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2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania

The 2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania 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. The primary election to select the Democratic and Republican candidates had been held on April 24, 2012.[1] Pennsylvania voters chose 20 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. Pennsylvania's electoral vote number was a reduction from the 2008 delegation, which had 21 electors. This change was due to reapportionment following the 2010 United States Census.[2] Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes are allotted on a winner-take-all basis.[3]

2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania

← 2008 November 6, 2012 2016 →
 
Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Illinois Massachusetts
Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan
Electoral vote 20 0
Popular vote 2,990,274 2,680,434
Percentage 51.97% 46.59%


President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama received 51.97% of the vote, beating Republican challenger Mitt Romney's 46.59%.[4] Also on the ballot were physician Jill Stein of the Green Party and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, who received 0.37% and 0.87%, respectively.[4] Other candidates could run as write-in candidates, which received a total 0.2% of the vote. The state had been considered likely, but not certain, to go to Obama.[5] While the state had voted for a Democrat since 1992, it remained competitive, especially after Bush's loss of only 2.5% in 2004. Its competitiveness was attributable to the stark contrast between the state's diverse, urban voters in areas such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh; and rural, blue-collar voters in the rest of the state. However, massive margins in the urban regions of the state and victories in the Philadelphia suburbs, Lehigh Valley, Scranton, and Erie delivered a considerable victory for the president. Regardless, Romney improved on John McCain's 10.32% loss in the state in 2008, and flipped five counties that voted for Obama four years prior.[6]

Five counties that voted for Obama in 2008 voted for Romney in 2012. This included Cambria County, which made Obama the first Democrat to win the presidency without carrying the county since Woodrow Wilson in 1916. Chester County, a Philadelphia suburb, also voted for Romney, though it would flip back into the Democratic column in 2016[7] and remain there in 2020.[8] Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Elk County since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, and the first to do so without carrying Carbon County since John F. Kennedy in 1960. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that Chester County voted for the Republican candidate and the last time that Luzerne County voted for the Democratic candidate. This is also the last time Pennsylvania voted more Democratic than the nation as a whole. This remains the most recent presidential election where Pennsylvania voted to the left of Colorado and Virginia and to the right of Wisconsin and Iowa.

Primary elections edit

Democratic primary edit

Incumbent Barack Obama ran unopposed on the Democratic primary ballot.[1] He received 616,102 votes.[1] There were 19,082 write-in votes.[9][10] In the floor vote taken at the Democratic National Convention, 242 Pennsylvania delegates voted for Obama,[10] while the other 8 of the state's 250 allocated votes were not announced.[10]

Republican primary edit

Four candidates were on the Republican primary ballot: Mitt Romney, former Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum, U.S. Representative from Texas Ron Paul, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.[1] His home state was set to be the make-or-break primary for Santorum.[11] He had just lost 3 primaries to Romney, and Romney appeared poised to become the presumptive nominee by achieving a prohibitive lead.[11]

As momentum in the Republican race built for Romney, Santorum suspended his campaign for four days to meet with 'movement conservatives' to strategize.[12] Rather than returning to campaigning the next Monday, Rick and Karen Santorum canceled campaign events scheduled right after Easter weekend to be in the hospital with their youngest daughter.[13]

In deference to the sick child, Romney ceased airing attack ads, replacing them with positive introductory ones.

On April 10, Santorum formally suspended his campaign. On May 7, he endorsed Romney.[14] Santorum and Gingrich both released their delegates to Romney in August, shortly before the Republican National Convention.[15]

Candidate Votes[1] Percentage Projected delegates[16] Actual delegate vote[17]
Mitt Romney 468,374 57.8% 31 67
Rick Santorum 149,056 18.4% 4 0
Ron Paul 106,148 13.1% 5 5
Newt Gingrich 84,537 10.4% 3 0
Write-in votes[9] 2,819 0.3%
Unprojected delegates 29
Total: 810,934 100% 72 72

General election edit

Polling edit

In statewide opinion polling, incumbent Barack Obama consistently led challenger Mitt Romney by a margin of between 2 and 12 percentage points.[18] Analysts rated Pennsylvania as a "likely Democratic" or "Democratic-leaning" state in the presidential race.[5] On the morning of the election, polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight estimated that there was a 99% likelihood that Obama would win Pennsylvania's electoral votes.[19] At the time, Pennsylvania's electoral votes had gone to the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since Bill Clinton won it in 1992.[3] The average of the last three polls had Obama leading Romney 51% to 46%, which was very close to the actual result.[20]

During the summer, there was significant spending on political advertisements in Pennsylvania, by both the Obama campaign and pro-Romney groups such as Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity.[21] However, because Obama maintained a consistent lead in polling, Pennsylvania came to be considered a "safe state" for Obama, and campaign advertising subsided substantially in August.[21] This changed in October, when pro-Romney groups Restore Our Future and Americans for Job Security spent $3 million on advertising in Pennsylvania.[21] Later that month, the Obama campaign and the Romney campaign both launched their own advertising campaigns in Pennsylvania.[21] On November 1, the Republican National Committee announced that it would spend $3 million on television ads in Pennsylvania in the final days of the campaign.[22] In total, pro-Romney spending in Pennsylvania was estimated to amount to as much as $12 million, much more than Obama campaign spending.[22] The Obama campaign characterized the pro-Romney spending surge as "an act of sheer desperation", while the Romney campaign argued that they had a realistic chance of winning the state.[22] In the end, Obama carried the state by a modest margin, albeit narrower than his 2008 landslide over Senator John McCain.

