2012 United States presidential election in Indiana explained

See main article: article and 2012 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	2012 United States presidential election in Indiana
Country:	Indiana
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2008 United States presidential election in Indiana
Previous Year:	2008
Next Election:	2016 United States presidential election in Indiana
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:	11
Popular Vote1:	1,420,543
Percentage1:	54.13%
Nominee2:	Barack Obama
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	Illinois
Running Mate2:	Joe Biden
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	1,152,887
Percentage2:	43.93%
Map Size:	300px
President
Before Election:	Barack Obama
Before Party:	Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:	Barack Obama
After Party:	Democratic Party (United States)

The 2012 United States presidential election in Indiana took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 United States presidential election, in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Indiana voters chose 11 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 Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney and his running mate, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan. Romney and Ryan carried Indiana with 54.13% of the popular vote to the Democratic ticket's 43.93%, thus winning the state's 11 electoral votes.^[1]

Indiana and North Carolina were the only two states Obama won in 2008 that flipped to the Republican column in 2012. Although Indiana normally leans Republican, in 2008 Obama had been the first Democrat to win Indiana since 1964, albeit by a narrow 1.03% margin. Unlike North Carolina, Indiana was not seriously contested again by the Obama campaign in 2012; consequently, Romney was able to carry it by a 10.2% margin and win 6 counties Obama won in 2008.

Obama carried Vigo County, home to Terre Haute, and at the time a noted bellwether; before 2020, it had voted for the winner of every presidential election all but twice since 1892. After 2012, demographic change and the rightward turn of exurban areas accelerated by the Trump era have made Vigo County generally uncompetitive to the present day.^[2] As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that Delaware, LaPorte, Perry, Porter, and Vigo counties have voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. Obama won nine counties compared to 83 for Romney, who won most rural areas of the state. Romney also performed well in the Indianapolis suburbs; Allen County, home of Fort Wayne; and Vanderburgh County, home of Evansville. As expected, Obama did better in urban, densely populated areas. Obama trounced Romney in Marion County, home of Indianapolis, as well as Lake County, home of Gary and East Chicago. Obama also for the most part did well in counties that contained major colleges, such as Monroe County, home of Indiana University Bloomington; St. Joseph County, home of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend; and Porter County, home of Valparaiso University.

Primary elections

Democratic primary

Incumbent President Barack Obama ran unopposed, securing 221,466 votes.^[3]

Republican primary

The Republican primary took place on May 8, 2012.^{[4] [5]}

Indiana Republican primary, 2012^[6]

Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Projected delegate count
			AP	CNN	FOX
Mitt Romney	410,635	64.61%	28	27
Ron Paul	98,487	15.50%
Rick Santorum (withdrawn)	85,332	13.43%
Newt Gingrich (withdrawn)	41,135	6.47%
Unprojected delegates:			18	19	46
Total:	635,589	100.00%	46	46	46

General election

Campaign

Incumbent Obama did not visit Indiana, although First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton stumped in the state. Meanwhile, the Romney campaign sensed victory in the state, and he visited Indiana several times.^[7]

Polling

Republican Nominee Mitt Romney won every pre-election poll conducted in the state by at least 5%, and often by double digits. The average of the final three polls had Romney leading Obama 51% to 43%.^[8]

Results

2012 United States presidential election in Indiana^[9]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Willard M. Romney	Paul D. Ryan	1,420,543	54.13%	11
	Democratic	Barack H. Obama (incumbent)	Joseph R. Biden Jr. (incumbent)	1,152,887	43.93%	0
	Libertarian		Jim Gray	50,111	1.91%	0
	Green (write-in)	Jill Stein (write-in)	Cheri Honkala	625	0.02%	0
	Constitution (write-in)	Virgil Goode (write-in)	Jim Clymer	290	0.01%	0
	America's Party (write-in)	Thomas Hoefling (write-in)	Jonathan D. Ellis	35	0.00%	0
	Socialist (write-in)	Stewart Alexander (write-in)	Alex Mendoza	17	0.00%	0
	Write-ins	Write-ins		10	0.00%	0
	Unaffiliated (write-in)	Jill Ann Reed (write-in)	Tom Cary	8	0.00%	0
	Independent (write-in)	Randall Terry (write-in)	Missy Smith	8	0.00%	0
Totals				2,624,534	100.00%	11

