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[[United States presidential election debates, 2012|Four major debates]] were held during the last weeks of the campaign: three presidential and one vice-presidential. Issues debated included the economy and jobs, the national deficit, social policy, immigration and foreign policy. Although most major media outlets insisted the election was too close to predict a winner in advance,<ref>For example, the ''Financial Post'' (from Reuters) [http://business.financialpost.com/2012/11/06/tsx-holds-steady-as-traders-wait-out-too-close-to-call-u-s-election/], ''Forbes'' [http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnzogby/2012/11/04/what-if-its-not-close-after-all/], and ''Globe & Mail'' [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-election-too-close-to-call-as-voting-begins/article5005824/] all described the election as "too close to call".</ref> analysts using statistical models,<ref>[http://electoral-vote.com/ ElectoralVote], [http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/ FiveThirtyEight], [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/pollster/ Pollster], [http://election.princeton.edu/ Princeton Consortium], [http://votamatic.org/ Votamatic]</ref> bookmakers<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bluesq.com/bet |title=BlueSquare |publisher=Bluesq.com |date= |accessdate=November 10, 2012}}</ref> and betting markets<ref>[http://www.intrade.com/v4/home/ Intrade], [http://www.betfair.com/ Betfair]</ref> had Obama as a clear favorite to win.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leighton-vaughan-williams/prediction-markets-election_b_2091920.html |title=Leighton Vaughan Williams: Prediction Markets: The Other Big Winners on Election Night |work=Huffington Post |date=June 14, 2011 |accessdate=November 10, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20246741 |title=Drew Linzer: The stats man who predicted Obama's win |work=BBC News |date=November 8, 2012 |accessdate=November 10, 2012}}</ref>
[[United States presidential election debates, 2012|Four major debates]] were held during the last weeks of the campaign: three presidential and one vice-presidential. Issues debated included the economy and jobs, the national deficit, social policy, immigration and foreign policy. Although most major media outlets insisted the election was too close to predict a winner in advance,<ref>For example, the ''Financial Post'' (from Reuters) [http://business.financialpost.com/2012/11/06/tsx-holds-steady-as-traders-wait-out-too-close-to-call-u-s-election/], ''Forbes'' [http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnzogby/2012/11/04/what-if-its-not-close-after-all/], and ''Globe & Mail'' [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-election-too-close-to-call-as-voting-begins/article5005824/] all described the election as "too close to call".</ref> analysts using statistical models,<ref>[http://electoral-vote.com/ ElectoralVote], [http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/ FiveThirtyEight], [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/pollster/ Pollster], [http://election.princeton.edu/ Princeton Consortium], [http://votamatic.org/ Votamatic]</ref> bookmakers<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bluesq.com/bet |title=BlueSquare |publisher=Bluesq.com |date= |accessdate=November 10, 2012}}</ref> and betting markets<ref>[http://www.intrade.com/v4/home/ Intrade], [http://www.betfair.com/ Betfair]</ref> had Obama as a clear favorite to win.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leighton-vaughan-williams/prediction-markets-election_b_2091920.html |title=Leighton Vaughan Williams: Prediction Markets: The Other Big Winners on Election Night |work=Huffington Post |date=June 14, 2011 |accessdate=November 10, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20246741 |title=Drew Linzer: The stats man who predicted Obama's win |work=BBC News |date=November 8, 2012 |accessdate=November 10, 2012}}</ref>