Results edit

2012 U.S. presidential election in Pennsylvania[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Barack Obama 2,990,274 51.97
Republican Mitt Romney 2,680,434 46.59
Libertarian Gary Johnson 49,991 0.87
Green Jill Stein 21,341 0.37
Other Other 11,630 0.20
Total votes 5,753,670 100.0

By county edit

County[23] Barack Obama
Democratic
Mitt Romney
Republican
Gary Johnson
Libertarian
Jill Stein
Green
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin Total votes cast
# % # % # % # % # % # %
Adams 15,091 35.40% 26,767 62.80% 437 1.03% 162 0.38% 168 0.39% -11,676 -27.40% 42,625
Allegheny 352,687 56.54% 262,039 42.01% 5,196 0.83% 2,159 0.35% 1,746 0.28% 90,648 14.53% 623,827
Armstrong 9,045 30.43% 20,142 67.77% 297 1.00% 118 0.40% 119 0.40% -11,097 -37.34% 29,721
Beaver 37,055 45.86% 42,344 52.41% 794 0.98% 281 0.35% 319 0.39% -5,289 -6.55% 80,793
Bedford 4,788 22.01% 16,702 76.79% 143 0.66% 64 0.29% 53 0.24% -11,914 -54.78% 21,750
Berks 83,011 48.64% 84,702 49.63% 1,832 1.07% 775 0.45% 356 0.21% -1,691 -0.99% 170,676
Blair 16,276 32.32% 33,319 66.16% 464 0.92% 182 0.36% 124 0.25% -17,043 -33.84% 50,365
Bradford 8,624 36.64% 14,410 61.21% 243 1.03% 149 0.63% 114 0.48% -5,786 -24.57% 23,540
Bucks 160,521 49.97% 156,579 48.74% 2,863 0.89% 1,053 0.33% 250 0.08% 3,942 1.23% 321,266
Butler 28,550 31.83% 59,761 66.62% 819 0.91% 315 0.35% 254 0.28% -31,211 -34.79% 89,699
Cambria 24,249 40.06% 35,163 58.10% 712 1.18% 402 0.66% 0 0.00% -10,914 -18.04% 60,526
Cameron 724 34.07% 1,359 63.95% 19 0.89% 9 0.42% 14 0.66% -635 -29.88% 2,125
Carbon 11,580 45.07% 13,504 52.56% 356 1.39% 141 0.55% 113 0.44% -1,924 -7.49% 25,694
Centre 34,176 48.90% 34,001 48.65% 1,049 1.50% 400 0.57% 260 0.37% 175 0.25% 69,886
Chester 124,311 49.22% 124,840 49.43% 2,082 0.82% 740 0.29% 603 0.24% -529 -0.21% 252,576
Clarion 5,056 31.08% 10,828 66.55% 208 1.28% 94 0.58% 84 0.52% -5,772 -35.47% 16,270
Clearfield 11,121 34.62% 20,347 63.34% 339 1.06% 160 0.50% 155 0.48% -9,226 -28.72% 32,122
Clinton 5,734 43.08% 7,303 54.86% 171 1.28% 57 0.43% 46 0.35% -1,569 -11.78% 13,311
Columbia 10,937 42.48% 14,236 55.30% 324 1.26% 126 0.49% 121 0.47% -3,299 -12.82% 25,744
Crawford 13,883 39.02% 20,901 58.75% 436 1.23% 168 0.47% 187 0.52% -7,018 -19.73% 35,575
Cumberland 44,367 39.90% 64,809 58.29% 1,191 1.07% 447 0.40% 377 0.34% -20,442 -18.39% 111,191
Dauphin 64,965 52.26% 57,450 46.22% 1,128 0.91% 465 0.37% 293 0.24% 7,515 6.04% 124,301
Delaware 171,792 60.16% 110,853 38.82% 2,002 0.70% 917 0.32% 0 0.00% 60,939 21.34% 285,564
Elk 5,463 41.14% 7,579 57.08% 117 0.88% 79 0.59% 41 0.31% -2,116 -15.94% 13,279
Erie 68,036 57.12% 49,025 41.16% 1,087 0.91% 471 0.40% 495 0.42% 19,011 15.96% 119,114
Fayette 21,971 45.16% 26,018 53.48% 365 0.75% 151 0.31% 144 0.30% -4,047 -8.32% 48,649
Forest 896 38.55% 1,383 59.51% 23 0.99% 10 0.43% 12 0.52% -487 -20.96% 2,324
Franklin 18,995 30.00% 43,260 68.32% 571 0.90% 252 0.40% 242 0.38% -24,265 -38.32% 63,320
Fulton 1,310 21.06% 4,814 77.38% 50 0.80% 21 0.34% 26 0.42% -3,504 -56.32% 6,221
Greene 5,852 40.23% 8,428 57.94% 116 0.80% 68 0.47% 82 0.56% -2,576 -17.71% 14,546
Huntingdon 5,409 30.57% 11,979 67.71% 135 0.76% 116 0.66% 53 0.30% -6,570 -37.14% 17,692
Indiana 14,473 39.71% 21,257 58.33% 385 1.06% 206 0.57% 123 0.34% -6,784 -18.62% 36,444
