2012 United States presidential election in West Virginia
← 2008 November 6, 2012 2016 →
 
Nominee Mitt Romney Barack Obama
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Massachusetts Illinois
Running mate Paul Ryan Joe Biden
Electoral vote 5 0
Popular vote 417,655 238,269
Percentage 62.14% 35.45%
County Results
Romney
  50-60%
  60-70%
  70-80%
  80-90%

President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

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The 2012 United States presidential election in West Virginia 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. West Virginia 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 defeated Barack Obama in the state of West Virginia by a landslide 26.69-point margin. The Republican ticket took 62.14% of the vote to the Democratic ticket's 35.45%, sweeping every county in the state.[1] Romney became the first presidential candidate from any party since West Virginia's admission to the Union in 1863 to sweep every single county in the state and the first since Richard Nixon in 1972 to carry over 60% of the state's votes.[2]

This represented a historic loss for the Democrats in West Virginia, which had been a Democratic stronghold from the New Deal up through the 1990s. Obama became the first Democrat since statehood to win the presidency without carrying Webster County, Jefferson County, Braxton County, or Boone County. Obama is also the only president since statehood to win two terms without ever winning the state once. With 62.14% of the popular vote, West Virginia would prove to be Romney's fifth strongest state in the 2012 election after Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Idaho.[3] As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time the Democratic nominee has received more than 30% of the vote in West Virginia.

Primary elections

Democratic primary

Main article: 2012 West Virginia Democratic presidential primary

Barack Obama defeated Keith Judd, a convicted felon serving a federal prison sentence in Texarkana, TX, by a surprisingly narrow 59% to 41%.[4]

West Virginia Democratic primary, 2012
← 2008 May 8, 2012 (2012-05-08) 2016 →
 
Candidate Barack Obama Keith Judd
Home state Illinois Texas
Delegate count 24 0
Popular vote 106,770 73,138
Percentage 59.35% 40.65%
West Virginia results by county
  Barack Obama
  Keith Judd

Republican primary

West Virginia Republican primary, 2012
← 2008 May 8, 2012 (2012-05-08) 2016 →
 
Candidate Mitt Romney Rick Santorum
Home state Massachusetts Pennsylvania
Delegate count 24 2
Popular vote 78,197 13,590
Percentage 69.56% 12.09%
 
Candidate Ron Paul Newt Gingrich
Home state Texas Georgia
Delegate count 0 0
Popular vote 12,412 7,076
Percentage 11.04% 6.29%
West Virginia results by county
  Mitt Romney
(Note: Italicization indicates a withdrawn candidacy)

The Republican primary took place on May 8, 2012.[5][6]

Results

West Virginia Republican primary, 2012[7]
Candidate Votes Percentage Projected delegate count
CNN GP
Mitt Romney 78,197 69.56% 24
Rick Santorum (withdrawn) 13,590 12.09% 2
Ron Paul 12,412 11.04% 0
Newt Gingrich (withdrawn) 7,076 6.29% 0
Buddy Roemer (withdrawn) 1,141 1.01% 0
Unprojected delegates 31 5
Total: 112,416 100% 31 31

