United States presidential election, 2012 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
United States presidential election, 2012

← 2008

November 6, 2012

2016 →


Nominee	Barack Obama	Mitt Romney
Party	Democrat	Republican
Home state	Illinois	Massachusetts
Running mate	Joe Biden	Paul Ryan
Electoral vote	332	206
States carried	26 + DC	24
Popular vote	65,915,796	60,933,500
Percentage	51.1%	47.2%

Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states won by Obama/Biden. Red denotes states won by Romney/Ryan. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.

President before election

Barack Obama
Democrat

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democrat

The 2012 United States presidential election was on November 6, 2012. There were also elections for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden won re-election for a second term.

By November 6, 2012, 11:30 PM ET (5:30 AM UTC), many broadcast networks said that Obama and Biden won the election. Mitt Romney of the Republican Party conceded the election to Obama around 1 AM ET on November 7. Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party came in third.

Electoral College changes

Between the 2008 and 2012 elections the Electoral College changed because of the 2010 Census. As a result, several states have lost electoral votes, and several states have gained electoral votes. Here are the states that have gained or lost electoral votes:

Gaining Votes

Texas +4
Florida +2
Arizona +1
Georgia +1
Nevada +1
South Carolina +1
Utah +1
Washington +1

Losing Votes

New York -2
Ohio -2
Illinois -1
Iowa -1
Louisiana -1
Massachusetts -1
Michigan -1
Missouri -1
New Jersey -1
Pennsylvania -1

What the Electoral College look liked in 2012

Conventions

The Republicans will hold their national convention the week of August 27 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. The Democrats will hold their convention the week of September 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina..

Both parties choose who to nominate and then the two nominees face each other.

Major candidates

Democrats

Barack Obama declared that he was running for re-election in 2012 on April 4, 2011. He had challengers in 7 states, but still managed to win all 57 democratic primaries and therefore the democratic nomination.

Nominees

Barack Obama	Joe Biden
Democratic Party Ticket, 2012
for President	for Vice President

44th President of the United States (2009–present)	47th Vice President of the United States (2009–present)
Campaign

Other candidates

John Wolfe, Jr., attorney from Tennessee
Darcy Richardson, historian from Florida
Bob Ely, entrepreneur from Illinois
Randall Terry, from West Virginia

Attorney
John Wolfe, Jr.
of Tennessee
Historian
Darcy Richardson
of Florida
Randall Terry
of West Virginia

Republicans

Nominees

Mitt Romney	Paul Ryan
Republican Party Ticket, 2012
for President	for Vice President

70th Governor of Massachusetts (2003–2007)	U.S. Representative from Wisconsin (1999–present)
Campaign

Withdrawn

Ron Paul, U.S. Representative from Texas (ended active campaigning on May 14, 2012; no endorsement, continued to seek delegates from earlier primaries).
Fred Karger, Political consultant and gay rights activist from California (withdrew June 29, 2012).
Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives from Georgia (withdrew on May 2, 2012, and endorsed Mitt Romney)
Rick Santorum, former senator from Pennsylvania (withdrew on April 10, 2012, and endorsed Mitt Romney)
Buddy Roemer, former governor of Louisiana (withdrew on February 22, 2012, to run for the nominations of Americans Elect and the Reform Party, then endorsed Gary Johnson)
Rick Perry, Governor of Texas (withdrew on January 19, 2012, and endorsed Newt Gingrich, then Mitt Romney after Gingrich withdrew)
Jon Huntsman, Jr., former U.S. ambassador to China and former governor of Utah (withdrew on January 16, 2012, and endorsed Mitt Romney)
Michele Bachmann, U.S. Representative from Minnesota (withdrew on January 4, 2012, and endorsed Mitt Romney)
Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico (withdrew on December 28, 2011, to run for the nomination of the Libertarian Party)
Herman Cain, businessman from Georgia (withdrew on December 3, 2011, and endorsed Newt Gingrich, then Mitt Romney after Gingrich withdrew)
Thaddeus McCotter, U.S. Representative from Michigan (withdrew on September 22, 2011, and endorsed Mitt Romney)
Tim Pawlenty, former governor of Minnesota (withdrew on August 14, 2011, and endorsed Mitt Romney)