Jefferson 4,787 26.33% 13,048 71.78% 173 0.95% 89 0.49% 81 0.44% -8,261 -45.45% 18,178
Juniata 2,547 26.55% 6,862 71.52% 83 0.87% 43 0.45% 60 0.63% -4,315 -44.97% 9,595
Lackawanna 61,838 62.87% 35,085 35.67% 743 0.76% 349 0.35% 336 0.34% 26,753 27.20% 98,351
Lancaster 88,481 39.62% 130,669 58.50% 2,527 1.13% 759 0.34% 915 0.41% -42,188 -18.88% 223,351
Lawrence 17,513 44.69% 21,047 53.71% 334 0.85% 142 0.36% 153 0.39% -3,534 -9.02% 39,189
Lebanon 19,900 35.05% 35,872 63.18% 589 1.04% 219 0.39% 197 0.35% -15,972 -28.13% 56,777
Lehigh 78,283 53.17% 66,874 45.42% 1,331 0.90% 514 0.35% 222 0.15% 11,409 7.75% 147,224
Luzerne 64,307 51.51% 58,325 46.72% 1,261 1.01% 546 0.44% 406 0.33% 5,982 4.79% 124,845
Lycoming 15,203 32.58% 30,658 65.69% 409 0.88% 223 0.48% 176 0.38% -15,455 -33.11% 46,669
McKean 5,297 34.95% 9,545 62.99% 178 1.17% 88 0.58% 46 0.30% -4,248 -28.04% 15,154
Mercer 24,232 47.48% 25,925 50.79% 487 0.95% 219 0.43% 176 0.34% -1,693 -3.31% 51,039
Mifflin 4,273 26.03% 11,939 72.73% 107 0.65% 52 0.32% 45 0.27% -7,666 -46.70% 16,416
Monroe 35,221 55.89% 26,867 42.63% 596 0.95% 233 0.37% 106 0.17% 8,354 13.26% 63,023
Montgomery 233,356 56.52% 174,381 42.24% 3,253 0.79% 1,210 0.29% 669 0.16% 58,975 14.28% 412,869
Montour 3,053 38.85% 4,652 59.19% 96 1.22% 30 0.38% 28 0.36% -1,599 -20.34% 7,859
Northampton 67,606 51.59% 61,446 46.89% 1,188 0.91% 495 0.38% 309 0.24% 6,160 4.70% 131,044
Northumberland 13,072 39.19% 19,518 58.51% 422 1.27% 200 0.60% 144 0.43% -6,446 -19.32% 33,356
Perry 5,685 29.59% 13,120 68.28% 238 1.24% 85 0.44% 87 0.45% -7,435 -38.69% 19,215
Philadelphia 588,806 85.24% 96,467 13.97% 2,892 0.42% 2,162 0.31% 449 0.06% 492,339 71.27% 690,776
Pike 10,210 43.86% 12,786 54.93% 194 0.83% 89 0.38% 0 0.00% -2,576 -11.07% 23,279
Potter 1,897 26.06% 5,231 71.86% 78 1.07% 36 0.49% 37 0.51% -3,334 -45.80% 7,279
Schuylkill 24,546 42.29% 32,278 55.61% 617 1.06% 286 0.49% 321 0.55% -7,732 -13.32% 58,048
Snyder 4,687 31.11% 10,073 66.85% 180 1.19% 62 0.41% 66 0.44% -5,386 -35.74% 15,068
Somerset 9,436 27.69% 23,984 70.38% 334 0.98% 188 0.55% 136 0.40% -14,548 -42.69% 34,078
Sullivan 1,034 35.06% 1,868 63.34% 30 1.02% 17 0.58% 0 0.00% -834 -28.28% 2,949
Susquehanna 6,935 38.28% 10,800 59.62% 202 1.12% 107 0.59% 72 0.40% -3,865 -21.34% 18,116
Tioga 5,357 31.34% 11,342 66.35% 195 1.14% 110 0.64% 90 0.53% -5,985 -35.01% 17,094
Union 6,109 37.39% 9,896 60.57% 184 1.13% 79 0.48% 69 0.42% -3,787 -23.18% 16,337
Venango 7,945 35.70% 13,815 62.07% 299 1.34% 108 0.49% 90 0.40% -5,870 -26.37% 22,257
Warren 6,995 40.44% 10,010 57.86% 205 1.19% 89 0.51% 0 0.00% -3,015 -17.42% 17,299
Washington 40,345 42.48% 53,230 56.04% 854 0.90% 321 0.34% 228 0.24% -12,885 -13.56% 94,978
Wayne 8,396 38.74% 12,896 59.50% 195 0.90% 120 0.55% 67 0.31% -4,500 -20.76% 21,674
Westmoreland 63,722 37.58% 103,932 61.29% 1,426 0.84% 492 0.29% 0 0.00% -40,210 -23.71% 169,572
Wyoming 5,061 42.45% 6,587 55.26% 152 1.28% 72 0.60% 49 0.42% -1,526 -12.81% 11,921
York 73,191 38.52% 113,304 59.63% 1,985 1.04% 749 0.39% 776 0.41% -40,113 -21.11% 190,005
Totals 2,990,274 51.95% 2,680,434 46.57% 49,991 0.87% 21,341 0.37% 13,580 0.24% 309,840 5.38% 5,755,620
 
County Flips:

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican edit

By congressional district edit

Despite losing the state overall, Romney won 13 of the 18 congressional districts.