On November 6, by around 11:15 PM [[Eastern Standard Time (North America)|EST]], most major television networks projected the winners would be Obama and Biden.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/07/us/politics/obama-romney-presidential-election-2012.html?hp&_r=0 |title=Obama's Night |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 7, 2012 |quote=CBS News, CNN, Fox News and NBC News all projected that Mr. Obama would defeat Mr. Romney after concluding that he would win the necessary 270 electoral votes.}}</ref> At about 1:00 AM EST (6:00 AM [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]]) on November 7, Romney conceded the election to Obama, just as the polls in [[Alaska]] were closing. As of November 10, the electoral outcomes of all 50 states and the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]] had been definitively projected, with final vote counts still outstanding in some states.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lush |first=Tamara |title=Obama Wins Fla., Topping Romney in Final Tally |url= http://bigstory.ap.org/article/obama-wins-fla-topping-romney-final-tally|accessdate=November 10, 2012 |newspaper=[[Associated Press]]|date=November 10, 2012}}</ref> Obama carried all the states and districts (among states that allocate electoral votes by district) he had won in the [[United States presidential election, 2008|2008 election]] except [[North Carolina]], [[Indiana]] and [[Nebraska's 2nd congressional district]].
On November 6, by around 11:15 PM [[Eastern Standard Time (North America)|EST]], most major television networks projected the winners would be Obama and Biden.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/07/us/politics/obama-romney-presidential-election-2012.html?hp&_r=0 |title=Obama's Night |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 7, 2012 |quote=CBS News, CNN, Fox News and NBC News all projected that Mr. Obama would defeat Mr. Romney after concluding that he would win the necessary 270 electoral votes.}}</ref> At about 1:00 AM EST (6:00 AM [[Greenwich Mean Time|GMT]]) on November 7, Romney conceded the election to Obama, just as the polls in [[Alaska]] were closing. As of November 10, the electoral outcomes of all 50 states and the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]] had been definitively projected, with final vote counts still outstanding in some states.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lush |first=Tamara |title=Obama Wins Fla., Topping Romney in Final Tally |url= http://bigstory.ap.org/article/obama-wins-fla-topping-romney-final-tally|accessdate=November 10, 2012 |newspaper=[[Associated Press]]|date=November 10, 2012}}</ref> Obama carried all the states and districts (among states that allocate electoral votes by district) he had won in the [[United States presidential election, 2008|2008 election]] except [[North Carolina]], [[Indiana]] and [[Nebraska's 2nd congressional district]]. Barack Obama's win was soon voided when it was reveled that he rigged the election, and was born in Lagos, Nigeria, thus made his victory invalid.


==Electoral college changes==
==Electoral college changes==

Revision as of 19:02, 26 November 2012

This article is about the United States presidential election held in 2012. For information about other elections held within the United States in 2012, see United States elections, 2012.

United States presidential election, 2012
← 2008 November 6, 2012 2016 →
538 electoral votes of the Electoral College
270 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout57.5%–60% (voting eligible)[1][2]
 
Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Illinois Massachusetts
Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan
Electoral vote 332 206
States carried 26 + DC 24
Popular vote 64,498,468 60,298,998
Percentage 50.8% 47.5%
 
2012 United States presidential election in California2012 United States presidential election in Oregon2012 United States presidential election in Washington (state)2012 United States presidential election in Idaho2012 United States presidential election in Nevada2012 United States presidential election in Utah2012 United States presidential election in Arizona2012 United States presidential election in Montana2012 United States presidential election in Wyoming2012 United States presidential election in Colorado2012 United States presidential election in New Mexico2012 United States presidential election in North Dakota2012 United States presidential election in South Dakota2012 United States presidential election in Nebraska2012 United States presidential election in Kansas2012 United States presidential election in Oklahoma2012 United States presidential election in Texas2012 United States presidential election in Minnesota2012 United States presidential election in Iowa2012 United States presidential election in Missouri2012 United States presidential election in Arkansas2012 United States presidential election in Louisiana2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin2012 United States presidential election in Illinois2012 United States presidential election in Michigan2012 United States presidential election in Indiana2012 United States presidential election in Ohio2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky2012 United States presidential election in Tennessee2012 United States presidential election in Mississippi2012 United States presidential election in Alabama2012 United States presidential election in Georgia2012 United States presidential election in Florida2012 United States presidential election in South Carolina2012 United States presidential election in North Carolina2012 United States presidential election in Virginia2012 United States presidential election in West Virginia2012 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia2012 United States presidential election in Maryland2012 United States presidential election in Delaware2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania2012 United States presidential election in New Jersey2012 United States presidential election in New York2012 United States presidential election in Connecticut2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island2012 United States presidential election in Vermont2012 United States presidential election in New Hampshire2012 United States presidential election in Maine2012 United States presidential election in Massachusetts2012 United States presidential election in Hawaii2012 United States presidential election in Alaska2012 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia2012 United States presidential election in Maryland2012 United States presidential election in Delaware2012 United States presidential election in New Jersey2012 United States presidential election in Connecticut2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island2012 United States presidential election in Massachusetts2012 United States presidential election in Vermont2012 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
Presidential election results map
Blue denotes states/districts won by Obama/Biden
Red denotes those won by Romney/Ryan
Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state
President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

2012 U.S. presidential election
Democratic Party
Republican Party
Minor parties
Related races
← 2008 2012 2016 →

Template:Wikinewshas

The United States presidential election of 2012 was the 57th quadrennial presidential election and took place on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. The Democratic nominee, President Barack Obama, and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, were elected to a second term. Their major challengers were the Republican nominee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.

