2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky explained

See main article: 2012 United States presidential election.

Election Name:2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky
Country:Kentucky
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky
Previous Year:2008
Next Election:2016 United States presidential election in Kentucky
Next Year:2016
Election Date:November 6, 2012
Image1:Mitt_Romney_by_Gage_Skidmore_6_cropped.jpg
Nominee1:Mitt Romney
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Home State1:Massachusetts
Running Mate1:Paul Ryan
Electoral Vote1:8
Popular Vote1:1,087,190
Percentage1:60.47%
Nominee2:Barack Obama
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:Illinois
Running Mate2:Joe Biden
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:679,370
Percentage2:37.78%
President
Before Election:Barack Obama
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Barack Obama
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)
Turnout:59.70%[1]

The 2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 General Election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Kentucky voters chose eight electors 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.

Romney carried Kentucky by a landslide margin, winning 60.47% of the vote to Obama's 37.78%. This represented a margin of 22.69%, a great improvement for the Republican Party from 2008, when they won with a 16.22% margin. Although Kentucky had been won by Southern Democrat Bill Clinton twice in the 1990s, Obama was seen as a poor cultural fit for the state, and he did not compete here either time he ran. The Romney campaign also attacked Obama's administration as being hostile to the coal industry, historically an important part of the state's economy. Consequently, Obama suffered a historically poor showing in the traditionally staunchly Democratic coalfields of Eastern Kentucky, where many counties that had even voted by wide margins for landslide Democratic losers like George McGovern and Walter Mondale defected to the Republicans in 2012.

Knott County, which had given Clinton 73% of the vote in 1996 and nearly 72% to Mondale in 1984 (despite the latter losing nationally by more than 18 percentage points and only carrying one state), gave Romney 73% of the vote in 2012. Even Elliott County, the only county in the state in which Obama had broken 60% in 2008, barely held on in 2012, giving Obama a narrow plurality win, his only victory in the region, and one of just four county wins in the entire state. This marked the first time since the county's founding that the Democratic nominee won less than 60% of the vote in Elliott County, and would prove to be the conclusion of Elliott's longest-in-the-nation, 140-year Democratic voting streak. The county would flip to the GOP by a landslide margin four years later. Wolfe County, which had returned to the Democratic Party in 2004 and 2008 after casting its first-ever Republican vote for George W. Bush in 2000, went for Romney by over twenty points. As such, Obama became the first Democrat to ever win the White House without carrying Wolfe County since its founding in 1860, Menifee County since its founding in 1869, or Henderson County since the founding of the Republican Party.

The only part of the state where Obama won convincingly was Jefferson County, the most urban and populous county in the state, and home to Louisville. He also eked out a close win in Fayette County, the second-most populous county, home to Lexington. Despite losing five counties he won in 2008, he managed to flip Franklin County, home to the state capital of Frankfort, which he had narrowly lost in 2008. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that Elliott and Franklin Counties voted for a Democrat in a presidential election. Obama is the only Democrat to ever win two terms without carrying the state at least once.

Primary elections

Democratic primary

Election Name:Kentucky Democratic primary, 2012
Country:Kentucky
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:Kentucky Democratic primary, 2008
Previous Year:2008
Next Election:Kentucky Democratic primary, 2016
Next Year:2016
Image1:President Barack Obama, 2012 portrait crop.jpg
Candidate1:Barack Obama
Home State1:Illinois
Delegate Count1:39
Popular Vote1:119,293
Percentage1:57.85%
Candidate2:Uncommitted
Delegate Count2:34
Popular Vote2:86,925
Percentage2:42.15%
Map Size:300px
Color1:1E90FF
Color2:000000

Barack Obama's only "opponent" in the primary was the "Uncommitted" ballot option, which garnered more than 42% of the primary vote, making Kentucky one of Obama's worst contested primary results.[2]

Kentucky Democratic primary, 2012[3]
CandidateVotesPercentageDelegates
Barack Obama (incumbent)119,29357.85%39
Uncommitted86,92542.15%34

Republican primary

Election Name:Kentucky Republican primary, 2012
Country:Kentucky
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:Kentucky Republican primary, 2008
Previous Year:2008
Next Election:2016_United_States_presidential_election_in_Kentucky#Republican_caucus
Next Year:2016
Image1:Mitt_Romney_by_Gage_Skidmore_6_cropped.jpg
Candidate1:Mitt Romney
Home State1:Massachusetts
Delegate Count1:42
Popular Vote1:117,621
Percentage1:66.77%
Candidate2:Ron Paul
Home State2:Texas
Delegate Count2:0
Popular Vote2:22,074
Percentage2:12.53%
Map Size:300px
Candidate3:Rick Santorum
Candidate4:Newt Gingrich
Color3:008000
Color4:800080
Image3:Rick Santorum by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Image4:Newt Gingrich by Gage Skidmore 3 (cropped).jpg
Percentage3:8.87%
Percentage4:5.95%
Home State4:Georgia
Home State3:Pennsylvania
Delegate Count4:0
Delegate Count3:0
Color1:ff6600
Color2:ffcc00
Candidate5:Uncommitted
Color5:000000
Delegate Count5:0
Home State5:N/A
Popular Vote3:15,629
Popular Vote5:10,357
Popular Vote4:10,479
Percentage5:5.88%

