2012 United States presidential election in Nebraska explained

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

Election Name:	2012 United States presidential election in Nebraska
Country:	Nebraska
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska
Previous Year:	2008
Next Election:	2016 United States presidential election in Nebraska
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:	5
Popular Vote1:	475,064
Percentage1:	59.80%
Nominee2:	Barack Obama
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	Illinois
Running Mate2:	Joe Biden
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	302,081
Percentage2:	38.03%
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 Nebraska 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. Voters chose five 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.

Mitt Romney carried Nebraska, taking 59.80% of the vote to Barack Obama's 38.03%, a margin of 21.77%. Nebraska is one of two states (along with Maine) which splits its electoral votes based on the winner in each congressional district. In 2012, Romney won all 3 congressional districts, thus winning all 5 of the state's electoral votes. This was a change from 2008, when the state as a whole had voted for Republican John McCain but Democrat Barack Obama still won an electoral vote from the state. Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, home to Omaha, had split with the rest of the state and awarded one of Nebraska's electoral votes to a Democratic presidential nominee for the first time since 1964. Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, Indiana, and North Carolina were the only sources of electoral votes won by Obama in 2008 that Romney managed to flip. Obama only won a single county, Thurston, largely due to its majority and increasingly politically active Native American population. He also narrowly lost three of four counties he won in 2008: Douglas, Lancaster, and Saline, home to the cities of Omaha, Lincoln, and Crete, respectively. He became the first Democrat since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to win without carrying Saline County.

As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that the Democrat won Thurston County and the Republican won Douglas or Lancaster County. This is also the last time that Nebraska's 2nd congressional district did not back the overall winner of the Electoral College, and when the Democratic candidate won the presidency without carrying the district.

Primary elections

Democratic primary

The Democratic primary was not held as Barack Obama ran unopposed and had secured enough delegates for nomination.^[1]

Republican primary

Election Name:	2012 Nebraska Republican presidential primary
Country:	Nebraska
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2008 Nebraska Republican presidential primary
Previous Year:	2008
Next Election:	2016 Nebraska Republican presidential primary
Next Year:	2016
Image1:	Mitt_Romney_by_Gage_Skidmore_6_cropped.jpg
Candidate1:	Mitt Romney
Color1:	ff6600
Home State1:	Massachusetts
Delegate Count1:	30
Popular Vote1:	131,436
Percentage1:	70.89%
Candidate2:	Rick Santorum
Color2:	008000
Home State2:	Pennsylvania
Delegate Count2:	0
Popular Vote2:	25,830
Percentage2:	13.93%
Image4:	Ron Paul by Gage Skidmore 3 (crop 2).jpg
Candidate4:	Ron Paul
Color4:	ffcc00
Home State4:	Texas
Delegate Count4:	2
Popular Vote4:	18,508
Percentage4:	9.98%
Image5:	Newt Gingrich by Gage Skidmore 3 (cropped).jpg
Candidate5:	Newt Gingrich
Color5:	800080
Home State5:	Georgia
Delegate Count5:	0
Popular Vote5:	9,628
Percentage5:	5.19%
Map Size:	300px

The Republican primary was on May 15, 2012.^[2] This primary was purely of an advisory nature. From June 1 to June 10 caucuses county conventions caucused to elect delegates to the state convention. These delegates were not bound to vote for any candidate, but at the state convention on July 14, elected 32 bound National delegates. 3 party leaders attended the National Convention unbound, making a total of 35 voting delegates going to the national convention from Nebraska.

2012 Nebraska Republican primary
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
Mitt Romney	131,436	70.89%	30
Rick Santorum	25,830	13.93%	0
Ron Paul	18,508	9.98%	2
Newt Gingrich	9,628	5.19%	0
Unpledged delegates:			3
Total:	185,402	100.0%	35

Key:

align:"center" bgcolor=DDDDDD

Withdrew prior to contest

Convention

The State Convention was held in Grand Island on July 14, 2012.