Four major debates were held during the last weeks of the campaign: three presidential and one vice-presidential. Issues debated included the economy and jobs, the national deficit, social policy, immigration and foreign policy. Although most major media outlets insisted the election was too close to predict a winner in advance,[3] analysts using statistical models,[4] bookmakers[5] and betting markets[6] had Obama as a clear favorite to win.[7][8]

On November 6, by around 11:15 PM EST, most major television networks projected the winners would be Obama and Biden.[9] At about 1:00 AM EST (6:00 AM GMT) on November 7, Romney conceded the election to Obama, just as the polls in Alaska were closing. As of November 10, the electoral outcomes of all 50 states and the District of Columbia had been definitively projected, with final vote counts still outstanding in some states.[10] Obama carried all the states and districts (among states that allocate electoral votes by district) he had won in the 2008 election except North Carolina, Indiana and Nebraska's 2nd congressional district. Barack Obama's win was soon voided when it was reveled that he rigged the election, and was born in Lagos, Nigeria, thus made his victory invalid.

Electoral college changes

The 2010 Census changed the Electoral College vote apportionment for the presidential elections from 2012 to 2020 in the states listed below.[11]

Changes in states' electoral votes (increases in blue, decreases in orange) following 2010 Census

States won by Democrats
in 2000, 2004 and 2008

  • Illinois −1
  • Massachusetts −1
  • Michigan −1
  • New Jersey −1
  • New York −2
  • Pennsylvania −1
  • Washington +1

States won by Republicans
in 2000, 2004 and 2008

  • Arizona +1
  • Georgia +1
  • Louisiana −1
  • Missouri −1
  • South Carolina +1
  • Texas +4
  • Utah +1

Remaining states

  • Florida (Democratic in 2008, Republican in 2000 and 2004) +2
  • Iowa (Democratic in 2000 and 2008, Republican in 2004) −1
  • Nevada (Democratic in 2008, Republican in 2000 and 2004) +1
  • Ohio (Democratic in 2008, Republican in 2000 and 2004) −2
The result of the 2008 presidential election
Changes from the 2000 to the 2010 census

Eight states (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington) gained votes, due to reapportionment based on the 2010 Census. Similarly ten states (Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania) lost votes.

In the political climate of 2012, this gave the Democratic Party a net loss of six electoral votes in states won by Al Gore, John Kerry and Obama in the past three presidential elections, rendering the party a national total of 242. Conversely, the Republican Party achieved a net gain of six electoral votes in states won by George W. Bush and McCain in the past three presidential elections, rendering the Republican Party a national total of 180. Votes allocated to remaining states (i.e., those where the majority voted for both Democratic and Republican candidates during the last three presidential elections) remain unchanged from the national total of 115.

State changes to voter registration and electoral rules

In 2011, several state legislatures enacted new laws, particularly related to voter identification and electoral process, that were attacked by the Democratic Party as attempts to suppress voting among its supporters and to improve the Republican Party's presidential prospects. For some time, Republican supporters have been trying to make an issue of voter fraud, although their allegations have been repeatedly disproved. Florida, Georgia, Ohio [12] Tennessee, and West Virginia state legislatures approved measures to shorten early voting periods. Florida and Iowa barred all felons from voting. Kansas, South Carolina,[13] Tennessee, Texas[14] and Wisconsin[15] 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. Obama, the NAACP, and the Democratic Party fought against many of the new state laws.[16] 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".[17] He was referring to Jim Crow laws passed in southern states near the turn of the twentieth century that disfranchised most blacks from voting and excluded them from the political process for more than six decades. Clinton said the moves would effectively disfranchise core voter blocs that trend liberal, including college students, Blacks, and Latinos.[18][19] Rolling Stone magazine criticized the American Legislative Exchange Council for lobbying in states to bring about these laws, to "solve" a problem that does not exist.[16] The Obama campaign fought against the Ohio law, pushing for a petition and statewide referendum to repeal it in time for the 2012 election.[20] Republicans claim they are trying to cut down on "voter fraud", although it has not been documented as a significant problem in any state.

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.[21] 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.[22][23][24]

Nominations

Democratic Party

Main articles: Democratic Party presidential candidates, 2012; Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2012; and 2012 Democratic National Convention

Primaries

With an incumbent president running for reelection 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 the Northern Mariana Islands. 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, President Obama cemented his status as the Democratic presumptive nominee on April 3, 2012 by securing the minimum number of pledged delegates needed to clinch the nomination.[25][26]

Candidates

Republican Party

Main articles: Republican Party presidential candidates, 2012; Republican Party presidential primaries, 2012; and 2012 Republican National Convention

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 the Northern Mariana Islands. The caucuses allocated delegates to the respective state delegations to the national convention, but the actual election of the delegates were many times at a later date. Delegates were elected in different ways that vary from state to state. They could be elected at local conventions, selected from slates submitted by the candidates, selected at committee meetings, or elected directly at the caucuses and primaries. Additionally, high-ranking RNC members, known as superdelegates, each received one vote in the convention.