The Republican primary occurred on May 22, 2012.[4] [5] 42 delegates were chosen, all of which were allocated to and pledged to vote for Mitt Romney at the 2012 Republican National Convention. Three delegates remain unpledged to any candidate. All Republicans in Kentucky were allowed to participate in the primary. A Republican primary was also held in Arkansas on this day.

Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich withdrew from the presidential race on April 10 and May 2, 2012, respectively. Both endorsed Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee.

Kentucky Republican primary, 2012[6]
CandidateVotesPercentageDelegates
Mitt Romney117,62166.8%42
Ron Paul22,07412.53%0
Rick Santorum15,629 8.87%0
Newt Gingrich 10,4795.95%0
Uncommitted10,3575.88%0
Unpledged delegates:3
Total:176,160100.00%45
Key: align:"center" style="background:#ddd;"Withdrew prior to contest

General election

Results

United States presidential election in Kentucky, 2012[7]
PartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
RepublicanMitt RomneyPaul Ryan1,087,19060.47%8
DemocraticBarack Obama (incumbent)Joe Biden (incumbent)679,37037.78%0
LibertarianGary JohnsonJim Gray17,0630.95%0
IndependentRandall TerryMissy Smith6,8720.38%0
GreenJill SteinCheri Honkala6,3370.35%0
Others3800.02%0
Totals1,797,212100.00%8
Voter turnout (registered voters)59.24%

