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 50.58% 47.60%
County Results
President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

 Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

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 presidency in every election from 1964 to 2016.

President Obama won the popular vote in Ohio with 50.58% of the vote over Mitt Romney in second place at 47.60%, a Democratic victory margin of 2.98%.[2] Obama's performance was a decline from 2008 when he won the state by a 4.58% 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 and greatly improved his losing margin in Ross County home to the state's 1st and 3rd capital Chillicothe, allowing him to carry the state. Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without Belmont County since Grover Cleveland in 1892, as well as the first to win without neighboring Jefferson County since Woodrow Wilson in 1916 and the first to win without Monroe or Tuscarawas Counties since John F. Kennedy in 1960.

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

Primaries

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

Campaign

Ohio was considered a key battleground state throughout the general election campaign, and both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney campaigned extensively in the state.[9]

Results

2012 United States presidential election in Ohio[10]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 2,827,709 50.58% 18
Republican Mitt Romney Paul Ryan 2,661,437 47.60% 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 2,967 0.05% 0
Others 23 0.00% 0
Totals 5,590,934 100.00% 18
Voter turnout (registered voters) 70.54%

Results by county

County[11] Barack Obama
Democratic		 Mitt Romney
Republican		 Gary Johnson[12]
Libertarian		 Jill Stein[12]
Green		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Adams 3,976 35.76% 6,865 61.75% 98 0.87% 55 0.49% 124 1.11% -2,889 -25.99% 11,118
Allen 17,914 37.06% 29,502 61.03% 464 0.96% 164 0.34% 297 0.61% -11,588 -23.97% 48,341
Ashland 8,281 34.02% 15,519 63.76% 221 0.91% 115 0.47% 204 0.84% -7,238 -29.74% 24,340
Ashtabula 23,803 55.10% 18,298 42.36% 433 1.00% 224 0.52% 442 1.03% 5,505 12.74% 43,200
Athens 18,307 66.02% 8,543 30.81% 434 1.57% 188 0.68% 256 0.92% 9,764 35.21% 27,728
Auglaize 5,831 24.87% 17,169 73.22% 209 0.89% 83 0.35% 157 0.67% -11,338 -48.35% 23,449
Belmont 14,156 44.67% 16,758 52.88% 232 0.73% 178 0.56% 364 1.15% -2,602 -8.21% 31,688
Brown 7,107 36.65% 11,916 61.45% 191 0.98% 68 0.35% 110 0.57% -4,809 -24.80% 19,392
Butler 62,388 36.58% 105,176 61.68% 1,654 0.97% 413 0.24% 899 0.52% -42,788 -25.10% 170,530
Carroll 5,543 41.73% 7,315 55.07% 173 1.30% 71 0.53% 182 1.37% -1,772 -13.34% 13,284
Champaign 7,044 38.14% 11,045 59.81% 159 0.86% 66 0.36% 154 0.83% -4,001 -21.67% 18,468
Clark 31,297 48.67% 31,820 49.49% 509 0.79% 214 0.33% 461 0.72% -523 -0.82% 64,301
Clermont 30,458 31.55% 64,208 66.52% 1,069 1.11% 248 0.26% 542 0.56% -33,750 -34.97% 96,525
Clinton 5,791 31.85% 12,009 66.05% 195 1.07% 56 0.31% 132 0.73% -6,218 -34.20% 18,183
Columbiana 19,821 42.90% 25,251 54.66% 434 0.94% 216 0.47% 477 1.03% -5,430 -11.76% 46,199
