2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

The 2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin 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. Wisconsin voters chose 10 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.

2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin

← 2008 November 6, 2012 2016 →
Turnout	70.35% [1]
Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney Party Democratic Republican Home state Illinois Massachusetts Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan Electoral vote 10 0 Popular vote 1,620,985 1,407,966 Percentage 52.83% 45.89%
County results Congressional district results Precinct results Obama   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Romney   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Tie/No Data
President before election Barack Obama Democratic Elected President Barack Obama Democratic

Obama won the state of Wisconsin with 52.83% of the vote to Romney's 45.89%, a 6.94% margin of victory.^[2] While this represented half the victory margin of Obama's 13.91% win in 2008, when he won 59 of 72 counties and 7 of 8 congressional districts, it still remains the only other presidential election in the 21st century where the winning candidate won the state by more than 1% of the vote. Obama's win was also surprisingly comfortable even though Wisconsin was the home state of Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, making him the first Republican vice presidential nominee to lose their home state since Jack Kemp lost New York in 1996. Obama's win was attributed to victories in Milwaukee, the state's largest city; Madison, the state capital; northwestern Wisconsin; and the Driftless Region. Romney's strength was concentrated in the loyally Republican Milwaukee suburbs, particularly the WOW counties (Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha), where he carried a combined 67.03% of the vote to Obama's 32.00%. He also flipped 24 counties in the Northeast and Central Plain regions, though most of them were rural and, therefore, insufficient to overcome Obama's aforementioned victories. Obama nonetheless became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Iron County since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

As of 2024, this is the last time the Democratic presidential nominee won the following counties: Adams, Buffalo, Columbia, Crawford, Dunn, Forest, Grant, Jackson, Juneau, Kenosha, Lafayette, Lincoln, Marquette, Pepin, Price, Racine, Richland, Sawyer, Trempealeau, Vernon, and Winnebago. This remains the last time that any candidate won Wisconsin with more than 50% of the vote or by more than 1 percentage point.^[3]

Primary elections

Democratic primary

President Barack Obama ran unopposed in the Democratic Primary, winning 293,914 votes, or 97.89%. Uncommitted ballots received 5,092 votes, or 1.89% of the vote, while 849 votes, 0.28%, were scattered. 111 delegates, all of which were pledged to Obama were sent to the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.^[4]

Republican primary

2012 Wisconsin Republican presidential primary

← 2008 April 3, 2012 (2012-04-03) 2016 →

Candidate Mitt Romney Rick Santorum Home state Massachusetts Pennsylvania Delegate count 33 9 Popular vote 346,876 290,139 Percentage 44.03% 36.83%   Candidate Ron Paul Newt Gingrich Home state Texas Georgia Delegate count 0 0 Popular vote 87,858 45,978 Percentage 11.15% 5.83%

Wisconsin results by county   Mitt Romney   Rick Santorum

The 2012 Wisconsin Republican presidential primary took place on April 3, 2012,^[5][6] the same day as the primaries in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Mitt Romney edged out a victory, with 44.03% of the vote and 33 delegates, with former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania coming in second with 36.83% of the vote and 9 delegates. No other candidates won any delegates nor counties, though representative Ron Paul of Texas's 14th district received 11.15% and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich received 5.84%. All other candidates received less than 1%. Romney's strength was concentrated in Southeast Wisconsin, carrying Milwaukee and all of its suburbs (including the Kenosha and Racine as well as the ancestrally Republican counties of Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha), as well as Madison. Santorum's most significant victories were in Western Wisconsin and in Green Bay and its respective suburbs.^[4]

2012 Wisconsin Republican presidential primary[4]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
Mitt Romney	346,876	44.03%	33
Rick Santorum	290,139	36.83%	9
Ron Paul	87,858	11.15%	0
Newt Gingrich	45,978	5.84%	0
Michele Bachmann	6,045	0.77%	0
Jon Huntsman	5,083	0.65%	0
Uninstructed	4,200	0.53%	0
Scattering	1,668	0.21%	0
Total:	787,847	100%	42