Following Romney's win in Indiana, The Indianapolis Star said that "Voters painted Indiana bright red on Tuesday- with a splash or so of blue" and that "voters also proved that while this state is conservative, it doesn't like to stray too far from the middle".^[10]

Results by county

County	Mitt Romney Republican		Barack Obama Democratic		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total
		%		%		%		%
	Adams		8,937		68.58%		3,806		29.21%		289		2.21%		5,131		39.37%		13,032
	Allen		84,613		57.46%		60,036		40.77%		2,597		1.77%		24,577		16.69%		147,246
	Bartholomew		18,083		61.52%		10,625		36.15%		684		2.33%		7,458		25.37%		29,392
	Benton		2,329		65.09%		1,159		32.39%		90		2.52%		1,170		32.70%		3,578
	Blackford		2,711		56.95%		1,927		40.48%		122		2.57%		784		16.47%		4,760
	Boone		18,808		67.70%		8,328		29.98%		646		2.32%		10,480		37.72%		27,782
	Brown		4,332		56.75%		3,060		40.08%		242		3.17%		1,272		16.67%		7,634
	Carroll		4,999		64.01%		2,635		33.74%		176		2.25%		2,364		30.27%		7,810
	Cass		8,443		59.62%		5,371		37.93%		347		2.45%		3,072		21.69%		14,161
	Clark		25,450		53.83%		20,807		44.01%		1,021		2.16%		4,643		9.82%		47,278
	Clay		7,096		65.67%		3,460		32.02%		249		2.31%		3,636		33.65%		10,805
	Clinton		6,338		64.13%		3,308		33.47%		237		2.40%		3,030		30.66%		9,883
	Crawford		2,421		52.75%		2,041		44.47%		128		2.78%		380		8.28%		4,590
	Daviess		7,638		74.42%		2,437		23.74%		189		1.84%		5,201		50.68%		10,264
	Dearborn		15,394		68.86%		6,528		29.20%		434		1.94%		8,866		39.66%		22,356
	Decatur		7,119		68.94%		2,941		28.48%		267		2.58%		4,178		40.46%		10,327
	DeKalb		10,587		64.71%		5,419		33.12%		354		2.17%		5,168		31.59%		16,360
	Delaware		21,251		47.15%		22,654		50.26%		1,169		2.59%		-1,403		-3.11%		45,074
	Dubois		11,654		62.75%		6,522		35.12%		395		2.13%		5,132		27.63%		18,571
	Elkhart		42,378		62.29%		24,399		35.87%		1,252		1.84%		17,979		26.42%		68,029
	Fayette		5,045		57.09%		3,555		40.23%		237		2.68%		1,490		16.86%		8,837
	Floyd		19,878		56.17%		14,812		41.85%		702		1.98%		5,066		14.32%		35,392
	Fountain		4,664		65.59%		2,237		31.46%		210		2.95%		2,427		34.13%		7,111
	Franklin		7,424		70.17%		2,909		27.50%		247		2.33%		4,515		42.67%		10,580
	Fulton		5,317		65.43%		2,621		32.25%		188		2.32%		2,696		33.18%		8,126
	Gibson		9,487		64.45%		4,928		33.48%		306		2.07%		4,559		30.97%		14,721
	Grant		15,151		59.82%		9,589		37.86%		589		2.32%		5,562		21.96%		25,329
	Greene		8,457		64.36%		4,350		33.10%		334		2.21%		4,107		31.26%		13,141
	Hamilton		90,747		66.20%		43,796		31.95%		2,546		1.85%		46,951		34.25%		137,089
	Hancock		22,796		69.41%		9,319		28.37%		728		2.22%		13,477		41.04%		32,843
	Harrison		10,640		60.21%		6,607		37.39%		424		2.40%		4,033		22.82%		17,671
	Hendricks		44,312		66.37%		21,112		31.62%		1,337		2.01%		23,200		34.75%		66,761
	Henry		10,838		57.02%		7,613		40.05%		556		2.93%		3,225		16.97%		19,007
	Howard		20,327		56.01%		15,135		41.70%		829		2.29%		5,192		14.31%		36,291
	Huntington		10,862		68.76%		4,596		29.09%		339		2.15%		6,266		39.67%		15,797
	Jackson		10,419		62.34%		5,838		34.93%		455		2.73%		4,581		27.41%		16,712
	Jasper		7,955		61.57%		4,672		36.16%		293		2.27%		3,283		25.41%		12,920
	Jay		4,645		58.79%		3,063		38.77%		193		2.44%		1,582		20.02%		7,901
	Jefferson		7,096		53.94%		5,728		43.54%		332		2.52%		1,368		10.40%		13,156
	Jennings		6,120		59.71%		3,821		37.28%		309		3.01%		2,299		22.43%		10,250
	Johnson		39,513		68.02%		17,260		29.71%		1,319		2.27%		22,253		38.31%		58,092
	Knox		9,612		63.47%		5,228		34.52%		305		2.01%		4,384		28.95%		15,145
	Kosciusko		22,558		74.84%		6,862		22.77%		720		2.39%		15,696		52.07%		30,140
	LaGrange		6,231		66.88%		2,898		31.11%		187		2.01%		3,333		35.77%		9,316