District Romney Obama Representative
1st 16.89% 82.26% Bob Brady
2nd 8.95% 90.41% Chaka Fattah
3rd 55.60% 43.05% Mike Kelly
4th 57.07% 41.51% Jason Altmire
Scott Perry
5th 56.95% 41.35% Glenn Thompson
6th 50.57% 48.12% Jim Gerlach
7th 50.36% 48.53% Pat Meehan
8th 49.42% 49.35% Mike Fitzpatrick
9th 62.82% 35.87% Bill Shuster
10th 60.11% 38.46% Tom Marino
11th 53.90% 44.57% Lou Barletta
12th 57.81% 40.94% Mark Critz
Keith Rothfus
13th 32.91% 66.17% Allyson Schwartz
14th 30.64% 67.99% Mike Doyle
15th 50.78% 47.87% Charlie Dent
16th 52.35% 46.25% Joe Pitts
17th 43.26% 55.38% Tim Holden
Matt Cartwright
18th 57.95% 40.99% Tim Murphy

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e . Pennsylvania Department of State. 2012. Archived from the original on April 28, 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  2. ^ O'Neill, Brian (October 16, 2011). "Don't let Pa. flunk out of the Electoral College". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. A-2.
  3. ^ a b McNulty, Timothy (September 8, 2012). "Romney campaign not expected to invest much in Pa". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. A-1.
  4. ^ a b c . Pennsylvania Department of State. 2012. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  5. ^ a b Electoral-vote.com labeled Pennsylvania "likely Democratic". Tanenbaum, Andrew S. "Electoral-vote.com". Retrieved October 17, 2012.
    The Washington Post labeled Pennsylvania "lean Democratic". "2012 Election Map: The race for the presidency". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
    CNN labeled Pennsylvania "leaning Obama". Dengo, Sophia; Perry, Bryan; Hayes, John; John, Joel; Slaton, A.D. "CNN Electoral Map". CNN Politics. CNN. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
    The Cook Political Report labeled Pennsylvania "lean Democratic". "Presidential: Maps". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  6. ^ Woodall, Candy. "Joe Biden wins Pennsylvania: Here's how he reclaimed his home state and the 'blue wall'". USA TODAY. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  7. ^ "Pennsylvania Election Results 2016". The New York Times. September 13, 2017. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  8. ^ "Pennsylvania Election Results". The New York Times. November 3, 2020. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  9. ^ a b "2012 General Primary Write-in Totals" (PDF). Pennsylvania Department of State. 2012. (PDF) from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  10. ^ a b c "2012 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions: Pennsylvania Democrat". The Green Papers. 2012. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  11. ^ a b Fitzgerald, Thomas; Worden, Amy (April 6, 2012). "Santorum meets with conservatives as Romney, in Pa., looks to the fall". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. A1.
  12. ^ "Santorum Taking Four-Day Break from Campaign Trail". Fox Television Stations, Inc. April 4, 2012.
  13. ^ "Santorum Cancels Monday Events to Be With Ill Child". The Wall Street Journal. April 7, 2012.
  14. ^ Walshe, Shushannah (May 7, 2012). "Rick Santorum Formally Endorses Mitt Romney". The Note. ABC News. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  15. ^ Camia, Catalina (August 24, 2012). "Santorum releases GOP convention delegates". USA Today. Retrieved October 24, 2012.
  16. ^ "Primaries & Caucuses: Results: Pennsylvania". CNN Politics. CNN. July 30, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  17. ^ When Pennsylvania delegation chair Tom Corbett announced the Pennsylvania delegates' votes on the convention floor, he said that sixty-seven delegates had voted for Romney and five had voted for Paul Ryan. However, since Ryan was not a candidate (rather, he was Romney's running mate), it is generally assumed that Corbett misspoke—that the five votes were actually for Ron Paul.
    • "2012 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions: Republican Convention". The Green Papers. 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
    • Brown, Catherine (August 29, 2012). "NJ Puts Romney Over the Top". NBC10 Philadelphia. Retrieved October 20, 2012. Later, as the roll call continued, the Pennsylvania delegation led by Gov. Tom Corbett (R), cast 67 of its delegate votes for Romney, the rest went to Ron Paul, although Corbett may have actually said 'Paul Ryan,' in a possible slip of the tongue.
    • Doherty, Brian (August 29, 2012). "Ron Paul's Followers and the GOP: Where To From Here, and How?". Reason. Retrieved October 20, 2012. In the end, Paul got around 190 delegates votes (if we presume Pennsylvania's five for 'Paul Ryan' were actually meant for Ron Paul).
  18. ^ "Pennsylvania: Romney vs. Obama". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  19. ^ Silver, Nate. "FiveThirtyEight". The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  20. ^ "2012 Presidential Election Polls - PA". US Election Atlas.
  21. ^ a b c d Levy, Marc (October 30, 2012). "Romney, Obama campaigns resume Pa. ad campaigns". Philly.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  22. ^ a b c Levy, Marc (November 1, 2012). "Romney, RNC splashing down in Pa. in 11th-hour bid". Deseret News. Associated Press. from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  23. ^ "Pennsylvania Elections – County Breakdown Results". electionreturns.pa.gov. November 6, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2019.

