterminous with City of Wrangell)

References

^ State of Alaska 2012 General Election Official Results
^ ^a ^b "Alaska Presidential Results by County, 1960-2016|Maps". thecinyc. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
^ "Alaska Democratic Delegation 2012". www.thegreenpapers.com. Retrieved 2020-09-01.
^ "Alaska Republican Events". Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
^ "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
^ "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
^ "2012 Convention Process". ARP. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
^ "2012 Convention Process". ARP. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2012.
^ Nate Silver (March 4, 2012). "Romney Could Win Majority of Super Tuesday Delegates". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
^ New York Times, Retrieved March 23, 2012.

External links

The Green Papers: for Alaska
The Green Papers: Major state elections in chronological order
Official website of the Alaska Republican Party
Official website of the Alaska Democratic Party

[1] State of Alaska 2012 General Election Official Results

[:0-2] "Alaska Presidential Results by County, 1960-2016|Maps". thecinyc. Retrieved 2020-09-01.

[3] "Alaska Democratic Delegation 2012". www.thegreenpapers.com. Retrieved 2020-09-01.

[4] "Alaska Republican Events". Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2012-03-06.

[5] "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 11, 2012.

[6] "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.

[7] "2012 Convention Process". ARP. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2012.

[8] "2012 Convention Process". ARP. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2012.

[9] Nate Silver (March 4, 2012). "Romney Could Win Majority of Super Tuesday Delegates". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved March 5, 2012.

[10] New York Times, Retrieved March 23, 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]