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Turnout | 74.36% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Arizona |
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The 2012 United States presidential election in Arizona 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. State voters chose 11 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. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Romney would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Arizona was won by Romney with a 9.06% margin. Obama remains the only president to win two terms in office without carrying Arizona either time since the state's founding in 1912. Arizona is also one of only two states that voted against Obama in both 2008 and 2012 that his vice president Joe Biden would go on to win in 2020, the other being Georgia.
Until 2020, Arizona had been won by the Republican nominee for president in every election since 1952, except when Bill Clinton narrowly carried the state over Bob Dole in 1996. No Democratic presidential nominee has won a majority in the state since Harry S. Truman in 1948, and the 2012 election remains the most recent presidential election in which any candidate won a majority of the vote. This is also the last time that Arizona has backed the losing candidate in a presidential election and the last time a Democrat won the presidency without winning Arizona.
Incumbent President Barack Obama won all the delegates.
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![]() Arizona results by county Mitt Romney |
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The Republican primary was a closed primary that took place on February 28, 2012. [1] More than 1,130,000 registered Republican voters participated in the event, the purpose of which was to select delegates from the state to attend the Republican National Convention on behalf of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. The Republican National Committee removed half of Arizona's delegate allocation because the state committee moved its Republican primary before March 6. Arizona therefore held a ballot to select 29 proportionally-allocated delegates. This election occurred the same day as the Michigan Republican primary. The Arizona primary was set as a winner-take-all contest, another violation of RNC delegate allocation rules, which require proportional allocation for all primaries held before April 1. Endorsements from 2008 primary rival and U.S. Senator John McCain [2] and Governor Jan Brewer [3] helped add to the prospects of a victory for Romney in Arizona.
The small alternative newspaper Tucson Weekly, for the second election in a row, has sponsored an event called "Project White House" [4] in which it gets as many ordinary citizens on the ballot as it possibly can. Afterward, a series of "reality show style" competitions occurred, including candidate meet-and-greets, and two televised debates which were sponsored by the Tucson Weekly, a local public-access television show called Illegal Knowledge, and local public television stations. [5]
The two debates took place on February 18 and February 19, 2012, both were commercial-free, one hour long each, and both aired on Access Tucson while they were streamed live on the internet. [6] [7] [8] [9] Both debates were produced in conjunction with Project White House and Jim Nintzel of the Tucson Weekly.
The first debate, held on the 18th at 8 pm MST, produced by Illegal Knowledge [6] and hosted by Dave Maass of San Diego CityBeat, [10] had nine participants, composed of eight lesser known Republican candidates (Donald Benjamin, Simon Bollander, Cesar Cisneros, Kip Dean, Sarah Gonzales, Al "Dick" Perry, Charles Skelley and Jim Terr) and one Green Party candidate (Michael Oatman). [7] A press release regarding this first debate was distributed which invited all candidates listed on either Republican or Green Party ballots in Arizona to the first debate, [11] although none of the major Republican or Green Party candidates appeared.
The second debate, held on the 19th at 7pm MST, produced by Access Tucson [8] and hosted by both Dave Maass of San Diego CityBeat and Amanda Hurley of The University of Arizona School of Journalism, [10] was restricted only to Republican candidates and featured seven of the eight lesser known Republican candidates from the previous night (less Cesar Cisneros). [9]
There was a third Arizona debate which took place in Mesa, AZ on February 22, 2012, but was not associated with Project White House and had only invited the four major Republican candidates to participate. [12] [13]
Two lesser known candidates appearing in the first debates, Sarah Gonzales (who placed sixth) and Michael Oatman (who placed tied for third), placed ahead of their better known Republican and Green Party counterparts (Buddy Roemer and Gerard Davis respectively) in the Arizona Presidential Preference Election Results from February 28, 2012. [14]
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, Former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum were contesting and campaigning in the Arizona primary.
Televised debates in Arizona were held on February 18 and 19, 2012, on Public-access television [15] and February 22, 2012, on CNN. Only the major Republican candidates, except for Roemer [16] , were invited to the third, and none of them attended the first two.