Primaries

Main articles: Prelude to the Republican presidential primaries, 2012 and Republican Party presidential debates, 2012

Candidates with considerable name recognition who entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination in the early stages of the primary campaign included: Congressman and former Libertarian nominee Ron Paul, former Governor Tim Pawlenty, who co-chaired John McCain's campaign in 2008, former Governor Mitt Romney, who was widely considered 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, Paul, Pawlenty, and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum participating. There was another about a month later, with Gingrich, Romney, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman and Rep. Michele Bachmann participating and 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. Pawlenty withdrew from the race after doing poorly, as did Thaddeus McCotter, the only candidate among those who qualified for the ballot who was refused entrance into the debate.[27] Bachmann won the straw poll, and this proved to be the acme of her campaign.[28]

A segment of the conservative primary electorate found Romney to be too liberal or moderate for their tastes, and a number of potential "anti-Romney" candidates were put forward,[29][30] including Donald Trump,[31] Sarah Palin,[32] and Texas Governor Rick Perry,[33] the last of whom ultimately decided to run. He did poorly in subsequent debates, and Cain and Gingrich came into the fore.

Due to a number of scandals, Cain withdrew just before the end of the year, after getting on the ballot in several states.[34] Johnson, who had been able to get into only one other debate, withdrew in order to seek the Libertarian Party nomination.[35]

For the first time in modern GOP history, three different candidates won the first three primary contests.[36] Although Romney was thought to have won in Iowa and New Hampshire, Santorum was declared the winner (by 34 votes) in Iowa a few weeks after the caucuses.[37] Gingrich won South Carolina by a large and surprising margin.[38]

A number of candidates dropped out at this time. Bachmann, who finished fifth in Iowa, withdrew after the caucuses.[39] Huntsman withdrew after coming in third in New Hampshire, and Perry withdrew when polls showed him drawing low numbers in South Carolina.[40]

Santorum, who had previously run an essentially one-state campaign in Iowa, took his campaign national and carried three more states on February 7.[41] Romney won all other contests after South Carolina, including Florida, seen at the time as a major win over Gingrich.

The Super Tuesday primaries took place on March 6. With ten states voting and 391 delegates being allocated, it had nearly half the potential impact of its 2008 predecessor. Romney carried six states and Santorum three, while Gingrich won only in his home state of Georgia.[42] Throughout the rest of March, 266 delegates were allocated in 12 events, including all of 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 gain on Romney, who remained the frontrunner after securing more than half of the delegates allocated in March.

On April 10, Santorum surprisingly suspended his campaign due to a variety of reasons concerning delegates, Pennsylvanian polls, and his daughter's health, leaving Mitt Romney as the undisputed front-runner for the presidential nomination and Gingrich to claim he was the "last conservative" still actively campaigning for the nomination.[43] Gingrich, however, after getting fourth place in all four April 24 primaries (behind Paul, Romney, and Santorum write-ins/votes), withdrew on May 2.[44] On the same day as Gingrich's spokesman announced his future withdrawal (originally announced to take place on May 1, most sites announced it on May 2), the Republican National Committee (RNC) declared Romney the party's presumptive nominee.[45] Paul officially remained in the race, but he stopped campaigning on May 14 to focus on state conventions. On May 29, Romney won the Texas 2012 Republican primaries; the subsequent accumulation of his portion (some delegates were allocated to Paul and several dropped-out candidates) of the state's 155 delegates was enough for him to clinch the party's nomination when including unpledged delegates. After June 5 Primaries in California and elsewhere, Romney had more than enough pledged delegates to clinch the nomination without counting unpledged delegates, leaving the June 26 Utah Primary, the last contest, completely pointless. CNN's final delegate estimate, released on July 27, 2012, put Romney at 1,462 pledged delegates, 62 unpledged, for a total estimate of 1,524 delegates. No other candidate had unpledged delegates. Other estimates were Santorum at 261 delegates, Paul at 154, Gingrich at 142, Bachmann at 1, Jon Huntsman at 1, and all others at 0.[46]

On August 28, 2012, delegates at the Republican National Convention officially named Romney as the party's presidential nominee.[47] Romney formally accepted the delegates' nomination on August 30, 2012.[48]

Brief overview

Candidates

Third parties

Main article: United States third party and independent presidential candidates, 2012

Four other parties nominated candidates that had ballot access to 270 electoral votes, which is the minimum number needed to win the presidency through a majority of the electoral college.

