2012 United States presidential election in Indiana

The 2012 United States presidential election in Indiana 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. Indiana 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. Romney and Ryan carried Indiana with 54.1% of the popular vote to Obama's and Biden's 43.9%, thus winning the state's 11 electoral votes.[1]

Main article: 2012 United States presidential election
2012 United States presidential election in Indiana
November 6, 2012
 
Nominee Mitt Romney Barack Obama
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Massachusetts Illinois
Running mate Paul Ryan Joe Biden
Electoral vote 11 0
Popular vote 1,420,543 1,152,887
Percentage 54.13% 43.93%
County Results
President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

 Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

Elections in Indiana
Federal government
U.S. President
U.S. Senate
U.S. House of Representatives
State government
State elections
Gubernatorial elections
State Senate elections
State House of Representatives elections
Evansville
Mayoral Elections
Fort Wayne
Mayoral Elections
Gary
Mayoral Elections
Indianapolis
Mayoral Elections
Before Unigov
Unigov-era
City-County Council Elections
South Bend
Mayoral Elections

Indiana was one of just two states (along with North Carolina) which had been won by Obama in 2008 but which flipped to the Republicans in 2012. Although the state normally leans Republican, in 2008 Obama had been the first Democrat to win Indiana since 1964, albeit by a narrow 1.03% margin. However, unlike North Carolina, Indiana was not seriously contested again by the Obama campaign in 2012, and consequently Romney was able to carry it by a relatively comfortable 10.20%. Obama also lost six counties he had won in 2008.

Obama won in Vigo County, home to Terre Haute, and at the time, a noted bellwether; before 2020, it had voted for the winner of every presidential election all but twice since 1892. After 2012, demographic change and the rightward turn of exurban areas accelerated by the Trump era have made Vigo County uncompetitive to the present day.[2]

Campaign

Incumbent Obama didn't visit Indiana, although First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton stumped in the state. Meanwhile, the Romney campaign sensed victory in the state, and he visited Indiana several times.[3]

Democratic primary

No major Democratic candidate challenged President Obama for the Democratic nomination in 2012.

Republican primary
2012 Indiana Republican presidential primary
May 8, 2012 (2012-05-08)
 
Candidate Mitt Romney Ron Paul
Home state Massachusetts Texas
Delegate count 29 0
Popular vote 410,635 98,487
Percentage 64.61% 15.50%
 
Candidate Rick Santorum Newt Gingrich
Home state Pennsylvania Georgia
Delegate count 0 0
Popular vote 85,332 41,135
Percentage 13.43% 6.47%
Indiana results by county
  Mitt Romney
(Note: Italicization indicates a withdrawn candidacy)

The Republican primary took place on May 8, 2012.[4][5]

Indiana Republican primary, 2012[6]
Candidate Votes Percentage Projected delegate count
AP CNN
 FOX
Mitt Romney 410,635 64.61% 28 27
Ron Paul 98,487 15.50%
Rick Santorum (withdrawn) 85,332 13.43%
Newt Gingrich (withdrawn) 41,135 6.47%
Unprojected delegates: 18 19 46
Total: 635,589 100.00% 46 46 46

General election

Polling

Republican Nominee Mitt Romney won every pre-election poll conducted in the state by at least 5%, and often by double digits. The average of the final 3 polls had Romney leading Obama 51% to 43%. [7]

Results
2012 United States presidential election in Indiana[8]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Mitt Romney Paul Ryan 1,420,543 54.13% 11
Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 1,152,887 43.93% 0
Libertarian Gary Johnson Jim Gray 50,111 1.91% 0
Green (Write-in) Jill Stein (Write-in) Cheri Honkala 625 0.02% 0
Constitution (Write-in) Virgil Goode (Write-in) Jim Clymer 290 0.01% 0
America's Party (Write-in) Thomas Hoefling (Write-in) Jonathan D. Ellis 35 0.00% 0
Socialist (Write-in) Stewart Alexander (Write-in) Alex Mendoza 17 0.00% 0
Write-Ins Write-Ins 10 0.00% 0
Unaffiliated (Write-in) Jill Ann Reed (Write-in) Tom Cary 8 0.00% 0
Independent (Write-in) Randall Terry (Write-in) Missy Smith 8 0.00% 0
Totals 2,624,534 100.00% 11

Following Romney's win in Indiana, The Indianapolis Star said that "Voters painted Indiana bright red on Tuesday- with a splash or so of blue" and that "voters also proved that while this state is conservative, it doesn't like to stray too far from the middle".[9]

