2012 United States presidential election in Georgia

← 2008 November 6, 2012 2016 →
Turnout	61.9%[1] 10.1 pp
Nominee Mitt Romney Barack Obama Party Republican Democratic Home state Massachusetts Illinois Running mate Paul Ryan Joe Biden Electoral vote 16 0 Popular vote 2,078,688 1,773,827 Percentage 53.30% 45.48%
County results Congressional district results Romney   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90% Obama   40-50%   50-60%   60-70%   70-80%   80-90%
President before election Barack Obama Democratic Elected President Barack Obama Democratic

The 2012 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 General Election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Georgia voters chose 16 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.

Romney won Georgia by a 7.82% margin, an improvement from 2008 when John McCain won by 5.2%. Romney received 53.30% of the vote to Obama's 45.48%. Early County flipped from supporting the Republican candidate to the Democratic candidate, while Chattahoochee flipped from the Democratic column to the Republican column. Obama thus became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Chattahoochee County since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. This is the last time a Democrat won without carrying the state.

Along with Arizona, Georgia is one of only two states to vote for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, that also voted against Obama in both 2008 and 2012. Obama remains the only Democrat to ever win two terms without carrying Georgia either time. As of 2020, this is the last time a Democratic presidential nominee won the rural Black Belt counties of Baker, Dooly, Early, Peach, Quitman, and Twiggs, and the last time that the suburban Atlanta counties of Gwinnett, Henry, and Cobb would vote Republican in a presidential race. This was also the first election since 1980 in which Georgia voted to the left of Missouri, and the last time that Georgia voted to the right of Ohio or Iowa as of 2020. This is also the last time that Georgia has backed the losing candidate in a presidential election.

Primaries

Democratic

Incumbent president Barack Obama was unopposed in the Georgia primary, therefore winning all of the state's delegates.

Republican

Georgia Republican primary, 2012

← 2008 March 6, 2012 (2012-03-06) 2016 →

Candidate Newt Gingrich Mitt Romney Home state Georgia Massachusetts Delegate count 52 21 Popular vote 425,395 233,611 Percentage 47.2% 25.9%   Candidate Rick Santorum Ron Paul Home state Pennsylvania Texas Delegate count 3 0 Popular vote 176,259 59,100 Percentage 19.6% 6.6%

Georgia results by county   Newt Gingrich   Mitt Romney

Elections in Georgia
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Ballot measures 2004 Flag referendum Amendment 1
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2012 U.S. presidential election
Timeline General election debates Electors Polling nationwide statewide Parties
Democratic Party
Candidates Primaries Nominee Convention
Republican Party
Prelude Candidates Debates and forums Primaries National polling Statewide polling Straw polls Results Nominee VP candidate selection Convention Endorsements
Minor parties Libertarian Party candidates primaries nominee convention Green Party primaries nominee convention Constitution Party nominee convention Justice Party nominee Americans Elect All candidates
Related races
House Senate Governors Vice President Democratic Republican
← 2008 2012 2016 →
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The 2012 Georgia Republican primary took place on March 6, 2012.^[2][3]

Georgia has 76 delegates to the Republic National Convention. The three super delegates are awarded winner-take-all to the statewide winner. Thirty-one delegates are awarded proportionately among candidates winning at least 20% of the vote statewide. Another 42 delegates are allocated by Congressional district, 3 delegates for each district. If a candidate gets a majority in a district, he wins all 3 delegates. If no one get majority, the delegates are split 2 and 1 between the top two candidates respectively.^[4]

Georgia Republican primary, 2012[5]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Estimated national delegates [6]
Newt Gingrich	425,395	47.2%	54
Mitt Romney	233,611	25.9%	19
Rick Santorum	176,259	19.6%	3
Ron Paul	59,100	6.6%	0
Jon Huntsman Jr.	1,813	0.2%	0
Michele Bachmann	1,714	0.2%	0
Rick Perry	1,696	0.2%	0
Buddy Roemer	1,142	0.13%	0
Gary Johnson	740	0.08%	0
Undecided or Other			0
Totals	901,470	100.0%	76

General election

Candidate ballot access

• Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan, Republican
• Barack Obama/Joseph Biden, Democratic
• Gary Johnson/James P. Gray, Libertarian

Write-in candidate access:

• Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala, Green
• Virgil Goode/Jim Clymer, Constitution
• Rocky Anderson/Luis J. Rodriguez, Justice

Results

Out of a total of 6,066,961 registered voters at the time of the presidential election, turnout for the general election was 3,908,369, or 64.42% of registered voters.

By county

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Chattahoochee (largest city: Cusseta)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Early (largest city: Blakely)

By congressional district

Romney won 10 of 14 congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat.^[8]