2012 United States presidential election in Idaho explained

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

Election Name:	2012 United States presidential election in Idaho
Country:	Idaho
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2008 United States presidential election in Idaho
Previous Year:	2008
Next Election:	2016 United States presidential election in Idaho
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:	4
Popular Vote1:	420,911
Percentage1:	64.09%
Nominee2:	Barack Obama
Party2:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State2:	Illinois
Running Mate2:	Joe Biden
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	212,787
Percentage2:	32.40%
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 Idaho 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. Idaho voters chose four 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. Prior to the election, 17 news organizations considered this a state Romney would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Romney and Ryan carried Idaho with 64.09% of the popular vote to Obama's and Biden's 32.40%, thus winning the state's four electoral votes.^[1] Romney's victory in Idaho made it his fourth strongest state in the 2012 election after Utah, Wyoming and Oklahoma.^[2] He improved on McCain's performance in 2008, expanding his margin from 25.3% to 31.69% and flipping Teton County which had previously voted for Obama.

Caucuses

Democratic caucuses

President Obama ran unopposed in the caucuses. The District cast all 31 of its delegate votes at the 2012 Democratic National Convention for Obama.^[3]

2012 Idaho Democratic presidential primary^[4]
Candidate	State convention delegates	Percentage	Delegates
Barack Obama (incumbent)	1,400	100%	27
Unpledged delegates:			4
Total:	1,400	100%	31

Republican caucuses

Election Name:	2012 Idaho Republican presidential caucuses
Country:	Idaho
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2008 Idaho Republican presidential primary
Previous Year:	2008
Next Election:	2016 United States presidential election in Idaho#Republican primary
Next Year:	2016
Image1:	Mitt_Romney_by_Gage_Skidmore_6_cropped.jpg
Candidate1:	Mitt Romney
Color1:	ff6600
Home State1:	Massachusetts
Delegate Count1:	32
Popular Vote1:	27,514
Percentage1:	61.6%
Candidate2:	Rick Santorum
Color2:	008000
Home State2:	Pennsylvania
Delegate Count2:	0
Popular Vote2:	8,115
Percentage2:	18.2%
Image3:	Ron Paul by Gage Skidmore 3 (crop 2).jpg
Candidate3:	Ron Paul
Color3:	ffcc00
Home State3:	Texas
Delegate Count3:	0
Popular Vote3:	8,086
Percentage3:	18.1%
Map Size:	175px

The Republican caucuses took place on Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012.^{[5] [6]} An advisory primary with no binding effect on delegates, scheduled to be held on Tuesday May 15, 2012, was cancelled by the Idaho Republican Party.^[7] Five candidates were on the ballot. In order of filing they are Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Buddy Roemer. Although Roemer had withdrawn from the Republican race before the Idaho caucus, he still appeared on the ballot.^[8]

Idaho has 32 delegates to the Republican national convention, of which 3 are RNC and 29 are AL. The 3 RNC delegates pledged to go with the results of the Boise Straw Poll. The delegates will be determined by the caucuses results, based on a two-step approach. First, the delegates are primarily awarded winner-take-all by county after a series of votes in which candidates are successively removed from the ballot. Then, if a candidate receives half or more of the county delegates, he will receive all the 32 delegates; if not, the delegates will be split proportionately according to the number of county delegates.^[9] Mitt Romney won 61% of the vote, thanks to a large majority of support (80-90% in most counties) in majority Mormon southeastern Idaho, rendering it a winner-take-all contest. Santorum and Paul split the Panhandle, winning five counties each, but came away empty in the delegate count.

Straw polls

Despite a complete lack of formal polling in the state, there were a total of five straw polls conducted in Idaho, three of which were online. Ron Paul won three of these,^{[10] [11] [12]} while Mitt Romney won two.^[13]

January 2–4 online poll

This was the first ever Idaho straw poll.^[14] It was conducted entirely online by Kaz Wittig KStar Enterprises. Ron Paul won with over 70% of the vote.

Finish	Candidate	Percentage
1		73.53%
2		8.09%
3		7.35%
4		5.15%
5		3.68%
6		1.47%
7		0.74%
8		0.00%
9		0.00%
	Total	100%

January 6 Boise poll

This poll used paper ballots and was conducted in Boise. Ron Paul won this poll. Rick Perry's campaign, although still active in the race at this time, did not participate.

