The 2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin 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. Wisconsin voters chose 10 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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| Turnout | 70.35%  [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Obama won the state of Wisconsin with 52.83% of the vote to Romney's 45.89%, a 6.94% margin of victory.[2] While this represented half the victory margin of Obama's 13.91% win in 2008, when he won 59 of 72 counties and 7 of 8 congressional districts, it is still a much stronger Democratic victory than Al Gore in 2000, John Kerry in 2004, or even his running mate Joe Biden in 2020, who all won the state by less than 1% of the vote. Obama's win was also surprisingly comfortable in spite of the fact that Wisconsin was the home state of Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, making him the first Republican vice presidential nominee to lose their home state since Jack Kemp lost New York in 1996. Obama's win was attributed to victories in Milwaukee, the state's largest city; Madison, the state capital; northeastern Wisconsin; and the Driftless Region. Romney's strength was concentrated in the loyally Republican Milwaukee suburbs, particularly the WOW counties (Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha), where he carried a combined 67.03% of the vote to Obama's 32.00%. He also flipped 24 counties in the Northeast and Central Plain regions, though most of them were rural and therefore insufficient to overcome Obama's aforementioned victories.
As of the 2024, this is the last time the Democratic presidential nominee won the following counties: Adams, Buffalo, Columbia, Crawford, Dunn, Forest, Grant, Jackson, Juneau, Kenosha, Lafayette, Lincoln, Marquette, Pepin, Price, Racine, Richland, Sawyer, Trempealeau, Vernon, and Winnebago. This remains the last time that any candidate won Wisconsin with more than 50% of the vote or by more than 1 percentage point, and the only time either of these things has occurred in the 21st century (alongside the 2008 election).[3]
Primary elections
editDemocratic primary
editPresident Barack Obama ran unopposed in the Democratic Primary, winning 293,914 votes, or 97.89%. Uncommitted ballots received 5,092 votes, or 1.89% of the vote, while 849 votes, 0.28%, were scattered. 111 delegates, all of which were pledged to Obama were sent to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.[4]
Republican primary
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 Wisconsin results by county
Mitt Romney
Rick Santorum | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2012 Wisconsin Republican presidential primary took place on April 3, 2012,[5][6] the same day as the primaries in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Mitt Romney edged out a victory, with 44.03% of the vote and 33 delegates, with former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania coming in second with 36.83% of the vote and 9 delegates. No other candidates won any delegates nor counties, though representative Ron Paul of Texas's 14th district received 11.15% and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich received 5.84%. All other candidates received less than 1%. Romney's strength was concentrated in Southeast Wisconsin, carrying Milwaukee and all of its suburbs (including the Kenosha and Racine as well as the ancestrally Republican counties of Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha), as well as Madison. Santorum's most significant victories were in Western Wisconsin and in Green Bay and its respective suburbs.[4]
| 2012 Wisconsin Republican presidential primary[4] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates |
 Mitt Romney
|
346,876 | 44.03% | 33 |
| Rick Santorum | 290,139 | 36.83% | 9 |
| Ron Paul | 87,858 | 11.15% | 0 |
| Newt Gingrich | 45,978 | 5.84% | 0 |
| Michele Bachmann | 6,045 | 0.77% | 0 |
| Jon Huntsman | 5,083 | 0.65% | 0 |
| Uninstructed | 4,200 | 0.53% | 0 |
| Scattering | 1,668 | 0.21% | 0 |
| Total: | 787,847 | 100% | 42 |
General election
editPredictions
edit| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Huffington Post[7] | Lean D | November 6, 2012 |
| CNN[8] | Tossup | November 6, 2012 |
| New York Times[9] | Tossup | November 6, 2012 |
| Washington Post[10] | Tossup | November 6, 2012 |
| RealClearPolitics[11] | Tossup | November 6, 2012 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[12] | Lean D | November 5, 2012 |
| FiveThirtyEight[13] | Solid D | November 6, 2012 |
Results
editAlthough Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan was from Wisconsin, representing the 1st district in Congress, the Republican Party lost by around a seven-point margin, which was, albeit an improved loss from Obama's landslide 13.91% margin in 2008,[14] a crucial loss.