Coshocton 6,940 43.97% 8,390 53.16% 157 0.99% 96 0.61% 201 1.28% -1,450 -9.19% 15,784
Crawford 7,507 37.82% 11,852 59.72% 186 0.94% 108 0.54% 194 0.98% -4,345 -21.90% 19,847
Cuyahoga 447,273 69.32% 190,660 29.55% 3,448 0.53% 1,564 0.24% 2,317 0.36% 256,613 39.77% 645,262
Darke 6,826 26.84% 18,108 71.21% 212 0.83% 86 0.34% 198 0.78% -11,282 -44.37% 25,430
Defiance 7,732 42.16% 10,176 55.49% 187 1.02% 64 0.35% 180 0.99% -2,444 -13.33% 18,339
Delaware 37,292 37.71% 60,194 60.86% 851 0.86% 205 0.21% 357 0.36% -22,902 -23.15% 98,899
Erie 21,793 55.17% 16,952 42.92% 300 0.76% 158 0.40% 297 0.75% 4,841 12.25% 39,500
Fairfield 29,890 41.39% 41,034 56.82% 624 0.86% 210 0.29% 462 0.64% -11,144 -15.43% 72,220
Fayette 4,249 38.49% 6,620 59.97% 87 0.79% 18 0.16% 64 0.58% -2,371 -21.48% 11,038
Franklin 346,373 60.53% 215,997 37.75% 5,535 0.97% 1,659 0.29% 2,624 0.46% 130,376 22.78% 572,188
Fulton 9,073 42.58% 11,738 55.08% 248 1.16% 82 0.38% 169 0.80% -2,665 -12.50% 21,310
Gallia 4,557 36.10% 7,750 61.40% 79 0.63% 69 0.55% 167 1.32% -3,193 -25.30% 12,622
Geauga 19,659 38.46% 30,589 59.85% 386 0.76% 182 0.36% 297 0.58% -10,930 -21.39% 51,113
Greene 32,256 38.57% 49,819 59.57% 933 1.12% 245 0.29% 373 0.45% -17,563 -21.00% 83,626
Guernsey 7,450 44.22% 8,993 53.37% 174 1.03% 70 0.42% 162 0.96% -1,543 -9.15% 16,849
Hamilton 219,927 52.50% 193,326 46.15% 3,756 0.90% 1,012 0.24% 873 0.21% 26,601 6.35% 418,894
Hancock 12,564 35.11% 22,443 62.72% 352 0.98% 130 0.36% 294 0.82% -9,879 -27.61% 35,783
Hardin 4,619 37.04% 7,489 60.06% 172 1.38% 68 0.55% 122 0.98% -2,870 -23.02% 12,470
Harrison 2,950 41.24% 4,019 56.19% 62 0.87% 47 0.66% 75 1.05% -1,069 -14.95% 7,153
Henry 5,658 39.69% 8,257 57.92% 169 1.19% 55 0.39% 118 0.83% -2,599 -18.23% 14,257
Highland 6,054 33.86% 11,413 63.83% 176 0.98% 67 0.37% 169 0.95% -5,359 -29.97% 17,879
Hocking 6,157 48.22% 6,285 49.22% 133 1.04% 57 0.45% 136 1.06% -128 -1.00% 12,768
Holmes 2,608 22.55% 8,702 75.23% 93 0.80% 43 0.37% 121 1.05% -6,094 -52.68% 11,567
Huron 11,006 44.54% 13,060 52.85% 260 1.05% 115 0.47% 270 1.10% -2,054 -8.31% 24,711
Jackson 5,166 38.54% 7,904 58.97% 94 0.70% 101 0.75% 139 1.04% -2,738 -20.43% 13,404
Jefferson 15,385 46.37% 17,034 51.34% 248 0.75% 157 0.47% 353 1.06% -1,649 -4.97% 33,177
Knox 10,470 36.78% 17,266 60.66% 306 1.08% 114 0.40% 307 1.07% -6,796 -23.88% 28,463
Lake 57,680 48.61% 58,744 49.50% 1,073 0.90% 436 0.37% 732 0.62% -1,064 -0.89% 118,665
Lawrence 10,744 41.43% 14,651 56.50% 171 0.66% 93 0.36% 273 1.05% -3,907 -15.07% 25,932
Licking 34,201 41.94% 45,503 55.80% 817 1.00% 311 0.38% 718 0.88% -11,302 -13.86% 81,550
Logan 7,062 33.31% 13,633 64.31% 214 1.01% 80 0.38% 210 0.99% -6,571 -31.00% 21,199
Lorain 81,464 56.87% 59,405 41.47% 1,275 0.89% 554 0.39% 555 0.39% 22,059 15.40% 143,253
Lucas 136,616 64.86% 69,940 33.21% 2,318 1.10% 652 0.31% 1,095 0.52% 66,676 31.65% 210,621
Madison 6,845 38.99% 10,342 58.91% 167 0.95% 67 0.38% 136 0.77% -3,497 -19.92% 17,557
Mahoning 77,059 63.38% 42,641 35.07% 744 0.61% 370 0.30% 770 0.63% 34,418 28.31% 121,584
Marion 12,504 45.61% 14,265 52.03% 285 1.04% 132 0.48% 232 0.85% -1,761 -6.42% 27,418
Medina 38,785 42.65% 50,418 55.45% 838 0.92% 326 0.36% 564 0.62% -11,633 -12.80% 90,931