Finish	Candidate	Percentage	Votes
1		43%	173
2		34%	135
3		12%	47
4		10%	40
5		1%	4
	Total	100%	399

February 2–4 online poll

This online straw poll was also produced by Kaz Wittig KStar Enterprises. Mitt Romney won the poll by a small margin.

Finish	Candidate	Percentage
1		45.39%
2		42.70%
3		4.49%
4		3.82%
5		3.15%
6	sortname	Other	0.45%
	Total	100%

March 1–3 online poll

This poll was also produced by Kaz Wittig KStar Enterprises. Ron Paul won by a double-digit margin.

Finish	Candidate	Percentage	Votes
1		51.37%	525
2		35.03%	358
3		3.91%	40
4		3.23%	33
5		2.84%	29
6		1.96%	20
7		0.98%	10
8		0.49%	5
9	sortname	Other	0.2%	2
	Total	100%	1022

Results

Results:^{[15] [16]}

Finish	Candidate	Percentage	Votes	Estimated National Delegates
1		61.6%	27,514	32
2		18.2%	8,115	0
3		18.1%	8,086	0
4		2.1%	940	0
5		0.0%	17	0
	Total	100%		32

County totals

County	Newt Gingrich	Ron Paul	Mitt Romney	Rick Santorum	Total	Winner
Ada	307	1766	4233	1866	8172	Romney
Adams	0	85	132	0	217	Romney
Bannock	24	254	1614	146	2038	Romney
Bear Lake	2	15	308	19	344	Romney
Benewah	24	90	26	145	265	Santorum
Bingham	27	215	2172	150	2564	Romney
Blaine	47	79	230	23	379	Romney
Boise	0	128	163	0	291	Romney
Bonner	0	555	0	487	1042	Paul
Bonneville	65	481	3044	235	3825	Romney
Boundary	0	193	64	101	358	Paul
Butte	10	25	153	23	211	Romney
Camas	0	40	38	0	78	Paul
Canyon	0	617	2056	1296	3969	Romney
Caribou	7	22	336	26	391	Romney
Cassia	28	143	1279	144	1594	Romney
Clark	2	8	88	17	115	Romney
Clearwater	0	85	0	151	236	Santorum
Custer	19	48	98	24	189	Romney
Elmore	0	158	281	0	439	Romney
Franklin	4	105	856	29	994	Romney
Fremont	12	76	726	38	852	Romney
Gem	0	150	379	143	672	Romney
Gooding	47	84	299	86	516	Romney
Idaho	0	284	0	191	475	Paul
Jefferson	11	212	1642	114	1979	Romney
Jerome	28	74	331	101	534	Romney
Kootenai	0	496	0	674	1170	Santorum
Latah	78	509	197	188	972	Paul
Lemhi	44	60	217	64	385	Romney
Lewis	0	0	25	44	69	Santorum
Lincoln	14	11	147	49	221	Romney
Madison	7	260	2510	50	2827	Romney
Minidoka	22	80	653	92	847	Romney
Nez Perce	0	127	124	0	251	Paul
Oneida	3	39	241	18	301	Romney
Owyhee	0	0	177	263	440	Santorum
Payette	0	0	428	302	730	Romney
Power	9	13	287	38	347	Romney
Shoshone	0	0	63	74	137	Santorum
Teton	13	44	295	26	378	Romney
Twin Falls	83	332	1228	409	2052	Romney
Valley	0	123	152	0	275	Romney
Washington	0	0	222	269	491	Santorum

Notes

• That these totals reflect the final caucus ballots in each county; where only two candidates have votes totaled, this was likely from other candidates being eliminated in previous rounds of voting. Where all candidates have at least one vote, only one ballot was necessary, since the winning candidate had a majority of votes in that county.
• Vote totals for Buddy Roemer, who had formally withdrawn from the Republican race before the caucus, are not provided.