Convention Results^[3] ^[4]
Candidate	1st	2nd	3rd	State	Party leaders	Total
Mitt Romney	3	1	3	23	2	32
Ron Paul	0	2	0	0	0	2
Unknown	0	0	0	0	1	1
Total	9	23	3	35

General election

Results

2012 United States presidential election in Nebraska
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Mitt Romney	Paul Ryan	475,064	59.80%	5
	Democratic	Barack Obama (incumbent)	Joe Biden (incumbent)	302,081	38.03%	0
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson	Jim Gray	11,109	1.40%	0
	Write-Ins			3,717	0.47%	0
	Independent	Randall Terry	Missy Smith	2,408	0.30%	0
Totals				794,379	100.00%	5

By county

County	Mitt Romney Republican		Barack Obama Democratic		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total
		%		%		%		%
	Adams		8,316		65.64%		4,062		32.06%		292		2.30%		4,254		33.58%		12,670
	Antelope		2,596		80.32%		571		17.67%		65		2.01%		2,025		62.65%		3,232
	Arthur		227		86.64%		30		11.45%		5		1.91%		197		75.19%		262
	Banner		346		84.18%		55		13.38%		10		2.44%		291		70.80%		411
	Blaine		268		88.45%		29		9.57%		6		1.98%		239		78.88%		303
	Boone		2,138		76.19%		615		21.92%		53		1.89%		1,523		54.27%		2,806
	Box Butte		2,869		60.98%		1,692		35.96%		144		3.06%		1,177		25.02%		4,705
	Boyd		873		81.51%		188		17.55%		10		0.94%		685		63.96%		1,071
	Brown		1,302		83.73%		224		14.41%		29		1.86%		1,078		69.32%		1,555
	Buffalo		13,570		69.76%		5,365		27.58%		518		2.66%		8,205		42.18%		19,453
	Burt		2,029		60.12%		1,291		38.25%		55		1.63%		738		21.87%		3,375
	Butler		2,738		70.95%		1,045		27.08%		76		1.97%		1,693		43.87%		3,859
	Cass		7,556		62.04%		4,367		35.85%		257		2.11%		3,189		26.19%		12,180
	Cedar		3,278		75.63%		958		22.10%		98		2.27%		2,320		53.53%		4,334
	Chase		1,584		84.84%		254		13.60%		29		1.56%		1,330		71.24%		1,867
	Cherry		2,557		83.45%		436		14.23%		71		2.32%		2,121		69.22%		3,064
	Cheyenne		3,449		74.19%		1,084		23.32%		116		2.49%		2,365		50.87%		4,649
	Clay		2,232		75.74%		667		22.63%		48		1.63%		1,565		53.11%		2,947
	Colfax		2,051		66.83%		969		31.57%		49		1.60%		1,082		35.26%		3,069
	Cuming		2,876		72.33%		1,031		25.93%		69		1.74%		1,845		46.40%		3,976
	Custer		4,296		78.14%		1,083		19.70%		119		2.16%		3,213		58.44%		5,498
	Dakota		3,094		50.42%		2,922		47.62%		120		1.96%		172		2.80%		6,136
	Dawes		2,478		66.47%		1,132		30.36%		118		3.17%		1,346		36.11%		3,728
	Dawson		5,460		69.47%		2,199		27.98%		200		2.55%		3,261		41.49%		7,859
	Deuel		763		75.02%		215		21.14%		39		3.84%		548		53.88%		1,017
	Dixon		1,745		64.97%		870		32.39%		71		2.64%		875		32.58%		2,686
	Dodge		8,995		60.17%		5,673		37.95%		282		1.88%		3,322		22.22%		14,950
	Douglas		113,220		50.56%		106,456		47.54%		4,251		1.90%		6,764		3.02%		223,927
	Dundy		792		80.41%		176		17.87%		17		1.72%		616		62.54%		985
	Fillmore		2,007		69.71%		807		28.03%		65		2.26%		1,200		41.68%		2,879
	Franklin		1,112		72.40%		384		25.00%		40		2.60%		728		47.40%		1,536
	Frontier		1,007		77.16%		271		20.77%		27		2.07%		736		56.39%		1,305
	Furnas		1,782		79.55%		423		18.88%		35		1.57%		1,359		60.67%		2,240
	Gage		5,513		57.06%		3,903		40.40%		245		2.54%		1,610		16.66%		9,661
	Garden		829		75.99%		242		22.18%		20		1.83%		587		53.81%		1,091
	Garfield		769		81.81%		149		15.85%		22		2.34%		620		65.96%		940
	Gosper		734		75.05%		230		23.52%		14		1.43%		504		51.53%		978
	Grant		322		88.71%		30		8.26%		11		3.03%		292		80.45%		363
	Greeley		820		69.20%		340		28.69%		25		2.11%		480		40.51%		1,185
	Hall		12,646		62.51%		7,161		35.40%		422		2.09%		5,485		27.11%		20,229
	Hamilton		3,600		73.91%		1,146		23.53%		125		2.56%		2,454		50.38%		4,871
	Harlan		1,395		78.46%		354		19.91%		29		1.63%		1,041		58.55%		1,778