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Huffington Post[7]	Lean D	November 6, 2012
CNN[8]	Tossup	November 6, 2012
New York Times[9]	Tossup	November 6, 2012
Washington Post[10]	Tossup	November 6, 2012
RealClearPolitics[11]	Tossup	November 6, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball[12]	Lean D	November 5, 2012
FiveThirtyEight[13]	Solid D	November 6, 2012

Results

Although Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan was from Wisconsin, representing the 1st district in Congress, the Republican Party lost by around a seven-point margin, which was, albeit an improved loss from Obama's landslide 13.91% margin in 2008,^[14] a crucial loss.

2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Democratic	Barack Obama (incumbent)	Joe Biden (incumbent)	1,620,985	52.83%	10
	Republican	Mitt Romney	Paul Ryan	1,407,966	45.89%	0
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson	Jim Gray	20,439	0.67%	0
	Green	Jill Stein	Cheri Honkala	7,665	0.25%	0
	Write-Ins	Write-Ins		5,170	0.17%	0
	Constitution	Virgil Goode	Jim Clymer	4,930	0.16%	0
	Socialist Equality	Jerry White	Phyllis Scherrer	553	0.02%	0
	Socialism and Liberation	Gloria La Riva	Filberto Ramirez Jr.	526	0.02%	0
	Justice	Rocky Anderson	Luis J. Rodriguez	112	0.00%	0
	Peace & Freedom	Roseanne Barr	Cindy Sheehan	88	0.00%	0
Totals				3,068,434	100.00%	10

