2012 United States elections

2012 United States elections
2010          2011          2012          2013          2014
Presidential election year
Election dayNovember 6
Incumbent presidentBarack Obama (Democratic)
Next Congress113th
Presidential election
Partisan controlDemocratic hold
Popular vote marginDemocratic +3.9%
Electoral vote
Barack Obama (D)332
Mitt Romney (R)206
2012 United States presidential election in California2012 United States presidential election in Oregon2012 United States presidential election in Washington (state)2012 United States presidential election in Idaho2012 United States presidential election in Nevada2012 United States presidential election in Utah2012 United States presidential election in Arizona2012 United States presidential election in Montana2012 United States presidential election in Wyoming2012 United States presidential election in Colorado2012 United States presidential election in New Mexico2012 United States presidential election in North Dakota2012 United States presidential election in South Dakota2012 United States presidential election in Nebraska2012 United States presidential election in Kansas2012 United States presidential election in Oklahoma2012 United States presidential election in Texas2012 United States presidential election in Minnesota2012 United States presidential election in Iowa2012 United States presidential election in Missouri2012 United States presidential election in Arkansas2012 United States presidential election in Louisiana2012 United States presidential election in Wisconsin2012 United States presidential election in Illinois2012 United States presidential election in Michigan2012 United States presidential election in Indiana2012 United States presidential election in Ohio2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky2012 United States presidential election in Tennessee2012 United States presidential election in Mississippi2012 United States presidential election in Alabama2012 United States presidential election in Georgia2012 United States presidential election in Florida2012 United States presidential election in South Carolina2012 United States presidential election in North Carolina2012 United States presidential election in Virginia2012 United States presidential election in West Virginia2012 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia2012 United States presidential election in Maryland2012 United States presidential election in Delaware2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania2012 United States presidential election in New Jersey2012 United States presidential election in New York2012 United States presidential election in Connecticut2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island2012 United States presidential election in Vermont2012 United States presidential election in New Hampshire2012 United States presidential election in Maine2012 United States presidential election in Massachusetts2012 United States presidential election in Hawaii2012 United States presidential election in Alaska2012 United States presidential election in the District of Columbia2012 United States presidential election in Maryland2012 United States presidential election in Delaware2012 United States presidential election in New Jersey2012 United States presidential election in Connecticut2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island2012 United States presidential election in Massachusetts2012 United States presidential election in Vermont2012 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes states/districts won by Democrat Barack Obama, and Red denotes those won by Republican Mitt Romney. Numbers indicate electoral votes allotted to the winner of each state.
Senate elections
Overall controlDemocratic hold
Seats contested33 of 100 seats
Net seat changeDemocratic +2
2012 United States Senate election in Arizona2012 United States Senate election in California2012 United States Senate election in Connecticut2012 United States Senate election in Delaware2012 United States Senate election in Florida2012 United States Senate election in Hawaii2012 United States Senate election in Indiana2012 United States Senate election in Maine2012 United States Senate election in Maryland2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts2012 United States Senate election in Michigan2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota2012 United States Senate election in Mississippi2012 United States Senate election in Missouri2012 United States Senate election in Montana2012 United States Senate election in Nebraska2012 United States Senate election in Nevada2012 United States Senate election in New Jersey2012 United States Senate election in New Mexico2012 United States Senate election in New York2012 United States Senate election in North Dakota2012 United States Senate election in Ohio2012 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania2012 United States Senate election in Rhode Island2012 United States Senate election in Tennessee2012 United States Senate election in Texas2012 United States Senate election in Utah2012 United States Senate election in Vermont2012 United States Senate election in Virginia2012 United States Senate election in Washington2012 United States Senate election in West Virginia2012 United States Senate election in Wisconsin2012 United States Senate election in Wyoming
2012 Senate election results map
     Democratic hold      Republican hold      Independent hold
     Democratic gain      Republican gain      Independent gain
House elections
Overall controlRepublican hold
Seats contestedAll 435 seats
Popular vote marginDemocratic +1.2%
Net seat changeDemocratic +8
2012 House election results map
2012 House election results map
     Democratic hold      Republican hold
     Democratic gain      Republican gain
Gubernatorial elections
Seats contested14 (12 states, 2 territories)
(including a recall election in Wisconsin)
Net seat changeRepublican +1
2012 Wisconsin gubernatorial election2012 Delaware gubernatorial election2012 Indiana gubernatorial election2012 Missouri gubernatorial election2012 Montana gubernatorial election2012 New Hampshire gubernatorial election2012 North Carolina gubernatorial election2012 North Dakota gubernatorial election2012 Utah gubernatorial election2012 Vermont gubernatorial election2012 Washington gubernatorial election2012 West Virginia gubernatorial election2012 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election2012 American Samoa gubernatorial election
2012 gubernatorial election results map
     Democratic hold
     Republican gain      Republican hold (including recall)
     Popular Democratic gain      Nonpartisan

The 2012 United States elections took place on November 6, 2012. Democratic President Barack Obama won reelection to a second term and the Democrats gained seats in both chambers of Congress, retaining control of the Senate even though the Republican Party retained control of the House of Representatives. As of 2024, this is the most recent election cycle in which neither the presidency nor a chamber of Congress changed partisan control, and the last time that the party that won the presidency simultaneously gained seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Obama defeated Republican nominee Mitt Romney to win a second term, taking 51.1 percent of the popular vote and 332 of the 538 electoral votes. Romney defeated Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and several other candidates to win his party's nomination in the 2012 Republican primaries.

Democrats won a net gain of two Senate seats, retaining control of the chamber. In the first election held in the House of Representatives since the round of redistricting following the 2010 United States census, Democrats picked up eight seats but failed to gain a majority, despite winning the popular vote. In the gubernatorial elections, Republicans won a net gain of one seat. This was the first time since 1936 that a Democratic presidential candidate who won a second term also had Senate coattails in both occasions (although Franklin Roosevelt won a third and fourth term in 1940 and 1944 respectively, he lost Senate seats on both occasions). This is the third straight presidential election where the winner had coattails in both houses of Congress.

Various other state, territorial, and local races and referendums were held throughout the year. Three state referendums passed legalizing same-sex marriage, while Minnesota became the first state in history to reject a proposed state-level constitutional ban of same sex marriage. Two states approved and one rejected the legalization of recreational marijuana, and one more state voted to legalize marijuana for medical use. A referendum was also held in Puerto Rico regarding the future political status of the U.S. unincorporated territory. Following the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, the 2012 election season became the most expensive in American history.[1]

  1. ^ "Little to Show for Cash Flood by Big Donors". The New York Times. November 7, 2012.