Results by county

County[7] Mitt Romney Ron Paul Rick Santorum
(withdrawn) 		Newt Gingrich
(withdrawn) 		Buddy Roemer
(withdrawn)
Barbour 66.96% (983) 9.20% (135) 15.94% (234) 7.49% (110) 0.41% (6)
Berkeley 69.31% (4366) 14.92% (940) 10.29% (648) 4.84% (305) 0.64% (40)
Boone 70.28% (454) 10.68% (69) 14.55% (94) 3.41% (22) 1.08% (7)
Braxton 68.44% (399) 13.89% (81) 12.35% (72) 4.12% (24) 1.20% (7)
Brooke 69.46% (778) 10.36% (116) 15.09% (169) 4.64% (52) 0.45% (5)
Cabell 69.09% (3351) 12.60% (611) 11.34% (550) 5.77% (280) 1.20% (58)
Calhoun 66.78% (191) 11.89% (34) 12.24% (35) 5.59% (16) 3.50% (10)
Clay 67.01% (262) 10.49% (41) 13.30% (52) 7.42% (29) 1.79% (7)
Doddridge 67.36% (997) 10.61% (157) 12.23% (181) 8.31% (123) 1.49% (22)
Fayette 66.54% (891) 12.02% (161) 12.70% (170) 7.17% (96) 1.57% (21)
Gilmer 70.44% (255) 7.73% (28) 11.05% (40) 9.94% (36) 0.83% (3)
Grant 78.16% (1403) 6.07% (109) 8.30% (149) 6.35% (114) 1.11% (20)
Greenbrier 68.13% (1366) 11.12% (223) 13.12% (263) 6.43% (129) 1.20% (24)
Hampshire 72.70% (1270) 8.59% (150) 12.08% (211) 5.72% (100) 0.92% (16)
Hancock 70.04% (1302) 11.62% (216) 13.07% (243) 3.98% (74) 1.29% (24)
Hardy 69.75% (611) 8.22% (72) 13.93% (122) 6.62% (58) 1.48% (13)
Harrison 67.88% (2715) 10.95% (438) 12.03% (481) 8.25% (330) 0.90% (36)
Jackson 65.87% (2030) 11.36% (350) 13.98% (431) 7.66% (236) 1.14% (35)
Jefferson 67.98% (1771) 16.08% (419) 10.13% (264) 4.99% (130) 0.81% (21)
Kanawha 71.73% (7295) 11.62% (1182) 10.55% (1073) 5.18% (527) 0.91% (93)
Lewis 73.98% (1288) 7.41% (129) 10.17% (177) 7.35% (128) 1.09% (19)
Lincoln 71.69% (504) 8.53% (60) 10.38% (73) 7.54% (53) 1.85% (13)
Logan 67.71% (388) 9.77% (56) 15.01% (86) 6.46% (37) 1.05% (6)
Marion 64.57% (1775) 11.13% (306) 15.61% (429) 6.91% (190) 1.78% (49)
Marshall 71.67% (1687) 8.54% (201) 13.04% (307) 5.82% (137) 0.93% (22)
Mason 66.04% (1641) 11.11% (276) 13.48% (335) 7.69% (191) 1.69% (42)
McDowell 62.81% (152) 12.81% (31) 15.70% (38) 8.26% (20) 0.41% (1)
Mercer 72.24% (1884) 8.51% (222) 12.08% (315) 6.40% (167) 0.77% (20)
Mineral 70.54% (1722) 10.00% (244) 12.04% (294) 6.72% (164) 0.70% (17)
Mingo 69.21% (272) 7.63% (30) 12.21% (48) 8.91% (35) 2.04% (8)
Monongalia 66.40% (2826) 14.14% (602) 11.63% (495) 6.72% (286) 1.10% (47)
Monroe 65.27% (671) 12.55% (129) 12.16% (125) 8.46% (87) 1.56% (16)
Morgan 68.77% (1240) 13.09% (236) 11.09% (200) 5.60% (101) 1.44% (26)
Nicholas 69.78% (875) 9.81% (123) 12.28% (154) 7.10% (89) 1.04% (13)
Ohio 76.43% (2775) 8.84% (321) 10.52% (382) 3.58% (130) 0.63% (23)
Pendleton 75.64% (354) 7.26% (34) 11.54% (54) 4.70% (22) 0.85% (4)
Pleasants 66.26% (381) 10.78% (62) 16.70% (96) 5.57% (32) 0.70% (4)
Pocahontas 63.05% (558) 14.01% (124) 13.56% (120) 8.47% (75) 0.90% (8)
Preston 66.95% (2032) 10.48% (318) 15.32% (465) 6.39% (194) 0.86% (26)
Putnam 70.34% (3891) 11.26% (623) 12.26% (678) 5.28% (292) 0.87% (48)
Raleigh 73.23% (2992) 7.73% (316) 11.75% (480) 6.78% (277) 0.51% (21)
Randolph 68.43% (969) 9.25% (131) 13.14% (186) 7.84% (111) 1.34% (19)
Ritchie 65.27% (1000) 13.97% (214) 12.01% (184) 7.18% (110) 1.57% (24)
Roane 69.95% (866) 9.94% (123) 11.31% (140) 7.43% (92) 1.37% (17)
Summers 67.24% (388) 10.40% (60) 11.96% (69) 9.01% (52) 1.39% (8)
Taylor 67.82% (784) 11.76% (136) 12.63% (146) 7.44% (86) 0.35% (4)
Tucker 69.29% (422) 11.33% (69) 9.85% (60) 9.03% (55) 0.49% (3)
Tyler 68.46% (675) 11.76% (116) 11.97% (118) 6.39% (63) 1.42% (14)
Upshur 69.12% (2344) 9.20% (312) 13.65% (463) 6.69% (227) 1.33% (45)
Wayne 66.79% (1076) 10.12% (163) 14.65% (236) 7.76% (125) 0.68% (11)
Webster 64.65% (139) 10.70% (23) 15.35% (33) 6.98% (15) 2.33% (5)
Wetzel 69.53% (566) 8.35% (68) 16.46% (134) 5.28% (43) 0.37% (3)
Wirt 63.00% (332) 11.57% (61) 16.32% (86) 8.92% (47) 0.19% (1)
Wood 70.20% (5422) 11.64% (899) 10.72% (828) 6.42% (496) 1.02% (79)
Wyoming 75.58% (616) 7.61% (62) 9.08% (74) 6.87% (56) 0.86% (7)