The following people were delegate electors for Romney-Ryan in the Indiana Republican Party:

  • Charles Williams, of Valparaiso
  • William Ruppel, of North Manchester
  • Steve Shine, of Fort Wayne
  • Beverly Bush, of Kirklin
  • Kyle Hupfer, of Pendleton
  • Susan Lightle, of Greenfield
  • Pearl Swanigan, of Indianapolis
  • William Springer, of Sullivan
  • Jamey Noel, of Jeffersonville
  • Robert Grand, of Indianapolis
  • Eric Holcomb, of Indianapolis

By county

Obama won nine counties compared to Romney's 83. Mitt Romney won by winning in most rural areas of the state. Romney also did well in the Indianapolis suburbs, Allen County home of Fort Wayne, and Vanderburgh County home of Evansville. As expected, Obama did better in urban, densely populated areas. Obama trounced Romney in Marion County home of Indianapolis as well as Lake County home of Gary and East Chicago. Obama also, for the most part did well in counties that contained major colleges such as Indiana University, Bloomington in Monroe County; Notre Dame University, South Bend in St. Joseph County; Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis in Marion County; and Valparaiso University in Porter County. Vigo County, home of Terre Haute, stayed true to its name as a bellwether, as it had selected the winner of every presidential election since 1888 with the exception of 1908 and 1952. Vigo County narrowly went for Obama, and Obama ended up being re-elected.

Obama lost six counties that he won in 2008. As of 2020, this election is the most recent time that Delaware, LaPorte, Porter and Vigo counties went for a Democratic presidential candidate. (Donald Trump, who carried all of the aforementioned counties in both of his presidential runs, ended Vigo's bellwether reputation in 2020.)

