2012 United States presidential election in Tennessee
County Results
Romney
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
Obama
50-60%
60-70%
The 2012 United States presidential election in Tennessee took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 General Election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Tennessee voters chose 11 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 .
Mitt Romney received Tennessee's 11 electoral votes after he garnered 59.48% of the popular vote in Tennessee, to Barack Obama's 39.08%.[ 1]
Much like in previous elections, larger metropolitan areas such as Memphis and Nashville were won by the Democratic Party, but rural areas overwhelmingly favored the Republican Party. Barack Obama proved especially unpopular among the state's conservative electorate; consequently, Mitt Romney's 20.4% margin of victory was the strongest Republican win in Tennessee since 1972 . Tennessee has not voted for a Democratic candidate since 1996 . This is the most recent election in which Hardeman County was won by the Democratic candidate as of 2016 .
General election
Results
United States presidential election in Tennessee, 2012
Party
Candidate
Running mate
Votes
Percentage
Electoral votes
Republican
Mitt Romney Paul Ryan 1,462,330
59.48%
11
Democratic Barack Obama
Joe Biden
960,709
39.08%
0
Libertarian
Gary Johnson
Jim Gray
18,623
0.67%
0
Green
Jill Stein
Cheri Honkala
6,515
0.26%
0
Constitution
Virgil Goode
Jim Clymer
6,022
0.24%
0
Justice
Rocky Anderson
Luis J. Rodriguez
2,639
0.11%
0
American Third Position
Merlin Miller
Virginia D. Abernethy
1,739
0.07%
0
Totals
2,458,577
100.00%
11
By congressional district
Mitt Romney swept the state and carried seven of the state's nine congressional districts, all represented by Republicans. Barack Obama carried the state's two congressional districts anchored by the two largest cities of Memphis and Nashville.[ 2]
By county
County
Obama%
Obama#
Romney%
Romney#
Others%
Others#
Total
Anderson 34.13%
10,122
63.95% 18,968 01.92%
569
29,659
Bedford 29.15%
4,211
69.46% 10,034 01.38%
200
14,445
Benton 36.27%
2,258
61.84% 3,850 01.90%
118
6,226
Bledsoe 29.07%
1,267
69.33% 3,022 01.61%
70
4,359
Blount 26.27%
12,934
71.98% 35,441 01.74%
859
49,234
Bradley 22.35%
8,037
76.25% 27,422 01.40%
504
35,963
Campbell 27.50%
3,328
71.10% 8,604 01.40%
169
12,101
Cannon 31.45%
1,564
66.54% 3,309 02.01%
100
4,973
Carroll 32.02%
3,475
66.58% 7,225 01.39%
151
10,851
Carter 23.23%
4,789
75.20% 15,503 01.58%
325
20,617
Cheatham 30.69%
4,659
67.63% 10,268 01.68%
255
15,182
Chester 25.34%
1,624
73.07% 4,684 01.59%
102
6,410
Claiborne 23.90%
2,433
74.84% 7,617 01.26%
128
10,178
Clay 36.77%
1,037
61.95% 1,747 01.28%
36
2,820
Cocke 24.48%
2,804
73.85% 8,459 01.67%
191
11,454
Coffee 30.48%
5,870
67.62% 13,023 01.90%
366
19,259
Crockett 30.36%
1,669
68.81% 3,783 00.84%
46
5,498
Cumberland 24.80%
6,261
73.88% 18,653 01.32%
333
25,247
Davidson 58.45% 143,120 39.87%
97,622
01.69%
4,131
244,873
Decatur 30.65%
1,303
67.61% 2,874 01.74%
74
4,251
DeKalb 33.85%
2,174
64.51% 4,143 01.64%
105
6,422
Dickson 34.95%
6,233
63.34% 11,296 01.72%
306
17,835
Dyer 27.22%
3,757
71.89% 9,921 00.88%
122
13,800
Fayette 34.17%
6,688