	Hayes		476		88.31%		51		9.46%		12		2.23%		425		78.85%		539
	Hitchcock		1,178		78.80%		274		18.33%		43		2.87%		904		60.47%		1,495
	Holt		3,922		79.41%		882		17.86%		135		2.73%		3,040		61.55%		4,939
	Hooker		330		83.54%		59		14.94%		6		1.52%		271		68.60%		395
	Howard		1,890		65.85%		914		31.85%		66		2.30%		976		34.00%		2,870
	Jefferson		2,166		62.86%		1,195		34.68%		85		2.46%		971		28.18%		3,446
	Johnson		1,225		59.38%		790		38.29%		48		2.33%		435		21.09%		2,063
	Kearney		2,349		73.87%		773		24.31%		58		1.82%		1,576		49.56%		3,180
	Keith		3,044		75.01%		928		22.87%		86		2.12%		2,116		52.14%		4,058
	Keya Paha		393		81.20%		80		16.53%		11		2.27%		313		64.67%		484
	Kimball		1,235		73.21%		395		23.41%		57		3.38%		840		49.80%		1,687
	Knox		2,885		71.48%		1,059		26.24%		92		2.28%		1,826		45.24%		4,036
	Lancaster		62,434		49.02%		62,015		48.69%		2,906		2.29%		419		0.33%		127,355
	Lincoln		10,728		68.53%		4,450		28.43%		477		3.06%		6,278		40.10%		15,655
	Logan		356		82.60%		68		15.78%		7		1.62%		288		66.82%		431
	Loup		290		81.01%		62		17.32%		6		1.67%		228		63.69%		358
	Madison		10,062		72.47%		3,485		25.10%		338		2.43%		6,577		47.37%		13,885
	McPherson		237		81.44%		41		14.09%		13		4.47%		196		67.35%		291
	Merrick		2,490		71.37%		925		26.51%		74		2.12%		1,565		44.86%		3,489
	Morrill		1,681		76.76%		455		20.78%		54		2.46%		1,226		55.98%		2,190
	Nance		1,106		68.23%		481		29.67%		34		2.10%		625		38.56%		1,621
	Nemaha		2,012		62.60%		1,128		35.10%		74		2.30%		884		27.50%		3,214
	Nuckolls		1,574		71.84%		568		25.92%		49		2.24%		1,006		45.92%		2,191
	Otoe		4,258		60.99%		2,561		36.68%		163		2.33%		1,697		24.31%		6,982
	Pawnee		899		67.04%		400		29.83%		42		3.13%		499		37.21%		1,341
	Perkins		1,135		81.42%		238		17.07%		21		1.51%		897		64.35%		1,394
	Phelps		3,400		77.63%		880		20.09%		100		2.28%		2,520		57.54%		4,380
	Pierce		2,707		78.90%		637		18.57%		87		2.53%		2,070		60.33%		3,431
	Platte		10,061		74.68%		3,148		23.37%		264		1.95%		6,913		51.31%		13,473
	Polk		1,890		76.92%		528		21.49%		39		1.59%		1,362		55.43%		2,457
	Red Willow		3,891		78.83%		952		19.29%		93		1.88%		2,939		59.54%		4,936
	Richardson		2,443		65.34%		1,191		31.85%		105		2.81%		1,252		33.49%		3,739
	Rock		672		85.17%		103		13.05%		14		1.78%		569		72.12%		789
	Saline		2,557		51.57%		2,289		46.17%		112		2.26%		268		5.40%		4,958
	Sarpy		43,213		60.45%		26,671		37.31%		1,606		2.24%		16,542		23.14%		71,490
	Saunders		6,770		65.65%		3,307		32.07%		235		2.28%		3,463		33.58%		10,312
	Scotts Bluff		9,648		67.53%		4,327		30.29%		312		2.18%		5,321		37.24%		14,287
	Seward		5,003		66.06%		2,386		31.51%		184		2.43%		2,617		34.55%		7,573
	Sheridan		2,021		81.76%		390		15.78%		61		2.46%		1,631		65.98%		2,472
	Sherman		927		60.59%		552		36.08%		51		3.33%		375		24.51%		1,530
	Sioux		624		84.44%		101		13.67%		14		1.89%		523		70.77%		739
	Stanton		1,949		73.71%		614		23.22%		81		3.07%		1,335		50.49%		2,644
	Thayer		1,874		70.48%		728		27.38%		57		2.14%		1,146		43.10%		2,659
	Thomas		360		88.24%		42		10.29%		6		1.47%		318		77.95%		408
	Thurston		939		42.39%		1,247		56.30%		29		1.31%		-308		-13.91%		2,215
	Valley		1,657		75.49%		498		22.69%		40		1.82%		1,159		52.80%		2,195
	Washington		6,899		67.33%		3,132		30.57%		215		2.10%		3,767		36.76%		10,246
	Wayne		2,493		67.71%		1,074		29.17%		115		3.12%		1,419		38.54%		3,682
	Webster		1,258		72.22%		442		25.37%		42		2.41%		816		46.85%		1,742
	Wheeler		345		77.01%		93		20.76%		10		2.23%		252		56.25%		448
	York		4,874		76.70%		1,373		21.61%		108		1.69%		3,501		55.09%		6,355
Totals	475,064	59.80%	302,081	38.03%	17,234	2.17%	172,983	21.77%	794,379