Twenty-three candidates appeared on the presidential primary ballot, [17] 11 of whom are residents of the state. [18]
Arizona was allocated 29 delegates because it moved its primary to February 28. [19]
Voter turnout = 45.3% [20]
Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates [22] |
---|---|---|---|
Mitt Romney | 239,167 | 46.87% | 26 |
Rick Santorum | 138,031 | 27.05% | 0 |
Newt Gingrich | 81,748 | 16.02% | 0 |
Ron Paul | 43,952 | 8.61% | 3 |
Rick Perry (withdrawn) | 2,023 | 0.40% | 0 |
Sarah Gonzales | 1,544 | 0.30% | 0 |
Buddy Roemer (withdrawn) | 692 | 0.14% | 0 |
Paul Sims | 530 | 0.10% | 0 |
Cesar Cisneros | 418 | 0.08% | 0 |
Mark Callahan | 358 | 0.07% | 0 |
Al "Dick" Perry | 310 | 0.06% | 0 |
Donald Benjamin | 223 | 0.04% | 0 |
Michael Levinson | 217 | 0.04% | 0 |
Kip Dean | 198 | 0.04% | 0 |
Ronald Zack | 156 | 0.03% | 0 |
Christopher Hill | 139 | 0.03% | 0 |
Frank Lynch | 110 | 0.02% | 0 |
Wayne Charles Arnett | 96 | 0.02% | 0 |
Raymond Scott Perkins | 90 | 0.02% | 0 |
Matt Welch | 86 | 0.02% | 0 |
Jim Terr | 59 | 0.01% | 0 |
Charles Skelley | 57 | 0.01% | 0 |
Simon Bollander | 54 | 0.01% | 0 |
Total: | 510,258 | 100.00% | 29 |
Write-in candidate access:
2012 United States presidential election in Arizona [23] | ||||||
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Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
Republican | Mitt Romney | Paul Ryan | 1,233,654 | 53.48% | 11 | |
Democratic | Barack Obama (incumbent) | Joe Biden (incumbent) | 1,025,232 | 44.45% | 0 | |
Libertarian | Gary Johnson | Jim Gray | 32,100 | 1.39% | 0 | |
Green | Jill Stein | Cheri Honkala | 7,816 | 0.34% | 0 | |
Constitution | Virgil Goode | Jim Clymer | 289 | 0.01% | 0 | |
Justice | Rocky Anderson | Luis J. Rodriguez | 119 | 0.01% | 0 | |
Other Write-In | Other Write-In | 7,349 | 0.32% | 0 | ||
Totals | 2,306,559 | 100.00% | 11 | |||
County | Mitt Romney Republican | Barack Obama Democratic | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total | ||||
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# | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
Apache | 8,250 | 31.83% | 17,147 | 66.16% | 520 | 2.01% | -8,897 | -34.33% | 25,917 |
Cochise | 29,497 | 59.95% | 18,546 | 37.69% | 1,158 | 2.35% | 10,951 | 22.26% | 49,201 |
Coconino | 21,220 | 40.84% | 29,257 | 56.30% | 1,485 | 2.86% | -8,037 | -15.46% | 51,962 |
Gila | 13,455 | 62.31% | 7,697 | 35.64% | 443 | 2.05% | 5,758 | 26.67% | 21,595 |
Graham | 8,076 | 67.84% | 3,609 | 30.31% | 220 | 1.85% | 4,467 | 37.53% | 11,905 |
Greenlee | 1,592 | 53.32% | 1,310 | 43.87% | 84 | 2.81% | 282 | 9.45% | 2,986 |
La Paz | 3,714 | 64.76% | 1,880 | 32.78% | 141 | 2.46% | 1,834 | 31.98% | 5,735 |
Maricopa | 749,885 | 54.30% | 602,288 | 43.61% | 28,786 | 2.08% | 147,597 | 10.69% | 1,380,959 |
Mohave | 49,168 | 69.91% | 19,533 | 27.77% | 1,627 | 2.31% | 29,635 | 42.14% | 70,328 |
Navajo | 19,884 | 53.07% | 16,945 | 45.23% | 636 | 1.70% | 2,939 | 7.84% | 37,465 |
Pima | 174,779 | 45.61% | 201,251 | 52.52% | 7,143 | 1.86% | -26,472 | -6.91% | 383,173 |
Pinal | 62,079 | 57.12% | 44,306 | 40.77% | 2,297 | 2.11% | 17,773 | 16.35% | 108,682 |
Santa Cruz | 4,235 | 30.44% | 9,486 | 68.19% | 190 | 1.37% | -5,251 | -37.75% | 13,911 |
Yavapai | 64,468 | 64.04% | 33,918 | 33.69% | 2,281 | 2.27% | 30,550 | 30.35% | 100,667 |
Yuma | 23,352 | 55.50% | 18,059 | 42.92% | 662 | 1.57% | 5,293 | 12.58% | 42,073 |
Totals | 1,233,654 | 53.48% | 1,025,232 | 44.45% | 47,673 | 2.07% | 208,422 | 9.03% | 2,306,559 |
Romney won 6 of 9 districts, including two that elected Democrats. [24]
District | Obama | Romney | Representative |
---|---|---|---|
1st | 47.89% | 50.42% | Ann Kirkpatrick |
2nd | 48.37% | 49.94% | Ron Barber |
3rd | 61.44% | 36.94% | Raúl Grijalva |
4th | 31.02% | 67.19% | Paul Gosar |
5th | 34.56% | 63.76% | Matt Salmon |
6th | 38.82% | 59.52% | David Schweikert |
7th | 71.7% | 26.51% | Ed Pastor |
8th | 36.87% | 61.68% | Trent Franks |
9th | 51.12% | 46.59% | Kyrsten Sinema |
The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John McCain, the senior senator from Arizona, and Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska. Obama became the first African American to be elected to the presidency, as well as being only the third sitting United States senator elected president, joining Warren G. Harding and John F. Kennedy. Meanwhile, this was only the second successful all-senator ticket since the 1960 election and is the only election where both major party nominees were sitting senators. This was the first election since 1952 in which neither the incumbent president nor vice president was on the ballot, as well as the first election since 1928 in which neither ran for the nomination.
