2012 United States presidential election in Ohio

The 2012 United States presidential election in Ohio 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. Ohio voters chose 18 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. This election continued Ohio's bellwether streak, as the state voted for the winner of the presidential election every time after it voted for Richard Nixon in 1960 until 2020.

Main article: 2012 United States presidential election
2012 United States presidential election in Ohio
November 6, 2012
Turnout70.54%[1]
 
Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Illinois Massachusetts
Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan
Electoral vote 18 0
Popular vote 2,827,709 2,661,437
Percentage 50.67% 47.69%
County Results
President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

 Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

Elections in Ohio
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2012 U.S. presidential election
Democratic Party
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2012

President Obama won the popular vote in Ohio with 50.67% of the vote over Mitt Romney in second place at 47.69%, a Democratic victory margin of 2.98%.[2] Obama's performance was a decline from 2008 when he won the state by a 4.57% margin over U.S. Senator John McCain, and he narrowly lost five counties that he won in 2008.[3] However, he narrowly improved his margins in Cuyahoga County and Franklin County, home to the second largest city, Cleveland, and the state's capital and largest city, Columbus, respectively, allowing him to carry the state.

As of 2020, this is the last time the Democratic presidential nominee won Ohio, as well as the last time Wood County, Ottawa County, Sandusky County, Erie County, Stark County, Portage County, Trumbull County, and Ashtabula County have voted Democratic.

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary was held on March 6, 2012, the same day as the Republican primary. Incumbent President Barack Obama ran unopposed, and thus won all 151 of the state's delegates.

Republican primary
2012 Ohio Republican presidential primary
March 6, 2012 (2012-03-06)
 
Candidate Mitt Romney Rick Santorum
Home state Massachusetts Pennsylvania
Delegate count 38 25
Popular vote 456,513 446,255
Percentage 37.9% 37.1%
 
Candidate Newt Gingrich Ron Paul
Home state Georgia Texas
Delegate count 0 0
Popular vote 175,556 111,238
Percentage 14.6% 9.2%
Ohio results by county
  Mitt Romney
  Rick Santorum

The 2012 Ohio Republican presidential primary took place on March 6, 2012.[4]

Ohio has 66 delegates to the Republican National Convention. Three party officials (also known as "superdelegates") are not bound by the primary result. Forty-eight delegates are generally awarded winner-take-all by Congressional district. Another 15 delegates are awarded to the candidate who gets an outright majority statewide, or are allocated proportionately among candidates winning at least 20% of the vote if no candidate wins a majority.[5]

2012 Ohio Republican presidential primary[6]
Candidate Votes Percentage Estimated national delegates
Mitt Romney 460,831 37.9% 38
Rick Santorum 448,580 37.1% 25
Newt Gingrich 177,183 14.6% 0
Ron Paul 113,256 9.3% 0
Rick Perry 7,539 0.6% 0
Jon Huntsman, Jr. 6,490 0.5% 0
Unprojected delegates 7
Totals 1,213,879 100.0% 66

Despite an early lead in the vote count and having won most counties, Santorum's lead was reduced and overcome by Romney as Hamilton and Cuyahoga County results came in.[7] Romney also won areas such as Akron, Youngstown, Dayton and Columbus. These and other highly populated counties would eventually go to Obama in November.

Key:Withdrew
prior to contest

Notes:

1. In the six congressional districts where Rick Santorum submitted only a partial slate of district delegates and district alternates by the late December 2011 deadline, he will be automatically awarded only the number of delegates he submitted, assuming he wins the particular district. The Ohio Republican Party said on March 2, 2012, that the remaining delegates in such districts will be "considered unbound" until a panel composed of three members of the Ohio GOP's central committee decides which campaign (if any) is permitted to appoint such delegates.[8]

2. In three congressional districts (OH-6, OH-9 and OH-13), Rick Santorum did not make the district-specific portion of the ballot.

3. In every district, each of the 6 candidates listed above appears on the "at-large" portion of the ballot. The results of the at-large ballot will determine the allocation of fifteen national convention delegates.

