See main article: 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries.
| Election Name: | 2012 Tennessee Republican presidential primary |
| Country: | Tennessee |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2008 Tennessee Republican presidential primary |
| Previous Year: | 2008 |
| Next Election: | 2016 Tennessee Republican presidential primary |
| Next Year: | 2016 |
| Image1: | Rick Santorum by Gage Skidmore.jpg |
| Candidate1: | Rick Santorum |
| Home State1: | Pennsylvania |
| Delegate Count1: | 29 |
| Popular Vote1: | 205,809 |
| Percentage1: | 37.11% |
| Map Size: | 300px |
| Candidate2: | Mitt Romney |
| Home State2: | Massachusetts |
| Delegate Count2: | 14 |
| Popular Vote2: | 155,630 |
| Percentage2: | 28.06% |
| Image4: | Newt Gingrich by Gage Skidmore 3 (cropped).jpg |
| Candidate4: | Newt Gingrich |
| Home State4: | Georgia |
| Delegate Count4: | 9 |
| Popular Vote4: | 132,889 |
| Percentage4: | 23.96% |
| Image5: | Ron Paul by Gage Skidmore 3 (crop 2).jpg |
| Candidate5: | Ron Paul |
| Home State5: | Texas |
| Delegate Count5: | 0 |
| Popular Vote5: | 50,156 |
| Percentage5: | 9.04% |
| Color1: | 008000 |
| Color2: | ff6600 |
| Color4: | 800080 |
| Color5: | ffcc00 |
| Outgoing Members: | OK |
| Elected Members: | VT |
| Votes For Election: | 58 Republican National Convention delegates |
The 2012 Tennessee Republican presidential primary took place on Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012, with 58 national delegates.[1] [2] Former Senator from Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum won the primary with a plurality, carrying 37.11% of the vote and all but four counties, awarding him 29 delegates.
Former Massachusetts Governor and eventual nominee, Mitt Romney, came second with 28.06% of the vote and 19 delegates, carrying only three counties: Davidson, Loudon, and Williamson. Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich of neighboring Georgia, came third with 23.96% of the vote and 9 delegates, carrying only the county of Marion. Representative from Texas Ron Paul received 9.04% of the vote, and all other candidates received under 1% of the vote.[3]
Tennessee was given 58 delegates for the 2012 Republican National Convention. Three superdelegates were unbound. 27 delegates are awarded by congressional district, 3 delegates for each district. If a candidate wins two-thirds of the vote in a district, he takes all 3 delegates there; if not, delegates are split 2-to-1 between the top two candidates. Another 28 delegates are awarded to the candidate who wins two-thirds of the vote statewide, or allocated proportionately among candidates winning at least 20% of the vote if no one gets two-thirds.[4]
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Projected delegate count | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYT [6] | CNN [7] | FOX [8] | ||||
| Rick Santorum | 205,809 | 37.11% | 29 | 27 | 26 | |
| Mitt Romney | 155,630 | 28.06% | 14 | 15 | 12 | |
| Newt Gingrich | 132,889 | 23.96% | 9 | 8 | 9 | |
| Ron Paul | 50,156 | 9.04% | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rick Perry (withdrawn) | 1,966 | 0.35% | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Michele Bachmann (withdrawn) | 1,895 | 0.34% | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jon Huntsman (withdrawn) | 1,239 | 0.22% | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Buddy Roemer (withdrawn) | 881 | 0.16% | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gary Johnson (withdrawn) | 572 | 0.10% | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Uncommitted | 3,536 | 0.64% | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Unprojected delegates: | 6 | 8 | 9 | |||
| Total: | 554,573 | 100.00% | 58 | 58 | 58 | |