By county

County	Barack Obama Democratic		Mitt Romney Republican		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Adams	5,552	53.87%	4,644	45.14%	101	0.99%	898	8.73%	10,287
Ashland	5,399	64.49%	2,820	33.68%	153	1.83%	2,579	30.81%	8,372
Barron	10,890	47.99%	11,443	50.43%	359	1.58%	-553	-2.44%	22,692
Bayfield	6,033	61.64%	3,603	36.81%	152	1.55%	2,430	24.83%	9,788
Brown	62,526	48.50%	64,836	50.29%	1,566	1.21%	-2,310	-1.79%	128,928
Buffalo	3,570	50.72%	3,364	47.79%	105	1.49%	206	2.93%	7,039
Burnett	3,986	45.94%	4,550	52.44%	141	1.62%	-564	-6.50%	8,677
Calumet	11,489	43.49%	14,539	55.03%	392	1.48%	-3,050	-11.54%	26,420
Chippewa	15,237	49.26%	15,322	49.53%	373	1.21%	-85	-0.27%	30,932
Clark	6,172	44.72%	7,412	53.71%	217	1.57%	-1,240	-8.99%	13,801
Columbia	17,175	56.23%	13,026	42.64%	345	1.13%	4,149	13.59%	30,546
Crawford	4,629	59.22%	3,067	39.24%	121	1.54%	1,562	19.98%	7,817
Dane	216,071	71.03%	83,644	27.50%	4,466	1.47%	132,427	43.53%	304,181
Dodge	18,762	42.17%	25,211	56.67%	515	1.16%	-6,449	-14.50%	44,488
Door	9,357	52.95%	8,121	45.96%	193	1.09%	1,236	6.99%	17,671
Douglas	14,863	64.92%	7,705	33.66%	326	1.42%	7,158	31.26%	22,894
Dunn	11,316	51.46%	10,224	46.49%	452	2.05%	1,092	4.97%	21,992
Eau Claire	30,666	55.95%	23,256	42.43%	884	1.62%	7,410	13.52%	54,806
Florence	953	36.30%	1,645	62.67%	27	1.03%	-692	-26.37%	2,625
Fond du Lac	22,379	41.91%	30,355	56.84%	668	1.25%	-7,976	-14.93%	53,402
Forest	2,425	52.17%	2,172	46.73%	51	1.10%	253	5.44%	4,648
Grant	13,594	56.06%	10,255	42.29%	399	1.65%	3,339	13.77%	24,248
Green	11,206	58.00%	7,857	40.66%	259	1.34%	3,349	17.34%	19,322
Green Lake	3,793	39.20%	5,782	59.76%	100	1.04%	-1,989	-20.56%	9,675
Iowa	8,105	64.66%	4,287	34.20%	142	1.14%	3,818	30.46%	12,534
Iron	1,784	49.12%	1,790	49.28%	58	1.60%	-6	-0.16%	3,632
Jackson	5,298	56.89%	3,900	41.88%	115	1.23%	1,398	15.01%	9,313
Jefferson	20,158	45.52%	23,517	53.11%	606	1.37%	-3,359	-7.59%	44,281
Juneau	6,242	52.78%	5,411	45.75%	174	1.47%	831	7.03%	11,827
Kenosha	44,867	55.46%	34,977	43.24%	1,053	1.30%	9,890	12.22%	80,897
Kewaunee	5,153	46.69%	5,747	52.07%	137	1.24%	-594	-5.38%	11,037
La Crosse	36,693	57.82%	25,751	40.58%	1,018	1.60%	10,942	17.24%	63,462
Lafayette	4,536	57.04%	3,314	41.68%	102	1.28%	1,222	15.36%	7,952
Langlade	4,573	43.47%	5,816	55.29%	130	1.24%	-1,243	-11.82%	10,519
Lincoln	7,563	49.70%	7,455	48.99%	198	1.31%	108	0.71%	15,216
Manitowoc	20,403	47.88%	21,604	50.69%	610	1.43%	-1,201	-2.81%	42,617
Marathon	32,363	46.32%	36,617	52.41%	882	1.27%	-4,254	-6.09%	69,862
Marinette	9,882	47.56%	10,619	51.11%	276	1.33%	-737	-3.55%	20,777
Marquette	4,014	49.52%	3,992	49.25%	99	1.23%	22	0.27%	8,105
Menominee	1,191	86.49%	179	13.00%	7	0.51%	1,012	73.49%	1,377
Milwaukee	332,438	67.49%	154,924	31.45%	5,214	1.06%	177,514	36.04%	492,576
Monroe	9,515	48.83%	9,675	49.65%	295	1.52%	-160	-0.82%	19,485
Oconto	8,865	44.64%	10,741	54.09%	253	1.27%	-1,876	-9.45%	19,859
Oneida	10,452	48.27%	10,917	50.42%	283	1.31%	-465	-2.15%	21,652
Outagamie	45,659	48.27%	47,372	50.08%	1,565	1.65%	-1,713	-1.81%	94,596
Ozaukee	19,159	34.32%	36,077	64.63%	581	1.05%	-16,918	-30.31%	55,817
Pepin	1,876	50.72%	1,794	48.50%	29	0.78%	82	2.22%	3,699
Pierce	10,235	48.69%	10,397	49.46%	388	1.85%	-162	-0.77%	21,020
Polk	10,073	44.62%	12,094	53.58%	406	1.80%	-2,021	-8.96%	22,573
Portage	22,075	56.12%	16,615	42.24%	647	1.64%	5,460	13.88%	39,337
Price	3,887	49.20%	3,884	49.16%	130	1.64%	3	0.04%	7,901
Racine	53,008	51.28%	49,347	47.74%	1,009	0.98%	3,661	3.54%	103,364
Richland	4,969	57.41%	3,573	41.28%	113	1.31%	1,396	16.13%	8,655
Rock	49,219	61.00%	30,517	37.82%	954	1.18%	18,702	23.18%	80,690
Rusk	3,397	47.24%	3,676	51.12%	118	1.64%	-279	-3.88%	7,191
St. Croix	19,910	43.07%	25,503	55.17%	812	1.76%	-5,593	-12.10%	46,225
Sauk	18,736	58.68%	12,838	40.21%	353	1.11%	5,898	18.47%	31,927
Sawyer	4,486	49.71%	4,442	49.22%	97	1.07%	44	0.49%	9,025
Shawano	9,000	44.38%	11,022	54.35%	257	1.27%	-2,022	-9.97%	20,279
Sheboygan	27,918	44.56%	34,072	54.38%	661	1.06%	-6,154	-9.82%	62,651
Taylor	3,763	39.56%	5,601	58.88%	148	1.56%	-1,838	-19.32%	9,512
Trempealeau	7,605	56.41%	5,707	42.33%	169	1.26%	1,898	14.08%	13,481
Vernon	8,044	56.37%	5,942	41.64%	283	1.99%	2,102	14.73%	14,269
Vilas	5,951	42.99%	7,749	55.98%	142	1.03%	-1,798	-12.99%	13,842
Walworth	22,552	43.12%	29,006	55.46%	745	1.42%	-6,454	-12.34%	52,303
Washburn	4,447	47.88%	4,699	50.60%	141	1.52%	-252	-2.72%	9,287
Washington	23,166	29.42%	54,765	69.55%	811	1.03%	-31,599	-40.13%	78,742
Waukesha	78,779	32.31%	162,798	66.76%	2,279	0.93%	-84,019	-34.45%	243,856
Waupaca	11,578	44.81%	14,002	54.19%	260	1.00%	-2,424	-9.38%	25,840
Waushara	5,335	44.28%	6,562	54.47%	151	1.25%	-1,227	-10.19%	12,048
Winnebago	45,449	50.97%	42,122	47.24%	1,602	1.79%	3,327	3.73%	89,173
Wood	18,581	47.77%	19,704	50.65%	615	1.58%	-1,123	-2.88%	38,900
Totals	1,620,985	52.83%	1,407,966	45.89%	39,483	1.29%	213,019	6.94%	3,068,434