General election

Throughout the general election campaign Ohio was considered a key battleground state and Barack Obama and Mitt Romney campaigned extensively in the state.[9] Some experts believe that the popularity of the auto industry bailout put in place under President Obama helped him take the state.[9][10] In February 2013, nineteen cases of voter fraud were being investigated in Hamilton County;[11] in March 2013, three individuals were charged with voter fraud, with one individual alleged to have voted six times.[12] However, minus these questionable votes, even if they went to Obama,the outcome of the Ohio race is not affected as President Obama still wins Ohio by 166,272 votes.

Results
2012 United States presidential election in Ohio[13]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 2,827,709 50.67% 18
Republican Mitt Romney Paul Ryan 2,661,437 47.69% 0
Libertarian Gary Johnson Jim Gray 49,493 0.89% 0
Green Jill Stein Cheri Honkala 18,573 0.33% 0
Independent Richard Duncan Ricky Johnson 12,502 0.22% 0
Constitution Virgil Goode Jim Clymer 8,152 0.15% 0
Socialist Stewart Alexander Alex Mendoza 2,944 0.05% 0
Others 37 0.00% 0
Totals 5,580,847 100.00% 18
Voter turnout (registered voters) 70.54%

Results by county
County[14] Barack Hussein Obama
Democratic		 Willard Mitt Romney
Republican		 Gary Earl Johnson[15]
Libertarian		 Jill Ellen Stein[15]
Green		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Adams 3,976 36.14% 6,865 62.40% 98 0.89% 55 0.50% 8 0.07% -2,889 -26.26% 11,002
Allen 17,913 37.27% 29,502 61.38% 464 0.97% 164 0.34% 22 0.05% -11,589 -24.11% 48,065
Ashland 8,281 34.28% 15,519 64.25% 221 0.91% 115 0.48% 19 0.08% -7,238 -29.96% 24,155
Ashtabula 23,803 55.62% 18,298 42.76% 433 1.01% 224 0.52% 36 0.08% 5,505 12.86% 42,794
Athens 18,307 66.59% 8,543 31.07% 434 1.58% 188 0.68% 21 0.08% 9,764 35.51% 27,493
Auglaize 5,831 25.02% 17,169 73.68% 209 0.90% 83 0.36% 9 0.04% -11,338 -48.66% 23,301
Belmont 14,156 45.17% 16,758 53.47% 232 0.74% 178 0.57% 15 0.05% -2,602 -8.30% 31,339
Brown 7,107 36.83% 11,916 61.75% 191 0.99% 68 0.35% 14 0.07% -4,809 -24.92% 19,296
Butler 62,388 36.76% 105,176 61.98% 1,654 0.97% 413 0.24% 72 0.04% -42,788 -25.21% 169,703
Carroll 5,543 42.26% 7,315 55.77% 173 1.32% 71 0.54% 15 0.11% -1,772 -13.51% 13,117
Champaign 7,044 38.44% 11,045 60.28% 159 0.87% 66 0.36% 10 0.05% -4,001 -21.83% 18,324
Clark 31,298 49.00% 31,816 49.82% 509 0.80% 215 0.34% 29 0.05% -518 -0.81% 63,867
Clermont 30,458 31.72% 64,208 66.88% 1,069 1.11% 248 0.26% 27 0.03% -33,750 -35.15% 96,010
Clinton 5,791 32.06% 12,009 66.48% 195 1.08% 56 0.31% 14 0.08% -6,218 -34.42% 18,065
Columbiana 19,821 43.32% 25,251 55.19% 434 0.95% 216 0.47% 28 0.06% -5,430 -11.87% 45,750
Coshocton 6,940 44.48% 8,390 53.78% 157 1.01% 96 0.62% 19 0.12% -1,450 -9.29% 15,602
Crawford 7,507 37.91% 11,852 59.85% 186 0.67% 108 0.39% 13 0.05% -4,345 -21.94% 19,847
Cuyahoga 447,232 69.54% 190,651 29.64% 3,448 0.54% 1,564 0.24% 231 0.04% 256,581 39.90% 643,126
