2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

The 2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin 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. Wisconsin voters chose 10 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.

2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

November 6, 2012
Turnout	70.35%[1]
Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney Party Democratic Republican Home state Illinois Massachusetts Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan Electoral vote 10 0 Popular vote 1,620,985 1,407,966 Percentage 52.83% 45.89%
County Results Obama   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90% Romney   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%
President before election Barack Obama Democratic Elected President Barack Obama Democratic

Obama won the state of Wisconsin with 52.83% of the vote to Romney's 45.89%, a 6.94% margin of victory.[2] While this represented a reduced margin from Obama's nearly 13.91% sweep in 2008, when he won 59 of 72 counties and 7 of 8 congressional districts, it was still a better performance than that of John Kerry's 0.38% margin in 2004 or Al Gore's 0.22% margin in 2000. Obama's win was also surprisingly comfortable in spite of the fact that Wisconsin was the home state of Republican Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan, making him the first Republican Vice Presidential nominee to lose their home state since Jack Kemp lost New York in 1996. Obama's win was attributed to victories in Milwaukee, the state's largest city; Madison, the state capital; northeastern Wisconsin; and the Driftless Region. Romney's strength was concentrated in the loyally Republican Milwaukee suburbs, particularly the WOW counties (Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha), where he carried a combined 67.03% of the vote to Obama's 32.00%. He also flipped 24 counties in the Northeast and Central Plain regions, though most of them were rural and therefore insufficient to overcome Obama's aforementioned victories.[3][4]

As of 2020, this is the last time the Democratic presidential nominee won the following counties: Adams, Buffalo, Columbia, Crawford, Dunn, Forest, Grant, Jackson, Juneau, Kenosha, Lafayette, Lincoln, Marquette, Pepin, Price, Racine, Richland, Sawyer, Trempealeau, Vernon, and Winnebago.

Democratic primary

President Barack Obama RAN unopposed in the Democratic Primary, winning 293,914 votes, or 97.89%. Uncommitted ballots received 5,092 votes, or 1.89% of the vote, while 849 votes, 0.28%, were scattered. 111 delegates, all of which were pledged to Obama were sent to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.[5]

Republican primary

2012 Wisconsin Republican primary

April 3, 2012

Candidate Mitt Romney Rick Santorum Home state Massachusetts Pennsylvania Delegate count 33 9 Popular vote 346,876 290,139 Percentage 44.03% 36.83%   Candidate Ron Paul Newt Gingrich Home state Texas Georgia Delegate count 0 0 Popular vote 87,858 45,978 Percentage 11.15% 5.83%

Wisconsin results by county   Mitt Romney   Rick Santorum

The 2012 Wisconsin Republican 2012 primary took place on April 3, 2012,[6][7] the same day as the primaries in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Mitt Romney edged out a victory, with 44.03% of the vote and 33 delegates, with former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania coming in second with 36.83% of the vote and 9 delegates. No other candidates won any delegates nor counties, though representative Ron Paul of Texas's 14th district received 11.15% and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich received 5.84%. All other candidates received less than 1%. Romney's strength was concentrated in Southeast Wisconsin, carrying Milwaukee and all of its suburbs (including the Kenosha and Racine as well as the ancestrally Republican counties of Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha), as well as Madison. Santorum's most significant victories were in Western Wisconsin and in Green Bay and its respective suburbs.[5]

2012 Wisconsin Republican primary[5]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
Mitt Romney	346,876	44.03%	33
Rick Santorum	290,139	36.83%	9
Ron Paul	87,858	11.15%	0
Newt Gingrich	45,978	5.84%	0
Michele Bachmann	6,045	0.77%	0
Jon Huntsman	5,083	0.65%	0
Uninstructed	4,200	0.53%	0
Scattering	1,668	0.21%	0
Total:	787,847	100%	42

General election

Results

Although Republican Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan was from Wisconsin, representing the 1st district in Congress, the Republican Party lost by around a seven-point margin, which was, albeit an improved loss from Obama's landslide 13.91% margin in 2008,[8] a crucial loss.

