2012 United States presidential election in Minnesota

2012 United States presidential election in Minnesota

← 2008 November 6, 2012 2016 →
Turnout76.42%[1] Decrease
 
Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney
Party Democratic (DFL) Republican
Home state Illinois Massachusetts
Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan
Electoral vote 10 0
Popular vote 1,546,167 1,320,225
Percentage 52.65% 44.96%


President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic (DFL)

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic (DFL)

The 2012 United States presidential election in Minnesota 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. State voters chose ten electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent DFL 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.

Minnesota backed Obama for re-election, giving him 52.65% of the vote, while Republican challenger Mitt Romney took 44.96%, a victory margin of 7.69%. With ten Democratic wins in a row, Minnesota has the longest current streak of voting for the Democratic candidate in presidential elections of any state, having not voted Republican since Richard Nixon in 1972. This is the longest streak for the Democrats in history amongst non-Southern states.[2]

However, Romney was able to significantly improve on McCain's performance in Minnesota, as he did nationally. Fourteen counties that voted for Obama in 2008 flipped and voted for the Republican Party in 2012, while many Democratic counties had a margin of victory much narrower than in 2008. Many of these counties had not voted for a Republican in decades, such as Big Stone County, as well as Pine County. Obama thus became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Big Stone County since Grover Cleveland in 1892.[3] Obama also became the first ever Democrat to win the White House without carrying Red Lake County, as well as the first to do so without carrying Lincoln, Marshall, Pennington, or Polk Counties since Woodrow Wilson in 1912, the first to do so without carrying Grant or Pine Counties since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time the Democratic candidate won the following counties: Beltrami, Chippewa, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Itasca, Kittson, Koochiching, Lac qui Parle, Mahnomen, Mower, Norman, Rice, Swift, and Traverse.

  1. ^ "Office of the State Of Minnesota Secretary of State". www.sos.state.mn.us. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  2. ^ "Will Vermont's 27-Cycle GOP Presidential Streak Ever Be Broken?". Smart Politics. April 30, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  3. ^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved September 2, 2020.