	Lake		68,431		33.85%		130,897		64.75%		2,819		1.40%		-62,466		-30.90%		202,147
	LaPorte		18,615		42.62%		24,107		55.19%		959		2.19%		-5,492		-12.57%		43,681
	Lawrence		11,622		65.04%		5,779		32.34%		469		2.62%		5,843		32.70%		17,870
	Madison		26,769		50.98%		24,407		46.48%		1,334		2.54%		2,362		4.50%		52,510
	Marion		136,509		37.92%		216,336		60.10%		7,127		1.98%		-79,827		-22.18%		359,972
	Marshall		11,260		63.25%		6,137		34.48%		404		2.27%		5,123		28.77%		17,801
	Martin		3,262		68.78%		1,351		28.48%		130		2.74%		1,911		40.30%		4,743
	Miami		8,174		63.79%		4,222		32.95%		417		3.26%		3,952		30.84%		12,813
	Monroe		22,481		39.29%		33,436		58.43%		1,306		2.28%		-10,955		-19.14%		57,223
	Montgomery		9,824		68.03%		4,271		29.58%		345		2.39%		5,553		38.45%		14,440
	Morgan		19,591		69.17%		7,969		28.13%		765		2.70%		11,622		41.04%		28,325
	Newton		3,291		58.02%		2,212		39.00%		169		2.98%		1,079		19.02%		5,672
	Noble		10,680		65.63%		5,229		32.13%		364		2.24%		5,451		33.50%		16,273
	Ohio		1,759		62.40%		994		35.26%		66		2.34%		765		27.14%		2,819
	Orange		4,617		59.38%		2,939		37.80%		220		2.82%		1,678		21.58%		7,776
	Owen		5,062		62.39%		2,823		34.80%		228		2.81%		2,239		27.59%		8,113
	Parke		4,234		64.85%		2,110		32.32%		185		2.83%		2,124		32.53%		6,529
	Perry		3,403		43.21%		4,316		54.81%		156		1.98%		-913		-11.60%		7,875
	Pike		3,627		61.20%		2,125		35.86%		174		2.94%		1,502		25.34%		5,926
	Porter		34,406		46.94%		37,252		50.82%		1,645		2.24%		-2,846		-3.88%		73,303
	Posey		7,430		60.77%		4,533		37.08%		263		2.15%		2,897		23.69%		12,226
	Pulaski		3,366		62.34%		1,899		35.17%		134		2.49%		1,467		27.17%		5,399
	Putnam		9,005		65.12%		4,507		32.59%		317		2.29%		4,498		32.53%		13,829
	Randolph		6,218		60.95%		3,769		36.94%		215		2.11%		2,449		24.01%		10,202
	Ripley		7,484		67.94%		3,241		29.42%		290		2.64%		4,243		38.52%		11,015
	Rush		4,633		65.94%		2,221		31.61%		172		2.45%		2,412		34.33%		7,026
	Scott		4,539		52.05%		3,998		45.85%		183		2.10%		541		6.20%		8,720
	Shelby		10,978		65.50%		5,359		31.97%		423		2.53%		5,619		33.53%		16,760
	Spencer		5,515		56.60%		4,026		41.32%		203		2.08%		1,489		15.28%		9,744
	St. Joseph		52,578		47.36%		56,460		50.86%		1,971		1.78%		-3,882		-3.50%		111,009
	Starke		4,738		54.03%		3,809		43.44%		222		2.53%		929		10.59%		8,769
	Steuben		8,547		62.41%		4,853		35.44%		295		2.15%		3,694		26.97%		13,695
	Sullivan		4,902		59.13%		3,191		38.49%		197		2.38%		1,711		20.64%		8,290
	Switzerland		1,872		55.11%		1,437		42.30%		88		2.59%		435		12.81%		3,397
	Tippecanoe		28,757		50.40%		26,711		46.81%		1,595		2.79%		2,046		3.59%		57,063
	Tipton		4,773		64.74%		2,432		32.99%		168		2.27%		2,341		31.75%		7,373
	Union		2,022		65.14%		1,018		32.80%		64		2.06%		1,004		32.34%		3,104
	Vanderburgh		39,389		54.26%		31,725		43.71%		1,474		2.03%		7,664		10.55%		72,588
	Vermillion		3,426		51.89%		2,979		45.12%		198		2.99%		447		6.77%		6,603
	Vigo		19,369		48.42%		19,712		49.27%		924		2.31%		-343		-0.85%		40,005
	Wabash		8,644		67.03%		3,973		30.81%		278		2.16%		4,671		36.22%		12,895
	Warren		2,377		62.55%		1,324		34.84%		99		2.61%		1,053		27.71%		3,800
	Warrick		17,680		62.19%		10,181		35.81%		566		2.00%		7,499		26.38%		28,427
	Washington		6,533		60.85%		3,909		36.41%		295		2.74%		2,624		24.44%		10,737
	Wayne		14,321		56.21%		10,591		41.57%		565		2.22%		3,730		14.64%		25,477
	Wells		9,256		71.46%		3,436		26.53%		260		2.01%		5,820		44.93%		12,952
	White		5,970		60.09%		3,637		36.61%		328		3.30%		2,333		23.48%		9,935
	Whitley		10,258		68.24%		4,420		29.40%		354		2.36%		5,838		38.84%		15,032
Totals	1,422,872	54.04%	1,154,275	43.84%	55,996	2.13%	268,597	10.20%	2,633,143