| 2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | Barack Obama (incumbent) | Joe Biden (incumbent) | 1,620,985 | 52.83% | 10 | |
| Republican | Mitt Romney | Paul Ryan | 1,407,966 | 45.89% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson | Jim Gray | 20,439 | 0.67% | 0 | |
| Green | Jill Stein | Cheri Honkala | 7,665 | 0.25% | 0 | |
| Write-Ins | Write-Ins | 5,170 | 0.17% | 0 | ||
| Constitution | Virgil Goode | Jim Clymer | 4,930 | 0.16% | 0 | |
| Socialist Equality | Jerry White | Phyllis Scherrer | 553 | 0.02% | 0 | |
| Socialism and Liberation | Gloria La Riva | Filberto Ramirez Jr. | 526 | 0.02% | 0 | |
| Justice | Rocky Anderson | Luis J. Rodriguez | 112 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Peace & Freedom | Roseanne Barr | Cindy Sheehan | 88 | 0.00% | 0 | |
| Totals | 3,068,434 | 100.00% | 10 | |||
By county
edit| County | Barack Obama Democratic |
Mitt Romney Republican |
Various candidates Other parties |
Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 5,552 | 53.87% | 4,644 | 45.14% | 101 | 0.99% | 898 | 8.73% | 10,287 |
| Ashland | 5,399 | 64.49% | 2,820 | 33.68% | 153 | 1.83% | 2,579 | 30.81% | 8,372 |
| Barron | 10,890 | 47.99% | 11,443 | 50.43% | 359 | 1.58% | -553 | -2.44% | 22,692 |
| Bayfield | 6,033 | 61.64% | 3,603 | 36.81% | 152 | 1.55% | 2,430 | 24.83% | 9,788 |
| Brown | 62,526 | 48.50% | 64,836 | 50.29% | 1,566 | 1.21% | -2,310 | -1.79% | 128,928 |
| Buffalo | 3,570 | 50.72% | 3,364 | 47.79% | 105 | 1.49% | 206 | 2.93% | 7,039 |
| Burnett | 3,986 | 45.94% | 4,550 | 52.44% | 141 | 1.62% | -564 | -6.50% | 8,677 |
| Calumet | 11,489 | 43.49% | 14,539 | 55.03% | 392 | 1.48% | -3,050 | -11.54% | 26,420 |
| Chippewa | 15,237 | 49.26% | 15,322 | 49.53% | 373 | 1.21% | -85 | -0.27% | 30,932 |
| Clark | 6,172 | 44.72% | 7,412 | 53.71% | 217 | 1.57% | -1,240 | -8.99% | 13,801 |
| Columbia | 17,175 | 56.23% | 13,026 | 42.64% | 345 | 1.13% | 4,149 | 13.59% | 30,546 |
| Crawford | 4,629 | 59.22% | 3,067 | 39.24% | 121 | 1.54% | 1,562 | 19.98% | 7,817 |
| Dane | 216,071 | 71.03% | 83,644 | 27.50% | 4,466 | 1.47% | 132,427 | 43.53% | 304,181 |
| Dodge | 18,762 | 42.17% | 25,211 | 56.67% | 515 | 1.16% | -6,449 | -14.50% | 44,488 |
| Door | 9,357 | 52.95% | 8,121 | 45.96% | 193 | 1.09% | 1,236 | 6.99% | 17,671 |
| Douglas | 14,863 | 64.92% | 7,705 | 33.66% | 326 | 1.42% | 7,158 | 31.26% | 22,894 |
| Dunn | 11,316 | 51.46% | 10,224 | 46.49% | 452 | 2.05% | 1,092 | 4.97% | 21,992 |
| Eau Claire | 30,666 | 55.95% | 23,256 | 42.43% | 884 | 1.62% | 7,410 | 13.52% | 54,806 |
| Florence | 953 | 36.30% | 1,645 | 62.67% | 27 | 1.03% | -692 | -26.37% | 2,625 |
| Fond du Lac | 22,379 | 41.91% | 30,355 | 56.84% | 668 | 1.25% | -7,976 | -14.93% | 53,402 |
| Forest | 2,425 | 52.17% | 2,172 | 46.73% | 51 | 1.10% | 253 | 5.44% | 4,648 |
| Grant | 13,594 | 56.06% | 10,255 | 42.29% | 399 | 1.65% | 3,339 | 13.77% | 24,248 |
| Green | 11,206 | 58.00% | 7,857 | 40.66% | 259 | 1.34% | 3,349 | 17.34% | 19,322 |
| Green Lake | 3,793 | 39.20% | 5,782 | 59.76% | 100 | 1.04% | -1,989 | -20.56% | 9,675 |
| Iowa | 8,105 | 64.66% | 4,287 | 34.20% | 142 | 1.14% | 3,818 | 30.46% | 12,534 |
| Iron | 1,784 | 49.12% | 1,790 | 49.28% | 58 | 1.60% | -6 | -0.16% | 3,632 |
| Jackson | 5,298 | 56.89% | 3,900 | 41.88% | 115 | 1.23% | 1,398 | 15.01% | 9,313 |
| Jefferson | 20,158 | 45.52% | 23,517 | 53.11% | 606 | 1.37% | -3,359 | -7.59% | 44,281 |
| Juneau | 6,242 | 52.78% | 5,411 | 45.75% | 174 | 1.47% | 831 | 7.03% | 11,827 |
| Kenosha | 44,867 | 55.46% | 34,977 | 43.24% | 1,053 | 1.30% | 9,890 | 12.22% | 80,897 |
