United States presidential election in South Carolina, 2012

United States presidential election in South Carolina, 2012
South Carolina
November 6, 2012

 
Nominee Mitt Romney Barack Obama
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Massachusetts Illinois
Running mate Paul Ryan Joe Biden
Electoral vote 9 0
Popular vote 1,071,645 865,941
Percentage 54.56% 44.09%

County Results

  Romney—40-50%
  Romney—50-60%
  Romney—60-70%
  Romney—70-80%

  Obama—40-50%
  Obama—50-60%
  Obama—60-70%
  Obama—70-80%


President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

The 2012 United States presidential election in South Carolina took place on November 6, 2012 as part of the 2012 General 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. Romney defeated Obama in the state by 54.56% to 44.09%, a margin of 10.47%.[1]

Democratic primary

President Obama was unopposed in the Democratic primary and easily won with more than 99% of the vote. The Democratic election was held on January 28, 2012, one week after the Republican election.

Republican primary

South Carolina Republican presidential primary, 2012
South Carolina
January 21, 2012 (2012-01-21)

 
Candidate Newt Gingrich Mitt Romney
Home state Georgia Massachusetts
Delegate count 23 2
Popular vote 244,065 168,123
Percentage 40.42% 27.85%

 
Candidate Rick Santorum Ron Paul
Home state Pennsylvania Texas
Delegate count 0 0
Popular vote 102,475 78,360
Percentage 16.97% 12.98%

South Carolina results by county
  Newt Gingrich
  Mitt Romney

The Republican primary was held on January 21, 2012.

During the primary election campaign, the candidates ran on a platform of government reform in Washington. Domestic, foreign and economic policy emerged as the main themes in the election campaign following the onset of the 2008 economic crisis, as well as policies implemented by the Obama administration. This included the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, termed "Obamacare" by its opponents, as well as government spending as a whole.

The primary has become one of several key early state nominating contests in the process of choosing the nominee of the Republican Party for the election for President of the United States. It has historically been more important for the Republican Party than for the Democratic Party; from its inception in 1980, until the nomination of Mitt Romney in 2012, the winner of the Republican presidential primary had gone on to win the nomination.[2] As of 2012, the primary has cemented its place as the "First in the South" primary for both parties.[3] Newt Gingrich was declared the winner of the race as soon as polls closed, however, Mitt Romney went on to win the nomination.

Date of primary

The 2012 South Carolina Republican primary was tentatively scheduled to occur on February 28, 2012,[4] much later than the date in 2008, which almost immediately followed the beginning of the year in January 2008.[5] On September 29, 2011, the entire schedule of caucuses and primaries was disrupted, however, when it was announced that the Republican Party of Florida had decided to move up its primary to January 31, in an attempt to bring attention to its own primary contest, and attract the presidential candidates to visit the state.[6] Because of the move, the Republican National Committee decided to strip Florida of half of its delegates.[7] Also as a result, the South Carolina Republican Party, along with Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada then sought to move their primaries and caucuses back into early January.[7] All but Nevada, who agreed to follow Florida,[8] confirmed their caucus and primary dates to take place throughout January, with South Carolina deciding to hold their contest on January 21, 2012.[7] It is an open primary.[9]

Ballot

Nine candidates appeared on the presidential primary ballot.[10] South Carolina had only 25 delegates up for grabs because it moved its primary to January 21. Eleven delegates were awarded for the statewide winner, Newt Gingrich, and two additional delegates were awarded to the winner of each of the seven congressional districts. Six districts were won by Gingrich, and one by Romney, giving Gingrich twelve additional delegates and Romney two delegates.[11]

Polling

Results

Official results with 100% (2,117 of 2,117) precincts reporting.[12]

There were 2,804,231 registered voters, for a turnout of 21.60%.[12]

South Carolina Republican primary, 2012
Candidate Votes Percentage Estimated national delegates
Newt Gingrich 244,065 40.42% 23
Mitt Romney 168,123 27.85% 2
Rick Santorum 102,475 16.97% 0
Ron Paul 78,360 12.98% 0
Herman Cain 6,338 1.05% 0
Rick Perry 2,534 0.42% 0
Jon Huntsman 1,173 0.19% 0
Michele Bachmann 491 0.08% 0
Gary Johnson 211 0.03% 0
Totals 603,770 100.00% 25
Key: Withdrew
prior to contest

General Election

Results

United States presidential election in South Carolina, 2012
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Mitt Romney Paul Ryan 1,071,645 54.56% 9
Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 865,941 44.09% 0
Libertarian Gary Johnson Jim Gray 16,321 0.83% 0
Green Jill Stein Cheri Honkala 5,446 0.28% 0
Constitution Virgil Goode Jim Clymer 4,765 0.22% 0
Totals 1,964,118 100.00% 9