Darke 6,826 27.03% 18,108 71.72% 212 0.84% 86 0.34% 17 0.07% -11,282 -44.68% 25,249
Defiance 7,732 42.55% 10,176 56.00% 187 1.03% 64 0.35% 12 0.07% -2,444 -13.45% 18,171
Delaware 37,292 37.84% 60,194 61.07% 851 0.86% 205 0.21% 20 0.02% -22,902 -23.24% 98,562
Erie 21,793 55.57% 16,952 43.23% 300 0.77% 158 0.40% 12 0.03% 4,841 12.34% 39,215
Fairfield 29,890 41.64% 41,034 57.17% 624 0.87% 210 0.29% 23 0.03% -11,144 -15.52% 71,781
Fayette 4,249 38.70% 6,620 60.30% 87 0.79% 18 0.16% 4 0.04% -2,371 -21.60% 10,978
Franklin 346,336 60.79% 215,987 37.91% 5,535 0.97% 1,659 0.29% 201 0.04% 130,349 22.88% 569,718
Fulton 9,073 42.90% 11,738 55.50% 248 1.17% 82 0.39% 9 0.04% -2,665 -12.60% 21,150
Gallia 4,557 36.56% 7,750 62.17% 79 0.63% 69 0.55% 11 0.09% -3,193 -25.61% 12,466
Geauga 19,659 38.67% 30,589 60.18% 386 0.76% 182 0.36% 17 0.03% -10,930 -21.50% 50,833
Greene 32,256 38.73% 49,819 59.81% 933 1.12% 245 0.29% 36 0.04% -17,563 -21.09% 83,289
Guernsey 7,450 44.60% 8,993 53.84% 174 1.04% 70 0.42% 16 0.10% -1,543 -9.24% 16,703
Hamilton 219,927 52.60% 193,326 46.23% 3,756 0.90% 1,012 0.24% 121 0.03% 26,601 6.36% 418,142
Hancock 12,564 35.37% 22,443 63.19% 352 0.99% 130 0.37% 30 0.08% -9,879 -27.81% 35,519
Hardin 4,619 37.37% 7,489 60.59% 172 1.39% 68 0.55% 13 0.11% -2,870 -23.22% 12,361
Harrison 2,950 41.62% 4,019 56.70% 62 0.87% 47 0.66% 10 0.14% -1,069 -15.08% 7,088
Henry 5,658 39.98% 8,257 58.35% 169 1.19% 55 0.39% 13 0.09% -2,599 -18.36% 14,152
Highland 6,049 34.14% 11,410 64.40% 176 0.99% 67 0.38% 15 0.08% -5,361 -30.26% 17,717
Hocking 6,157 48.69% 6,285 49.70% 133 1.05% 57 0.45% 13 0.10% -128 -1.01% 12,645
Holmes 2,608 22.76% 8,702 75.95% 93 0.81% 43 0.38% 12 0.10% -6,094 -53.19% 11,458
Huron 11,006 44.97% 13,060 53.37% 260 1.06% 115 0.47% 31 0.13% -2,054 -8.39% 24,472
Jackson 5,166 38.89% 7,904 59.50% 94 0.71% 101 0.76% 18 0.14% -2,738 -20.61% 13,283
Jefferson 15,385 46.82% 17,034 51.83% 248 0.75% 157 0.48% 39 0.12% -1,649 -5.02% 32,863
Knox 10,470 37.11% 17,266 61.20% 306 1.08% 114 0.40% 57 0.20% -6,796 -24.09% 28,213
Lake 57,680 48.89% 58,744 49.79% 1,073 0.91% 436 0.37% 47 0.04% -1,064 -0.90% 117,980
Lawrence 10,744 41.84% 14,651 57.06% 171 0.67% 93 0.36% 18 0.07% -3,907 -15.22% 25,677
Licking 34,201 42.27% 45,503 56.24% 817 1.01% 311 0.38% 71 0.09% -11,302 -13.97% 80,903
Logan 7,062 33.62% 13,633 64.91% 214 1.02% 80 0.38% 14 0.07% -6,571 -31.29% 21,003
Lorain 81,464 57.06% 59,405 41.61% 1,275 0.89% 554 0.39% 72 0.05% 22,059 15.45% 142,770
Lucas 136,616 65.16% 69,940 33.36% 2,318 1.11% 652 0.31% 129 0.06% 66,676 31.80% 209,655
Madison 6,845 39.28% 10,342 59.35% 167 0.96% 67 0.38% 4 0.02% -3,497 -20.07% 17,425
Mahoning 77,059 63.75% 42,641 35.28% 744 0.62% 370 0.31% 57 0.05% 34,418 28.47% 120,871
Marion 12,504 45.95% 14,265 52.42% 285 1.05% 132 0.49% 29 0.11% -1,761 -6.47% 27,215
Medina 38,785 42.90% 50,418 55.77% 838 0.93% 326 0.36% 44 0.05% -11,633 -12.87% 90,411
Meigs 4,027 39.81% 5,895 58.27% 111 1.10% 70 0.69% 13 0.13% -1,868 -18.47% 10,116