Write-in states that were confirmed to have full elector slates, and included in the final ballot count, appear in bold.

Libertarian Party

Main articles: Libertarian Party (United States); 2012 Libertarian National Convention; and Gary Johnson presidential campaign, 2012
Gary Johnson
  Ballot access
  Write-in access
Candidate Ballot Access:[78] The Johnson/Gray ticket is on all state ballots except in Michigan and Oklahoma where its ballot access has been challenged. (515 electoral votes)
Write-In Candidate Access:[79] Michigan – (16 electoral votes)
Total: 531 possible electoral votes

Green Party

Main articles: Green Party of the United States; 2012 Green National Convention; and Jill Stein presidential campaign, 2012
File:Jill Stein 2012.jpg
Jill Stein
  Ballot access
  Write-in access
Candidate Ballot Access:[83] Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin – (447 electoral votes)
Write-In Candidate Access:[83] Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Vermont, Wyoming – (11 electoral votes)
Total: 458 possible electoral votes

Constitution Party

Main articles: Constitution Party (United States); 2012 Constitution Party National Convention; and Virgil Goode presidential campaign, 2012
Virgil Goode
  Ballot access
  Write-in access
Candidate Ballot Access:[86] Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming – (257 electoral votes)
Write-In Candidate Access:[86] Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia – (133 electoral votes)
Total: 390 possible electoral votes

Justice Party

Main articles: Justice Party (United States) and Rocky Anderson
File:Rocky Anderson speech cropped.jpg
Rocky Anderson
  Ballot access
  Write-in access
Candidate Ballot Access:[89][90][91][92] Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington – (145 electoral votes)
Write-In Candidate Access: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming – (160 electoral votes)[93]
Total: 305 possible electoral votes

Americans Elect

Main article: Americans Elect
  • No candidates nominated
Ballot access: Before ending its primary process, the organization had gained ballot access in 29 states with 286 electoral votes.[94]

Following the unsuccessful Unity08, Peter Ackerman started Americans Elect, a non-partisan non-profit organization, with the objective of having the first online nomination process in American history. Americans Elect's motto was "Pick a president, not a party". No candidates met the requirements of online support set out by the organization to enter into its online caucus, so on May 17 the primary process came to an end without a nominee and no AE candidate ran for President in 2012. The online caucus site is now inactive except for a home page with the phrase "See You in 2013".[95]

Party conventions

Map of United States showing Charlotte, Tampa, Nashville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Baltimore
Charlotte
Charlotte
Tampa
Tampa
Nashville
Nashville
Las Vegas
Las Vegas
Baltimore
Baltimore
class=notpageimage|
Sites of the 2012 National Party conventions

Other candidates

A total of 417 people filed a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission to run for President in 2012. Most did not appear on the ballot in any state in the general election on November 6.[102]

Campaigns

See also: Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2012; Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2012; Gary Johnson presidential campaign, 2012; Jill Stein presidential campaign, 2012; and Virgil Goode presidential campaign, 2012

Debates

Main article: United States presidential election debates, 2012

The Commission on Presidential Debates held four debates.[103] Candidates must appear on sufficient state-ballots to be mathematically eligible to win the presidency and achieve at least 15% support in five national polls as of the date of determination.[104] Two third party candidates were organized by Free and Equal, and co-moderated by Christina Tobin.

An independent presidential debate featuring minor party candidates took place on Tuesday October 23, at University Club of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.[108] The debate was moderated by Larry King[109] and organized by the Free and Equal Elections Foundation.[108] Gary Johnson (Libertarian), Jill Stein (Green), Virgil Goode (Constitution) and Rocky Anderson (Justice) were the participants.[108][109] A second debate between Stein and Johnson was announced for Monday, November 5, and took place in Washington, D.C.;[110][111] it was hosted by RT,[112] and moderated by Thom Hartmann and Christina Tobin.

Election

Final poll closing times on Election Day.
  7PM EST [00:00 UTC] (6)
  7:30PM EST [00:30 UTC] (3)
  8PM EST [01:00 UTC] (15+DC)
  8:30PM EST [01:30 UTC] (1)
  9PM EST [02:00 UTC] (15)
  10PM EST [03:00 UTC] (4)
  11PM EST [04:00 UTC] (5)
  1AM EST [06:00 UTC] (1)

Early voting in some of the states began in September or October and continued as late as November 5.[113] The election will proceed as follows:

  • November 6, 2012 – Election Day.
  • December 17, 2012 – Electoral College will formally elect a President and Vice President.
  • January 3, 2013 – The 113th Congress is sworn in.
  • January 6, 2013 – Electoral votes are formally counted before a joint session of Congress.
  • January 20, 2013 – Oaths of office are taken by the President and Vice President; the new presidential term starts at noon.
  • January 21, 2013 – Inauguration Day (as the 20th falls on a Sunday).[114]