County Flips:

Democratic   Hold

Republican   Hold   Gain from Democratic

Counties that flipped Democratic to Republican

• Barron (largest city: Rice Lake)^[14]
• Brown (largest city: Green Bay)
• Burnett (largest village: Grantsburg)
• Calumet (largest city: Chilton)
• Chippewa (largest city: Chippewa Falls)
• Clark (largest city: Neillsville)
• Iron (largest city: Hurley)
• Jefferson (largest city: Watertown)
• Kewaunee (largest city: Algoma)
• Langlade (largest city: Antigo)
• Manitowoc (largest city: Manitowoc)
• Marathon (largest city: Wausau)
• Marinette (largest city: Marinette)
• Monroe (largest city: Sparta)
• Oconto (largest city: Oconto)
• Oneida (largest city: Rhinelander)
• Outagamie (largest city: Appleton)
• Pierce (largest city: River Falls)
• Rusk (largest city: Ladysmith)
• Shawano (largest city: Shawano)
• Washburn (largest city: Spooner)
• Waupaca (largest city: New London)
• Waushara (largest city: Berlin)
• Wood (largest city: Marshfield)

By congressional district

Despite losing the state, Romney won five of eight congressional districts.^[15]

District	Romney	Obama	Representative
1st	51.65%	47.44%	Paul Ryan
2nd	30.46%	68.3%	Mark Pocan
3rd	43.82%	54.82%	Ron Kind
4th	23.78%	75.33%	Gwen Moore
5th	61.31%	37.75%	Jim Sensenbrenner
6th	53.1%	45.77%	Tom Petri
7th	50.92%	47.83%	Sean Duffy
8th	51.26%	47.56%	Reid Ribble

See also

• United States presidential elections in Wisconsin
• 2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums
• 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
• Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
• Wisconsin Republican Party