Mercer 4,745 22.01% 16,561 76.83% 142 0.66% 83 0.39% 23 0.11% -11,816 -54.82% 21,554
Miami 16,383 31.67% 34,606 66.90% 554 1.07% 144 0.28% 39 0.08% -18,223 -35.23% 51,726
Monroe 3,035 45.37% 3,548 53.04% 48 0.72% 47 0.70% 11 0.16% -513 -7.67% 6,689
Montgomery 137,139 51.66% 124,841 47.03% 2,548 0.96% 775 0.29% 172 0.06% 12,298 4.63% 265,475
Morgan 2,814 46.33% 3,179 52.34% 42 0.69% 27 0.44% 12 0.20% -365 -6.01% 6,074
Morrow 5,933 36.91% 9,865 61.37% 174 1.08% 79 0.49% 24 0.15% -3,932 -24.46% 16,075
Muskingum 17,001 46.15% 19,264 52.29% 352 0.96% 185 0.50% 36 0.10% -2,263 -6.14% 36,838
Noble 2,131 36.72% 3,563 61.39% 62 1.07% 44 0.76% 4 0.07% -1,432 -24.67% 5,804
Ottawa 11,503 51.43% 10,538 47.11% 220 0.98% 97 0.43% 10 0.04% 965 4.31% 22,368
Paulding 3,538 39.10% 5,354 59.17% 101 1.12% 48 0.53% 7 0.08% -1,816 -20.07% 9,048
Perry 7,033 47.29% 7,627 51.28% 120 0.81% 76 0.51% 16 0.11% -594 -3.99% 14,872
Pickaway 9,684 40.32% 14,037 58.44% 206 0.86% 74 0.31% 18 0.07% -4,353 -18.12% 24,019
Pike 5,684 49.42% 5,685 49.43% 77 0.67% 44 0.38% 12 0.10% -1 -0.01% 11,502
Portage 39,453 51.97% 35,242 46.42% 844 1.11% 316 0.42% 63 0.08% 4,211 5.55% 75,918
Preble 6,211 30.95% 13,535 67.44% 230 1.15% 82 0.41% 12 0.06% -7,324 -36.49% 20,070
Putnam 4,318 23.62% 13,721 75.04% 160 0.88% 71 0.39% 14 0.08% -9,403 -51.43% 18,284
Richland 22,687 39.55% 33,867 59.04% 503 0.88% 245 0.43% 60 0.10% -11,180 -19.49% 57,362
Ross 14,569 48.69% 15,008 50.16% 223 0.75% 105 0.35% 18 0.06% -439 -1.47% 29,923
Sandusky 14,541 50.47% 13,755 47.74% 324 1.12% 162 0.56% 29 0.10% 786 2.73% 28,811
Scioto 15,077 48.70% 15,492 50.04% 211 0.68% 154 0.50% 23 0.07% -415 -1.34% 30,957
Seneca 11,353 45.28% 13,243 52.81% 316 1.26% 136 0.54% 27 0.11% -1,890 -7.54% 25,075
Shelby 6,343 26.70% 17,142 72.16% 178 0.75% 75 0.32% 16 0.07% -10,799 -45.46% 23,754
Stark 89,432 49.54% 88,581 49.07% 1,588 0.88% 732 0.41% 181 0.10% 851 0.47% 180,514
Summit 153,037 57.33% 111,000 41.58% 2,059 0.77% 764 0.29% 83 0.03% 42,037 15.75% 266,943
Trumbull 61,672 60.94% 38,279 37.82% 739 0.73% 432 0.43% 84 0.08% 23,393 23.11% 101,206
Tuscarawas 18,407 44.56% 22,242 53.84% 435 1.05% 175 0.42% 51 0.12% -3,835 -9.28% 41,310
Union 8,805 34.58% 16,289 63.97% 280 1.10% 83 0.33% 6 0.02% -7,484 -29.39% 25,463
Van Wert 4,029 29.20% 9,585 69.47% 95 0.69% 65 0.47% 23 0.17% -5,556 -40.27% 13,797
Vinton 2,436 45.13% 2,856 52.91% 62 1.15% 41 0.76% 3 0.06% -420 -7.78% 5,398
Warren 32,909 29.72% 76,561 69.15% 1,011 0.91% 220 0.20% 23 0.02% -43,652 -39.42% 110,724
Washington 11,651 39.74% 17,284 58.95% 235 0.80% 134 0.46% 14 0.05% -5,633 -19.21% 29,318
Wayne 19,808 39.04% 30,251 59.62% 451 0.89% 184 0.36% 45 0.09% -10,443 -20.58% 50,739
Williams 7,266 41.37% 10,047 57.20% 148 0.84% 95 0.54% 9 0.05% -2,781 -15.83% 17,565
Wood 32,802 51.44% 29,704 46.58% 940 1.47% 279 0.44% 44 0.07% 3,098 4.86% 63,769
Wyandot 4,137 39.42% 6,180 58.88% 99 0.94% 68 0.65% 12 0.11% -2,043 -19.46% 10,496
Totals2,827,62750.86%2,661,40747.87%49,4930.89%18,5740.33%3,0740.06%166,2202.99%5,560,175