The first results available were from Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, with 5 votes for Obama and 5 for Romney, and from Hart's Location, New Hampshire, with 23 votes for Obama, nine for Romney, and one for Gary Johnson. Both towns vote at midnight each election, and results are available shortly thereafter.[115] Additional results became available after the polls closed, beginning at 7 PM Eastern Time.[116]

There were several firsts this election. For the first time, a sitting President voted early. For the first time, candidates spent over $1 billion in advertising. Total cost in all campaigns was close to $5.8 billion, about $50/voter.[117] Two astronauts on the International Space Station voted from space using ballots which were transmitted to them over the weekend.[118]

For the first time, voters in New Jersey were permitted to vote using e-mail. Election officials were not prepared for the 15 minutes it took to validate each request. As a result, they extended e-mail voting until Friday, November 9.[119][120]

Results

Obamas and Bidens embrace following television announcement of result.


Electoral results
Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote Electoral
vote 		Running mate
Count Percentage Vice-presidential candidate Home state Electoral vote
Barack Obama Democratic Illinois 64,498,468 50.79% 332 Joe Biden Delaware 332
Mitt Romney Republican Massachusetts 60,298,998 47.48% 206 Paul Ryan Wisconsin 206
Gary Johnson Libertarian New Mexico 1,253,591 0.99% 0 James P. Gray California 0
Jill Stein Green Massachusetts 455,849 0.36% 0 Cheri Honkala Pennsylvania 0
Virgil Goode Constitution Virginia 119,784 0.09% 0 Jim Clymer Pennsylvania 0
Roseanne Barr Peace and Freedom Hawaii 63,917 0.05% 0 Cindy Sheehan California 0
Rocky Anderson Justice Utah 41,094 0.03% 0 Luis J. Rodriguez California 0
Tom Hoefling America's Iowa 38,466 0.03% 0 Jonathan D. Ellis Tennessee 0
Other 218,459 0.17% — Other —
Total 126,988,626 100% 538 538
Needed to win 270 270

Popular vote count is preliminary. Many states will not certify their results until late November or early December.[121][122][123][124][125][126]

Popular vote
Obama
 
 50.79%
Romney
 
 47.48%
Johnson
 
 0.99%
Stein
 
 0.36%
Goode
 
 0.09%
Others
 
 0.28%

Projected electoral votes. Electors do not cast their votes until December 17, 2012.[127]

Electoral vote
Obama
 
 61.71%
Romney
 
 38.29%
Graph of Electoral votes won by each candidate in the 2012 Presidential Election and their margins of victory in each state. Data from the New York Times

Analysis

The election of 2012 was the first in U.S. history in which both major party candidates received more than 60 million votes. It also marks the first time since 1820 that three consecutive American presidents have achieved reelection, as well as the first time since 1944 and Franklin D. Roosevelt's last re-election that a Democratic presidential candidate has succeeded in winning a majority of the popular vote in two consecutive elections.[128] Only three candidates of the modern Democratic party have secured a majority of the popular vote in consecutive elections: Andrew Jackson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Obama. Before Obama in 2012, Ronald Reagan was the last president to win 50% or more of the popular vote in consecutive presidential elections.

Obama is the only one of the three sitting U.S. senators to have been elected president who later won reelection; the others, Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy, died in office during their first terms. However, Obama became the only U.S. President in history to be re-elected with both fewer popular votes and fewer electoral votes than his first election victory.

Indiana, North Carolina, and Nebraska's 2nd congressional district are the only electoral votes Obama won in the 2008 election that he did not win in 2012. Obama is the only other Democrat besides Bill Clinton to win an election without carrying the state of North Carolina.

Third-party voting was not significant in the outcome, but Gary Johnson's 1.2 million votes set an all-time Libertarian Party record, and his 0.99% of the popular vote is the second-best showing for a Libertarian in a presidential election, trailing only Ed Clark's 1.06% in 1980. Collectively, third-party candidates earned about 1.7% of the popular vote, the highest since receiving 3.75% in the 2000 election.

  • Cartogram of the electoral vote results, with each square representing one electoral vote.
    Cartogram of the electoral vote results, with each square representing one electoral vote.
  • Results on a county-wide level.
    Results on a county-wide level.
  • Presidential popular votes by county as a scale from red/Republican to blue/Democratic.
    Presidential popular votes by county as a scale from red/Republican to blue/Democratic.
  • Treemap of votes by county, state and locally predominant recipient.
    Treemap of votes by county, state and locally predominant recipient.

