| Election Name: | 2012 Puerto Rico Republican presidential primary |
| Country: | Puerto Rico |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | Puerto Rico Republican caucuses, 2008 |
| Previous Year: | 2008 |
| Next Election: | Puerto Rico Republican primary, 2016 |
| Next Year: | 2016 |
| Candidate1: | Mitt Romney |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Home State1: | Massachusetts |
| Delegate Count1: | 20 |
| Popular Vote1: | 106,431 |
| Percentage1: | 82.61% |
| Outgoing Members: | AL |
| Elected Members: | IL |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Home State2: | Pennsylvania |
| Delegate Count2: | 0 |
| Popular Vote2: | 10,574 |
| Percentage2: | 8.21% |
The 2012 Puerto Rico Republican presidential primary took place on March 18, 2012.[1] [2] [3] [4]
On January 18, 2012, Secretary of State Kenneth McClintock announced that seven candidates, including Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Rick Perry (who has since withdrawn and endorsed Gingrich) would be eligible to appear on the March 18 ballot unless they notified McClintock by February 17 of their desire not to compete in Puerto Rico. If a candidate received a majority of the votes, then the primary was to be winner-take-all, but if no candidate met the 50% threshold, its 20 delegates were to be divided proportionally.[2]
On February 20, 2012, the Republican Party of Puerto Rico announced the six candidate names and their order on the ballot for the island's March 18 presidential primary.[5]
Prior to certification:[6]
| Puerto Rico Republican primary, 2012 < | -- [7] --> | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates | |
| Mitt Romney | 106,431 | 82.61% | 20 | |
| Rick Santorum | 10,574 | 8.21% | 0 | |
| Buddy Roemer | 2,880 | 2.24% | 0 | |
| Others | 2,759 | 2.14% | 0 | |
| Newt Gingrich | 2,702 | 2.10% | 0 | |
| Fred Karger | 1,893 | 1.47% | 0 | |
| Ron Paul | 1,595 | 1.24% | 0 | |
| Unprojected delegates: | 3 | |||
| Total: | 128,834 | 100.0% | 23 | |
See also: English in Puerto Rico. In 2012 U.S. presidential candidate Rick Santorum was criticized during the runup to the Puerto Rican Republican primary for stating that if Puerto Rico opted to become a state, it would have to make English its primary language. As The New York Times reported:[8]
for Puerto Rico
Major state elections in chronological order