2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	1,620,985	52.83%	10
	Republican	Mitt Romney	Paul Ryan	1,407,966	45.89%	0
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson	Jim Gray	20,439	0.67%	0
	Green	Jill Stein	Cheri Honkala	7,665	0.25%	0
	Write-Ins	Write-Ins		5,170	0.17%	0
	Constitution	Virgil Goode	Jim Clymer	4,930	0.16%	0
	Socialist Equality	Jerry White	Phyllis Scherrer	553	0.02%	0
	Socialism and Liberation	Gloria La Riva	Filberto Ramirez Jr.	526	0.02%	0
	Justice	Rocky Anderson	Luis J. Rodriguez	112	0.00%	0
	Peace & Freedom	Roseanne Barr	Cindy Sheehan	88	0.00%	0
Totals				3,068,434	100.00%	10

Results by county

County[8]	Obama	Votes	Romney	Votes	Others	Votes	Total
Adams	53.87%	5,542	45.14%	4,644	0.98%	101	10,287
Ashland	64.49%	5,399	33.68%	2,820	1.83%	153	8,372
Barron	47.99%	10,890	50.43%	11,443	1.58%	359	22,692
Bayfield	61.64%	6,033	36.84%	3,606	1.52%	149	9,788
Brown	48.50%	62,526	50.29%	64,836	1.21%	1,566	128,928
Buffalo	50.72%	3,570	47.79%	3,364	1.49%	105	7,039
Burnett	45.94%	3,986	52.44%	4,550	1.62%	141	8,677
Calumet	43.49%	11,489	55.03%	14,539	1.48%	392	26,420
Chippewa	49.26%	15,237	49.53%	15,322	1.21%	373	30,932
Clark	44.72%	6,172	53.71%	7,412	1.57%	217	13,801
Columbia	56.03%	17,175	42.49%	13,026	1.48%	453	30,654
Crawford	59.22%	4,629	39.24%	3,067	1.55%	121	7,817
Dane	71.03%	216,071	27.50%	83,644	1.47%	4,466	304,181
Dodge	42.17%	18,762	56.67%	25,211	1.16%	515	44,488
Door	52.95%	9,357	45.96%	8,121	1.09%	193	17,671
Douglas	64.92%	14,863	33.66%	7,705	1.42%	326	22,894
Dunn	51.46%	11,316	46.49%	10,224	2.06%	452	21,992
Eau Claire	55.95%	30,666	42.43%	23,256	1.61%	884	54,806
Florence	36.30%	953	62.67%	1,645	1.03%	27	2,625
Fond du Lac	41.91%	22,379	56.84%	30,355	1.25%	668	53,402
Forest	52.17%	2,425	46.73%	2,172	1.10%	51	4,648
Grant	56.06%	13,594	42.29%	10,255	1.65%	399	24,248
Green	58.00%	11,206	40.66%	7,857	1.34%	259	19,322
Green Lake	39.20%	3,793	59.76%	5,782	1.03%	100	9,675
Iowa	64.66%	8,105	34.20%	4,287	1.13%	142	12,534
Iron	49.12%	1,784	49.28%	1,790	1.60%	58	3,632
Jackson	56.89%	5,298	41.88%	3,900	1.23%	115	9,313
Jefferson	45.52%	20,158	53.11%	23,517	1.37%	606	44,281
Juneau	52.78%	6,242	45.75%	5,411	1.47%	174	11,827
Kenosha	55.46%	44,867	43.24%	34,977	1.30%	1,053	80,897
Kewaunee	46.69%	5,153	52.07%	5,747	1.24%	137	11,037
La Crosse	57.82%	36,693	40.58%	25,751	1.60%	1,018	63,462
Lafayette	57.04%	4,536	41.68%	3,314	1.28%	102	7,952
Langlade	43.47%	4,573	55.29%	5,816	1.24%	130	10,519
Lincoln	49.70%	7,563	48.99%	7,455	1.30%	198	15,216
Manitowoc	47.88%	20,403	50.69%	21,604	1.43%	610	42,617
Marathon	46.32%	32,363	52.41%	36,617	1.26%	882	69,862
Marinette	47.56%	9,882	51.11%	10,619	1.33%	276	20,777
Marquette	49.52%	4,014	49.25%	3,992	1.22%	99	8,105
Menominee	86.49%	1,191	13.00%	179	0.51%	7	1,377
Milwaukee	67.49%	332,438	31.45%	154,924	1.06%	5,214	492,576
Monroe	48.83%	9,515	49.65%	9,675	1.51%	295	19,485
Oconto	44.64%	8,865	54.09%	10,741	1.27%	253	19,859
Oneida	48.27%	10,452	50.42%	10,917	1.31%	283	21,652
Outagamie	48.28%	45,659	50.09%	47,372	1.63%	1,538	94,569
Ozaukee	34.32%	19,159	64.63%	36,077	1.04%	581	55,817
Pepin	50.72%	1,876	48.50%	1,794	0.78%	29	3,699
Pierce	48.69%	10,235	49.46%	10,397	1.85%	388	21,020
Polk	44.62%	10,073	53.58%	12,094	1.80%	406	22,573
Portage	56.12%	22,075	42.24%	16,615	1.64%	647	39,337
Price	49.20%	3,887	49.16%	3,884	1.65%	130	7,901
Racine	51.28%	53,008	47.74%	49,347	0.98%	1,009	103,364
Richland	57.41%	4,969	41.28%	3,573	1.31%	113	8,655
Rock	61.00%	49,219	37.82%	30,517	1.18%	954	80,690
Rusk	47.24%	3,397	51.12%	3,676	1.64%	118	7,191
Sauk	58.68%	18,736	40.21%	12,838	1.11%	353	31,927
Sawyer	49.71%	4,486	49.22%	4,442	1.07%	97	9,025
Shawano	44.38%	9,000	54.35%	11,022	1.27%	257	20,279
Sheboygan	44.56%	27,918	54.38%	34,072	1.06%	661	62,651
St Croix	43.07%	19,910	55.17%	25,503	1.76%	812	46,225
Taylor	39.56%	3,763	58.88%	5,601	1.56%	148	9,512
Trempealeau	56.41%	7,605	42.33%	5,707	1.25%	169	13,481
Vernon	56.37%	8,044	41.64%	5,942	1.98%	283	14,269
Vilas	42.99%	5,951	55.98%	7,749	1.03%	142	13,842
Walworth	43.12%	22,552	55.46%	29,006	1.42%	745	52,303
Washburn	47.88%	4,447	50.60%	4,699	1.52%	141	9,287
Washington	29.42%	23,166	69.55%	54,765	1.03%	811	78,742
Waukesha	32.31%	78,779	66.76%	162,798	0.93%	2,279	243,856
Waupaca	44.81%	11,578	54.19%	14,002	1.01%	260	25,840
Waushara	44.28%	5,335	54.47%	6,562	1.25%	151	12,048
Winnebago	50.97%	45,449	47.24%	42,122	1.80%	1,602	89,173
Wood	47.77%	18,581	50.65%	19,704	1.58%	615	38,900
Total	52.83%	1,620,985	45.89%	1,407,966	1.29%	39,483	3,068,434