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Analysis

President Obama won Ohio over Governor Mitt Romney. Ohio was too close to call for a decent portion of the night. At 11:12 P.M. EST, MSNBC called Ohio for Obama. All major news networks soon followed suit. Obama's victory in Ohio was enough to push him over the 270 electoral vote line allowing him to win the election. At first the Romney campaign contested the call, but conceded at about 1:00 A.M. Obama's victory in Ohio can be attributed to several factors. Obama only won 17 out of Ohio's 88 counties. However, those 17 counties combined account for 56.56% of the state's total population.[16] Romney did do well in most rural areas of the state, particularly in western Ohio. Romney also won all but one county in the Appalachia region, becoming the first Republican since Richard Nixon’s 2,900-plus-county landslide in 1972 to carry Belmont, Jefferson and Monroe Counties, and losing only Athens County, home of Ohio University. He also managed to flip the swing counties of Lake and Tuscawaras. Romney also did well in the northern Columbus suburbs. For Romney, most of his wins came from smaller populated counties. Obama won by comfortable margins in Franklin, Hamilton, and Lucas counties, home to the cities of Columbus, Cincinnati, and Toledo, respectively. Obama's greatest support came from northeast Ohio, centered in Cuyahoga and Summit counties, home to the cities of Cleveland and Akron, respectively, the second and fourth largest cities in the state. The surrounding Cleveland–Akron–Canton metropolitan area and the Lake Erie shore went mostly to Obama, allowing him to carry the state as a whole. Obama won statewide by 2.98%.

See also

References
  1. [sos.state.oh.us/elections/election-results-and-data/2012-elections-results/ "2012 ELECTIONS RESULTS"] Check |url= value (help). Ohio Secretary of State. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  2. "Ohio Decides 2012 – Candidates for President". Ohio Secretary of State.
  3. "Ohio - Election Results 2008 - The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  4. "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  5. Nate Silver (March 4, 2012). "Romney Could Win Majority of Super Tuesday Delegates". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  6. "Secretary of State results". Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2012-09-21.
  7. Exclusive Super Tuesday Numbers from Hamilton County, CNN, 2012-03-06, retrieved 2016-04-26
  8. "Ohio delegates". ABC News. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
  9. "Ohio Working Class May Offer Key to Obama's Re-election". The New York Times.
  10. "How Obama Took The Battleground States". NPR.
  11. Emily Maxwell (6 February 2013). "Poll worker accused of voter fraud in Hamilton County speaks out". WCPO. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
    "Possible Ohio voter fraud investigation heats up". San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. 6 February 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  12. Eric Shawn (11 March 2013). "Cincinnati poll worker charged with voting half dozen times in November". Fox News. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
    "Nun, Poll Worker, Widower Charged With Voter Fraud". WKRC. Sinclair Broadcast Group. 11 March 2013. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  13. "2012 Elections Results - Ohio Secretary of State". www.ohiosos.gov. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2016-11-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. "OH US President November 06, 2012". Our Campaigns.
  16. Bureau, US Census. "County Population Totals: 2010-2019". The United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
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