2012 United States presidential election in California
The 2012 United States presidential election in California 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. California voters chose 55 electors, the most out of any state, 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.
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| Turnout | 72.36% (of registered voters)  7.06 pp 55.47% (of eligible voters) 3.75 pp [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 County Results
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| Elections in California |
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 California results by county
Mitt Romney
(Note: Italicization indicates a withdrawn candidacy) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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According to Secretary of State Debra Bowen's website, the President won the popular vote with 60.24 percent, with Mitt Romney in second place at 37.12%, and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in third place at 1.10%.[2] The Democrats have won the state in every presidential election after Republican George H. W. Bush won the state in 1988.
As of 2020, this is the most recent presidential election in which the nominee from the Republican Party won Orange County -- a longtime, traditional bastion for the national GOP -- and Nevada County. This is also the most recent election where California voted more Republican than New York, as of 2020. California voted 5.06% to the right of New York this election.
Democratic primary
There was no primary in 2012 for the Democratic party.[3]
Republican primary
The California Republican 2012 primary took place on June 5, 2012.[4][5][6] 169 delegates were chosen, for a total of 172 delegates at the national.
Delegate allocation rule
As noted in the Green Papers for California, "159 district delegates are to be bound to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the 53 congressional districts: each congressional district is assigned 3 National Convention delegates and the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in that district will receive all 3 of that district's National Convention delegates. 10 at-large delegates (10 base at-large delegates plus 0 bonus delegate) are to be bound to the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in the primary statewide. In addition, 3 party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the California's Republican Party, will attend the convention as unpledged delegates by virtue of their position."[6]
Results
| 2012 California Republican primary[7] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates |
| Mitt Romney | 1,530,513 | 79.5% | 171 |
| Ron Paul | 199,246 | 10.35% | 0 |
| Rick Santorum | 102,258 | 5.31% | 0 |
| Newt Gingrich | 72,022 | 3.74% | 0 |
| Buddy Roemer | 12,520 | 0.65% | 0 |
| Fred Karger | 8,393 | 0.44% | 0 |
| Jeremy Hannon | 11 | 0.00% | 0 |
| Donald James Gonzales | 5 | 0.00% | 0 |
| Sheldon Yeu Howard | 2 | 0.00% | 0 |
| Unpledged delegates: | 1 | ||
| Total: | 1,924,970 | 100% | 172 |
| Key: | Withdrew prior to contest | Write-in |
General election
Candidate Ballot Access:
- Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan, Republican
- Barack Obama/Joseph Biden, Democratic
- Gary Johnson/James P. Gray, Libertarian
- Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala, Green
- Tom Hoefling/Robert Ornelas, Independent
- Roseanne Barr/Cindy Sheehan, Peace and Freedom
Write-In Candidate Access:
- Virgil Goode/Jim Clymer, Constitution
- Rocky Anderson/Luis J. Rodriguez, Justice
- James Harris/Maura DeLuca, Socialist Workers
