2012 United States presidential election in Minnesota

The 2012 United States presidential election in Minnesota 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 ten 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.

Main article: 2012 United States presidential election
2012 United States presidential election in Minnesota
November 6, 2012
Turnout76.42%[1] Decrease
 
Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney
Party Democratic (DFL) Republican
Home state Illinois Massachusetts
Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan
Electoral vote 10 0
Popular vote 1,546,167 1,320,225
Percentage 52.65% 44.96%
President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

 Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

Elections in Minnesota
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2012
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2012 U.S. presidential election
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2012

Minnesota backed Obama for re-election, giving him 52.65% of the vote, while Republican challenger Mitt Romney took 44.96%, a victory margin of 7.69%. With ten Democratic wins in a row, Minnesota has the longest current streak of voting for the Democratic candidate in presidential elections of any state, having not voted Republican since Richard Nixon in 1972. This is the longest streak for the Democrats in history amongst non-Southern states.[2]

However, Romney was able to significantly improve on McCain's performance in the North Star State, as he did nationally. Fourteen counties that voted for Obama in 2008 flipped and voted for the Republican Party in 2012, while many Democratic counties had a margin of victory much narrower than in 2008. Many of these counties had not voted for a Republican in decades, such as Big Stone County, as well as Pine County. Obama thus became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Big Stone County since Grover Cleveland in 1892.[3] Obama also became the first ever Democrat to win the White House without carrying Red Lake County, as well as the first to do so without carrying Lincoln, Marshall, Pennington, or Polk Counties since Woodrow Wilson in 1912, the first to do so without carrying Grant or Pine Counties since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time the Democratic candidate won the following counties: Beltrami, Chippewa, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Itasca, Kittson, Koochiching, Lac qui Parle, Mahnomen, Mower, Norman, Rice, Swift, and Traverse.

Caucuses

Democratic
Main article: 2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries
2012 Minnesota Democratic presidential caucus
February 7, 2012 (2012-02-07)
 
Candidate Barack Obama
Home state Illinois
Delegate count 91
Popular vote 16,733
Percentage 96.3%
Minnesota results by county
  Barack Obama
  No votes
2012 Minnesota Democratic caucus[4]
Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates
Barack Obama 16,733 96.30% 91
Uncommited 643 3.70% 0

Republican
Main article: 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
2012 Minnesota Republican presidential caucus
February 7, 2012 (2012-02-07)
 
Candidate Rick Santorum Ron Paul
Home state Pennsylvania Texas
Popular vote 21,988 13,282
Percentage 44.95% 27.15%
 
Candidate Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich
Home state Massachusetts Georgia
Popular vote 8,240 5,263
Percentage 16.85% 10.76%
Minnesota results by county
  Rick Santorum
  Ron Paul
  Tie

The Republican caucuses were held on February 7, 2012.[5] The events coincided with the Colorado Republican caucuses as well as the Missouri Republican primary. Minnesota has a total of 40 delegates, 37 of which are tied to the caucuses while 3 are unpledged RNC delegates. The non-binding straw poll was won by Rick Santorum, but Ron Paul won 32 of the 40 delegates to the Republican National Convention.

Election Reporting[6][7][8][9][10]
Candidate Votes Delegates
Total Percentage Total Percentage
Rick Santorum 21,988 44.95% 2 5%
Ron Paul 13,282 27.15% 32 80%
Mitt Romney 8,240 16.85% 1 2.5%
Newt Gingrich 5,263 10.76% 0 0%
Write-in 143 0.29% 0 0%
Unpledged delegates: 5 12.5%
Total: 48,916 100.0% 40 100.0%

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. The state convention can vote to bind the 13 at-large delegates to a candidate. The 24 delegates elected at the CD conventions and the 3 automatic (RNC) delegates are not legally bound to vote for a candidate.