General election

Results

2012 United States presidential election in West Virginia[8]
Party Candidate Running mate Popular vote Electoral vote Swing
Count % Count %
Republican Mitt Romney of Massachusetts Paul Ryan of Wisconsin 417,655 62.14% 5 100.00% Increase6.70%
Democratic Barack Obama of Illinois Joe Biden of Delaware 238,269 35.45% 0 0.00% Decrease6.97%
Libertarian Gary Johnson of New Mexico James P. Gray of California 6,302 0.94% 0 0.00% Increase0.94%
Mountain Jill Stein of Massachusetts Cheri Honkala of Pennsylvania 4,406 0.66% 0 0.00% Increase0.33%
Independent Randall Terry of West Virginia N/A of N/A 3,806 0.57% 0 0.00% Increase0.57%
Write-in Various of Various Various of Various 1,502 0.22% 0 0.00% Decrease0.03%
Constitution Virgil Goode (write-in) of Virginia Jim Clymer of Pennsylvania 119 0.02% 0 0.00% Decrease0.32%
Peace and Freedom Roseanne Barr (write-in) of Hawaii Cindy Sheehan of California 31 0.00% 0 0.00% Steady
Justice Rocky Anderson (write-in) of Utah Luis J. Rodriguez of California 12 0.00% 0 0.00% Steady
American Third Position Merlin Miller (write-in) of Iowa Virginia Abernethy of Arizona 12 0.00% 0 0.00% Steady
American Independent Tom Hoefling (write-in) of Iowa Robert Ornelas of California 5 0.00% 0 0.00% Steady
Independent Richard Duncan (write-in) of - - of - 1 0.00% 0 0.00% Steady
Total 672,119 100.00% 5 100.00%