- Stewart Alexander/Alejandro Mendoza, Socialist
- Jerry White/Phyllis Scherrer, Socialist Equality
- Stephen Durham/Christina Lopez, Freedom Socialist
- Ron Paul/Andrew Napolitano [8]
Final results
| 2012 United States presidential election in California[9] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | Barack Hussein Obama (Incumbent) | Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (Incumbent) | 7,854,285 | 60.24% | 55 | |
| Republican | Willard Mitt Romney | Paul Davis Ryan | 4,839,958 | 37.12% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson | Jim Gray | 143,221 | 1.10% | 0 | |
| Green | Jill Stein | Cheri Honkala | 85,638 | 0.66% | 0 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Roseanne Barr | Cindy Sheehan | 53,824 | 0.41% | 0 | |
| American Independent | Thomas Hoefling | Robert Ornelas | 38,372 | 0.29% | 0 | |
| Independent | Ron Paul (write-in) | Andrew Napolitano | 21,461 | 0.16% | 0 | |
| Independent | Rocky Anderson (write-in) | Luis Rodriguez | 992 | 0.01% | 0 | |
| Independent | Virgil Goode (write-in) | Jim Clymer | 503 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Independent | Stewart Alexander (write-in) | Alejandro Mendoza | 82 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Independent | Jerry White (write-in) | Phyllis Scherrer | 79 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Independent | James Harris (write-in) | Maura DeLuca | 72 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Independent | Stephen Durham (write-in) | Christina López | 54 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Independent | Sheila Tittle (write-in) | Matthew Turner | 6 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 13,038,547 | 98.76% | — | |||
| Invalid or blank votes | 163,611 | 1.24% | — | |||
| Totals | 13,202,158 | 100.00% | 55 | |||
| Voter turnout | 72.35% | — | ||||
By county
| County | Obama | Votes | Romney | Votes | Others | Votes | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda | 78.9% | 469,684 | 18.2% | 108,182 | 3.0% | 17,776 | 595,642 |
| Alpine | 59.6% | 389 | 36.1% | 236 | 4.3% | 28 | 653 |
| Amador | 38.7% | 6,830 | 58.3% | 10,281 | 3.3% | 538 | 17,649 |
| Butte | 47.0% | 42,669 | 49.0% | 44,479 | 4.0% | 3,604 | 90,752 |
| Calaveras | 39.8% | 8,670 | 56.8% | 12,365 | 3.4% | 751 | 21,786 |
| Colusa | 38.3% | 2,314 | 59.7% | 3,601 | 2.0% | 119 | 6,034 |
| Contra Costa | 66.4% | 290,824 | 31.2% | 136,517 | 2.5% | 10,885 | 438,226 |
| Del Norte | 43.2% | 3,791 | 52.6% | 4,614 | 4.2% | 365 | 8,770 |
| El Dorado | 39.6% | 35,166 | 57.4% | 50,973 | 3.0% | 2,635 | 88,774 |
| Fresno | 49.9% | 129,129 | 48.1% | 124,490 | 2.0% | 5,208 | 258,827 |
| Glenn | 35.8% | 3,301 | 61.1% | 5,632 | 3.0% | 278 | 9,211 |
| Humboldt | 60.0% | 34,457 | 32.8% | 18,825 | 7.3% | 4,188 | 57,470 |
| Imperial | 65.2% | 25,136 | 33.1% | 12,777 | 1.7% | 652 | 38,565 |
| Inyo | 42.6% | 3,422 | 54.0% | 4,340 | 3.4% | 274 | 8,036 |
| Kern | 40.4% | 89,495 | 57.2% | 126,618 | 2.4% | 5,359 | 221,472 |
| Kings | 41.3% | 12,979 | 56.2% | 17,671 | 2.4% | 768 | 31,418 |
| Lake | 56.3% | 13,163 | 39.3% | 9,200 | 4.4% | 1,028 | 23,391 |
| Lassen | 28.6% | 3,053 | 68.3% | 7,296 | 3.1% | 334 | 10,683 |
| Los Angeles | 69.7% | 2,216,903 | 27.8% | 885,333 | 2.5% | 78,831 | 3,181,067 |
| Madera | 40.2% | 16,018 | 57.3% | 22,852 | 2.5% | 996 | 39,866 |
| Marin | 74.3% | 99,896 | 23.0% | 30,880 | 2.8% | 3,740 | 134,516 |
| Mariposa | 38.9% | 3,498 | 57.1% | 5,140 | 4.0% | 362 | 9,000 |
| Mendocino | 66.2% | 23,193 | 27.6% | 9,658 | 6.2% | 2,166 | 35,017 |
| Merced | 53.2% | 33,005 | 44.4% | 27,581 | 2.4% | 1,471 | 62,057 |
