2012 United States presidential election in California

2012 United States presidential election in California

← 2008 November 6, 2012 2016 →
Turnout72.36% (of registered voters) Decrease 7.06 pp
55.47% (of eligible voters) Decrease 3.75 pp[1]
 
Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney
Party Democratic Republican
Home state Illinois Massachusetts
Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan
Electoral vote 55 0
Popular vote 7,854,285 4,839,958
Percentage 60.24% 37.12%

County Results

President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

The 2012 United States presidential election in California 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. California voters chose 55 electors, the most out of any state, 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.

Prior to the election, every major news network considered California to be a state Obama would win or as a safe blue state. According to Secretary of State Debra Bowen's website, the President won the popular vote with 60.24% percent, with Mitt Romney in second place at 37.12%, and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in third place at 1.10%.[2] The Democrats have won the state in every presidential election after Republican George H. W. Bush won the state in 1988.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last presidential election in which the nominee from the Republican Party won Orange County—a longtime, traditional bastion for the national GOP—and Nevada County. With its 55 electoral votes, California was Obama's largest electoral prize in 2012.

  1. ^ "Historical Voter Registration and Participation in Statewide General Elections 1910-2018" (PDF). California Secretary of State. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  2. ^ "President - Statewide Results | General Election | California Secretary of State". Archived from the original on November 8, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2012.