By county

CountyMitt Romney
Republican
Barack Obama
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
MarginTotal
%%%%
Adair5,84176.86%1,66021.84%991.30%4,18155.02%7,600
Allen5,18473.01%1,80825.46%1081.53%3,37647.55%7,100
Anderson6,82266.10%3,31532.12%1831.78%3,50733.98%10,320
Ballard2,64767.96%1,18930.53%591.51%1,45837.43%3,895
Barren10,92265.92%5,40032.59%2461.49%5,52233.33%16,568
Bath2,27555.19%1,77042.94%771.87%50512.25%4,122
Bell7,12775.16%2,22423.45%1311.39%4,90351.71%9,482
Boone35,92268.41%15,62929.76%9601.83%20,29338.65%52,511
Bourbon4,69259.22%3,07538.81%1561.97%1,61720.41%7,923
Boyd10,88457.14%7,77640.82%3892.04%3,10816.32%19,049
Boyle7,70362.26%4,47136.14%1991.60%3,23226.12%12,373
Bracken2,02962.78%1,14735.49%561.73%88227.29%3,232
Breathitt3,31866.25%1,56231.19%1282.56%1,75635.06%5,008
Breckinridge5,02563.06%2,82535.45%1191.49%2,20027.61%7,969
Bullitt21,30667.04%9,97131.38%5021.58%11,33535.66%31,779
Butler3,71673.44%1,29325.55%511.01%2,42347.89%5,060
Caldwell3,90466.62%1,85231.60%1041.78%2,05235.02%5,860
Calloway9,44062.63%5,31735.28%3152.09%4,12327.35%15,072
Campbell24,24060.33%15,08037.53%8572.14%9,16022.80%40,177
Carlisle1,83570.06%75028.64%341.30%1,08541.42%2,619
Carroll1,99954.32%1,62944.27%521.41%37010.05%3,680
Carter5,27959.26%3,38337.98%2462.76%1,89621.28%8,908
Casey4,90480.51%1,08617.83%1011.66%3,81862.68%6,091
Christian13,47561.38%8,25237.59%2281.03%5,22323.79%21,955
Clark9,93164.42%5,22833.91%2571.67%4,70330.51%15,416
Clay6,17683.65%1,11115.05%961.30%5,06568.60%7,383
Clinton3,56981.24%75217.12%721.64%2,81764.12%4,393
Crittenden2,83973.66%96024.91%551.43%1,87948.75%3,854
Cumberland2,21677.65%59920.99%391.36%1,61756.66%2,854
Daviess25,09259.62%16,20838.51%7871.87%8,88421.11%42,087
Edmonson3,23269.24%1,37429.43%621.33%1,85839.81%4,668
Elliott1,12646.94%1,18649.44%873.62%-60-2.50%2,399
Estill3,74972.32%1,35626.16%791.52%2,39346.16%5,184
Fayette60,79548.30%62,08049.32%2,9912.38%-1,285-1.02%125,866
Fleming3,78065.38%1,91133.05%911.57%1,86932.33%5,782
Floyd9,78465.71%4,73331.79%3732.50%5,05133.92%14,890
Franklin11,34548.61%11,53549.43%4571.96%-190-0.82%23,337
Fulton1,42557.44%1,02241.19%341.37%40316.25%2,481
Gallatin1,75857.43%1,23840.44%652.13%52016.99%3,061
Garrard5,31075.03%1,66123.47%1061.50%3,64951.56%7,077
Grant5,66465.80%2,81032.64%1341.56%2,85433.16%8,608
Graves10,69969.01%4,54729.33%2571.66%6,15239.68%15,503
Grayson6,40469.08%2,74429.60%1231.32%3,66039.48%9,271
Green3,63474.84%1,16523.99%571.17%2,46950.85%4,856
Greenup8,85558.38%6,02739.73%2861.89%2,82818.65%15,168
Hancock2,21253.51%1,83344.34%892.15%3799.17%4,134
Hardin23,35759.56%15,21438.79%6471.65%8,14320.77%39,218
Harlan8,65281.19%1,83017.17%1751.64%6,82264.02%10,657
Harrison4,55663.60%2,47134.50%1361.90%2,08529.10%7,163
Hart4,25764.29%2,28334.48%821.23%1,97429.81%6,622
Henderson10,29655.29%8,09143.45%2351.26%2,20511.84%18,622
Henry3,94059.79%2,53038.39%1201.82%1,41021.40%6,590
Hickman1,43166.90%68632.07%221.03%74534.83%2,139
Hopkins13,68169.21%5,78929.29%2971.50%7,89239.92%19,767
Jackson4,36586.25%61212.09%841.66%3,75374.16%5,061
Jefferson148,42343.60%186,18154.69%5,8081.71%-37,758-11.09%340,412
Jessamine14,23368.98%6,00129.08%3991.94%8,23239.90%20,633
Johnson7,09578.53%1,72319.07%2172.40%5,37259.46%9,035
Kenton41,38961.13%24,92036.81%1,3952.06%16,46924.32%67,704
Knott4,13072.55%1,42024.94%1432.51%2,71047.61%5,693
Knox8,46776.28%2,48422.38%1491.34%5,98353.90%11,100
LaRue3,91167.85%1,73330.07%1202.08%2,17837.78%5,764
Laurel18,15181.00%3,90517.43%3521.57%14,24663.57%22,408
Lawrence3,99571.44%1,52027.18%771.38%2,47544.26%5,592
Lee1,97775.37%59522.68%511.95%1,38252.69%2,623
Leslie4,43989.62%4338.74%811.64%4,00680.88%4,953
Letcher6,81177.77%1,70219.43%2452.80%5,10958.34%8,758
Lewis3,32669.74%1,34228.14%1012.12%1,98441.60%4,769
Lincoln6,41670.10%2,58228.21%1541.69%3,83441.89%9,152
Livingston3,08968.48%1,34629.84%761.68%1,74338.64%4,511
Logan6,89965.64%3,46933.01%1421.35%3,43032.63%10,510
Lyon2,41262.83%1,37335.76%541.41%1,03927.07%3,839
Madison21,12863.41%11,51234.55%6822.04%9,61628.86%33,322
Magoffin3,39169.12%1,43329.21%821.67%1,95839.91%4,906
Marion3,80051.93%3,41846.71%1001.36%3825.22%7,318
Marshall10,40266.17%5,02231.95%2951.88%5,38034.22%15,719
Martin3,18083.16%57415.01%701.83%2,60668.15%3,824
Mason4,19760.99%2,59237.67%921.34%1,60523.32%6,881
McCracken19,97965.40%10,06232.94%5101.66%9,91732.46%30,551
McCreary4,56479.97%1,06918.73%741.30%3,49561.24%5,707
McLean2,70564.40%1,43234.10%631.50%1,27330.30%4,200
Meade6,60660.52%4,12237.76%1881.72%2,48422.76%10,916
Menifee1,48457.12%1,04840.34%662.54%43616.78%2,598
Mercer6,82068.62%2,96629.84%1531.54%3,85438.78%9,939
Metcalfe2,67663.96%1,42534.06%831.98%1,25129.90%4,184
Monroe3,76279.27%93619.72%481.01%2,82659.55%4,746
Montgomery6,39862.43%3,70136.11%1491.46%2,69726.32%10,248
Morgan3,02167.55%1,36930.61%821.84%1,65236.94%4,472
Muhlenberg7,76260.93%4,77137.45%2061.62%2,99123.48%12,739
Nelson10,67357.59%7,61141.07%2491.34%3,06216.52%18,533
Nicholas1,58361.33%94836.73%501.94%63524.60%2,581
Ohio6,47067.07%2,98730.97%1891.96%3,48336.10%9,646
Oldham20,17967.52%9,24030.92%4651.56%10,93936.60%29,884
Owen2,97165.20%1,50132.94%851.86%1,47032.26%4,557
Owsley1,27980.95%28317.91%181.14%99663.04%1,580
Pendleton3,55664.26%1,85933.59%1192.15%1,69730.67%5,534
Perry8,04078.51%2,04719.99%1541.50%5,99358.52%10,241
Pike17,59074.42%5,64623.89%4001.69%11,94450.53%23,636
Powell2,76661.73%1,62036.15%952.12%1,14625.58%4,481
Pulaski20,71479.66%4,97619.14%3131.20%15,73860.52%26,003
Robertson57961.93%34036.36%161.71%23925.57%935
Rockcastle5,02880.89%1,09717.65%911.46%3,93163.24%6,216
Rowan4,03552.64%3,43844.85%1922.51%5977.79%7,665
Russell6,34680.24%1,44518.27%1181.49%4,90161.97%7,909
Scott12,67961.63%7,53236.61%3621.76%5,14725.02%20,573
Shelby11,79063.17%6,63435.55%2391.28%5,15627.62%18,663
Simpson4,35561.40%2,65037.36%881.24%1,70524.04%7,093
Spencer5,72667.92%2,54930.23%1561.85%3,17737.69%8,431
Taylor7,55168.96%3,28530.00%1141.04%4,26638.96%10,950
Todd3,24768.82%1,40329.74%681.44%1,84439.08%4,718
Trigg4,52067.04%2,11531.37%1071.59%2,40535.67%6,742
Trimble2,13360.20%1,35538.24%551.56%77821.96%3,543
Union3,95566.15%1,94232.48%821.37%2,01333.67%5,979
Warren26,38460.10%16,80538.28%7141.62%9,57921.82%43,903
Washington3,49566.97%1,66931.98%551.05%1,82634.99%5,219
Wayne5,28973.36%1,85525.73%660.91%3,43447.63%7,210
Webster3,60765.94%1,76532.27%981.79%1,84233.67%5,470
Whitley10,23278.27%2,68320.52%1571.21%7,54957.75%13,072
Wolfe1,54260.26%97638.14%411.60%56622.12%2,559
Woodford7,21958.54%4,88339.60%2301.86%2,33618.94%12,332
Totals1,087,19060.47%679,37037.78%31,4881.75%407,82022.69%1,798,048

