The 2012 United States presidential election in Nebraska 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 five 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 .
Mitt Romney carried Nebraska , taking 59.80% of the vote to Barack Obama's 38.03%, a margin of 21.77%. Nebraska is one of two states (along with Maine ) which splits its electoral votes based on the winner in each congressional district. In 2012, Romney won all 3 congressional districts, thus winning all 5 of the state's electoral votes. This was a change from 2008 , when the state as a whole had voted for Republican John McCain but Democrat Barack Obama still won an electoral vote from the state. Nebraska's 2nd congressional district , home to Omaha , had split with the rest of the state and awarded one of Nebraska's electoral votes to a Democratic presidential nominee for the first time since 1964 . Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, Indiana , and North Carolina were the only sources of electoral votes won by Obama in 2008 that Romney managed to flip. Obama only won a single county, Thurston , largely due to its majority and increasingly politically active Native American population. He also narrowly lost three of four counties he won in 2008: Douglas , Lancaster , and Saline , home to the cities of Omaha , Lincoln , and Crete , respectively. He became the first Democrat since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to win without carrying Saline County.
As of the 2024 presidential election , this is the last time that the Democrat won Thurston County and the Republican won Douglas or Lancaster County. This was the last time until 2024 that Nebraska's 2nd congressional district did not back the overall winner of the Electoral College, and when the Democratic candidate won the presidency without carrying the district.
The Democratic primary was not held as Barack Obama ran unopposed and had secured enough delegates for nomination.[ 1]
2012 Nebraska Republican presidential primary
Nebraska results by county
Mitt Romney
(Note:
Italicization indicates a withdrawn candidacy)
The Republican primary was on May 15, 2012.[ 2] This primary was purely of an advisory nature. From June 1 to June 10 caucuses county conventions caucused to elect delegates to the state convention. These delegates were not bound to vote for any candidate, but at the state convention on July 14, elected 32 bound National delegates. 3 party leaders attended the National Convention unbound, making a total of 35 voting delegates going to the national convention from Nebraska.
2012 Nebraska Republican primary
Candidate
Votes
Percentage
Delegates
Mitt Romney
131,436
70.89%
30
Rick Santorum
25,830
13.93%
0
Ron Paul
18,508
9.98%
2
Newt Gingrich
9,628
5.19%
0
Unpledged delegates:
3
Total:
185,402
100.0%
35
Key:
Withdrew prior to contest
The State Convention was held in Grand Island on July 14, 2012.
Convention Results[ 3] [ 4]
Candidate
1st
2nd
3rd
State
Party leaders
Total
Mitt Romney
3
1
3
23
2
32
Ron Paul
0
2
0
0
0
2
Unknown
0
0
0
0
1
1
Total
9
23
3
35
County
Mitt Romney Republican
Barack Obama Democratic
Various candidates Other parties
Margin
Total
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Adams
