2012 Colorado Republican presidential caucuses

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2012 Colorado Republican caucuses
Flag of Colorado.svg
  2008 February 7, 2012 (2012-02-07) 2016  
  NV
MO  
  Rick Santorum by Gage Skidmore 2 (1).jpg Mitt Romney by Gage Skidmore 6 cropped.jpg
Candidate Rick Santorum Mitt Romney
Home state Pennsylvania Massachusetts
Delegate count614
Popular vote26,61423,012
Percentage40.3%34.9%

  Newt Gingrich by Gage Skidmore 3 (cropped).jpg Ron Paul by Gage Skidmore 3 (crop 2).jpg
Candidate Newt Gingrich Ron Paul
Home state Georgia Texas
Delegate count04
Popular vote8,4457,759
Percentage12.8%11.8%

2012 Colorado Republican Primaries Counties.svg

The 2012 Colorado Republican presidential caucuses took place on 7 February 2012. It was part of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries.

Contents

The Republican caucuses were held on "Republican Party Precinct Caucus Day" (February 7, 2012). [1] Caucus locations opened on 9 PM, February 7, 2012, [2] with 36 delegates at stake; 33 of which are tied to the caucuses while 3 are unpledged RNC delegates. [3] The event occurred alongside the Minnesota Republican caucuses as well the Missouri Republican primary. The race was widely expected to be won by Mitt Romney even on the day of the caucus, but a strong surge by Rick Santorum across all three races that day carried him to a close victory. However, the delegates were not legally bound to follow voter preferences, and most voted for Romney.

Background

The Colorado legislature adopted the caucus system in a special session called by Governor John F. Shafroth in August 1910 as part of a package of progressive reforms. It was seen as a way to limit the power of party bosses and to attract more grassroots involvement. The caucus system was abolished in favor of presidential primaries in 1992 but restored in 2002 with the defeat of Amendment 29 [4] and cost considerations. The fully restored Colorado Caucus was in 2004. [5]

Of the candidates in the 2008 Colorado Republican presidential caucuses, two candidates - Mitt Romney and Ron Paul - would return to contest the state once again 2012. In 2008, these candidates had won 60.11% and 8.42% of the vote respectively. [6]

Polling

Polling in 2010 and 2011 showed mixed results, with Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich being the favoured candidate depending on the poll. Polls leading up to election day showed Romney as the frontrunner.

Poll sourceDate1st2nd3rdOther
Caucus results [7]

Turnout: 66,091

Feb. 7, 2012 Rick Santorum 40.3% America Symbol.svg Mitt Romney

34.9%

Newt Gingrich

12.8%

Ron Paul 11.8%, Rick Perry 0.1%, Jon Huntsman 0.1%, Michele Bachmann 0.0%, Others 0.1%
Public Policy Polling [8]

Margin of error: ±3.2% Sample size: 938

Feb. 4–6, 2012 Mitt Romney
37%
Rick Santorum

27%

Newt Gingrich

21%

Ron Paul 13%, Someone else/Not sure 2%
Public Policy Polling [9]

Margin of error: ±4.3% Sample size: 527

Feb. 4, 2012Mitt Romney
40%
Rick Santorum

26%

Newt Gingrich

18%

Ron Paul 12%, Someone else/Not sure 3%
Public Policy Polling [10]

Margin of error: ±4.4% Sample size: 500

Dec. 1–4, 2011Newt Gingrich
37%
Mitt Romney

18%

Michele Bachmann

9%

Ron Paul 6%, Rick Perry 4%, Rick Santorum 4%, Jon Huntsman 3%, Gary Johnson 1%, Undecided 16%
Project New West/Keating Research [11]

Margin of error: ±7.2% Sample size: –

Sep. 19–22, 2011Mitt Romney
24%
Rick Perry
20%
Michele Bachmann

7%

Newt Gingrich 7%, Herman Cain 5%, undecided 19%
Public Policy Polling [12]

Margin of error: ±5.5% Sample size: 314

Aug. 4–7, 2011Rick Perry
20%
Mitt Romney
20%
Michele Bachmann

12%

Sarah Palin 11%, Ron Paul 8%, Herman Cain 7%, Newt Gingrich 6%, Tim Pawlenty 3%, Jon Huntsman 2%, someone else/undecided 11%
Mitt Romney
22%
Rick Perry
21%
Michele Bachmann