Votes by state

State EC
votes		 Winner Obama Romney Johnson Stein Goode Barr Anderson Hoefling Others Total Final
Alabama[129] 9 Romney 794,428 1,254,214 12,296 3,388 2,974 2,067,300 No
Alaska[130] 3 Romney 122,533 164,599 7,396 2,948 2,905 300,381 No
Arizona[131] 11 Romney 1,025,232 1,233,654 32,100 7,816 7,757 2,306,559 No
Arkansas[132] 6 Romney 394,409 647,744 16,276 9,305 1,734 1,069,468 Yes
California[133][134] 55 Obama 7,466,833 4,698,994 136,220 80,376 73 50,739 223 36,603 21,802 12,491,863 No
Colorado[135] 9 Obama 1,305,273 1,166,117 34,742 7,388 6,127 4,941 1,235 672 4,803 2,531,298 No
Connecticut[136] 7 Obama 912,531 631,432 12,628 775 5,596 23 30 1,563,015 No
Delaware[137] 3 Obama 242,584 165,484 3,882 1,940 413,890 Yes
District of ColumbiaDistrict of Columbia[138] 3 Obama 233,059 18,733 1,719 2,151 689 256,351 No
Florida[139] 29 Obama 4,237,756 4,163,447 44,726 8,947 2,607 8,154 1,754 946 5,842 8,474,179 Yes
Georgia[140] 16 Romney 1,773,827 2,078,688 45,324 1,516 432 154 109 3,900,050 Yes
Hawaii[141] 4 Obama 306,658 121,015 3,840 3,184 434,697 Yes
Idaho[142] 4 Romney 212,787 420,911 9,453 4,402 2,222 2,499 652,274 Yes
Illinois[143] 20 Obama 3,016,901 2,132,997 56,137 30,175 102 13 5,179 5,241,504 No
Indiana[144] 11 Romney 1,152,864 1,420,508 50,111 625 290 35 43 2,624,476 No
Iowa[145] 6 Obama 822,523 730,593 12,926 3,769 3,038 9,285 1,582,134 Yes
Kansas[136] 6 Romney 427,918 678,719 19,870 4,737 1,131,244 No
Kentucky[146] 8 Romney 679,364 1,087,150 17,063 6,337 6,873 1,796,787 No
Louisiana[147] 8 Romney 809,141 1,152,262 18,157 6,978 2,508 1,368 3,651 1,994,065 Yes
Maine[136]★ 4 Obama 397,754 290,437 13,446 9,101 710,738 No
Maryland[148] 10 Obama 1,677,844 971,869 30,195 17,110 418 64 204 9,623 2,707,327 No
Massachusetts[136] 11 Obama 1,901,276 1,178,245 30,538 19,672 3,129,731 No
Michigan[136][149] 16 Obama 2,561,911 2,112,673 21,204 16,792 5,148 4,717,728 No
Minnesota[136][150] 10 Obama 1,547,668 1,321,575 35,158 13,045 3,727 2,013 16,371 2,939,557 No
Mississippi[151] 6 Romney 557,349 707,532 6,664 1,578 2,600 941 1,276,664 No
Missouri[152] 10 Romney 1,220,699 1,480,708 43,106 7,932 2,752,445 No
Montana[153] 3 Romney 201,839 267,928 14,165 483,932 No
Nebraska[154][155]★ 5 Romney 301,694 475,256 11,084 3,933 791,967 No
Nevada[156] 6 Obama 531,373 463,567 10,968 3,240 5,770 1,014,918 No
New Hampshire[157] 4 Obama 369,561 329,918 8,212 708 2,532 710,931 Yes
New Jersey[158] 14 Obama 2,005,212 1,419,008 20,050 9,356 1,970 1,640 8,428 3,465,664 No
New Mexico[159] 5 Obama 415,140 335,593 27,772 2,688 982 1,175 783,350 No
New York[136] 29 Obama 3,875,826 2,226,637 42,452 35,595 6,354 2,118 6,188,982 No
North Carolina[160] 15 Romney 2,178,391 2,270,395 44,515 12,071 4,505,372 No
North Dakota[161] 3 Romney 124,966 188,320 5,238 1,362 1,186 1,860 322,932 Yes
Ohio[162] 18 Obama 2,707,566 2,603,722 47,522 17,971 7,977 23,357 5,408,115 No
Oklahoma[163] 7 Romney 443,547 891,325 1,334,872 Yes
Oregon[164][165] 7 Obama 963,569 751,055 23,901 19,260 3,362 16,002 1,777,149 No
Pennsylvania[166][167] 20 Obama 2,937,135 2,654,895 49,396 21,888 21 2 10 11,362 5,674,709 No
Rhode Island[168] 4 Obama 279,677 157,204 4,388 2,421 430 416 1,513 446,049 No
South Carolina[169] 9 Romney 865,941 1,071,645 16,321 5,446 4,765 1,964,118 Yes
South Dakota[170] 3 Romney 145,039 210,610 5,795 2,371 363,815 Yes
Tennessee[171] 11 Romney 959,054 1,459,965 18,569 6,498 6,014 2,633 1,737 2,454,470 No
Texas[172][173] 38 Romney 3,305,242 4,566,172 88,385 24,526 889 295 187 2,096 7,987,792 No
Utah[174][175] 6 Romney 250,012 731,891 12,438 3,790 2,802 17 5,325 3,888 1,010,163 No
Vermont[176] 3 Obama 199,239 92,698 3,487 1,128 2,738 299,290 Yes
Virginia[177] 13 Obama 1,971,820 1,822,522 31,216 8,627 13,058 7,246 3,854,489 No
Washington [178] 12 Obama 1,747,342 1,286,258 41,935 20,749 8,815 4,903 2,503 3,112,505 No
West Virginia[136] 5 Romney 234,925 412,406 6,204 4,341 3,767 661,643 No
Wisconsin[136] 10 Obama 1,613,950 1,408,746 20,279 7,601 4,908 1,129 3,056,613 No
Wyoming[179] 3 Romney 69,286 170,962 5,326 1,452 2,035 249,061 Yes
Totals 538 64,498,468 60,298,998 1,253,591 455,849 119,784 63,917 41,094 38,466 218,459 126,988,626
Percentage 50.79% 47.48% 0.99% 0.36% 0.09% 0.05% 0.03% 0.03% 0.17% 100.00%