External links edit

  • The Green Papers: for Pennsylvania
  • The Green Papers: Major state elections in chronological order

2012, united, states, presidential, election, pennsylvania, main, article, 2012, united, states, presidential, election, took, place, november, 2012, part, 2012, united, states, presidential, election, which, states, plus, district, columbia, participated, pri. Main article 2012 United States presidential election The 2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania 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 The primary election to select the Democratic and Republican candidates had been held on April 24 2012 1 Pennsylvania voters chose 20 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 Pennsylvania s electoral vote number was a reduction from the 2008 delegation which had 21 electors This change was due to reapportionment following the 2010 United States Census 2 Pennsylvania s 20 electoral votes are allotted on a winner take all basis 3 2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania 2008 November 6 2012 2016 Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney Party Democratic Republican Home state Illinois Massachusetts Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan Electoral vote 20 0 Popular vote 2 990 274 2 680 434 Percentage 51 97 46 59 County ResultsMunicipality ResultsPrecinct Results Obama 40 50 50 60 60 70 70 80 80 90 90 100 Romney 40 50 50 60 60 70 70 80 80 90 90 100 Tie President before election Barack Obama Democratic Elected President Barack Obama Democratic Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama received 51 97 of the vote beating Republican challenger Mitt Romney s 46 59 4 Also on the ballot were physician Jill Stein of the Green Party and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party who received 0 37 and 0 87 respectively 4 Other candidates could run as write in candidates which received a total 0 2 of the vote The state had been considered likely but not certain to go to Obama 5 While the state had voted for a Democrat since 1992 it remained competitive especially after Bush s loss of only 2 5 in 2004 Its competitiveness was attributable to the stark contrast between the state s diverse urban voters in areas such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and rural blue collar voters in the rest of the state However massive margins in the urban regions of the state and victories in the Philadelphia suburbs Lehigh Valley Scranton and Erie delivered a considerable victory for the president Regardless Romney improved on John McCain s 10 32 loss in the state in 2008 and flipped five counties that voted for Obama four years prior 6 Five counties that voted for Obama in 2008 voted for Romney in 2012 This included Cambria County which made Obama the first Democrat to win the presidency without carrying the county since Woodrow Wilson in 1916 Chester County a Philadelphia suburb also voted for Romney though it would flip back into the Democratic column in 2016 7 and remain there in 2020 8 Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Elk County since Franklin D Roosevelt in 1940 and the first to do so without carrying Carbon County since John F Kennedy in 1960 As of the 2020 presidential election this is the last time that Chester County voted for the Republican candidate and the last time that Luzerne County voted for the Democratic candidate This is also the last time Pennsylvania voted more Democratic than the nation as a whole This remains the most recent presidential election where Pennsylvania voted to the left of Colorado and Virginia and to the right of Wisconsin and Iowa Contents 1 Primary elections 1 1 Democratic primary 1 2 Republican primary 2 General election 2 1 Polling 2 2 Results 2 3 By county 2 3 1 Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican 2 4 By congressional district 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksPrimary elections editDemocratic primary edit Incumbent Barack Obama ran unopposed on the Democratic primary ballot 1 He received 616 102 votes 1 There were 19 082 write in votes 9 10 In the floor vote taken at the Democratic National Convention 242 Pennsylvania delegates voted for Obama 10 while the other 8 of the state s 250 allocated votes were not announced 10 Republican primary edit Four candidates were on the Republican primary ballot Mitt Romney former Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum U S Representative from Texas Ron Paul and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich 1 His home state was set to be the make or break primary for Santorum 11 He had just lost 3 primaries to Romney and Romney appeared poised to become the presumptive nominee by achieving a prohibitive lead 11 As momentum in the Republican race