8,316
65.64%
4,062
32.06%
292
2.30%
4,254
33.58%
12,670
Antelope
2,596
80.32%
571
17.67%
65
2.01%
2,025
62.65%
3,232
Arthur
227
86.64%
30
11.45%
5
1.91%
197
75.19%
262
Banner
346
84.18%
55
13.38%
10
2.44%
291
70.80%
411
Blaine
268
88.45%
29
9.57%
6
1.98%
239
78.88%
303
Boone
2,138
76.19%
615
21.92%
53
1.89%
1,523
54.27%
2,806
Box Butte
2,869
60.98%
1,692
35.96%
144
3.06%
1,177
25.02%
4,705
Boyd
873
81.51%
188
17.55%
10
0.94%
685
63.96%
1,071
Brown
1,302
83.73%
224
14.41%
29
1.86%
1,078
69.32%
1,555
Buffalo
13,570
69.76%
5,365
27.58%
518
2.66%
8,205
42.18%
19,453
Burt
2,029
60.12%
1,291
38.25%
55
1.63%
738
21.87%
3,375
Butler
2,738
70.95%
1,045
27.08%
76
1.97%
1,693
43.87%
3,859
Cass
7,556
62.04%
4,367
35.85%
257
2.11%
3,189
26.19%
12,180
Cedar
3,278
75.63%
958
22.10%
98
2.27%
2,320
53.53%
4,334
Chase
1,584
84.84%
254
13.60%
29
1.56%
1,330
71.24%
1,867
Cherry
2,557
83.45%
436
14.23%
71
2.32%
2,121
69.22%
3,064
Cheyenne
3,449
74.19%
1,084
23.32%
116
2.49%
2,365
50.87%
4,649
Clay
2,232
75.74%
667
22.63%
48
1.63%
1,565
53.11%
2,947
Colfax
2,051
66.83%
969
31.57%
49
1.60%
1,082
35.26%
3,069
Cuming
2,876
72.33%
1,031
25.93%
69
1.74%
1,845
46.40%
3,976
Custer
4,296
78.14%
1,083
19.70%
119
2.16%
3,213
58.44%
5,498
Dakota
3,094
50.42%
2,922
47.62%
120
1.96%
172
2.80%
6,136
Dawes
2,478
66.47%
1,132
30.36%
118
3.17%
1,346
36.11%
3,728
Dawson
5,460
69.47%
2,199
27.98%
200
2.55%
3,261
41.49%
7,859
Deuel
763
75.02%
215
21.14%
39
3.84%
548
53.88%
1,017
Dixon
1,745
64.97%
870
32.39%
71
2.64%
875
32.58%
2,686
Dodge
8,995
60.17%
5,673
37.95%
282
1.88%
3,322
22.22%
14,950
Douglas
113,220
50.56%
106,456
47.54%
4,251
1.90%
6,764
3.02%
223,927
Dundy
792
80.41%
176
17.87%
17
1.72%
616
62.54%
985
Fillmore
2,007
69.71%
807
28.03%
65
2.26%
1,200
41.68%
2,879
Franklin
1,112
72.40%
384
25.00%
40
2.60%
728
47.40%
1,536
Frontier
1,007
77.16%
271
20.77%
27
2.07%
736
56.39%
1,305
Furnas
1,782
79.55%
423
18.88%
35
1.57%
1,359
60.67%
2,240
Gage
5,513
57.06%
3,903
40.40%
245
2.54%
1,610
16.66%
9,661
Garden
829
75.99%
242
22.18%
20
1.83%
587
53.81%
1,091
Garfield
769
81.81%
149
15.85%
22
2.34%
620
65.96%
940
Gosper
734
75.05%
230
23.52%
14
1.43%
504
51.53%
978
Grant
322
88.71%
30
8.26%
11
3.03%
292
80.45%
363
Greeley
820
69.20%
340
28.69%
25
2.11%
480
40.51%
1,185
Hall
12,646
62.51%
7,161
35.40%
422
2.09%
5,485
27.11%
20,229
Hamilton
3,600
73.91%
1,146
23.53%
125
2.56%
2,454
50.38%
4,871
Harlan
1,395
78.46%
354
19.91%
29
1.63%
1,041
58.55%
1,778
Hayes
476
88.31%
51
9.46%
12
2.23%
425
78.85%
539
Hitchcock
1,178
78.80%
274
18.33%
43
2.87%
904
60.47%
1,495
Holt
3,922
79.41%
882
17.86%
135
2.73%
3,040
61.55%
4,939
Hooker
330
83.54%
59
14.94%
6
1.52%
271
68.60%
395
Howard
1,890
65.85%
914
31.85%
66
2.30%
976
34.00%
2,870
Jefferson
2,166
62.86%
1,195
34.68%
85
2.46%
971
28.18%
3,446
Johnson
1,225
59.38%
790
38.29%
48
2.33%
435
21.09%
2,063
Kearney
2,349
73.87%
773
24.31%
58
1.82%
1,576
49.56%
3,180
Keith
3,044
75.01%
928
22.87%
86
2.12%
2,116
52.14%
4,058
Keya Paha
393
81.20%
80
16.53%
11
2.27%
313
64.67%
484
Kimball
1,235
73.21%
395
23.41%
57
3.38%
840
49.80%
1,687
Knox
2,885
71.48%
1,059
26.24%
92
2.28%
1,826
45.24%
4,036
Lancaster
62,434
49.02%
62,015
48.69%
2,906