| Kewaunee | 5,153 | 46.69% | 5,747 | 52.07% | 137 | 1.24% | -594 | -5.38% | 11,037 |
| La Crosse | 36,693 | 57.82% | 25,751 | 40.58% | 1,018 | 1.60% | 10,942 | 17.24% | 63,462 |
| Lafayette | 4,536 | 57.04% | 3,314 | 41.68% | 102 | 1.28% | 1,222 | 15.36% | 7,952 |
| Langlade | 4,573 | 43.47% | 5,816 | 55.29% | 130 | 1.24% | -1,243 | -11.82% | 10,519 |
| Lincoln | 7,563 | 49.70% | 7,455 | 48.99% | 198 | 1.31% | 108 | 0.71% | 15,216 |
| Manitowoc | 20,403 | 47.88% | 21,604 | 50.69% | 610 | 1.43% | -1,201 | -2.81% | 42,617 |
| Marathon | 32,363 | 46.32% | 36,617 | 52.41% | 882 | 1.27% | -4,254 | -6.09% | 69,862 |
| Marinette | 9,882 | 47.56% | 10,619 | 51.11% | 276 | 1.33% | -737 | -3.55% | 20,777 |
| Marquette | 4,014 | 49.52% | 3,992 | 49.25% | 99 | 1.23% | 22 | 0.27% | 8,105 |
| Menominee | 1,191 | 86.49% | 179 | 13.00% | 7 | 0.51% | 1,012 | 73.49% | 1,377 |
| Milwaukee | 332,438 | 67.49% | 154,924 | 31.45% | 5,214 | 1.06% | 177,514 | 36.04% | 492,576 |
| Monroe | 9,515 | 48.83% | 9,675 | 49.65% | 295 | 1.52% | -160 | -0.82% | 19,485 |
| Oconto | 8,865 | 44.64% | 10,741 | 54.09% | 253 | 1.27% | -1,876 | -9.45% | 19,859 |
| Oneida | 10,452 | 48.27% | 10,917 | 50.42% | 283 | 1.31% | -465 | -2.15% | 21,652 |
| Outagamie | 45,659 | 48.27% | 47,372 | 50.08% | 1,565 | 1.65% | -1,713 | -1.81% | 94,596 |
| Ozaukee | 19,159 | 34.32% | 36,077 | 64.63% | 581 | 1.05% | -16,918 | -30.31% | 55,817 |
| Pepin | 1,876 | 50.72% | 1,794 | 48.50% | 29 | 0.78% | 82 | 2.22% | 3,699 |
| Pierce | 10,235 | 48.69% | 10,397 | 49.46% | 388 | 1.85% | -162 | -0.77% | 21,020 |
| Polk | 10,073 | 44.62% | 12,094 | 53.58% | 406 | 1.80% | -2,021 | -8.96% | 22,573 |
| Portage | 22,075 | 56.12% | 16,615 | 42.24% | 647 | 1.64% | 5,460 | 13.88% | 39,337 |
| Price | 3,887 | 49.20% | 3,884 | 49.16% | 130 | 1.64% | 3 | 0.04% | 7,901 |
| Racine | 53,008 | 51.28% | 49,347 | 47.74% | 1,009 | 0.98% | 3,661 | 3.54% | 103,364 |
| Richland | 4,969 | 57.41% | 3,573 | 41.28% | 113 | 1.31% | 1,396 | 16.13% | 8,655 |
| Rock | 49,219 | 61.00% | 30,517 | 37.82% | 954 | 1.18% | 18,702 | 23.18% | 80,690 |
| Rusk | 3,397 | 47.24% | 3,676 | 51.12% | 118 | 1.64% | -279 | -3.88% | 7,191 |
| St. Croix | 19,910 | 43.07% | 25,503 | 55.17% | 812 | 1.76% | -5,593 | -12.10% | 46,225 |
| Sauk | 18,736 | 58.68% | 12,838 | 40.21% | 353 | 1.11% | 5,898 | 18.47% | 31,927 |
| Sawyer | 4,486 | 49.71% | 4,442 | 49.22% | 97 | 1.07% | 44 | 0.49% | 9,025 |
| Shawano | 9,000 | 44.38% | 11,022 | 54.35% | 257 | 1.27% | -2,022 | -9.97% | 20,279 |
| Sheboygan | 27,918 | 44.56% | 34,072 | 54.38% | 661 | 1.06% | -6,154 | -9.82% | 62,651 |
| Taylor | 3,763 | 39.56% | 5,601 | 58.88% | 148 | 1.56% | -1,838 | -19.32% | 9,512 |
| Trempealeau | 7,605 | 56.41% | 5,707 | 42.33% | 169 | 1.26% | 1,898 | 14.08% | 13,481 |
| Vernon | 8,044 | 56.37% | 5,942 | 41.64% | 283 | 1.99% | 2,102 | 14.73% | 14,269 |
| Vilas | 5,951 | 42.99% | 7,749 | 55.98% | 142 | 1.03% | -1,798 | -12.99% | 13,842 |
| Walworth | 22,552 | 43.12% | 29,006 | 55.46% | 745 | 1.42% | -6,454 | -12.34% | 52,303 |
| Washburn | 4,447 | 47.88% | 4,699 | 50.60% | 141 | 1.52% | -252 | -2.72% | 9,287 |
| Washington | 23,166 | 29.42% | 54,765 | 69.55% | 811 | 1.03% | -31,599 | -40.13% | 78,742 |
| Waukesha | 78,779 | 32.31% | 162,798 | 66.76% | 2,279 | 0.93% | -84,019 | -34.45% | 243,856 |
| Waupaca | 11,578 | 44.81% | 14,002 | 54.19% | 260 | 1.00% | -2,424 | -9.38% | 25,840 |
| Waushara | 5,335 | 44.28% | 6,562 | 54.47% | 151 | 1.25% | -1,227 | -10.19% | 12,048 |