  • 17 February - 31 March: BPOU conventions elect delegates to the state convention and the congressional district conventions.
  • 14–21 April: Eight congressional conventions elect 3 National Convention delegates each.
  • 18–19 May: State convention elect 13 National Convention delegates.[11]
Convention Results[7][9][10]
Candidate 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th State Party
leaders		 Total
Ron Paul 2 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 12 0 32
Rick Santorum 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2
Mitt Romney 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Unknown 1 1 3 5
Total 24 13 3 40

General election

Results
2012 United States presidential election in Minnesota[12]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic (DFL) Barack Obama Joe Biden 1,546,167 52.65% 10
Republican Mitt Romney Paul Ryan 1,320,225 44.96% 0
Libertarian Gary Johnson Jim Gray 35,098 1.20% 0
Green Jill Stein Cheri Honkala 13,023 0.44% 0
Constitution Virgil Goode Jim Clymer 3,722 0.13% 0
Grassroots Jim Carlson George McMahon 3,149 0.11% 0
Justice Rocky Anderson Luis J. Rodriguez 1,996 0.07% 0
Constitutional Government Dean Morstad Josh Franke-Hyland 1,092 0.04% 0
Socialist Workers James Harris Maura DeLuca 1,051 0.04% 0
Socialism and Liberation Peta Lindsay Yari Osorio 397 0.01% 0
Write-Ins 10,641 0.36% 0
Totals 2,936,561 100.00% 10
Voter turnout (eligible voters) 75.74%

