2012 United States presidential election in Oregon

2012 Oregon Republican primary
<img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Flag_of_Oregon.svg/50px-Flag_of_Oregon.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="30" class="thumbborder" data-file-width="750" data-file-height="450">
	<img alt="Oregon Republican Presidential Primary Election Results by County, 2012.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Oregon_Republican_Presidential_Primary_Election_Results_by_County%2C_2012.svg/250px-Oregon_Republican_Presidential_Primary_Election_Results_by_County%2C_2012.svg.png" decoding="async" width="250" height="190" data-file-width="248" data-file-height="188"> Oregon results by county Mitt Romney (Note: Italicization indicates a withdrawn candidacy)

2012 United States presidential election in Oregon
Obama 50-60% 60-70% 70-80%	Romney 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80%
President before election; Barack Obama; Democratic	Elected President ; Barack Obama; Democratic

The 2012 United States presidential election in Oregon 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. Oregon voters chose seven 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, Representative Paul Ryan.

Obama carried Oregon with 54.24% of the vote to Romney's 42.15%, a Democratic victory margin of 12.09%. The Democrats have won the state in every presidential election since 1988, and the Republicans would never seriously contest the state after the 2004 election. Though Romney won a majority of counties, his best performances were in the most sparsely populated regions of the state. Obama's win came from strong support in the densely populated northwestern region of the state, home to Oregon's largest metropolitan areas. Obama won over 75% of the vote in Multnomah County, containing Portland, as well as its surrounding counties, enough to deliver the state to a Democrats by a strong margin. However, the Republican Party managed to improve on their 2008 loss of 16.35%^[1] and flipped the counties of Jackson (home to Medford), Marion (home to Salem), and Wasco back into the Republican column.

As of 2020, this is the most recent election where Columbia County and Tillamook County backed the Democratic candidate.

Democratic primaryEdit

The Democratic primary was held on May 15, 2012. Barack Obama ran unopposed for the nomination.

2012 Oregon Democratic Primary^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Barack Obama	309,358	94.79%
	Democratic	write-ins	16,998	5.21%
Total votes			326,358	100.00%

Republican primaryEdit

The Republican primary occurred on May 15, 2012.^[3]^[4] The only two candidates still in the race were Mitt Romney and U.S. Representative from Texas, Ron Paul. In addition, former Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich had withdrawn prior to the election, but their names still appeared on the Oregon ballot.

In order to participate in the primary, voters were required to register to vote by April 24, 2012.^[5] A closed primary was used to elect the presidential, legislative, and local partisan offices. A semi-closed primary, which allowed non-affiliated voters to participate, was used to elect the Attorney General, Secretary of State and Treasurer.^[6]

2012 Oregon Republican Primary^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mitt Romney	204,176	70.91%
	Republican	Ron Paul	36,810	12.78%
	Republican	Rick Santorum (withdrew)	27,042	9.39%
	Republican	Newt Gingrich (withdrew)	15,451	5.37%
	Republican	write-ins	4,476	1.55%
Total votes			287,955	100.00%

General electionEdit

United States President: Oregon^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Barack Obama	970,488	54.24%
	Republican	Mitt Romney	754,175	42.15%
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson	24,089	1.35%
	Pacific Green	Jill Stein	19,427	1.09%
	Constitution	Will Christensen	4,432	0.25%
	Progressive	Rocky Anderson	3,384	0.19%
		write-ins	13,275	0.74%
Total votes			1,789,270	100.00%