U.S. Representative
Ron Paul
of Texas
(campaign)
Political consultant and gay rights activist
Fred Karger
of California
Former House Speaker
Newt Gingrich
of Georgia
(campaign)
Former Senator
Rick Santorum
of Pennsylvania
(campaign)
Former Governor
Buddy Roemer
of Louisiana
(campaign)
Governor
Rick Perry
of Texas
(campaign)
Former Ambassador
Jon Huntsman
of Utah
(campaign)
U.S. Representative
Michele Bachmann
of Minnesota
(campaign)
Former Governor
Gary Johnson
of New Mexico
(campaign)
Businessman
Herman Cain
of Georgia
(campaign)
U.S. Representative
Thaddeus McCotter
of Michigan
(campaign)
Former Governor
Tim Pawlenty
of Minnesota
(campaign)

In the middle of 2011, there were many Republicans running: Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachmann, Businessman Herman Cain, Speaker of the House of Representatives (in the 1990s) Newt Gingrich, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, Ambassador to China and Governor of Utah Jon Huntsman, Texas Governor Rick Perry, Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, Buddy Roemer, Thaddeus McCotter, and Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Scott Brown, Sarah Palin, Chris Christie, Donald Trump, Mike Huckabee, and Rudy Giuliani were considered possible candidates. All of them said that they were not going to run for president.

In May, a series of debates began between the Republicans. In August 2011, the Ames Straw Poll was conducted. It was won by Bachmann, with Paul coming in second. During the poll, Perry entered the race. After not placing in the top 2 in the poll, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty dropped out. Thaddeus McCotter dropped out a short time later.

Rick Perry became the frontrunner (person with the highest amount of support who is expected to win, according to polls) of the party, ahead of Romney in the polls. Rick Perry then had several bad debates and in one of them he said he wanted to remove 3 government departments, but forgot one of them. After these mistakes, Perry's poll numbers went down.

In the fall, Herman Cain became the new frontrunner for several months. He had an economic plan called 9-9-9 that would replace the entire tax system with a 9% income tax, a 9% national sales tax, and a 9% corporation tax. During foreign policy debates, he was not as successful. On December 3, 2011, Cain left the Presidential race.

Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney were the two main competitors after that, but soon after Newt Gingrich lost much of his support. Gary Johnson withdrew on December 28, 2011 to run for the nomination of the Libertarian Party.

In January 2012, after not doing well in the primaries, Bachmann, Huntsman, and Perry dropped out of the Presidential race. Rick Santorum, however, picked up a surprise win in Iowa, as did Gingrich in South Carolina.

For February, March and the beginning of April, Rick Santorum was Mitt Romney's main competitor. On April 10, However, with only 11 (primary) victories to Romney's 23, Rick Santorum announced that he was going to drop out of the race. Buddy Roemer dropped out on February 22nd to run for the nominations of americans elect and the reform party, before ending his campaign completely on May 31.

After Santorum dropped out, most people thought that Mitt Romney would win the most primaries, and therefore the most pledged delegates, and ultimately the nomination. His two remaining opponents, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, decided to stay in the race. Gingrich dropped out on May 2 after a disappointing showing in the Delaware primary that left his number of victories at 2 to Romney's 28. Paul, despite having only 1 victory to Romney's eventual 42 victories, did not end his campaign until after the 2012 republican national convention.

Santorum and Gingrich released their delegates ahead of the convention to vote for Romney.

At the republican national convention, with support from many pledged and unpledged delegates, Romney won the nomination in a landslide. The convention chose Paul Ryan as Romney's running mate.

Others

Other candidates for nomination included Virgil Goode, Roseanne Barr, Rocky Anderson, and Tom Hoefling.

Four other parties nominated candidates that had ballot access or write-in access to at least 270 electoral votes, the minimum number of votes needed in the 2012 election to win the presidency through a majority of the electoral college.

Libertarian Party

Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico. Vice-presidential nominee: Jim Gray, retired state court judge, from California

Green Party

Jill Stein, medical doctor from Massachusetts. Vice-presidential nominee: Cheri Honkala, social organizer, from Pennsylvania.

Constitution Party

Virgil Goode, former U.S. congressman, from Virginia. Vice-presidential nominee: Jim Clymer from Pennsylvania

Justice Party

Rocky Anderson, former mayor of Salt Lake City and founding member of the Justice Party, from Utah. Vice-presidential nominee: Luis J. Rodriguez from California.