| Winnebago | 45,449 | 50.97% | 42,122 | 47.24% | 1,602 | 1.79% | 3,327 | 3.73% | 89,173 |
| Wood | 18,581 | 47.77% | 19,704 | 50.65% | 615 | 1.58% | -1,123 | -2.88% | 38,900 |
| Totals | 1,620,985 | 52.83% | 1,407,966 | 45.89% | 39,483 | 1.29% | 213,019 | 6.94% | 3,068,434 |
| Democratic Hold | Republican Hold Gain from Democratic |
- Counties that flipped Democratic to Republican
- Barron (largest city: Rice Lake)[14]
- Brown (largest city: Green Bay)
- Burnett (largest village: Grantsburg)
- Calumet (largest city: Chilton)
- Chippewa (largest city: Chippewa Falls)
- Clark (largest city: Neillsville)
- Iron (largest city: Hurley)
- Jefferson (largest city: Watertown)
- Kewaunee (largest city: Algoma)
- Langlade (largest city: Antigo)
- Manitowoc (largest city: Manitowoc)
- Marathon (largest city: Wausau)
- Marinette (largest city: Marinette)
- Monroe (largest city: Sparta)
- Oconto (largest city: Oconto)
- Oneida (largest city: Rhinelander)
- Outagamie (largest city: Appleton)
- Pierce (largest city: River Falls)
- Rusk (largest city: Ladysmith)
- Shawano (largest city: Shawano)
- Washburn (largest city: Spooner)
- Waupaca (largest city: New London)
- Waushara (largest city: Berlin)
- Wood (largest city: Marshfield)
By congressional district
editDespite losing the state, Romney won 5 of the 8 congressional districts.[15]
| District | Romney | Obama | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 51.65% | 47.44% | Paul Ryan |
| 2nd | 30.46% | 68.3% | Mark Pocan |
| 3rd | 43.82% | 54.82% | Ron Kind |
| 4th | 23.78% | 75.33% | Gwen Moore |
| 5th | 61.31% | 37.75% | Jim Sensenbrenner |
| 6th | 53.1% | 45.77% | Tom Petri |
| 7th | 50.92% | 47.83% | Sean Duffy |
| 8th | 51.26% | 47.56% | Reid Ribble |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Wisconsin Voter Turnout Statistics | Wisconsin Elections Commission".
- ^ "Wisconsin Gov Accountability Board" (PDF). Retrieved January 16, 2013.
- ^ Brownstein, Ronald (September 16, 2024). "Why these three states are the most consistent tipping point in American politics". CNN. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Canvass Results for 2012 Presidential Preferenrce and Spring Election - 4/3/2012" (PDF). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. April 3, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 15, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
- ^ "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
- ^ "Huffington Post Election Dashboard". HuffPost. Archived from the original on August 13, 2013.
- ^ "America's Choice 2012 Election Center: CNN Electoral Map". CNN. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013.
- ^ "Election 2012 - The Electoral Map: Building a Path to Victory". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012.
- ^ "2012 Presidential Election Results". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 26, 2012.
- ^ "RealClearPolitics - 2012 Election Maps - Battle for White House". Archived from the original on June 8, 2011.
- ^ "PROJECTION: OBAMA WILL LIKELY WIN SECOND TERM".
- ^ "Nate Silver's political calculations predict 2012 election outcome".
- ^ a b "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Archived from the original on April 12, 2006. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
- ^ "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts". Daily Kos. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
External links
edit- The Green Papers: for Wisconsin
- The Green Papers: Major state elections in chronological order