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Douglas (largest city: Omaha)
• Lancaster (largest city: Lincoln)
• Saline (largest city: Crete)

Results by congressional district

Romney won all three of Nebraska's congressional districts.^[5]

District	Romney %	Romney #	Obama %	Obama #	Johnson %	Johnson #	Terry %	Terry #	Representative
		57.43%	152,021	40.83%	108,082	1.45%	3,847	0.28%	762		Jeff Fortenberry
		52.85%	140,976	45.70%	121,889	1.27%	3,393	0.18%	469		Lee Terry
		70.23%	182,067	27.82%	72,110	1.44%	3,869	0.45%	1,177		Adrian Smith

See also

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

External links

• The Green Papers

for Nebraska

• The Green Papers

Major state elections in chronological order

Notes and References

1. Web site: Nebraska Results . . 7 November 2012 .
2. Web site: Archived copy . 2012-08-14 . 2018-11-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181108170730/http://www.sos.ne.gov/elec/2012/pdf/canvass-report-2012-primary.pdf . dead .
3. Web site: Archived copy . 2012-07-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120610063704/http://www.tacoma2012.com/ . 2012-06-10 . dead .
4. Web site: Nebraska Republican Delegation 2012.
5. Web site: Official Results of Nebraska General Election - November 6, 2012. April 16, 2013.