Results breakdown

By county

County Romney% Romney# Obama% Obama# Others% Others Total
Abbeville56.05%5,98142.57%4,5431.38%14710,671
Aiken62.59%44,04235.99%25,3221.42%99970,363
Allendale20.13%83879.20%3,2970.67%284,163
Anderson67.45%48,70931.03%22,4051.52%1,09872,212
Bamberg31.88%2,19467.19%4,6240.93%646,882
Barnwell46.95%4,65952.28%5,1880.76%769,923
Beaufort58.24%42,68740.72%29,8481.04%76273,297
Berkeley56.42%38,47541.85%28,5421.73%1,17868,195
Calhoun47.32%3,70751.63%4,0451.05%827,834
Charleston48.01%77,62950.39%81,4871.61%2,591161,707
Cherokee64.09%13,31434.81%7,2311.10%22820,773
Chester44.19%6,36754.77%7,8911.03%14914,407
Chesterfield51.16%8,49047.96%7,9580.88%14616,594
Clarendon43.40%7,07155.80%9,0910.80%13016,292
Colleton49.41%8,44349.60%8,4750.98%16817,086
Darlington47.87%14,43451.27%15,4570.85%25930,150
Dillon41.63%5,42757.71%7,5230.65%8513,035
Dorchester57.22%32,53141.24%23,4451.54%87956,855
Edgefield56.21%6,51242.87%4,9670.92%10711,586
Fairfield33.62%3,99965.38%7,7771.00%11911,895
Florence49.83%28,96149.23%28,6140.94%54758,122
Georgetown53.37%16,52645.74%14,1630.89%27630,965
Greenville62.99%121,68535.23%68,0701.77%3,434193,189
Greenwood57.02%16,34841.76%11,9721.23%35228,672
Hampton35.98%3,31263.37%5,8340.65%609,206
Horry64.17%72,12734.60%38,8851.23%1,381112,393
Jasper41.60%4,16957.45%5,7570.95%9510,021
Kershaw58.41%16,32440.29%11,2591.30%36327,946
Lancaster58.33%19,33340.49%13,4191.19%39233,144
Laurens58.02%14,74640.60%10,3181.39%35225,416
Lee31.80%2,83267.10%5,9771.09%988,907
Lexington68.07%76,66230.32%34,1481.61%1,813112,623
Marion34.46%5,16464.65%9,6880.89%13414,986
Marlboro37.31%3,67661.91%6,1000.78%779,853
McCormick47.81%2,46751.41%2,6530.78%405,160
Newberry56.63%9,26042.28%6,9131.08%17816,351
Oconee70.47%21,61127.88%8,5501.66%50530,666
Orangeburg27.93%12,02271.37%30,7200.69%29943,041
Pickens73.49%33,47424.49%11,1562.02%91945,549
Richland33.37%53,10565.34%103,9891.30%2,060159,154
Saluda59.96%5,13538.86%3,3281.19%1018,564
Spartanburg60.93%66,96937.72%41,4611.34%1,476109,906
Sumter40.74%19,27458.32%27,5890.94%44647,309
Union52.50%6,58446.22%5,7961.28%18112,541
Williamsburg29.59%4,82469.52%11,3350.88%14516,304
York59.42%59,54639.05%39,1311.53%1,533100,210

See also

References

  1. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Retrieved December 7, 2012.
  2. "GOP bellwether South Carolina shows a tangled race: Pg 1". Retrieved January 20, 2008.
  3. "First in the South". Fox News. Archived from the original on January 22, 2008. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
  4. Falcone, Michael (September 2, 2011). "South Carolina GOP Officials Hope To Strike Deal With Florida To 'Calm' 2012 Primary Waters". ABC News. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  5. "South Carolina Primary Results". The New York Times. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
  6. Taylor, Steven (September 29, 2011). "Florida Moves its Primary". Outside the Beltway. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 Jacobs, Jennifer (October 25, 2011). "GOP chairman: Florida will be penalized, and 2012 race is now set". Des Moines Register. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  8. Nir, David (October 24, 2011). "Nevada Republicans cave, move caucuses to Feb. 4". Daily Kos. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  9. Richard E. Berg-Andersson. "South Carolina Republican". The Green Papers. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
  10. Whitmire, C. "2012 Republican Presidential Primary Candidates". South Carolina State Election Commission. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  11. Kleefeld, Eric (January 4, 2012). "South Carolina GOP Chairman: 'Anyone Can Win' In Our Primary". Talking Points Memo. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
  12. 1 2 "South Carolina Primary". South Carolina State Election Commission. February 3, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
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