built for Romney Santorum suspended his campaign for four days to meet with movement conservatives to strategize 12 Rather than returning to campaigning the next Monday Rick and Karen Santorum canceled campaign events scheduled right after Easter weekend to be in the hospital with their youngest daughter 13 In deference to the sick child Romney ceased airing attack ads replacing them with positive introductory ones On April 10 Santorum formally suspended his campaign On May 7 he endorsed Romney 14 Santorum and Gingrich both released their delegates to Romney in August shortly before the Republican National Convention 15 Candidate Votes 1 Percentage Projected delegates 16 Actual delegate vote 17 Mitt Romney 468 374 57 8 31 67 Rick Santorum 149 056 18 4 4 0 Ron Paul 106 148 13 1 5 5 Newt Gingrich 84 537 10 4 3 0 Write in votes 9 2 819 0 3 Unprojected delegates 29 Total 810 934 100 72 72General election editPolling edit In statewide opinion polling incumbent Barack Obama consistently led challenger Mitt Romney by a margin of between 2 and 12 percentage points 18 Analysts rated Pennsylvania as a likely Democratic or Democratic leaning state in the presidential race 5 On the morning of the election polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight estimated that there was a 99 likelihood that Obama would win Pennsylvania s electoral votes 19 At the time Pennsylvania s electoral votes had gone to the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since Bill Clinton won it in 1992 3 The average of the last three polls had Obama leading Romney 51 to 46 which was very close to the actual result 20 During the summer there was significant spending on political advertisements in Pennsylvania by both the Obama campaign and pro Romney groups such as Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity 21 However because Obama maintained a consistent lead in polling Pennsylvania came to be considered a safe state for Obama and campaign advertising subsided substantially in August 21 This changed in October when pro Romney groups Restore Our Future and Americans for Job Security spent 3 million on advertising in Pennsylvania 21 Later that month the Obama campaign and the Romney campaign both launched their own advertising campaigns in Pennsylvania 21 On November 1 the Republican National Committee announced that it would spend 3 million on television ads in Pennsylvania in the final days of the campaign 22 In total pro Romney spending in Pennsylvania was estimated to amount to as much as 12 million much more than Obama campaign spending 22 The Obama campaign characterized the pro Romney spending surge as an act of sheer desperation while the Romney campaign argued that they had a realistic chance of winning the state 22 In the end Obama carried the state by a modest margin albeit narrower than his 2008 landslide over Senator John McCain Results edit 2012 U S presidential election in Pennsylvania 4 Party Candidate Votes Democratic Barack Obama 2 990 274 51 97 Republican Mitt Romney 2 680 434 46 59 Libertarian Gary Johnson 49 991 0 87 Green Jill Stein 21 341 0 37 Other Other 11 630 0 20 Total votes 5 753 670 100 0 By county edit County 23 Barack ObamaDemocratic Mitt RomneyRepublican Gary JohnsonLibertarian Jill SteinGreen Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast Adams 15 091 35 40 26 767 62 80 437 1 03 162 0 38 168 0 39 11 676 27 40 42 625 Allegheny 352 687 56 54 262 039 42 01 5 196 0 83 2 159 0 35 1 746 0 28 90 648 14 53 623 827 Armstrong 9 045 30 43 20 142 67 77 297 1 00 118 0 40 119 0 40 11 097 37 34 29 721 Beaver 37 055 45 86 42 344 52 41 794 0 98 281 0 35 319 0 39 5 289 6 55 80 793 Bedford 4 788 22 01 16 702 76 79 143 0 66 64 0 29 53 0 24 11 914 54 78 21 750 Berks 83 011 48 64 84 702 49 63 1 832 1 07 775 0 45 356 0 21 1 691 0 99 170 676 Blair 16 276 32 32 33 319 66 16 464 0 92 182 0 36 124 0 25 17 043 33 84 50 365 Bradford 8 624 36 64 14 410 61 21 243 1 03 149 0 63 114 0 48 5 786 24 57 23 540 Bucks 160 521 49 97 156 579 48 74 2 863 0 89 1 053 0 33 250 0 08 3 942 1 23 321 266 Butler 28 550 31 83 59 761 66 62 819 0 91 315 0 35 254 0 28 31 211 34 79 89 699 Cambria 24 249 40 06 35 163 58 10 712 1 18 402 0 66 0 0 00 10 914 18 04 60 526 Cameron 724 34 07 1 359 63 95 19 0 89 9 0 42 14 0 66 635 29 88 2 125 Carbon 11 580 45 07 13 504 52 56 356 1 39 141 0 55 113 0 44 1 924 7 49 25 694 Centre 34 176 48 90 34 001 48 65 1 049 1 50 400 0 57 260 0 37 175 0 25 69 886 Chester 124 311 49 22 124 840 49 43 2 082 0 82 740 0 29 603 0 24 529 0 21 252 576 Clarion 5 056 31 08 10 828 66 55 208 1 28 94 0 58 84 0 52 5 772 35 47 16 270 Clearfield 11 121 34 62 20 347 63 34 339 1 06 160 0 50 155 0 48 9 226 28 72 32 122 Clinton 5 734 43 08 7 303 54 86 171 1 28 57 0 43 46 0 35 1 569 11 78 13 311 Columbia 10 937 42 48 14 236 55 30 324 1 26 