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-elected to a second term. They defeated the Republican ticket of former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
The following is a timeline of major events leading up to the United States presidential election of 2012. The election was the 57th quadrennial United States presidential election held on November 6, 2012.
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 election. There were 2,286 delegates chosen, and a candidate needed to accumulate 1,144 delegate votes at the convention to win the nomination. The caucuses allocated delegates to the respective state delegations to the national convention, but the actual election of the delegates were, many times, at a later date. Delegates were elected in different ways that vary from state to state. They could be elected at local conventions, selected from slates submitted by the candidates, selected at committee meetings, or elected directly at the caucuses and primaries.
A series of political debates were held prior to and during the 2012 Republican primaries, among candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in the national election of 2012. The first debate occurred on May 5, 2011, in Greenville, South Carolina, and was hosted by Fox News, while the last debate was held February 22, 2012, in Mesa, Arizona, and was hosted by CNN.
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The 2012 United States presidential election in New Hampshire 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. New Hampshire voters chose four 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.
The 2012 United States presidential election in South Carolina 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. South Carolina voters chose 9 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.
The 2012 United States presidential election in Michigan 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. Voters chose 16 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.
The 2012 United States presidential election in California 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. California voters chose 55 electors, the most out of any state, 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.
The 2012 United States presidential election in Connecticut 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. Connecticut voters chose seven 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. Obama and Biden carried Connecticut with 58.1% of the popular vote to Romney's and Ryan's 40.7%, thus winning the state's seven electoral votes. Romney managed to flip the traditionally Republican Litchfield County, which Obama had won in 2008. As of the 2020 United States presidential election, this was the last election that the Democratic presidential nominee won Windham County.
The 2012 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 General Election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Georgia voters chose 16 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.
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The 2012 Arizona Republican presidential primary was a closed primary that took place on February 28, 2012. More than 1,130,000 registered Republican voters participated in the event, the purpose of which was to select delegates from the state to attend the Republican National Convention on behalf of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. The Republican National Committee removed half of Arizona's delegate allocation because the state committee moved its Republican primary before March 6. Arizona therefore held a ballot to select 29 proportionally-allocated delegates. This election occurred the same day as the Michigan Republican primary. The Arizona primary was set as a winner-take-all contest, another violation of RNC delegate allocation rules, which require proportional allocation for all primaries held before April 1. Endorsements from 2008 primary rival and U.S. Senator John McCain and Governor Jan Brewer helped add to the prospects of a victory for Romney in Arizona.