2.29%
419
0.33%
127,355
Lincoln
10,728
68.53%
4,450
28.43%
477
3.06%
6,278
40.10%
15,655
Logan
356
82.60%
68
15.78%
7
1.62%
288
66.82%
431
Loup
290
81.01%
62
17.32%
6
1.67%
228
63.69%
358
Madison
10,062
72.47%
3,485
25.10%
338
2.43%
6,577
47.37%
13,885
McPherson
237
81.44%
41
14.09%
13
4.47%
196
67.35%
291
Merrick
2,490
71.37%
925
26.51%
74
2.12%
1,565
44.86%
3,489
Morrill
1,681
76.76%
455
20.78%
54
2.46%
1,226
55.98%
2,190
Nance
1,106
68.23%
481
29.67%
34
2.10%
625
38.56%
1,621
Nemaha
2,012
62.60%
1,128
35.10%
74
2.30%
884
27.50%
3,214
Nuckolls
1,574
71.84%
568
25.92%
49
2.24%
1,006
45.92%
2,191
Otoe
4,258
60.99%
2,561
36.68%
163
2.33%
1,697
24.31%
6,982
Pawnee
899
67.04%
400
29.83%
42
3.13%
499
37.21%
1,341
Perkins
1,135
81.42%
238
17.07%
21
1.51%
897
64.35%
1,394
Phelps
3,400
77.63%
880
20.09%
100
2.28%
2,520
57.54%
4,380
Pierce
2,707
78.90%
637
18.57%
87
2.53%
2,070
60.33%
3,431
Platte
10,061
74.68%
3,148
23.37%
264
1.95%
6,913
51.31%
13,473
Polk
1,890
76.92%
528
21.49%
39
1.59%
1,362
55.43%
2,457
Red Willow
3,891
78.83%
952
19.29%
93
1.88%
2,939
59.54%
4,936
Richardson
2,443
65.34%
1,191
31.85%
105
2.81%
1,252
33.49%
3,739
Rock
672
85.17%
103
13.05%
14
1.78%
569
72.12%
789
Saline
2,557
51.57%
2,289
46.17%
112
2.26%
268
5.40%
4,958
Sarpy
43,213
60.45%
26,671
37.31%
1,606
2.24%
16,542
23.14%
71,490
Saunders
6,770
65.65%
3,307
32.07%
235
2.28%
3,463
33.58%
10,312
Scotts Bluff
9,648
67.53%
4,327
30.29%
312
2.18%
5,321
37.24%
14,287
Seward
5,003
66.06%
2,386
31.51%
184
2.43%
2,617
34.55%
7,573
Sheridan
2,021
81.76%
390
15.78%
61
2.46%
1,631
65.98%
2,472
Sherman
927
60.59%
552
36.08%
51
3.33%
375
24.51%
1,530
Sioux
624
84.44%
101
13.67%
14
1.89%
523
70.77%
739
Stanton
1,949
73.71%
614
23.22%
81
3.07%
1,335
50.49%
2,644
Thayer
1,874
70.48%
728
27.38%
57
2.14%
1,146
43.10%
2,659
Thomas
360
88.24%
42
10.29%
6
1.47%
318
77.95%
408
Thurston
939
42.39%
1,247
56.30%
29
1.31%
-308
-13.91%
2,215
Valley
1,657
75.49%
498
22.69%
40
1.82%
1,159
52.80%
2,195
Washington
6,899
67.33%
3,132
30.57%
215
2.10%
3,767
36.76%
10,246
Wayne
2,493
67.71%
1,074
29.17%
115
3.12%
1,419
38.54%
3,682
Webster
1,258
72.22%
442
25.37%
42
2.41%
816
46.85%
1,742
Wheeler
345
77.01%
93
20.76%
10
2.23%
252
56.25%
448
York
4,874
76.70%
1,373
21.61%
108
1.69%
3,501
55.09%
6,355
Totals
475,064
59.80%
302,081
38.03%
17,234
2.17%
172,983
21.77%
794,379
County Flips: Democratic Hold
Republican Hold
Gain from Democratic
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
By congressional district
edit
Romney won all three of Nebraska's congressional districts.[ 12]
^ "Nebraska Results" . CNN . Retrieved November 7, 2012 .
^ "Archived copy" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on November 8, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2012 .{{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link )
^ "Archived copy" . Archived from the original on June 10, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2012 .{{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link )
^ "Nebraska Republican Delegation 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" .
^ "Official Results of Nebraska General Election - November 6, 2012" (PDF) . Retrieved April 16, 2013 .