During the 2012 presidential primaries, 51 individuals sought the nomination of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. Incumbent President

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 ...

won the nomination unanimously at the 2012 Democratic National Convention and was re-elected as president in the general election by defeating Republican nominee Mitt Romney. As expected for the incumbent president, Obama won every primary election, but faced more difficulty than projected. Fifteen additional candidates appeared on primary ballots, and of these, four appeared on more than one ballot. Four qualified for convention delegates including: attorney John Wolfe, Jr., prison inmate

Keith Russell Judd Keith Russell Judd (born May 23, 1958) is an American convicted criminal and perennial candidate for political office. His nicknames include "Dark Priest"Dana MilbankRichard Mourdock and Keith Judd vs. Washington ''The Washington Post'', May 11, ...

, perennial candidate Jim Rogers, and anti-abortion activist

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 ...

. Each of these had their delegates stripped prior to the convention due to technicalities. Thirty-four additional candidates filed with the

Federal Election Commission The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...

(FEC) to run for president, but either withdrew from the race before the primaries or did not appear on any primary ballots.

Candidates

The following individuals formally announced their campaigns for the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 2012 and/or filed as a candidate for such with the

(FEC).

Incumbent

Challengers

On multiple primary ballots

The following candidates appeared on more than one primary ballot.

On one primary ballot

The following candidates appeared on only one primary ballot.

FEC-filed candidates

The following presidential candidates filed with the FEC, but either did not appear on any primary ballots or withdrew before the primary elections. * Warren Roderick Ashe
FEC Filing
* George Ballard
FEC Filing
* Will Blakley
FEC Filing
* James Carroll
FEC Filing
* Willie Carter
FEC Filing
,
Website
* Perry Duwhile Coleman
FEC Filing
* Anthony Joseph Cronin Jr.
FEC filing
* Darren Dunsmoor
FEC filing
* Mills Wrenal Godwin
FEC filing
* Patrice Eloise Hardcastle
FEC filing
* Raphael Herman
FEC filing
* Princess Khadajah M. Jacob-Fambro
FEC filing
* Cody Judy
FEC filing
,
Website
* Dennis Knill
FEC filing
,
Website
* Leah Lax
FEC filing
,
Website
* Kip Lee
FEC filing
* Mark Levetin
FEC filing
* James A. Miller
FEC filing
* Mike Moloney
FEC filing
* Dave Montgomery
FEC filing
* Deonia Neveu
FEC filing
,
Website
* Jennifer Ney
FEC filing
* Dean A. Phillips
FEC filing
* Jeff Proud
FEC filing
,
Website
* Sarah Rockefeller
FEC filing
* Philip Rogone
FEC filing
* Wil Stand
FEC filing
* Gary Stephens
FEC filing
* Dr. Damian Stone
FEC filing
* George Washington Williams
FEC filing
* Michael Yost
FEC filing

Speculated

The following individuals were the object of presidential speculation in past media reports, but did not signal an interest in running. File:Mike Gravel.jpg, Former U.S. Senator

Mike Gravel Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician and writer who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who later in life twice ran for ...

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. ...

File:Alan Grayson Updated Headshot (cropped).jpg, Former

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Alan Grayson Alan Mark Grayson (born March 13, 1958) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2009 to 2011 and from 2013 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was defeated for reelection in 2010 by Republican Daniel ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Declined to run

The following individuals speculated to run for the Democratic Party's 2012 presidential nomination, announced they would not run. File:Hillary Rodham Clinton and Usama al-Nujayfi (cropped).jpg, Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

of New York File:Howard Dean addresses the Lib Dem Conference (3341865771) (cropped).jpg, Former

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 2009 ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

File:US Special Envoy to the Great Lakes (9782991231) (cropped).jpg, Former Senator

Russ Feingold Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee in the 2016 election for the same U ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

File:AlvinGreene1 (cropped).jpg, Former Senate nominee Alvin Greene of

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

File:Dennis Kucinich, Official Portrait, 112th Congress.jpg,

Dennis Kucinich of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

File:Ralph Nader (8136349614) (cropped).jpg, Consumer advocate

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the U ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

File:Bernie Sanders 113th Congress.jpg, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont

References

External links

2012 Presidential Form 2 Filers
at the

(FEC) {{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic Party (United States) presidential candidates, 2012 Democratic Party (United States) politicians 2012 United States Democratic presidential primaries