126 0 49 121 0 47 3 299 12 82 25 744 Crawford 13 883 39 02 20 901 58 75 436 1 23 168 0 47 187 0 52 7 018 19 73 35 575 Cumberland 44 367 39 90 64 809 58 29 1 191 1 07 447 0 40 377 0 34 20 442 18 39 111 191 Dauphin 64 965 52 26 57 450 46 22 1 128 0 91 465 0 37 293 0 24 7 515 6 04 124 301 Delaware 171 792 60 16 110 853 38 82 2 002 0 70 917 0 32 0 0 00 60 939 21 34 285 564 Elk 5 463 41 14 7 579 57 08 117 0 88 79 0 59 41 0 31 2 116 15 94 13 279 Erie 68 036 57 12 49 025 41 16 1 087 0 91 471 0 40 495 0 42 19 011 15 96 119 114 Fayette 21 971 45 16 26 018 53 48 365 0 75 151 0 31 144 0 30 4 047 8 32 48 649 Forest 896 38 55 1 383 59 51 23 0 99 10 0 43 12 0 52 487 20 96 2 324 Franklin 18 995 30 00 43 260 68 32 571 0 90 252 0 40 242 0 38 24 265 38 32 63 320 Fulton 1 310 21 06 4 814 77 38 50 0 80 21 0 34 26 0 42 3 504 56 32 6 221 Greene 5 852 40 23 8 428 57 94 116 0 80 68 0 47 82 0 56 2 576 17 71 14 546 Huntingdon 5 409 30 57 11 979 67 71 135 0 76 116 0 66 53 0 30 6 570 37 14 17 692 Indiana 14 473 39 71 21 257 58 33 385 1 06 206 0 57 123 0 34 6 784 18 62 36 444 Jefferson 4 787 26 33 13 048 71 78 173 0 95 89 0 49 81 0 44 8 261 45 45 18 178 Juniata 2 547 26 55 6 862 71 52 83 0 87 43 0 45 60 0 63 4 315 44 97 9 595 Lackawanna 61 838 62 87 35 085 35 67 743 0 76 349 0 35 336 0 34 26 753 27 20 98 351 Lancaster 88 481 39 62 130 669 58 50 2 527 1 13 759 0 34 915 0 41 42 188 18 88 223 351 Lawrence 17 513 44 69 21 047 53 71 334 0 85 142 0 36 153 0 39 3 534 9 02 39 189 Lebanon 19 900 35 05 35 872 63 18 589 1 04 219 0 39 197 0 35 15 972 28 13 56 777 Lehigh 78 283 53 17 66 874 45 42 1 331 0 90 514 0 35 222 0 15 11 409 7 75 147 224 Luzerne 64 307 51 51 58 325 46 72 1 261 1 01 546 0 44 406 0 33 5 982 4 79 124 845 Lycoming 15 203 32 58 30 658 65 69 409 0 88 223 0 48 176 0 38 15 455 33 11 46 669 McKean 5 297 34 95 9 545 62 99 178 1 17 88 0 58 46 0 30 4 248 28 04 15 154 Mercer 24 232 47 48 25 925 50 79 487 0 95 219 0 43 176 0 34 1 693 3 31 51 039 Mifflin 4 273 26 03 11 939 72 73 107 0 65 52 0 32 45 0 27 7 666 46 70 16 416 Monroe 35 221 55 89 26 867 42 63 596 0 95 233 0 37 106 0 17 8 354 13 26 63 023 Montgomery 233 356 56 52 174 381 42 24 3 253 0 79 1 210 0 29 669 0 16 58 975 14 28 412 869 Montour 3 053 38 85 4 652 59 19 96 1 22 30 0 38 28 0 36 1 599 20 34 7 859 Northampton 67 606 51 59 61 446 46 89 1 188 0 91 495 0 38 309 0 24 6 160 4 70 131 044 Northumberland 13 072 39 19 19 518 58 51 422 1 27 200 0 60 144 0 43 6 446 19 32 33 356 Perry 5 685 29 59 13 120 68 28 238 1 24 85 0 44 87 0 45 7 435 38 69 19 215 Philadelphia 588 806 85 24 96 467 13 97 2 892 0 42 2 162 0 31 449 0 06 492 339 71 27 690 776 Pike 10 210 43 86 12 786 54 93 194 0 83 89 0 38 0 0 00 2 576 11 07 23 279 Potter 1 897 26 06 5 231 71 86 78 1 07 36 0 49 37 0 51 3 334 45 80 7 279 Schuylkill 24 546 42 29 32 278 55 61 617 1 06 286 0 49 321 0 55 7 732 13 32 58 048 Snyder 4 687 31 11 10 073 66 85 180 1 19 62 0 41 66 0 44 5 386 35 74 15 068 Somerset 9 436 27 69 23 984 70 38 334 0 98 188 0 55 136 0 40 14 548 42 69 34 078 Sullivan 1 034 35 06 1 868 63 34 30 1 02 17 0 58 0 0 00 834 28 28 2 949 Susquehanna 6 935 38 28 10 800 59 62 202 1 12 107 0 59 72 0 40 3 865 21 34 18 116 Tioga 5 357 31 34 11 342 66 35 195 1 14 110 0 64 90 0 53 5 985 35 01 17 094 Union 6 109 37 39 9 896 60 57 184 1 13 79 0 48 69 0 42 3 787 23 18 16 337 Venango 7 945 35 70 13 815 62 07 299 1 34 108 0 49 90 0 40 5 870 26 37 22 257 Warren 6 995 40 44 10 010 57 86 205 1 19 89 0 51 0 0 00 3 015 17 42 17 299 Washington 40 345 42 48 53 230 56 04 854 0 90 321 0 34 228 0 24 12 885 13 56 94 978 Wayne 8 396 38 74 12 896 59 50 195 0 90 120 0 55 67 0 31 4 500 20 76 21 674 Westmoreland 63 722 37 58 103 932 61 29 1 426 0 84 492 0 29 0 0 00 40 210 23 71 169 572 Wyoming 5 061 42 45 6 587 55 26 152 1 28 72 0 60 49 0 42 1 526 12 81 11 921 York 73 191 38 52 113 304 59 63 1 985 1 04 749 0 39 776 0 41 40 113 21 11 190 005 Totals 2 990 274 51 95 2 680 434 46 57 49 991 0 87 21 341 0 37 13 580 0 24 309 840 5 38 5 755 620 nbsp County Flips Democratic Hold Republican Hold Gain from Democratic Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican edit Berks largest city Reading Cambria largest city Johnstown Carbon largest borough Lehighton Chester largest city West Chester Elk largest city St Marys By congressional district edit Despite losing the state overall Romney won 13 of the 18 congressional districts District Romney Obama Representative 1st 16 89 82 26 Bob Brady 2nd 8 95 90 41 Chaka Fattah 3rd 55 60 43 05 Mike Kelly 4th 57 07 41 51 Jason Altmire Scott Perry 5th 56 95 41 35 Glenn Thompson 6th 50 57 48 12 Jim Gerlach 7th 50 36 48 53 Pat Meehan 8th 49 42 49 35 Mike Fitzpatrick 9th 62 82 35 87 Bill Shuster 10th 60 11 38 46 Tom Marino 11th 53 90 44 57 Lou Barletta 12th 57 81 40 94 Mark Critz Keith Rothfus 13th 32 91 66 17 Allyson Schwartz 14th 30 64 67 99 Mike