64.83% 12,689 01.01%
197
19,574
Fentress 22.64%
1,561
76.04% 5,243 01.32%
91
6,895
Franklin 34.76%
5,603
63.66% 10,262 01.58%
254
16,119
Gibson 33.38%
6,564
65.51% 12,883 01.12%
220
19,667
Giles 34.82%
3,760
64.03% 6,915 01.15%
124
10,799
Grainger 23.00%
1,668
75.43% 5,470 01.57%
114
7,252
Greene 26.06%
6,225
72.19% 17,245 01.75%
417
23,887
Grundy 38.78%
1,643
59.38% 2,516 01.84%
78
4,237
Hamblen 26.13%
5,234
72.49% 14,522 01.38%
276
20,032
Hamilton 41.67%
58,836
56.62% 79,933 01.71%
2,412
141,181
Hancock 23.22%
475
74.63% 1,527 02.15%
44
2,046
Hardeman 52.51% 5,482 46.60%
4,865
00.88%
92
10,439
Hardin 23.51%
2,467
75.14% 7,886 01.35%
142
10,495
Hawkins 25.70%
5,088
72.65% 14,382 01.65%
327
19,797
Haywood 60.36% 4,569 39.11%
2,960
00.53%
40
7,569
Henderson 25.03%
2,517
73.80% 7,421 01.16%
117
10,055
Henry 34.06%
4,339
64.31% 8,193 01.62%
207
12,739
Hickman 35.49%
2,698
62.59% 4,758 01.92%
146
7,602
Houston 46.25%
1,400
52.16% 1,579 01.59%
48
3,027
Humphreys 42.33%
2,905
55.85% 3,833 01.82%
125
6,863
Jackson 41.56%
1,739
56.96% 2,383 01.48%
62
4,184
Jefferson 24.10%
4,232
74.25% 13,038 01.65%
289
17,559
Johnson 23.94%
1,483
74.44% 4,611 01.61%
100
6,194
Knox 34.43%
59,399
63.60% 109,707 01.97%
3,401
172,507
Lake 42.36%
884
55.73% 1,163 01.92%
40
2,087
Lauderdale 46.16%
4,011
53.12% 4,616 00.71%
62
8,689
Lawrence 27.84%
4,237
70.77% 10,770 01.39%
212
15,219
Lewis 30.83%
1,447
66.40% 3,117 02.77%
130
4,694
Lincoln 24.80%
3,290
73.88% 9,803 01.32%
175
13,268
Loudon 22.91%
5,058
75.69% 16,707 01.40%
308
22,073
Macon 22.48%
1,552
76.18% 5,260 01.35%
93
6,905
Madison 45.13%
18,367
54.03% 21,993 00.84%
342
40,702
Marion 37.98%
3,953
60.26% 6,272 01.77%
184
10,409
Marshall 34.68%
3,725
63.61% 6,832 01.71%
184
10,741
Maury 35.83%
11,825
62.74% 20,708 01.43%
473
33,006
McMinn 25.84%
4,609
72.71% 12,967 01.45%
258
17,834
McNairy 26.98%
2,645
71.57% 7,015 01.45%
142
9,802
Meigs 29.34%
1,163
68.97% 2,734 01.69%
67
3,964
Monroe 26.76%
4,372
71.80% 11,731 01.44%
235
16,338
Montgomery 44.08%
24,499
54.41% 30,245 01.51%
840
55,584
Moore 25.19%
705
73.35% 2,053 01.46%
41
2,799
Morgan 26.52%
1,725
71.79% 4,669 01.69%
110
6,504
Obion 27.01%
3,321
71.68% 8,814 01.32%
162
12,297
Overton 36.60%
2,805
62.30% 4,775 01.10%
84
7,664
Perry 37.85%
992
60.21% 1,578 01.95%
51
2,621
Pickett 29.03%
712
69.79% 1,712 01.18%
29
2,453
Polk 30.63%
1,856
67.80% 4,108 01.57%
95
6,059
Putnam 30.60%
7,802
67.66% 17,254 01.74%
444
25,500
Rhea 24.82%
2,628
73.67% 7,802 01.51%
160
10,590
Roane 28.53%
6,018
69.82% 14,724 01.65%
348
21,090
Robertson 31.53%
8,290
67.11% 17,643 01.35%
356
26,289
Rutherford 36.84%
36,414
61.56% 60,846 01.61%
1,588
98,848
Scott 21.78%
1,452
76.74% 5,117 01.48%
99
6,668
Sequatchie 28.96%
1,489
68.86% 3,541 02.18%
112
5,142
Sevier 21.91%
7,418
76.73% 25,984 01.36%
462
33,864
Shelby 62.63% 232,443 36.55%
135,649
00.81%
3,017
371,109
Smith 34.85%
2,470
63.43% 4,495 01.72%
122
7,087
Stewart 40.45%
2,069
57.93% 2,963 01.62%
83
5,115
Sullivan 25.58%
15,321
72.74% 43,562 01.68%
1,004
59,887
Sumner 28.42%
18,579
70.38% 46,003 01.20%
784
65,366
Tipton 29.62%
7,133
69.23% 16,672 01.15%
276
24,081
Trousdale 42.69%
1,240
55.49% 1,612 01.82%
53
2,905
Unicoi 27.00%
1,913
71.01% 5,032 01.99%