| Modoc | 27.9% | 1,111 | 69.7% | 2,777 | 2.5% | 98 | 3986 |
| Mono | 52.8% | 2,733 | 44.1% | 2,285 | 3.1% | 163 | 5,181 |
| Monterey | 67.1% | 82,920 | 30.3% | 37,390 | 2.6% | 3,208 | 123,518 |
| Napa | 63.0% | 35,870 | 34.3% | 19,526 | 2.8% | 1,572 | 56,968 |
| Nevada | 47.7% | 24,663 | 48.4% | 24,986 | 3.9% | 2,027 | 51,676 |
| Orange | 45.6% | 512,440 | 51.9% | 582,332 | 2.5% | 27,892 | 1,122,664 |
| Placer | 39.0% | 66,818 | 58.3% | 99,921 | 2.7% | 4,583 | 171,322 |
| Plumas | 40.1% | 4,026 | 56.9% | 5,721 | 3.0% | 300 | 10,047 |
| Riverside | 49.7% | 329,063 | 48.1% | 318,127 | 2.2% | 14,717 | 661,907 |
| Sacramento | 58.1% | 300,503 | 39.2% | 202,514 | 2.7% | 13,792 | 516,809 |
| San Benito | 59.2% | 11,276 | 38.6% | 7,343 | 2.2% | 425 | 19,044 |
| San Bernardino | 52.5% | 305,109 | 45.1% | 262,358 | 2.4% | 14,050 | 581,517 |
| San Diego | 52.6% | 626,957 | 45.0% | 536,726 | 2.4% | 28,599 | 1,192,282 |
| San Francisco | 83.5% | 301,723 | 13.0% | 47,076 | 3.4% | 12,410 | 361,209 |
| San Joaquin | 55.8% | 114,121 | 42.0% | 86,071 | 2.2% | 4,505 | 204,697 |
| San Luis Obispo | 48.8% | 61,258 | 47.7% | 59,967 | 3.5% | 4,413 | 125,638 |
| San Mateo | 72.1% | 206,085 | 25.5% | 72,756 | 2.4% | 6,879 | 285,720 |
| Santa Barbara | 57.6% | 94,129 | 39.6% | 64,606 | 2.8% | 4,585 | 163,320 |
| Santa Clara | 70.1% | 450,818 | 27.2% | 174,843 | 2.7% | 17,430 | 643,091 |
| Santa Cruz | 75.6% | 90,805 | 20.0% | 24,047 | 4.4% | 5,243 | 120,095 |
| Shasta | 33.8% | 25,819 | 63.0% | 48,067 | 3.2% | 2,449 | 76,335 |
| Sierra | 36.4% | 653 | 58.8% | 1,056 | 4.8% | 86 | 1,795 |
| Siskiyou | 40.4% | 8,046 | 55.6% | 11,077 | 4.0% | 787 | 19,910 |
| Solano | 63.5% | 96,783 | 34.2% | 52,092 | 2.3% | 3,569 | 152,444 |
| Sonoma | 71.1% | 153,942 | 25.3% | 54,784 | 3.6% | 7,782 | 216,508 |
| Stanislaus | 50.0% | 77,724 | 47.3% | 73,459 | 2.7% | 4,186 | 155,369 |
| Sutter | 39.3% | 12,192 | 58.4% | 18,122 | 2.3% | 712 | 31,026 |
| Tehama | 34.5% | 7,934 | 62.0% | 14,235 | 3.5% | 808 | 22,977 |
| Trinity | 47.1% | 2,674 | 47.9% | 2,716 | 5.0% | 284 | 5,674 |
| Tulare | 41.3% | 41,752 | 56.3% | 56,956 | 2.4% | 2,392 | 101,100 |
| Tuolumne | 40.5% | 9,998 | 56.2% | 13,880 | 3.3% | 809 | 24,687 |
| Ventura | 52.3% | 170,929 | 45.3% | 147,958 | 2.5% | 8,087 | 326,974 |
| Yolo | 65.4% | 48,715 | 31.4% | 23,368 | 3.2% | 2,392 | 74,475 |
| Yuba | 39.1% | 7,711 | 57.2% | 11,275 | 3.6% | 714 | 19,700 |
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Outcome by city
Official outcomes by city.[10]
See also
References
- https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/sov/2018-general/sov/04-historical-voter-reg-participation.pdf
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "California Results - Primaries - 2012 Election Center - Elections & Politics from CNN.com". www.cnn.com.
- "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
- "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
- California Republ- The Green Papers
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 18, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "California Secretary of State Certified List of Write-In Candidates" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-11-19. Retrieved 2012-11-20.
- "Statement of Vote: November 6, 2012 General Election" (PDF). California Secretary of State. 2012-12-18. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 24, 2012. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
- "Supplement to Statement of Vote" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
External links
- The Green Papers: for California
- The Green Papers: Major state elections in chronological order