15%

Newt Gingrich 9%, Ron Paul 7%, Tim Pawlenty 6%, Herman Cain 5%, Jon Huntsman 2%, someone else/undecided 13%
Public Policy Polling [13]

Margin of error: ±4.9% Sample size: 400

Feb. 4–6, 2011Mitt Romney
19%
Mike Huckabee
16%
Sarah Palin
16%
Newt Gingrich 12%, Ron Paul 9%, Tim Pawlenty 7%, John Thune 4%, Mitch Daniels 3%, someone else/undecided 16%
Public Policy Polling [14]

Margin of error: ±5.3% Sample size: 341

Oct. 30–31, 2010Mitt Romney
22%
Newt Gingrich
17%
Sarah Palin
17%
Mike Huckabee 14%, Tim Pawlenty 6%, Mike Pence 3%, John Thune 2%, Mitch Daniels 1%, someone else/undecided 18%
Public Policy Polling [15]

Margin of error: ±4.6% Sample size: 448

May 14–16, 2010Sarah Palin
29%
Mitt Romney
25%
Mike Huckabee

18%

Newt Gingrich 16%, Ron Paul 9%, undecided 3%
Public Policy Polling [16]

Margin of error: ±4.4% Sample size: 497

Mar. 5–8, 2010Mitt Romney
44%
Sarah Palin

25%

Mike Huckabee

17%

Undecided 14%

Results

Colorado Republican caucus, February 7, 2012 [17]
CandidateVotesPercentageProjected delegate countConvention Results [18] [19]
MSNBC

[20]

GP

[21]

Rick Santorum 26,61440.31%666
Mitt Romney 23,01234.85%131413
Newt Gingrich 8,44512.79%000
Ron Paul 7,75911.75%300
Rick Perry 520.08%000
Jon Huntsman 460.07%000
Michele Bachmann 280.04%000
Others710.11%000
Unprojected delegates:1400
Unpledged delegates:01617
Totals:66,027100.00%363636
Key:Withdrew
prior to contest

Conventions

There is no formal system of allocating delegates to candidates in any step of the election process. At each meeting the participants decides what the best course of action is.
None of the 36 delegates are legally bound to vote for a candidate. [22]

Convention Results [18] [23]
Candidate1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7thStateParty leadersTotal
Uncommitted22220114317
Mitt Romney 00101218013
Rick Santorum 1101201006
Total2112336

Analysis

The Colorado caucuses were held on the same day as elections in Minnesota and Missouri. All three contests broke for Santorum. This was seen as undermining Romney's status as frontrunner. [24]

References

  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 10, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Colorado GOP moves up 2012 caucuses to Feb. 7". Denver Post. Associated Press. September 24, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  3. "Republican Delegate Allocation". The Green Papers. Retrieved December 3, 2011.
  4. 2002 Amendment 29
  5. Daum, Courtenay W.; Straayer, John A.; Duffy, Robert J. (2011). State of Change. University Press of Colorado. ISBN   9781457111549.
  6. "2008 Colorado Republican Caucus". Colorado Republican Party. Archived from the original on May 28, 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2008.
  7. Caucus results
  8. Public Policy Polling
  9. Public Policy Polling
  10. Public Policy Polling
  11. Project New West/Keating Research
  12. Public Policy Polling
  13. Public Policy Polling
  14. Public Policy Polling
  15. Public Policy Polling
  16. Public Policy Polling
  17. "2012 Colorado GOP Presidential Caucus Results". Colorado Republican Party . Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  18. 1 2 "National Delegate Results". cologop.org. Colorado Republican Party. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  19. The Republic,CO GOP Assembly Archived 2012-04-18 at the Wayback Machine (April 22, 2012)
  20. "Republican Caucuses " (May 7, 2012). MSNBC.
  21. "Republican Caucus"
  22. Trinko, Katrina (February 16, 2012). "Ron Paul's delegate strategy targets the unbound - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  23. Bartels, Lynn (April 14, 2012). "Colorado Republicans split delegate votes between Romney, unified Paul and Santorum supporters". denverpost.com. Denver Post. Retrieved April 23, 2012.
  24. "Rick Santorum Sweeps: Stops Mitt Romney in Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado". ABC News. Retrieved July 7, 2024.