★Maine and Nebraska each allow for their electoral votes to be split between candidates. 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.[180]

Close races

Swing by state. States are listed by (decreasing) percentage of Democratic votes, showing how the share of the vote changed between 2008 and 2012. Only five states trended more Democratic: Alaska, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi and New Jersey. The arrows to the right represent how many places up or down the state moved in the list since 2008.

Red font color denotes states won by Republican Mitt Romney; blue denotes those won by Democrat Barack Obama.

States where the margin of victory was under 5% (95 electoral votes):

  1. Florida, 0.88%
  2. Ohio, 1.92%
  3. North Carolina, 2.04%
  4. Virginia, 3.87%
  5. Pennsylvania, 4.97%

States where margin of victory was between 5% and 10% (98 electoral votes):

  1. Colorado, 5.50%
  2. New Hampshire, 5.58%
  3. Iowa, 5.81%
  4. Nevada, 6.68%
  5. Wisconsin, 6.71%
  6. Minnesota, 7.69%
  7. Georgia, 7.82%
  8. Arizona, 9.04%
  9. Missouri, 9.45%
  10. Michigan, 9.52%

Romney's concession

The Empire State Building was lit blue when CNN called Ohio for Obama, projecting him the winner of the election; had Romney won, it would have been lit red.[181]

After the networks called Ohio for Barack Obama, Mitt Romney was at first reluctant to concede the race, as many counties in Ohio were still outstanding. Once Colorado was called for the President, however, in tandem with Obama's apparent lead in Florida, Romney realized he had lost and conceded. Despite public polling suggesting Romney was behind in the swing states, his campaign said they were genuinely surprised by the loss, having believed that public polling was oversampling Democrats.[182] One factor was a disorganization in getting voters to the polls, in Project ORCA.[183][184][185] 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.[186]

Reactions

Further information: International reactions to the United States presidential election, 2012

Financial markets, the media and other countries' political leaderships reacted with both positive and mixed messages. Most world leaders congratulated and praised Barack Obama on his re-election victory; however, Venezuela and some other states had tempered reactions; Pakistan commented that Romney's defeat made Pakistan-United States relations more safe. Notably, international reactions came from Kenya, where Sarah Obama led the celebration.[187] Stock markets fell noticeably after the President'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.[188] Reasons given for the sharp drop were the potential "fiscal cliff" looming over the United States, because of a split Congress; in addition, speculators are hedging on differences between the Executive and the House of Representatives as a result of differing political control of each institution. There are also renewed concerns about Europe's debt crisis following warnings given by the European Central Bank's President.[189][190]

See also

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Further reading

  • Mayer, William G.; Bernstein, Jonathan, eds. (2012). The Making of the Presidential Candidates, 2012. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-1170-4. Scholars explore nominations in the post-public-funding era, digital media and campaigns, television coverage, and the Tea Party.
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