By county
County Barack Obama
Democratic		 Mitt Romney
Republican		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total votes cast
#  % #  % #  % #  %
Aitkin 4,412 48.26% 4,533 49.58% 197 2.16% -121 -1.32% 9,142
Anoka 88,614 47.52% 93,430 50.11% 4,421 2.37% -4,816 -2.59% 186,465
Becker 6,829 41.69% 9,204 56.18% 349 2.13% -2,375 -14.49% 16,382
Beltrami 11,818 53.59% 9,637 43.70% 596 2.71% 2,181 9.89% 22,051
Benton 8,173 41.66% 10,849 55.30% 597 3.04% -2,676 -13.64% 19,619
Big Stone 1,345 48.23% 1,385 49.66% 59 2.11% -40 -1.43% 2,789
Blue Earth 18,164 53.00% 14,916 43.52% 1,194 3.48% 3,248 9.48% 34,274
Brown 5,630 40.42% 7,938 56.99% 361 2.59% -2,308 -16.57% 13,929
Carlton 11,389 61.78% 6,586 35.72% 461 2.50% 4,803 26.06% 18,436
Carver 20,745 39.22% 31,155 58.90% 999 1.88% -10,410 -19.68% 52,899
Cass 6,858 42.49% 8,957 55.49% 326 2.02% -2,099 -13.00% 16,141
Chippewa 3,083 49.72% 2,967 47.85% 151 2.43% 116 1.87% 6,201
Chisago 12,524 42.54% 16,227 55.12% 690 2.34% -3,703 -12.58% 29,441
Clay 15,208 52.65% 12,920 44.73% 758 2.62% 2,288 7.92% 28,886
Clearwater 1,753 41.77% 2,359 56.21% 85 2.02% -606 -14.44% 4,197
Cook 1,993 59.99% 1,221 36.75% 108 3.26% 772 23.24% 3,322
Cottonwood 2,433 41.50% 3,316 56.57% 113 1.93% -883 -15.07% 5,862
Crow Wing 14,760 42.27% 19,415 55.60% 745 2.13% -4,655 -13.33% 34,920
Dakota 116,255 50.37% 109,516 47.45% 5,050 2.18% 6,739 2.92% 230,821
Dodge 4,487 43.45% 5,522 53.47% 318 3.08% -1,035 -10.02% 10,327
Douglas 8,653 41.30% 11,884 56.72% 416 1.98% -3,231 -15.42% 20,953
Faribault 3,407 44.17% 4,104 53.21% 202 2.62% -697 -9.04% 7,713
Fillmore 5,713 52.45% 4,913 45.11% 266 2.44% 800 7.34% 10,892
Freeborn 9,326 55.82% 6,969 41.72% 411 2.46% 2,357 14.10% 16,706
Goodhue 12,212 47.33% 12,986 50.33% 603 2.34% -774 -3.00% 25,801
Grant 1,647 47.23% 1,748 50.13% 92 2.64% -101 -2.90% 3,487
Hennepin 423,982 62.34% 240,073 35.30% 16,010 2.36% 183,909 27.04% 680,065
Houston 5,281 50.56% 4,951 47.40% 214 2.04% 330 3.16% 10,446
Hubbard 4,676 40.59% 6,622 57.48% 222 1.93% -1,946 -16.89% 11,520
Isanti 8,024 39.69% 11,675 57.75% 518 2.56% -3,651 -18.06% 20,217
Itasca 12,852 53.73% 10,501 43.90% 566 2.37% 2,351 9.83% 23,919
Jackson 2,268 41.77% 3,044 56.06% 118 2.17% -776 -14.29% 5,430
Kanabec 3,593 44.09% 4,328 53.10% 229 2.81% -735 -9.01% 8,150
Kandiyohi 9,805 45.68% 11,240 52.36% 420 1.96% -1,435 -6.68% 21,465
Kittson 1,241 51.28% 1,095 45.25% 84 3.47% 146 6.03% 2,420
Koochiching 3,451 53.44% 2,841 43.99% 166 2.57% 610 9.45% 6,458
Lac qui Parle 1,974 49.55% 1,938 48.64% 72 1.81% 36 0.91% 3,984
Lake 4,043 59.28% 2,610 38.27% 167 2.45% 1,433 21.01% 6,820
Lake of the Woods 859 38.45% 1,306 58.46% 69 3.09% -447 -20.01% 2,234
Le Sueur 6,753 45.64% 7,715 52.15% 327 2.21% -962 -6.51% 14,795
Lincoln 1,429 45.80% 1,595 51.12% 96 3.08% -166 -5.32% 3,120
Lyon 5,465 44.12% 6,594 53.23% 329 2.65% -1,129 -9.11% 12,388
Mahnomen 1,276 58.48% 871 39.92% 35 1.60% 405 18.56% 2,182
Marshall 1,998 42.53% 2,569 54.68% 131 2.79% -571 -12.15% 4,698
Martin 4,054 36.96% 6,657 60.69% 257 2.35% -2,603 -23.73% 10,968
McLeod 6,968 37.56% 11,069 59.66% 516 2.78% -4,101 -22.10% 18,553
Meeker 4,969 40.68% 6,913 56.60% 332 2.72% -1,944 -15.92% 12,214
Mille Lacs 5,829 44.53% 6,951 53.10% 311 2.37% -1,122 -8.57% 13,091
Morrison 6,153 36.81% 10,159 60.78% 402 2.41% -4,006 -23.97% 16,714
Mower 11,129 60.03% 6,938 37.42% 472 2.55% 4,191 22.61% 18,539
Murray 2,160 45.31% 2,504 52.53% 103 2.16% -344 -7.22% 4,767
Nicollet 9,652 52.58% 8,214 44.75% 491 2.67% 1,438 7.83% 18,357
Nobles 3,793 44.52% 4,581 53.77% 146 1.71% -788 -9.25% 8,520
Norman 1,730 53.94% 1,384 43.16% 93 2.90% 346 10.78% 3,207
Olmsted 39,338 50.23% 36,832 47.03% 2,146 2.74% 2,506 3.20% 78,316
Otter Tail 12,165 38.41% 18,860 59.55% 645 2.04% -6,695 -21.14% 31,670
Pennington 3,024 46.40% 3,305 50.71% 188 2.89% -281 -4.31% 6,517
Pine 6,750 48.34% 6,845 49.02% 370 2.64% -95 -0.68% 13,965
Pipestone 1,725 37.13% 2,826 60.83% 95 2.04% -1,101 -23.70% 4,646
Polk 6,773 46.10% 7,615 51.83% 305 2.07% -842 -5.73% 14,693
Pope 2,981 47.73% 3,142 50.30% 123 1.97% -161 -2.57% 6,246
Ramsey 184,938 66.33% 86,800 31.13% 7,084 2.54% 98,138 35.20% 278,822
Red Lake 928 46.99% 978 49.52% 69 3.49% -50 -2.53% 1,975
Redwood 3,008 38.61% 4,570 58.66% 212 2.73% -1,562 -20.05% 7,790
Renville 3,394 44.02% 4,149 53.81% 167 2.17% -755 -9.79% 7,710
Rice 17,054 52.85% 14,384 44.58% 829 2.57% 2,670 8.27% 32,267
Rock 1,946 40.16% 2,810 57.99% 90 1.85% -864 -17.83% 4,846
Roseau 2,772 37.70% 4,409 59.97% 171 2.33% -1,637 -22.27% 7,352
St. Louis 73,378 63.48% 39,131 33.85% 3,085 2.67% 34,247 29.63% 115,594
Scott 29,712 41.47% 40,323 56.28% 1,612 2.25% -10,611 -14.81% 71,647
Sherburne 17,597 37.84% 27,848 59.88% 1,064 2.28% -10,251 -22.04% 46,509
Sibley 2,916 37.31% 4,693 60.05% 206 2.64% -1,777 -22.74% 7,815
Stearns 33,551 42.75% 43,015 54.81% 1,911 2.44% -9,464 -12.06% 78,477
Steele 8,706 45.52% 9,903 51.78% 515 2.70% -1,197 -6.26% 19,124
Stevens 2,742 48.51% 2,766 48.94% 144 2.55% -24 -0.43% 5,652
Swift 2,751 53.74% 2,248 43.91% 120 2.35% 503 9.83% 5,119
Todd 4,819 40.83% 6,719 56.93% 265 2.24% -1,900 -16.10% 11,803
Traverse 943 51.06% 861 46.62% 43 2.32% 82 4.44% 1,847
Wabasha 5,415 46.03% 6,049 51.42% 299 2.55% -634 -5.39% 11,763
Wadena 2,492 36.70% 4,143 61.01% 156 2.29% -1,651 -24.31% 6,791
Waseca 4,370 44.83% 5,116 52.49% 261 2.68% -746 -7.66% 9,747
Washington 70,203 49.39% 69,137 48.64% 2,793 1.97% 1,066 0.75% 142,133
Watonwan 2,494 48.48% 2,517 48.93% 133 2.59% -23 -0.45% 5,144
Wilkin 1,258 39.04% 1,884 58.47% 80 2.49% -626 -19.43% 3,222
Winona 14,980 55.01% 11,480 42.16% 772 2.83% 3,500 12.85% 27,232
Wright 25,741 37.96% 40,466 59.67% 1,609 2.37% -14,725 -21.71% 67,816
Yellow Medicine 2,465 45.53% 2,806 51.83% 143 2.64% -341 -6.30% 5,414
Totals1,546,16752.65%1,320,22544.96%70,1692.39%225,9427.69%2,936,561
County Flips:

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Results by congressional district

Obama won 6 of 8 congressional districts, including two held by Republicans. Romney won 2, including one held by a Democrat.[13]

District Obama Romney Representative
1st 49.56% 48.21% Tim Walz
2nd 49.07% 49.01% John Kline
3rd 49.6% 48.8% Erik Paulsen
4th 62.48% 35.5% Betty McCollum
5th 73.5% 24% Keith Ellison
6th 41.54% 56.49% Michele Bachmann
7th 44.13% 53.87% Collin Peterson
8th 51.7% 46.22% Rick Nolan

See also

References
  1. "Office of the State Of Minnesota Secretary of State". www.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  2. "Will Vermont's 27-Cycle GOP Presidential Streak Ever Be Broken?". Smart Politics. April 30, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  3. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  4. "Presidential Preference by County". Minnesota Secretary of State. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
  5. Scheck, Tom (September 30, 2011). "MNGOP keeping Feb. 7 Caucus date". Capitol View. Minnesota Public Radio.
  6. "Election Reporting System: Statewide Results for Republican Party". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  7. "Paul supporters chosen as delegates in three congressional districts". Pierce County Herald. April 15, 2012. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2012.
  8. Anderson, Pat (April 21, 2012). "Ron Paul gets 20/24 Congressional District delegates. CD4 3, CD2 3, CD8 2, CD1 2 #mngop #mnleg". twitter.com. Twitter. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  9. "Rep. Paul supporters elected to half of Minnesota GOP convention delegation". Pierce County Herald. April 22, 2012. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2012.
  10. "Ron Paul Wins Minnesota State Convention". Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  11. "Republican Party of Minnesota Events". Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  12. "Minnesota Secretary of State". Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  13. "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts". Daily Kos. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
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