141
7,086
Union 25.36%
1,478
73.47% 4,282 01.17%
68
5,828
Van Buren 38.04%
875
60.26% 1,386 01.70%
39
2,300
Warren 36.51%
4,752
61.54% 8,010 01.94%
253
13,015
Washington 29.82%
14,325
68.30% 32,808 01.87%
899
48,032
Wayne 21.20%
1,163
77.52% 4,253 01.28%
70
5,486
Weakley 28.76%
3,548
69.75% 8,605 01.49%
184
12,337
White 30.58%
2,795
67.80% 6,197 01.62%
148
9,140
Williamson 26.13%
25,142
72.59% 69,850 01.28%
1,233
96,225
Wilson 28.53%
14,695
70.12% 36,109 01.35%
695
51,499
History
In previous elections, Tennessee was typically won by the Republican party, with Republicans winning in Tennessee for the past three election cycles, since the 2000 election .[ 3]
Democratic primary
Tennessee Democratic primary, 2012
Candidate
Barack Obama
Uncommitted
Home state
Illinois
n/a
Delegate count
82
9
Popular vote
80,705
10,497
Percentage
88.48%
11.51%
Tennessee results by county
Barack Obama
The 2012 democratic primary in Tennessee took place on Super Tuesday , March 6, 2012, with Barack Obama receiving 80,355 (88.5%) votes. Other candidates received a combined total of 10,411 (11.5%) votes.[ 4] 2012 Democratic National Convention , of which 82 were pledged to presidential contenders depending on the popular vote. The remaining 9 super-delegates were unbound.
Tennessee Democratic primary, 2012[ 5]
Candidate
Popular vote
Delegates
Count
Percentage
Pledged delegates
Super delegates
Total delegates
Barack Obama
80,705
88.48%
82
9
91
Uncommitted
10,497
11.51%
0
0
0
John Wolfe Jr. (write-in)
7
0.00%
0
0
0
Total:
91,209
100%
91
29
251
Republican primary
Tennessee Republican primary, 2012
Tennessee results by county
Rick Santorum
Mitt Romney
Newt Gingrich
The Republican primary took place on Super Tuesday , March 6, 2012.[ 6] [ 7]
Tennessee has 58 delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention . Three super delegates are unbound. 27 delegates are awarded by congressional district, 3 delegates for each district. If a candidate wins two-third of the vote in a district, he takes all 3 delegates there; if not, delegates are split 2-to-1 between the top two candidates. Another 28 delegates are awarded to the candidate who wins two-thirds of the vote statewide, or allocated proportionately among candidates winning at least 20% of the vote if no one gets two-thirds.[ 8]
Results
Tennessee Republican primary, 2012[ 9]
Candidate
Votes
Percentage
Projected delegate count
NYT [ 10] CNN [ 11] FOX [ 12]
Rick Santorum 205,809
37.11%
29
27
26
Mitt Romney
155,630
28.06%
14
15
12
Newt Gingrich
132,889
23.96%
9
8
9
Ron Paul
50,156
9.04%
0
0
0
Rick Perry (withdrawn)
1,966
0.35%
0
0
0
Michele Bachmann (withdrawn)
1,895
0.34%
0
0
0
Jon Huntsman (withdrawn)
1,239
0.22%
0
0
0
Buddy Roemer (withdrawn)
881
0.16%
0
0
0
Gary Johnson (withdrawn)
572
0.10%
0
0
0
Uncommitted
3,536
0.64%
0
0
0
Unprojected delegates:
6
8
9
Total:
554,573
100.00%
58
58
58
See also
References
External links
Democratic Party
Republican Party
Libertarian Party
Green Party
Election timelines National opinion polling State opinion polling Fundraising Debates and forums Straw polls Major events Caucuses primaries
Results breakdown National
Reforms
Government
2012 U.S. presidential election
Barack Obama
.jpg)
.jpg)