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Madison (largest city: Anderson)
• Spencer (largest city: Santa Claus)
• Starke (largest city: Knox)
• Tippecanoe (largest city: Lafayette)
• Vanderburgh (largest city: Evansville)
• Vermillion (largest city: Clinton)

By congressional district

Romney won 7 of 9 congressional districts.^[11]

District	Romney	Obama	Representative
		37.39%	61.19%		Pete Visclosky
		56.1%	42.14%		Jackie Walorski
		62.54%	35.7%		Marlin Stutzman
		60.88%	36.87%		Todd Rokita
		57.5%	40.7%		Susan Brooks
		60.43%	37.28%		Luke Messer
		35.35%	62.9%		André Carson
		58.37%	39.61%		Larry Bucshon
		57.17%	40.7%		Todd Young

See also

• United States presidential elections in Indiana
• 2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums
• 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
• Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries

Sources

• Web site: 2012 presidential elector candidates (as of September 7, 2012) . https://web.archive.org/web/20130328070109/http://www.indiana.gov/sos/elections/files/2012_Presidential_Elector_Candidate_List.pdf . 2013-03-28 . Secretary of State of Indiana.

References

External links

• The Green Papers

for Indiana

• The Green Papers

Major state elections in chronological order

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2012 Presidential Election - Indiana. Politico. 22 November 2012.
2. Web site: GALOFARO. CLAIRE. The counties that predict presidential election winners didn't this year. Just look at Terre Haute, Indiana.. 2021-01-22. chicagotribune.com.
3. Web site: Indiana Voters . 2024-04-22 . indianavoters.in.gov.
4. News: Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar. CNN. January 11, 2012.
5. News: Presidential Primary Dates. Federal Election Commission. January 23, 2012.
6. http://www.in.gov/apps/sos/primary/sos_primary12 Secretary of State election results
7. News: Hoosiers go for Romney; Obama fails to repeat his narrow win here in '08. The Indianapolis Star. November 8, 2012.
8. Web site: 2012 Presidential Election Polls - IN . uselectionatlas.org.
9. Web site: 2012 Presidential General Election Results . uselectionatlas.org.
10. News: Analysis: Hoosiers back Republicans but want them in the middle. The Indianapolis Star. November 8, 2012.
11. Web site: Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts. Daily Kos. 11 August 2020.