2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island
November 6, 2012
Turnout60.8%[1] Decrease 6.1 pp
 
Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Illinois Massachusetts
Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan
Electoral vote 4 0
Popular vote 279,677 157,204
Percentage 62.70% 35.24%
President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

 Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

The 2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island 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. Rhode Island voters chose four 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.

Also on the ballot were Libertarian nominee, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson and his running mate, jurist Jim Gray. The left-wing Green Party nominated activist and physician Jill Stein and her running mate, anti-poverty advocate Cheri Honkala.

Rhode Island was won by Democratic nominee Obama by a 27.46% margin of victory. This was the seventh straight win for the Democratic Party in Rhode Island on the presidential level. It was also the seventh time in a row that the Democratic nominee for president won all 5 counties – a streak which would be broken when Donald Trump won Kent County in 2016[2] – and the sixth consecutive time that a Republican nominee failed to break 40% of the vote in the Ocean State. Rhode Island has been a safe Democratic state since 1988, and has only voted for a Republican nominee four times since 1928 (all of which in landslide elections). State politics are dominated by the Providence and Warwick metropolitan areas, and Providence County gave Obama his largest margin in the state at 34.92%. However, white working class voters in the inland and diverse, urban voters on the coast alike consistently vote Democratic, enough to provide the Democratic nominee with landslide margins in each election.[3]

Primary elections

Democratic primary

The 2012 Rhode Island Democratic primary was held April 24, 2012. Rhode Island awarded 40 delegates proportionally.

No candidate ran against incumbent President Barack Obama in Rhode Island's Democratic presidential preference primary. Obama received 6,759 votes, or 83.38% of the vote, with 1,133 uncommitted votes (13.98%) and 214 write-in votes (2.64%)

At the Rhode Island Democratic state convention held on June 21, 2012, 35 delegates were awarded to Barack Obama, with 5 delegates remaining unannounced.[4]

Rhode Island 2012 Democratic presidential primary[4]
Candidate Votes Percentage Awarded Delegates
Barack Obama 6,759 83.38% 35
Uncommitted 1,133 13.98%
Write-in 214 2.64%
Unannounced 5
Totals 8,106 100.00% 40

Republican primary

2012 Rhode Island Republican presidential primary
April 24, 2012 (2012-04-24)
 
Candidate Mitt Romney Ron Paul Newt Gingrich
Home state Massachusetts Texas Georgia
Delegate count 12 4 0
Popular vote 9,157 3,462 878
Percentage 63.02% 23.85% 6.04%
Rhode Island results by county
  Mitt Romney

The 2012 Rhode Island Republican presidential primary took place on April 24, 2012.[5] Former Massachusetts Governor and frontrunner Mitt Romney received 63.02% of the vote, followed by U.S. Representative from Texas Ron Paul with 23.85% and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich with 6.04%.[6] Former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum, who dropped out on April 10, received 5.66% of the vote.

2012 Rhode Island Republican presidential primary[6][7]
Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates
Mitt Romney 9,178 63.02% 12
Ron Paul 3,473 23.85% 4
Newt Gingrich 880 6.04% 0
Rick Santorum 825 5.66% 0
Uncommitted 131 0.90% 3
Buddy Roemer 40 0.27% 0
Write-in 37 0.25% 0
Unprojected delegates: 0
Total: 14,564 100% 19

General election

Results

2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island[8]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 279,677 62.70% 4
Republican Mitt Romney Paul Ryan 157,204 35.24% 0
Libertarian Gary Johnson Jim Gray 4,388 0.98% 0
Green Jill Stein Cheri Honkala 2,421 0.54% 0
Others & write-in 2,359 0.53% 0
Totals 446,049 100.00% 4
Voter turnout 60.79%

Results by county

County Barack Obama
Democratic		 Mitt Romney
Republican		 Various candidates
Other parties		 Margin Total votes cast
#  % #  % #  % #  %
Bristol 14,974 60.68% 9,231 37.41% 471 1.91% 5,743 23.27% 24,676
Kent 45,564 57.73% 31,567 40.00% 1,792 2.27% 13,997 17.73% 78,923
Newport 23,463 59.47% 15,202 38.53% 787 2.00% 8,261 20.94% 39,452
Providence 159,520 66.53% 75,785 31.61% 4,481 1.86% 83,735 34.92% 239,786
Washington 35,888 57.07% 25,366 40.34% 1,625 2.59% 10,522 16.73% 62,879
Totals279,67762.70%157,20435.24%9,1682.06%122,47327.46%446,049

Results by congressional district

Obama won both congressional districts.[9]

District Obama Romney Representative
1st 66.21% 32.18% David Cicilline
2nd 59.84% 38.29% James Langevin

See also

References

  1. ↑ This figure is calculated by dividing the total number of votes cast in 2012 (446,049) by an estimate of the number of registered voters in Rhode Island in 2012 (732,860).
    • For the number of votes cast, see "Official 2012 Presidential General Election Results". Rhode Island Board of Elections. November 26, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
    • For the estimated number of registered voters, see "STATEWIDE - VOTER REGISTRATION SUMMARY" (PDF). Rhode Island Board of Elections. November 14, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 26, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Rhode Island 2016 Presidential And State Election Results". NPR.org. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  3. ↑ "The Road to 270: Rhode Island". 270toWin.com. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Rhode Island Democrat". The Green Papers. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  6. 1 2 "REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE". Retrieved April 25, 2012.
  7. ↑ State of Rhode Island official election results
  8. ↑ "State of Rhode Island Board of Elections". Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts". Daily Kos. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
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