Candidates gallery

Gary Johnson
(campaign)
Jill Stein
(campaign)
Virgil Goode
(campaign)
Rocky Anderson

Polls

Many polls have been taken about the presidential election. Most polls show Obama beating Romney, aside from polls taken between the first and second presidential debates. In polls taken state-by-state, Obama usually wins states he won in 2008, and Republicans usually win states that McCain won in 2008. Indiana, North Carolina, and Nebraska's second congressional district are the main exceptions to the rule.

Results by state

Candidate (Party)		Electoral votes	States carried*	Popular vote	Pct.
	Obama (Democratic)	332	27	65,915,796	51.06%
	Romney (Republican)	107	24	60,933,500	40.20%
	Johnson (Libertarian)	0	0	1,275,971	0.99%
	Stein (Green)	0	0	469,628	0.36%
	Goode (Constitution)	0	0	122,388	0.09%
	Barr (Peace and Freedom)	0	0	67,326	0.04%
	Anderson (Justice)	0	0	43,018	0.03%
	Hoefling (America's)	0	0	50,628	0.03%
	Others	0	0	217,148	0.17%
Total		538	51	129,085,403	100%
* includes District of Columbia

Popular vote count is preliminary, and does not include all precincts.

Projection by state

When you read "Consensus", it means that many news programs have said they believe Obama/Romney will win a particular state. A projection is when someone expresses their belief of something, in this case about the outcome of the election. An EV is an Electoral vote, from the Electoral college.

The Empire State Building was colored blue when Obama was said to have won the election.

Alabama – 9 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Arkansas – 6 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Arizona – 11 EVs, Romney (CNN projection)
- California – 55 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
- Connecticut – 7 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- Colorado – 9 EVs, Obama (AP projection)
- Delaware – 3 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- Florida - 29 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- Georgia – 16 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Hawaii – 4 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
- Idaho – 4 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Illinois – 20 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- Indiana – 11 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Iowa – 6 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
- Kansas – 6 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Kentucky – 8 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Louisiana – 8 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Maine – 4 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- Maryland – 10 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- Massachusetts – 11 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- Michigan – 16 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- Minnesota – 10 EVs, Obama (CBS projection)
- Mississippi – 6 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Missouri – 10 EVs, Romney (CBS projection)
- Montana – 3 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Nebraska – 3 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection) (4th and 5th Electoral votes Consensus projection)
- Nevada – 6 EVs, Obama (ABC projection)
- New Hampshire – 4 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- New Jersey – 14 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- New Mexico – 5 EVs, Obama (NBC projection)
- New York – 29 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- North Carolina – 15 EVs, Romney (CNN projection)
- North Dakota – 3 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Ohio - 18 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
- Oklahoma – 7 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Oregon – 7 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
- Pennsylvania – 20 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- Rhode Island – 4 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- South Carolina – 9 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- South Dakota – 3 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Tennessee – 11 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Texas – 38 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Utah – 6 EVs, Romney (CNN projection)
- Vermont – 3 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- Virginia – 13 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
- Washington, D.C. – 3 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- Washington – 12 EVs, Obama (CNN projection)
- West Virginia – 5 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)
- Wisconsin – 10 EVs, Obama (Consensus projection)
- Wyoming – 3 EVs, Romney (Consensus projection)

Note: Florida was not called until November 10 due to an extremely close race.

Images for kids

border
Mitt Romney on the campaign trail
President Obama talks with Ron Klain during presidential debate preparations. Senator John Kerry, at podium, played the role of Mitt Romney during the preparatory sessions.
President Obama casts his ballot at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Chicago.
Swing from 2008 to 2012 in each state. Only six states trended more Democratic in 2012: Alaska, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, and New York. The arrows to the right represent how many places up or down on the list the state moved since 2008. States are listed by (increasing) percentage of Democratic votes.
Obama takes a phone call from Romney conceding the election early Wednesday morning in Chicago.
Popular vote by county shaded on a scale from red/Republican to blue/Democratic
Cartogram of popular vote by county shaded on a scale from red/Republican to blue/Democratic where each county has been rescaled in proportion to its population
Treemap of the popular vote by county, state, and locally predominant recipient
The Obamas and the Bidens embrace following the television announcement of their victory.
The Obamas and the Bidens walk on stage at the election night victory celebration at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Former Governor Mitt Romney meets with President Barack Obama at the White House after the 2012 presidential election.