Meigs 4,027 39.41% 5,895 57.69% 111 1.09% 70 0.69% 115 1.13% -1,868 -18.28% 10,218
Mercer 4,745 21.89% 16,561 76.40% 142 0.66% 83 0.38% 145 0.67% -11,816 -54.51% 21,676
Miami 16,383 31.50% 34,606 66.53% 554 1.07% 144 0.28% 327 0.63% -18,223 -35.03% 52,014
Monroe 3,035 44.75% 3,548 52.31% 48 0.71% 47 0.69% 104 1.54% -513 -7.56% 6,782
Montgomery 137,139 51.42% 124,841 46.81% 2,548 0.96% 775 0.29% 1,404 0.53% 12,298 4.61% 266,707
Morgan 2,814 45.86% 3,179 51.81% 42 0.68% 27 0.44% 74 1.21% -365 -5.95% 6,136
Morrow 5,933 36.59% 9,865 60.83% 174 1.07% 79 0.49% 166 1.02% -3,932 -24.24% 16,217
Muskingum 17,002 45.73% 19,264 51.81% 352 0.95% 185 0.50% 376 1.00% -2,262 -6.08% 37,179
Noble 2,131 36.17% 3,563 60.48% 62 1.05% 44 0.75% 91 1.54% -1,432 -24.31% 5,891
Ottawa 11,503 51.11% 10,538 46.83% 220 0.98% 97 0.43% 147 0.65% 965 4.28% 22,505
Paulding 3,538 38.67% 5,354 58.51% 101 1.10% 48 0.52% 109 1.19% -1,816 -19.84% 9,150
Perry 7,033 46.82% 7,627 50.78% 120 0.80% 76 0.51% 164 1.10% -594 -3.96% 15,020
Pickaway 9,684 40.09% 14,037 58.11% 206 0.85% 74 0.31% 153 0.63% -4,353 -18.02% 24,154
Pike 5,684 49.02% 5,685 49.03% 77 0.66% 44 0.38% 106 0.91% -1 -0.01% 11,596
Portage 39,453 51.65% 35,242 46.14% 844 1.10% 316 0.41% 529 0.70% 4,211 5.51% 76,384
Preble 6,211 30.71% 13,535 66.92% 230 1.14% 82 0.41% 167 0.83% -7,324 -36.21% 20,225
Putnam 4,318 23.47% 13,721 74.57% 160 0.87% 71 0.39% 130 0.71% -9,403 -51.10% 18,400
Richland 22,687 39.25% 33,867 58.59% 503 0.87% 245 0.42% 504 0.87% -11,180 -19.34% 57,806
Ross 14,569 48.31% 15,008 49.76% 223 0.74% 105 0.35% 255 0.85% -439 -1.45% 30,160
Sandusky 14,541 49.98% 13,755 47.28% 324 1.11% 162 0.56% 313 1.07% 786 2.70% 29,095
Scioto 15,077 48.23% 15,492 49.56% 211 0.67% 154 0.49% 328 1.04% -415 -1.33% 31,262
Seneca 11,353 44.80% 13,243 52.26% 316 1.25% 136 0.54% 295 1.17% -1,890 -7.46% 25,343
Shelby 6,343 26.54% 17,142 71.71% 178 0.74% 75 0.31% 165 0.69% -10,799 -45.17% 23,903
Stark 89,432 49.21% 88,581 48.74% 1,588 0.87% 732 0.40% 1,413 0.78% 851 0.47% 181,746
Summit 153,041 57.03% 111,001 41.36% 2,059 0.77% 764 0.28% 1,493 0.56% 42,040 15.67% 268,358
Trumbull 61,672 60.48% 38,279 37.54% 739 0.72% 432 0.42% 841 0.83% 23,393 22.94% 101,963
Tuscarawas 18,407 44.15% 22,242 53.35% 435 1.04% 175 0.42% 434 1.03% -3,835 -9.20% 41,693
Union 8,805 34.36% 16,289 63.57% 280 1.09% 83 0.32% 166 0.65% -7,484 -29.21% 25,623
Van Wert 4,029 28.99% 9,585 68.97% 95 0.68% 65 0.47% 124 0.89% -5,556 -39.98% 13,898
Vinton 2,436 44.37% 2,856 52.02% 62 1.13% 41 0.75% 95 1.72% -420 -7.65% 5,490
Warren 32,909 29.60% 76,564 68.85% 1,011 0.91% 220 0.20% 493 0.44% -43,655 -39.25% 111,197
Washington 11,651 39.36% 17,284 58.39% 235 0.79% 134 0.45% 298 1.01% -5,633 -19.03% 29,602
Wayne 19,808 38.71% 30,251 59.12% 451 0.88% 184 0.36% 471 0.93% -10,443 -20.41% 51,165
Williams 7,266 41.04% 10,047 56.74% 148 0.84% 95 0.54% 150 0.84% -2,781 -15.70% 17,706
Wood 32,802 51.21% 29,704 46.37% 940 1.47% 279 0.44% 334 0.52% 3,098 4.84% 64,059
Wyandot 4,137 39.02% 6,180 58.29% 99 0.93% 68 0.64% 118 1.11% -2,043 -19.27% 10,602
Totals2,827,70950.58%2,661,43747.60%49,4930.89%18,5730.33%33,7220.60%166,2722.98%5,590,934
County Flips:

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

Despite losing the state, Romney won 12 of 16 congressional districts.[13]

District Romney Obama Representative
1st 52.4% 46.26% Steve Chabot
2nd 54.75% 43.66% Brad Wenstrup
3rd 28.9% 69.65% Joyce Beatty
4th 55.98% 42% Jim Jordan
5th 53.88% 44.1% Bob Latta
6th 55.2% 42.67% Bill Johnson
7th 53.71% 44.23% Bob Gibbs
8th 61.9% 36.45% John Boehner
9th 30.87% 67.55% Marcy Kaptur
10th 50.14% 48.23% Mike Turner
11th 16.55% 82.74% Marcia Fudge
12th 54.37% 43.9% Pat Tiberi
13th 35.42% 62.95% Tim Ryan
14th 50.89% 47.58% Steve LaTourette
15th 51.86% 46.34% Steve Stivers
16th 53.35% 45.19% Jim Renacci

Analysis

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. President Obama's victory in the state can be attributed to several factors; he only won 17 out of Ohio's 88 counties. However, those 17 counties combined account for 56.56% of its total population.[14] 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 Tuscarawas. 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 by a modest 2.98% margin.

In February 2013, nineteen cases of voter fraud were investigated in Hamilton County.[15] Three individuals were charged with voter fraud the following month, with one individual alleged to have voted six times.[16] These incidents would not have affected the outcome of the Ohio race as President Obama ultimately carried the state by 166,272 votes. Some experts believe that the popularity of the auto industry bailout put in place under President Obama helped him take the state.[9][17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2012 ELECTIONS RESULTS". Ohio Secretary of State. Retrieved June 25, 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 September 27, 2020.
  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 July 29, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  7. ↑ Exclusive Super Tuesday Numbers from Hamilton County, CNN, March 6, 2012, retrieved April 26, 2016
  8. ↑ "Ohio delegates". ABC News. Retrieved March 2, 2012.
  9. 1 2 Zeleny, Jeff; Sussman, Dalia (October 31, 2012). "Ohio Working Class May Offer Key to Obama's Re-election". The New York Times.
  10. ↑ "2012 Elections Results - Ohio Secretary of State". www.ohiosos.gov. Archived from the original on September 8, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  12. 1 2 "OH US President November 06, 2012". Our Campaigns.
  13. ↑ "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts". Daily Kos. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  14. ↑ Bureau, US Census. "County Population Totals: 2010-2019". The United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  15. ↑ Emily Maxwell (February 6, 2013). "Poll worker accused of voter fraud in Hamilton County speaks out". WCPO. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
    "Possible Ohio voter fraud investigation heats up". San Francisco Chronicle. Associated Press. February 6, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2013.
  16. ↑ Eric Shawn (March 11, 2013). "Cincinnati poll worker charged with voting half dozen times in November". Fox News. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
    "Nun, Poll Worker, Widower Charged With Voter Fraud". WKRC. Sinclair Broadcast Group. March 11, 2013. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2013.
  17. ↑ "How Obama Took The Battleground States". NPR.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.