2012 South Carolina Republican presidential primary explained

Election Name:2012 South Carolina Republican presidential primary
Country:South Carolina
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:United States presidential election in South Carolina, 2008
Previous Year:2008
Next Election:United States presidential election in South Carolina, 2016#Republican primary
Next Year:2016
Outgoing Members:NH
Elected Members:FL
Image1:Newt Gingrich by Gage Skidmore 6 (cropped).jpg
Candidate1:Newt Gingrich
Home State1:Georgia
Delegate Count1:23
Popular Vote1:244,065
Percentage1:40.42%
Candidate2:Mitt Romney
Home State2:Massachusetts
Delegate Count2:2
Popular Vote2:168,123
Percentage2:27.85%
Image4:Rick Santorum by Gage Skidmore 2 (1).jpg
Candidate4:Rick Santorum
Home State4:Pennsylvania
Delegate Count4:0
Popular Vote4:102,475
Percentage4:16.97%
Image5:Ron Paul (6238703989) (cropped).jpg
Candidate5:Ron Paul
Home State5:Texas
Delegate Count5:0
Popular Vote5:78,360
Percentage5:12.98%
Color1:800080
Color2:f25000
Color4:008000
Color5:ffcc00
Votes For Election:25 pledged delegates to the
2012 Republican National Convention

The 2012 South Carolina Republican presidential primary took place on January 21, 2012.

The primary has become one of several key early state nominating contests in the process of choosing the nominee of the Republican Party for the election for President of the United States. It has historically been more important for the Republican Party than for the Democratic Party; from its inception in 1980, until the nomination of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in 2012, the winner of the Republican presidential primary had gone on to win the nomination.[1] As of 2012, the primary has cemented its place as the "First in the South" primary for both parties.[2]

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was declared the winner of the race as soon as polls closed, however, Mitt Romney went on to win the nomination.

Procedure

Delegate allocation

South Carolina had only 25 delegates up for grabs because it moved its primary to January 21. 11 delegates were awarded for the statewide winner, and two additional delegates were awarded to the winner of each of the seven congressional districts.

Date

The 2012 South Carolina Republican primary was tentatively scheduled to occur on February 28, 2012,[3] much later than the date in 2008, which almost immediately followed the beginning of the year in January 2008.[4] On September 29, 2011, the entire schedule of caucuses and primaries was disrupted, however, when it was announced that the Republican Party of Florida had decided to move up its primary to January 31, in an attempt to bring attention to its own primary contest, and attract the presidential candidates to visit the state.[5] Because of the move, the Republican National Committee decided to strip Florida of half of its delegates.[6] Also as a result, the South Carolina Republican Party, along with Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada then sought to move their primaries and caucuses back into early January.[6] All but Nevada, who agreed to follow Florida,[7] confirmed their caucus and primary dates to take place throughout January, with South Carolina deciding to hold their contest on January 21, 2012.[6] It is an open primary, meaning all registered voters can participate in the primary.[8]

Ballot access

Nine candidates appeared on the presidential primary ballot.[9]

Campaign

During the primary election campaign, the candidates ran on a platform of government reform in Washington. Domestic, foreign and economic policy emerged as the main themes in the election campaign following the onset of the 2008 economic crisis, as well as policies implemented by the Obama administration. This included the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, termed "Obamacare" by its opponents, as well as government spending as a whole.

Results

See main article: Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries.

Newt Gingrich won the primary, becoming his first victory of the primary season and netting him 11 statewide delegates. Gingrich won the popular vote in every congressional district except for the 1st, where Mitt Romney finished first, giving Gingrich twelve additional delegates and Romney two delegates.[10]

There were 2,804,231 registered voters, for a turnout of 21.60%.[11]

South Carolina Republican primary, 2012
CandidateVotesPercentageEstimated national delegates
Newt Gingrich244,06540.42%23
Mitt Romney168,12327.85%2
Rick Santorum102,47516.97%0
Ron Paul78,36012.98%0
Herman Cain6,3381.05%0
Rick Perry2,5340.42%0
Jon Huntsman1,1730.19%0
Michele Bachmann4910.08%0
Gary Johnson2110.03%0
Totals603,770100.00%25
Key: Withdrew
prior to contest

Notes and References

  1. GOP bellwether South Carolina shows a tangled race: Pg 1. Christian Science Monitor . January 20, 2008.
  2. News: First in the South . January 20, 2008 . Fox News . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080122154043/http://cameron.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/01/19/first-in-the-south/ . January 22, 2008 .
  3. Web site: South Carolina GOP Officials Hope To Strike Deal With Florida To 'Calm' 2012 Primary Waters . ABC News . September 2, 2011 . November 4, 2011 . Falcone . Michael.
  4. Web site: South Carolina Primary Results . The New York Times . November 4, 2011.
  5. Web site: Florida Moves its Primary . Outside the Beltway . November 3, 2011 . September 29, 2011 . Taylor . Steven.
  6. Web site: GOP chairman: Florida will be penalized, and 2012 race is now set . Des Moines Register . November 3, 2011 . October 25, 2011 . Jacobs . Jennifer.
  7. Web site: Nevada Republicans cave, move caucuses to Feb. 4 . Daily Kos . November 3, 2011 . October 24, 2011 . Nir . David.
  8. News: South Carolina Republican . The Green Papers . Richard E. Berg-Andersson . January 14, 2012.
  9. Web site: Whitmire. C. 2012 Republican Presidential Primary Candidates. South Carolina State Election Commission. January 11, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120822204530/http://www.scvotes.org/2011/11/18/2012_republican_presidential_primary_candidates. August 22, 2012. dead. mdy-all.
  10. News: Kleefeld . Eric . January 4, 2012 . South Carolina GOP Chairman: 'Anyone Can Win' In Our Primary . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120111175230/http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/south-carolina-gop-chairman-anyone-can-win-in-our-primary.php . January 11, 2012 . January 11, 2012 . . mdy-all.
  11. Web site: February 3, 2012. South Carolina Primary. February 22, 2012. South Carolina State Election Commission.