Doyle 15th 50 78 47 87 Charlie Dent 16th 52 35 46 25 Joe Pitts 17th 43 26 55 38 Tim Holden Matt Cartwright 18th 57 95 40 99 Tim MurphySee also editList of United States presidential elections in Pennsylvania 2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries Pennsylvania Republican PartyReferences edit a b c d e 2012 General Primary Pennsylvania Department of State 2012 Archived from the original on April 28 2012 Retrieved October 18 2012 O Neill Brian October 16 2011 Don t let Pa flunk out of the Electoral College Pittsburgh Post Gazette p A 2 a b McNulty Timothy September 8 2012 Romney campaign not expected to invest much in Pa Pittsburgh Post Gazette p A 1 a b c 2012 General Primary Pennsylvania Department of State 2012 Archived from the original on January 19 2013 Retrieved November 15 2012 a b Electoral vote com labeled Pennsylvania likely Democratic Tanenbaum Andrew S Electoral vote com Retrieved October 17 2012 The Washington Post labeled Pennsylvania lean Democratic 2012 Election Map The race for the presidency The Washington Post Retrieved October 17 2012 CNN labeled Pennsylvania leaning Obama Dengo Sophia Perry Bryan Hayes John John Joel Slaton A D CNN Electoral Map CNN Politics CNN Retrieved October 17 2012 The Cook Political Report labeled Pennsylvania lean Democratic Presidential Maps The Cook Political Report Retrieved October 17 2012 Woodall Candy Joe Biden wins Pennsylvania Here s how he reclaimed his home state and the blue wall USA TODAY Retrieved November 9 2020 Pennsylvania Election Results 2016 The New York Times September 13 2017 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved November 9 2020 Pennsylvania Election Results The New York Times November 3 2020 ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved November 9 2020 a b 2012 General Primary Write in Totals PDF Pennsylvania Department of State 2012 Archived PDF from the original on March 4 2016 Retrieved October 18 2012 a b c 2012 Presidential Primaries Caucuses and Conventions Pennsylvania Democrat The Green Papers 2012 Retrieved October 18 2012 a b Fitzgerald Thomas Worden Amy April 6 2012 Santorum meets with conservatives as Romney in Pa looks to the fall The Philadelphia Inquirer p A1 Santorum Taking Four Day Break from Campaign Trail Fox Television Stations Inc April 4 2012 Santorum Cancels Monday Events to Be With Ill Child The Wall Street Journal April 7 2012 Walshe Shushannah May 7 2012 Rick Santorum Formally Endorses Mitt Romney The Note ABC News Retrieved October 24 2012 Camia Catalina August 24 2012 Santorum releases GOP convention delegates USA Today Retrieved October 24 2012 Primaries amp Caucuses Results Pennsylvania CNN Politics CNN July 30 2012 Retrieved October 20 2012 When Pennsylvania delegation chair Tom Corbett announced the Pennsylvania delegates votes on the convention floor he said that sixty seven delegates had voted for Romney and five had voted for Paul Ryan However since Ryan was not a candidate rather he was Romney s running mate it is generally assumed that Corbett misspoke that the five votes were actually for Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Primaries Caucuses and Conventions Republican Convention The Green Papers 2012 Retrieved October 20 2012 Brown Catherine August 29 2012 NJ Puts Romney Over the Top NBC10 Philadelphia Retrieved October 20 2012 Later as the roll call continued the Pennsylvania delegation led by Gov Tom Corbett R cast 67 of its delegate votes for Romney the rest went to Ron Paul although Corbett may have actually said Paul Ryan in a possible slip of the tongue Doherty Brian August 29 2012 Ron Paul s Followers and the GOP Where To From Here and How Reason Retrieved October 20 2012 In the end Paul got around 190 delegates votes if we presume Pennsylvania s five for Paul Ryan were actually meant for Ron Paul Pennsylvania Romney vs Obama RealClearPolitics Retrieved October 17 2012 Silver Nate FiveThirtyEight The New York Times Retrieved November 8 2012 2012 Presidential Election Polls PA US Election Atlas a b c d Levy Marc October 30 2012 Romney Obama campaigns resume Pa ad campaigns Philly com Associated Press Archived from the original on November 3 2012 Retrieved November 2 2012 a b c Levy Marc November 1 2012 Romney RNC splashing down in Pa in 11th hour bid Deseret News Associated Press Archived from the original on March 30 2014 Retrieved November 2 2012 Pennsylvania Elections County Breakdown Results electionreturns pa gov November 6 2012 Retrieved December 28 2019 External links editThe Green Papers for Pennsylvania The Green Papers Major state elections in chronological order Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania amp oldid 1219351032, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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