County Obama% Obama# Romney% Romney# Others% Others# Total
Adams29.25%3,80668.69%8,9372.06%26813,011
Allen40.86%60,03657.58%84,6131.56%2,290146,939
Bartholomew36.23%10,62561.66%18,0832.11%61829,326
Benton32.39%1,15965.09%2,3292.52%903,578
Blackford40.63%1,92757.16%2,7112.21%1054,743
Boone30.02%8,32867.81%18,8082.17%60127,737
Brown40.24%3,06056.97%4,3322.79%2127,604
Carroll33.74%2,63564.01%4,9992.25%1767,810
Cass37.93%5,37159.62%8,4432.45%34714,161
Clark44.13%20,80753.98%25,4501.89%88947,146
Clay32.08%3,46065.80%7,0962.11%22810,784
Clinton33.47%3,30864.13%6,3382.40%2379,883
Crawford44.47%2,04152.75%2,4212.79%1284,590
Daviess23.78%2,43774.52%7,6381.71%17510,250
Dearborn29.20%6,52868.86%15,3941.94%43422,356
Decatur28.53%2,94169.06%7,1192.41%24810,308
DeKalb33.19%5,41964.84%10,5871.97%32216,328
Delaware50.38%22,65447.26%21,2512.36%1,06344,968
Dubois35.17%6,52262.85%11,6541.97%36618,542
Elkhart35.96%24,39962.46%42,3781.58%1,07567,852
Fayette40.23%3,55557.09%5,0452.68%2378,837
Floyd41.95%14,81256.30%19,8781.74%61535,305
Fountain31.46%2,23765.59%4,6642.95%2107,111
Franklin27.55%2,90970.30%7,4242.15%22710,560
Fulton32.25%2,62165.43%5,3172.31%1888,126
Gibson33.48%4,92864.45%9,4872.08%30614,721
Grant37.92%9,58959.92%15,1512.16%54525,285
Greene33.18%4,35064.50%8,4572.32%30413,111
Hamilton32.00%43,79666.30%90,7471.70%2,320136,863
Hancock28.37%9,31969.41%22,7962.22%72832,843
Harrison37.39%6,60760.21%10,6402.40%42417,671
Hendricks31.68%21,11266.49%44,3121.83%1,22066,644
Henry40.05%7,61357.02%10,8382.93%55619,007
Howard41.71%15,13556.01%20,3272.28%82836,290
Huntington29.15%4,59668.90%10,8621.95%30715,765
Jackson34.93%5,83862.34%10,4192.72%45516,712
Jasper36.23%4,67261.69%7,9552.09%26912,896
Jay38.77%3,06358.79%4,6452.44%1937,901
Jefferson43.64%5,72854.06%7,0962.30%30213,126
Jennings37.28%3,82159.71%6,1203.01%30910,250
Johnson29.78%17,26068.17%39,5132.05%1,19157,964
Knox34.52%5,22863.47%9,6122.01%30515,145
Kosciusko22.83%6,86275.04%22,5582.13%64030,060
LaGrange31.11%2,89866.88%6,2312.01%1879,316
Lake64.88%130,89733.92%68,4311.20%2,430201,758
LaPorte55.19%24,10742.62%18,6152.20%95943,681
Lawrence32.43%5,77965.21%11,6222.36%42117,822
Madison46.60%24,40751.12%26,7692.28%1,19452,370
Marion60.26%216,33638.02%136,5091.72%6,164359,009
Marshall34.55%6,13763.38%11,2602.07%36817,765
Martin28.48%1,35168.78%3,2622.74%1304,743
Miami33.03%4,22263.95%8,1743.01%38512,781
Monroe58.43%33,43639.29%22,4812.28%1,30657,223
Montgomery29.58%4,27168.03%9,8242.39%34514,440
Morgan28.19%7,96969.31%19,5912.50%70628,266
Newton39.12%2,21258.21%3,2912.67%1515,654
Noble32.19%5,22965.75%10,6802.06%33516,244
Ohio35.26%99462.40%1,7592.34%662,819
Orange37.80%2,93959.38%4,6172.83%2207,776
Owen34.80%2,82362.39%5,0622.81%2288,113
Parke32.39%2,11064.99%4,2342.62%1716,515
Perry54.81%4,31643.21%3,4031.98%1567,875
Pike35.86%2,12561.20%3,6272.94%1745,926
Porter51.00%37,25247.11%34,4061.89%1,38173,039
Posey37.08%4,53360.77%7,4302.15%26312,226
Pulaski35.17%1,89962.34%3,3662.48%1345,399
Putnam32.59%4,50765.12%9,0052.29%31713,829
Randolph36.99%3,76961.03%6,2181.98%20210,189
Ripley29.51%3,24168.14%7,4842.35%25810,983
Rush31.61%2,22165.94%4,6332.45%1727,026
Scott45.85%3,99852.05%4,5392.10%1838,720
Shelby31.97%5,35965.50%10,9782.52%42316,760
Spencer41.39%4,02656.69%5,5151.92%1879,728
St. Joseph51.00%56,46047.49%52,5781.50%1,666110,704
Starke43.51%3,80954.12%4,7382.36%2078,754
Steuben35.44%4,85362.41%8,5472.15%29513,695
Sullivan38.49%3,19159.13%4,9022.38%1978,290
Switzerland42.30%1,43755.11%1,8722.59%883,397
Tippecanoe46.95%26,71150.54%28,7572.51%1,42856,896
Tipton33.02%2,43264.81%4,7732.17%1607,365
Union32.84%1,01865.23%2,0221.94%603,100
Vanderburgh43.82%31,72554.40%39,3891.78%1,29072,404
Vermillion45.27%2,97952.06%3,4262.67%1766,581
Vigo49.43%19,71248.57%19,3692.00%79639,877
Wabash30.86%3,97367.14%8,6442.00%25712,874
Warren34.84%1,32462.55%2,3772.61%993,800
Warrick35.70%8,79362.33%15,3511.97%48624,630
Washington36.41%3,90960.85%6,5332.75%29510,737
Wayne41.57%10,59156.21%14,3212.22%56525,477
Wells26.56%3,43671.56%9,2561.88%24312,935
White36.73%3,63760.28%5,9702.99%2969,903
Whitley29.45%4,42068.34%10,2582.22%33315,011

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

References
  1. "2012 Presidential Election - Indiana". Politico. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
  2. GALOFARO, CLAIRE. "The counties that predict presidential election winners didn't this year. Just look at Terre Haute, Indiana". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  3. "Hoosiers go for Romney; Obama fails to repeat his narrow win here in '08". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  4. "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  5. "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  6. Secretary of State election results. June 5, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
  7. https://uselectionatlas.org/POLLS/PRESIDENT/2012/polls.php?fips=18
  8. http://www.uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2012&fips=18&f=0&off=0&elect=0&minper=0
  9. "Analysis: Hoosiers back Republicans but want them in the middle". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved November 8, 2012.

http://www.indiana.gov/sos/elections/files/2012_Presidential_Elector_Candidate_List.pdf

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