The 2012 United States presidential election in Alaska took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the
2012 United States presidential election
The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-e ...
in which all 50 states plus the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
participated.
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
voters chose three electors to represent them in the
Electoral College via a popular vote pitting
incumbent
The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...
Democratic President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
and his running mate,
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
Joe Biden, against
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
challenger and former
Massachusetts Governor
The governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the chief executive officer of the government of Massachusetts. The governor is the head of the state cabinet and the commander-in-chief of the commonwealth's military forces.
Massachuset ...
Mitt Romney and his running mate,
Congressman Paul Ryan.
Prior to the election, 17 news organizations considered this a state Romney would win, or otherwise considered as a safe
red state
Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in b ...
. Romney won the state of Alaska with 54.80% of the vote, while Obama received 40.81%. This was the first time since
1968
The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide.
Events January–February
* January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* Janu ...
that a Democrat received more than 40% of the vote in Alaska. No Democrat has won Alaska since it was won by
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
in
1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...
. While Romney handily won its three electoral votes, it was one of six states to swing toward Obama relative to
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, when Alaska was won with a 21.5% margin of victory by Republican nominee
John McCain running with the incumbent Governor of Alaska,
Sarah Palin, as his vice-presidential candidate. Obama closed his margin of defeat by 7.55% compared to his 2008 loss, thereby making it the state with the strongest Democratic gain in 2012. He also flipped seven
boroughs and census areas he had lost in 2008.
This is the most recent election in which
Haines Borough voted for the Republican candidate.
Caucuses
Democratic caucuses
The Alaska Democratic caucuses were held from April 10 to 14, 2012, with the state party convention being held from May 11 to 13. Precincts within House Districts combined to hold caucuses to pledge delegates to the State Convention. Obama ran mostly unopposed (with the exception of
Randall Terry
Randall Allen Terry (born 1959) is an American activist and political candidate. Terry founded the anti-abortion organization Operation Rescue, which he later abandoned. Beginning in 1987, the group became particularly prominent for blockading t ...
, who was on the ballot but received no votes) and consequently received all of the 500 popular votes and 24 delegates.
Republican caucuses
The Alaska Republican caucuses were held
Super Tuesday
Super Tuesday is the United States presidential primary election day in February or March when the greatest number of U.S. states hold primary elections and caucuses. Approximately one-third of all delegates to the presidential nominating co ...
, March 6, 2012. The presidential preference poll portion of the caucuses was scheduled between 4 pm and 8 pm local time (which is 8 pm to midnight EST) at locations across the state and one caucus in Washington, D.C.
Similar to the
2012 Nevada caucuses, the results of the presidential preference poll will be used to directly and proportionately apportion 24 national convention delegates among the candidates. Another 3 super delegates are unbound and not determined by the caucus results.
General election
Candidate ballot access
*
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
/
Joseph Biden,
Democratic
*
Mitt Romney/
Paul Ryan,
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
*
Gary Johnson
Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...
/
James P. Gray,
Libertarian
*
Jill Stein
Jill Ellen Stein (born May 14, 1950) is an American physician, activist, and former political candidate. She was the Green Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 and 2016 elections and the Green-Rainbow Party's candidat ...
/
Cheri Honkala,
Green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...
;Write-in candidate access
*
Rocky Anderson
Ross Carl "Rocky" Anderson (born September 9, 1951), from the United States, is an attorney, writer, activist, civil and human rights advocate. He served two terms as the 33rd Mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah from 2000 to 2008. He is now running f ...
/
Luis J. Rodriguez,
Justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
Results
Boroughs and census areas that flipped from Republican to Democratic
*
Aleutians West Census Area
Aleutians West Census Area (russian: Западные Алеутские острова) is a census area located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,232, down from 5,561 in 2010.
It is part of the Unorg ...
(largest city:
Unalaska
Unalaska ( ale, Iluulux̂; russian: Уналашка) is the chief center of population in the Aleutian Islands. The city is in the Aleutians West Census Area, a regional component of the Unorganized Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Unalaska ...
)
*
Dilingham Census Area (largest city:
Dilingham)
*
Lake & Peninsula Borough (largest city:
Newhalen)
*
North Slope Borough
The North Slope Borough is the northernmost borough in the US state of Alaska and thus, the northernmost county or equivalent of the United States as a whole. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,031. The borough seat and largest city i ...
(largest city:
Utqiaġvik
Utqiagvik ( ik, Utqiaġvik; , , formerly known as Barrow ()) is the borough seat and largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located north of the Arctic Circle, it is one of the northernmost cities and towns in the ...
)
*
Northwest Arctic Borough
Northwest Arctic Borough is a borough located in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,793, up from 7,523 in 2010. The borough seat is Kotzebue. The borough was formed on June 2, 1986.
Geography
According to t ...
(largest city:
Kotzebue
Kotzebue ( ) or Qikiqtaġruk ( , ) is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing t ...
)
*
Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area (largest city:
Craig)
*
Yukon–Koyukok Census Area (largest city:
Fort Yukon
Fort Yukon (''Gwichyaa Zheh'' in Gwich'in) is a city in the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska, straddling the Arctic Circle. The population, predominantly Gwich'in Alaska Natives, was 583 at the 2010 census, down from 595 ...
)
Results by Congressional District
Alaska has an at-large congressional equivalent to the statewide results.
See also
*
List of 2012 United States presidential electors
*
2012 United States presidential election
The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-e ...
*
2008 United States presidential election in Alaska
*
2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries
From January 3 to June 5, 2012, voters of the Democratic Party chose its nominee for president in the 2012 United States presidential election. President Barack Obama won the Democratic Party nomination by securing more than the required 2,383 ...
*
2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
Voters of the Republican Party elected state delegations to the 2012 Republican National Convention in presidential primaries. The national convention then selected its nominee to run for President of the United States in the 2012 presidential ...
*
Alaska Democratic Party
The Alaska Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in Alaska, headquartered in Anchorage.
It is one of two major parties in Alaska, alongside the Alaska Republican Party. The Democratic Party holds Alaska's at-large congres ...
*
Alaska Republican Party
*
United States presidential elections in Alaska
Since Alaska's admission to the Union in January 1959, it has participated in 16 United States presidential elections, always having 3 electoral votes. In the 1960 presidential election, Alaska was narrowly won by the Republican Party's candi ...
References
External links
The Green Papers for Alaska
The Green Papers Major state elections in chronological order
Official websiteof the Alaska Republican Party
Official websiteof the Alaska Democratic Party
{{State results of the 2012 U.S. presidential election
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
United States President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...