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Romney won 5 of 6 congressional districts.[8]

DistrictRomneyObamaRepresentative
66.4%32.1%Ed Whitfield
63.28%35.15%Brett Guthrie
42.8%55.73%John Yarmuth
63.38%34.83%Thomas Massie
75%23.25%Hal Rogers
55.8%42.16%Andy Barr

Analysis

On election night, Kentucky went as expected to the Republican candidate Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney over Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama of bordering Illinois. Obama was reelected but nonetheless, lost Kentucky. In most recent years Democrats have maintained their lead in registered voters compared to Republicans.[9] However, Kentucky is known as a highly conservative state with a populist streak. In most recent presidential elections in Kentucky, Democrats usually achieve lower 40 or upper 30% margins. Obama performed significantly worse in 2012 than he did in 2008. Appalachian Kentucky used to be a place were Democrats thrived because of working-class people, particularly unionized coal miners.[10] However this region has become more and more Republican in recent years. Romney performed, for the most part, very well statewide. Obama won four counties. Obama was however able to maintain a solid performance in perhaps the most Democratic place in the state, Jefferson County (Louisville Metro). The other counties Obama won were Franklin, Elliott and Fayette.

See also

External links

for Kentucky

major state elections in chronological order

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Summary TXT file .
  2. News: Dougherty . Michael Brendan . 2012-05-22 . Obama Is Getting Humiliated In The Kentucky Primary, 40 Percent Of Democrats Voted For 'Uncommitted' . Business Insider . 2019-07-09.
  3. Web site: May 22, 2012 . Kentucky Secretary of State . June 19, 2016 . elect.ky.gov.
  4. News: Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar . CNN . January 11, 2012.
  5. News: Presidential Primary Dates . . January 23, 2012.
  6. Web site: Kentucky State Board of Elections .
  7. Web site: Kentucky State Board of Elections . Kentucky State Board of Elections.
  8. Web site: Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts. Daily Kos. 11 August 2020.
  9. Web site: Registration Statistics – State Board of Elections . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180101191201/https://elect.ky.gov/statistics/Pages/registrationstatistics.aspx . 2018-01-01 . 2017-12-02 . elect.ky.gov . en.
  10. News: Appalachia Used To Be A Democratic Stronghold. Here's How To Make It One Again. . en . 2017-12-02.