Results by county

County Mitt Romney
Republican 		Barack Obama
Democratic 		Various candidates
Other parties 		Margin Total
# % # % # % # %
Barbour 3,824 66.19% 1,768 30.60% 185 3.21% 2,056 35.59% 5,777
Berkeley 22,156 59.39% 14,275 38.26% 876 2.35% 7,881 21.13% 37,307
Boone 5,467 64.30% 2,790 32.82% 245 2.88% 2,677 31.48% 8,502
Braxton 2,725 56.65% 1,998 41.54% 87 1.81% 727 15.11% 4,810
Brooke 5,060 54.25% 4,005 42.94% 263 2.81% 1,055 11.31% 9,328
Cabell 17,985 55.93% 13,568 42.19% 605 1.88% 4,417 13.74% 32,158
Calhoun 1,319 59.68% 818 37.01% 73 3.31% 501 22.67% 2,210
Clay 1,971 65.31% 931 30.85% 116 3.84% 1,040 34.46% 3,018
Doddridge 2,130 76.78% 575 20.73% 69 2.49% 1,555 56.05% 2,774
Fayette 8,350 59.35% 5,419 38.51% 301 2.14% 2,931 20.84% 14,070
Gilmer 1,595 63.24% 840 33.31% 87 3.45% 755 29.93% 2,522
Grant 3,783 82.45% 718 15.65% 87 1.90% 3,065 66.80% 4,588
Greenbrier 7,930 60.98% 4,710 36.22% 365 2.80% 3,220 24.76% 13,005
Hampshire 5,523 68.87% 2,299 28.67% 197 2.46% 3,224 40.20% 8,019
Hancock 7,226 59.47% 4,627 38.08% 297 2.45% 2,599 21.39% 12,150
Hardy 3,536 68.25% 1,482 28.60% 163 3.15% 2,054 39.65% 5,181
Harrison 15,876 60.43% 9,732 37.04% 663 2.53% 6,144 23.39% 26,271
Jackson 7,408 63.90% 3,854 33.24% 332 2.86% 3,554 30.66% 11,594
Jefferson 11,258 50.63% 10,398 46.76% 580 2.61% 860 3.87% 22,236
Kanawha 41,364 54.92% 32,480 43.13% 1,468 1.95% 8,884 11.79% 75,312
Lewis 4,375 69.51% 1,736 27.58% 183 2.91% 2,639 41.93% 6,294
Lincoln 4,383 64.29% 2,227 32.66% 208 3.05% 2,156 31.63% 6,818
Logan 8,222 68.68% 3,469 28.98% 281 2.34% 4,753 39.70% 11,972
Marion 12,054 55.93% 8,959 41.57% 540 2.50% 3,095 14.36% 21,553
Marshall 8,135 62.77% 4,484 34.60% 341 2.63% 3,651 28.17% 12,960
Mason 5,741 58.64% 3,778 38.59% 271 2.77% 1,963 20.05% 9,790
McDowell 3,959 63.98% 2,109 34.08% 120 1.94% 1,850 29.90% 6,188
Mercer 15,450 72.49% 5,432 25.49% 431 2.02% 10,018 47.00% 21,313
Mineral 7,833 71.29% 2,885 26.26% 270 2.45% 4,948 45.03% 10,988
Mingo 6,191 69.92% 2,428 27.42% 236 2.66% 3,763 42.50% 8,855
Monongalia 16,831 53.28% 13,826 43.77% 934 2.95% 3,005 9.51% 31,591
Monroe 3,616 69.11% 1,455 27.81% 161 3.08% 2,161 41.30% 5,232
Morgan 4,513 63.82% 2,363 33.42% 195 2.76% 2,150 30.40% 7,071
Nicholas 5,898 67.09% 2,664 30.30% 229 2.61% 3,234 36.79% 8,791
Ohio 10,768 59.96% 6,786 37.79% 405 2.25% 3,982 22.17% 17,959
Pendleton 2,095 64.34% 1,074 32.99% 87 2.67% 1,021 31.35% 3,256
Pleasants 1,825 64.24% 955 33.61% 61 2.15% 870 30.63% 2,841
Pocahontas 2,182 60.76% 1,303 36.29% 106 2.95% 879 24.47% 3,591
Preston 7,889 70.54% 2,931 26.21% 363 3.25% 4,958 44.33% 11,183
Putnam 16,032 67.47% 7,256 30.54% 472 1.99% 8,776 36.93% 23,760
Raleigh 20,614 71.48% 7,739 26.84% 484 1.68% 12,875 44.64% 28,837
Randolph 6,160 63.00% 3,342 34.18% 276 2.82% 2,818 28.82% 9,778
Ritchie 2,921 77.07% 768 20.26% 101 2.67% 2,153 56.81% 3,790
Roane 2,982 58.93% 1,939 38.32% 139 2.75% 1,043 20.61% 5,060
Summers 2,981 62.84% 1,621 34.17% 142 2.99% 1,360 28.67% 4,744
Taylor 3,840 64.85% 1,941 32.78% 140 2.37% 1,899 32.07% 5,921
Tucker 2,176 69.34% 880 28.04% 82 2.62% 1,296 41.30% 3,138
Tyler 2,314 70.44% 890 27.09% 81 2.47% 1,424 43.35% 3,285
Upshur 5,939 71.57% 2,158 26.01% 201 2.42% 3,781 45.56% 8,298
Wayne 8,688 62.02% 4,931 35.20% 390 2.78% 3,757 26.82% 14,009
Webster 1,710 61.67% 947 34.15% 116 4.18% 763 27.52% 2,773
Wetzel 3,473 59.11% 2,217 37.74% 185 3.15% 1,256 21.37% 5,875
Wirt 1,427 65.73% 676 31.14% 68 3.13% 751 34.59% 2,171
Wood 22,183 65.10% 11,230 32.96% 663 1.94% 10,953 32.14% 34,076
Wyoming 5,769 76.65% 1,583 21.03% 174 2.32% 4,186 55.62% 7,526
Totals 417,655 62.14% 238,269 35.45% 16,195 2.41% 179,386 26.69% 672,119
County Flips:
Republican
  Hold
  Gain from Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

Romney won all three congressional districts, including one held by a Democrat.[9]

District Romney Obama Representative
1st 62.18% 35.54% David McKinley
2nd 60% 37.97% Shelley Moore Capito
3rd 65% 32.79% Nick Rahall

See also

References

  1. ^ "Statewide Results - General Election". WV Secretary of State. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  2. ^ Thomas, G. Scott; The Pursuit of the White House: A Handbook of Presidential Election Statistics and History, pp. 459-460 ISBN 0313257957
  3. ^ "2012 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  4. ^ "4 in 10 choose convict over Obama in W.Va. primary - Political Hotsheet". CBS News. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012.
  5. ^ "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  6. ^ "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Statewide Results - Primary Election". WV Secretary of State. May 8, 2012. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  8. ^ "2012 Presidential General Election Results - West Virginia". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
  9. ^ "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts". Daily Kos. Retrieved August 11, 2020.

External links

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