By countyEdit

County	Obama%	Obama#	Romney%	Romney#	Others%	Others#	Total
Baker	28.04%	2,369	67.50%	5,702	4.46%	377	8,448
Benton	62.00%	27,776	33.46%	14,991	4.54%	2,035	44,802
Clackamas	50.44%	95,493	46.79%	88,592	2.77%	5,247	189,332
Clatsop	55.34%	9,861	40.68%	7,249	3.97%	708	17,818
Columbia	50.28%	12,004	45.12%	10,772	4.60%	1,099	23,875
Coos	44.78%	12,845	51.15%	14,673	4.07%	1,168	28,686
Crook	30.34%	3,104	66.37%	6,790	3.28%	336	10,230
Curry	39.60%	4,625	56.50%	6,598	3.90%	455	11,678
Deschutes	45.13%	36,961	51.85%	42,463	3.02%	2,476	81,900
Douglas	34.43%	17,145	61.80%	30,776	3.78%	1,882	49,803
Gilliam	34.97%	371	60.23%	639	4.81%	51	1,061
Grant	21.81%	853	74.81%	2,926	3.38%	132	3,911
Harney	23.22%	832	72.76%	2,607	4.02%	144	3,583
Hood River	61.58%	6,058	34.85%	3,429	3.57%	351	9,838
Jackson	45.86%	44,468	50.55%	49,020	3.59%	3,484	96,972
Jefferson	40.38%	3,301	56.78%	4,642	2.84%	232	8,175
Josephine	37.16%	14,953	58.83%	23,673	4.01%	1,612	40,238
Klamath	29.86%	8,302	67.98%	18,898	2.16%	601	27,801
Lake	20.75%	770	75.69%	2,808	3.56%	132	3,710
Lane	59.73%	102,652	36.37%	62,509	3.89%	6,689	171,850
Lincoln	58.31%	13,401	37.79%	8,686	3.90%	897	22,984
Linn	39.63%	20,378	56.28%	28,944	4.09%	2,104	51,426
Malheur	27.71%	2,759	68.81%	6,851	3.48%	346	9,956
Marion	46.83%	56,376	50.00%	60,190	3.17%	3,810	120,376
Morrow	30.96%	1,202	65.22%	2,532	3.81%	148	3,882
Multnomah	75.37%	274,887	20.65%	75,302	3.98%	14,533	364,722
Polk	46.21%	16,292	50.54%	17,819	3.25%	1,146	35,257
Sherman	31.09%	319	66.08%	678	2.83%	29	1,026
Tillamook	50.27%	6,293	45.40%	5,684	4.33%	542	12,519
Umatilla	34.38%	8,584	62.07%	15,499	3.55%	886	24,969
Union	33.21%	3,973	63.82%	7,636	2.98%	356	11,965
Wallowa	29.80%	1,253	66.68%	2,804	3.52%	148	4,205
Wasco	47.93%	5,211	48.09%	5,229	3.98%	433	10,873
Washington	57.08%	135,291	39.65%	93,974	3.27%	7,758	237,023
Wheeler	31.00%	266	63.52%	545	5.48%	47	858
Yamhill	44.89%	19,260	51.38%	22,045	3.73%	1,602	42,907

Counties that flipped from Democratic to RepublicanEdit

Jackson (largest city: Medford)
Marion (largest city: Salem)
Wasco (largest city: The Dalles)

ReferencesEdit

^ "Oregon - Election Results 2008 - The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
^ ^a ^b "May 15, 2012, Primary Election Abstracts of Votes: United States President" (PDF). Oregon Elections Division. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
^ "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
^ "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
^ Mickler, Lauren (March 6, 2012). "Oregon Primary Two Months Away". Eugene, OR: KEZI 9 News.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Mapes, Jeff (February 6, 2012). "Oregon Republican Party opens three statewide primaries to non-affiliated voters". The Oregonian.
^ "Official Results November 6, 2012 General Election". Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved September 19, 2016.

External linksEdit

The Green Papers: for Oregon
The Green Papers: major state elections in chronological order

[1] "Oregon - Election Results 2008 - The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2020-11-09.

[primresults-2] "May 15, 2012, Primary Election Abstracts of Votes: United States President" (PDF). Oregon Elections Division. Retrieved December 5, 2012.

[3] "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 12, 2012.

[4] "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.

[5] Mickler, Lauren (March 6, 2012). "Oregon Primary Two Months Away". Eugene, OR: KEZI 9 News.^{[permanent dead link]}

[6] Mapes, Jeff (February 6, 2012). "Oregon Republican Party opens three statewide primaries to non-affiliated voters". The Oregonian.

[7] "Official Results November 6, 2012 General Election". Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved September 19, 2016.

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