Counties that swung flipped Democratic to Republican

• Barron (largest city: Rice Lake)[8]
• Brown (largest city: Green Bay)
• Burnett (largest village: Grantsburg)
• Calumet (largest city: Chilton)
• Chippewa (largest city: Chippewa Falls)
• Clark (largest city: Neillsville)
• Iron (largest city: Hurley)
• Jefferson (largest city: Watertown)
• Kewaunee (largest city: Algoma)
• Langlade (largest city: Antigo)
• Manitowoc (largest city: Manitowoc)
• Marathon (largest city: Wausau)
• Marinette (largest city: Marinette)
• Monroe (largest city: Sparta)
• Oconto (largest city: Oconto)
• Oneida (largest city: Rhinelander)
• Outagamie (largest city: Appleton)
• Pierce (largest city: River Falls)
• Rusk (largest city: Ladysmith)
• Shawano (largest city: Shawano)
• Washburn (largest city: Spooner)
• Waupaca (largest city: New London)
• Waushara (largest city: Berlin)
• Wood (largest city: Marshfield)

See also

• 2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums
• 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
• Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
• Wisconsin Republican Party

References

1. http://elections.wi.gov/elections-voting/statistics/turnout
2. "Wisconsin Gov Accountability Board" (PDF). Retrieved January 16, 2013.
3. "More Wisconsin Elections Results". Wisconsin Elections Commission. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
4. Savicki, Drew (September 14, 2020). "The Road to 270: Wisconsin". 270toWin. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
5. "Canvass Results for 2012 Presidential Preferenrce and Spring Election - 4/3/2012" (PDF). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. April 3, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 15, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.
6. "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
7. "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
8. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved January 1, 2021.

External links

• The Green Papers: for Wisconsin
• The Green Papers: Major state elections in chronological order