| Election Name: | 2012 Alabama Republican presidential primary |
| Country: | Alabama |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2008 Alabama Republican presidential primary |
| Previous Year: | 2008 |
| Next Election: | 2016 Alabama Republican presidential primary |
| Next Year: | 2016 |
| Candidate1: | Rick Santorum |
| Home State1: | Pennsylvania |
| Delegate Count1: | 17 |
| Popular Vote1: | 215,105 |
| Percentage1: | 34.55% |
| Candidate2: | Newt Gingrich |
| Home State2: | Georgia |
| Delegate Count2: | 12 |
| Popular Vote2: | 182,276 |
| Percentage2: | 29.28% |
| Candidate4: | Mitt Romney |
| Home State4: | Massachusetts |
| Delegate Count4: | 10 |
| Popular Vote4: | 180,321 |
| Percentage4: | 28.97% |
| Candidate5: | Ron Paul |
| Home State5: | Texas |
| Delegate Count5: | 0 |
| Popular Vote5: | 30,937 |
| Percentage5: | 4.97% |
| Color2: | 800080 |
| Color4: | ff6600 |
| Color5: | fed105 |
| Color1: | 008000 |
| Elected Members: | AS |
| Outgoing Members: | VI |
| Votes For Election: | 50 delegates to Republican National Convention (47 pledged, 3 unpledged) |
The 2012 Alabama Republican presidential primary took place on March 13, 2012, on the same day as the Mississippi Republican primary and the Hawaii Republican caucuses.[1] [2] Rick Santorum was declared the winner.
The Alabama and Mississippi primaries were seen as a last possible point for the Newt Gingrich campaign to stay afloat in a primary season where he had only won two states up to that point; South Carolina in January and Georgia during Super Tuesday.[3] Alabama and Mississippi were the keystones of his "Southern Strategy".[4] [5] Gingrich ignored other upcoming primaries to focus on campaigning in the two neighboring Gulf states.[6]
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Projected delegate count | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AP [8] | CNN [9] | FOX | ||||
| Rick Santorum | 215,105 | 34.55% | 22 | 18 | - | |
| Newt Gingrich | 182,276 | 29.28% | 14 | 9 | - | |
| Mitt Romney | 180,321 | 28.97% | 11 | 9 | - | |
| Ron Paul | 30,937 | 4.97% | 0 | 0 | - | |
| Rick Perry (withdrawn) | 1,867 | 0.30% | 0 | 0 | - | |
| Michele Bachmann (withdrawn) | 1,700 | 0.27% | 0 | 0 | - | |
| Jon Huntsman (withdrawn) | 1,049 | 0.17% | 0 | 0 | - | |
| Uncommitted | 9,259 | 1.49% | 0 | 0 | - | |
| Unprojected delegates | 3 | 14 | 50 | |||
| Total: | 622,514 | 100.00% | 50 | 50 | 50 | |
The results in Alabama, alongside those of Mississippi, effectively ended any remaining momentum for Gingrich's struggling campaign. Despite the second-place finishes in "must-win" states, Gingrich chose to stay in the race in hopes of facilitating a brokered convention.[10]
for Alabama
Major state elections in chronological order