The 2012 United States presidential election in California 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-el ...

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.

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

voters chose 55 electors, the most out of any state, to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, 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 seek ...

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 ful ...

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 U ...

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 t ...

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. Massachusetts ...

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

and his running mate,

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member o ...

. Prior to the election, every major news network considered California to be a state Obama would win or as a safe blue state. According to Secretary of State Debra Bowen's website, the President won the popular vote with 60.24 percent, with Mitt Romney in second place at 37.12%, and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in third place at 1.10%. The Democrats have won the state in every presidential election after Republican

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

won the state in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. As of

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, this is the most recent presidential election in which the nominee from the Republican Party won

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

—a longtime, traditional bastion for the national GOP—and Nevada County. This is also the most recent election where

voted more Republican than

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, as of 2020. California voted 5.06% to the right of New York this election. With its 55 electoral votes, California was Obama's largest electoral prize in 2012.

Primaries

Democratic primary

The 2012 California Democratic presidential primary took place on June 5, 2012, as part of the 2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries. , - ! Candidate ! Popular vote ! % ! Delegates , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

(incumbent) , 2,075,905 , 100% , 547.0 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Darcy Richardson ''(write-in)'' , 221 , 0.00% , 0.0 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Michael W.R. Meyer, Jr. ''(write-in)'' , 129 , 0.00% , 0.0 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Louis Alberto Ramos, Jr. ''(write-in)'' , 54 , 0.00% , 0.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Uncommitted , colspan="2" , 62.0 , - ! Total ! 2,076,309 ! 100% ! 609

Republican primary

The 2012 California Republican Party presidential primary took place on June 5, 2012, as part of the

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 ...

. 169 delegates were chosen, for a total of 172 delegates at the

2012 Republican National Convention The 2012 Republican National Convention was a gathering held by the Republican Party (United States), U.S. Republican Party during which Delegate (American politics), delegates officially nominated former List of governors of Massachusetts, Ma ...

. As noted in the Green Papers for California, "159 district delegates are to be bound to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the 53 congressional districts: each congressional district is assigned 3 National Convention delegates and the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in that district will receive all 3 of that district's National Convention delegates. 10 at-large delegates (10 base at-large delegates plus 0 bonus delegate) are to be bound to the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in the primary statewide. In addition, 3 party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the California's Republican Party, will attend the convention as unpledged delegates by virtue of their position." , - ! Candidate ! Popular vote ! % ! Delegates , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 1,530,513 , 79.51% , 169 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as well ...

, 199,246 , 10.35% , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Rick Santorum Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's thir ...

(withdrawn) , 102,258 , 5.31% , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U ...

(withdrawn) , 72,022 , 3.74% , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Charles E. "Buddy" Roemer, III (withdrawn) , 12,520 , 0.65% , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Fred Karger Fred S. Karger (born January 31, 1950) is an American political consultant, gay rights activist and watchdog, and former actor. His unsuccessful candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 2012 US presidential election made him the first o ...

, 8,393 , 0.44% , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Jeremy Hannon ''(write-in)'' , 11 , 0.00% , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Donald James Gonzales ''(write-in)'' , 5 , 0.00% , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Sheldon Yeu Howard ''(write-in)'' , 2 , 0.00% , 0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Uncommitted , colspan="2" , 3 , - ! Total ! 1,924,970 ! 100% ! 172

Green primary

The 2012 California

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

presidential primary took place on June 5, 2012, as part of the 2012 Green Party presidential primaries.

Libertarian primary

The 2012 California

Libertarian Party Active parties by country Defunct parties by country Organizations associated with Libertarian parties See also * Liberal parties by country * List of libertarian organizations * Lists of political parties Lists of political part ...

presidential primary took place on June 5, 2012, as part of the 2012 Libertarian Party presidential primaries. The primary was non-binding, and took place after

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 ...

had already won the Libertarian nomination at the Party's 2012 convention.

Other parties

American Independent

The

American Independent Party The American Independent Party (AIP) is a far-right political party in the United States that was established in 1967. The AIP is best known for its nomination of former Democratic Governor George Wallace of Alabama, who carried five states in ...

, a

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

and

paleoconservative Paleoconservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism in the United States stressing American nationalism, Christian ethics, regionalism, and traditionalist conservatism. Paleoconservatism's concerns overlap with those of the ...

political party that formed when endorsing the candidacy of

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Alabama for four terms. A member of the Democratic Party, he is best remembered for his staunch segregationist and ...

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. * Januar ...

held a small presidential primary on June 5. It was won by Edward C. Noonan. However, the party would instead opt to nominate

Tom Hoefling Thomas Conrad Hoefling (born December 20, 1960) is an American activist and politician, who was the founder and national chairman of America's Party. Hoefling was the party's 2012 and 2016 presidential nominee, after seeking the nomination of th ...

for president.

Peace and Freedom

General election

Candidate Ballot Access: * Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan, Republican * Barack Obama/Joseph Biden, Democratic * Gary Johnson/James P. Gray, Libertarian * Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala, Green * Tom Hoefling/Robert Ornelas, Independent * Roseanne Barr/Cindy Sheehan, Peace and Freedom Write-In Candidate Access: * Virgil Goode/Jim Clymer, Constitution * Rocky Anderson/Luis J. Rodriguez, Justice * James Harris/Maura DeLuca, Socialist Workers * Stewart Alexander/Alejandro Mendoza, Socialist * Jerry White/Phyllis Scherrer, Socialist Equality * Stephen Durham/Christina Lopez, Freedom Socialist * Ron Paul/Andrew Napolitano

Results

By county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

(largest city: Chico) *

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

(largest town:

Truckee Truckee is an incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 16,180, reflecting an increase of 2,316 from the 13,864 counted in the 2000 Census and having the 316th highes ...

) *

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

(largest community: Weaverville)

Outcome by city

Official outcomes by city.

References

External links

The Green Papers
for California
The Green Papers
Major state elections in chronological order {{U.S. presidential primaries

U.S. 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 States ...

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 gather ...