General election

Candidate ballot access

• Barack Obama/Joseph Biden, Democratic
• Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan, Republican
• Gary Johnson/James P. Gray, Libertarian
• Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala, Green
• Virgil Goode/Jim Clymer, Constitution
• Rocky Anderson/Luis J. Rodriguez, Justice

Results

2012 United States presidential election in Idaho^[17]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Mitt Romney	Paul Ryan	420,911	64.09%	4
	Democratic	Barack Obama (incumbent)	Joe Biden (incumbent)	212,787	32.40%	0
	Libertarian		Jim Gray	9,453	1.44%	0
	Write-Ins	Write-Ins		4,429	0.67%	0
	Green	Jill Stein	Cheri Honkala	4,402	0.67%	0
	Justice	Rocky Anderson	Luis J. Rodriguez	2,499	0.38%	0
	Constitution	Virgil Goode	Jim Clymer	2,222	0.34%	0
	Peace & Freedom	Roseanne Barr	Cindy Sheehan	39	0.01%	0
Totals				656,742	100.00%	4

By county

County	Mitt Romney Republican		Barack Obama Democratic		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total
		%		%		%		%
	Ada		97,554		53.53%		77,137		42.33%		7,555		4.14%		20,417		11.20%		182,246
	Adams		1,413		68.56%		577		28.00%		71		3.44%		836		40.56%		2,061
	Bannock		21,010		59.14%		13,214		37.20%		1,299		3.66%		7,796		21.94%		35,523
	Bear Lake		2,489		88.20%		302		10.70%		31		1.10%		2,187		77.50%		2,822
	Benewah		2,596		66.82%		1,164		29.96%		125		3.22%		1,432		36.86%		3,885
	Bingham		13,440		76.03%		3,822		21.62%		416		2.35%		9,618		54.41%		17,678
	Blaine		3,939		38.64%		5,992		58.78%		263		2.58%		-2,053		-20.14%		10,194
	Boise		2,284		66.28%		1,053		30.56%		109		3.16%		1,231		35.72%		3,446
	Bonner		11,367		60.45%		6,500		34.57%		936		4.98%		4,867		25.88%		18,803
	Bonneville		32,276		74.68%		9,903		22.91%		1,038		2.41%		22,373		51.77%		43,217
	Boundary		3,138		69.06%		1,225		26.96%		181		3.98%		1,913		42.10%		4,544
	Butte		1,001		77.84%		258		20.06%		27		2.10%		743		57.78%		1,286
	Camas		402		69.55%		159		27.51%		17		2.94%		243		42.04%		578
	Canyon		44,369		66.47%		19,866		29.76%		2,512		3.77%		24,503		36.71%		66,747
	Caribou		2,608		85.45%		386		12.65%		58		1.90%		2,222		72.80%		3,052
	Cassia		7,154		84.84%		1,098		13.02%		180		2.14%		6,056		71.82%		8,432
	Clark		235		71.65%		66		20.12%		27		8.23%		169		51.53%		328
	Clearwater		2,541		68.75%		1,032		27.92%		123		3.33%		1,509		40.83%		3,696
	Custer		1,744		74.06%		530		22.51%		81		3.43%		1,214		51.55%		2,355
	Elmore		5,227		65.31%		2,513		31.40%		263		3.29%		2,714		33.91%		8,003
	Franklin		5,195		92.77%		325		5.80%		80		1.43%		4,870		86.97%		5,600
	Fremont		4,907		84.57%		810		13.96%		85		1.47%		4,097		70.61%		5,802
	Gem		5,311		70.90%		1,957		26.12%		223		2.98%		3,354		44.78%		7,491
	Gooding		3,696		72.22%		1,287		25.15%		135		2.63%		2,409		47.07%		5,118
	Idaho		5,921		75.52%		1,708		21.79%		211		2.69%		4,213		53.73%		7,840
	Jefferson		9,895		86.94%		1,303		11.45%		183		1.61%		8,592		75.49%		11,381
	Jerome		4,804		71.52%		1,699		25.29%		214		3.19%		3,105		46.23%		6,717
	Kootenai		39,381		65.09%		18,851		31.16%		2,273		3.75%		20,530		33.93%		60,505
	Latah		7,589		44.32%		8,306		48.51%		1,229		7.17%		-717		-4.19%		17,124
	Lemhi		3,029		73.70%		960		23.36%		121		2.94%		2,069		50.34%		4,110
	Lewis		1,173		72.63%		396		24.52%		46		2.85%		777		48.11%		1,615
	Lincoln		1,141		68.61%		469		28.20%		53		3.19%		672		40.41%		1,663
	Madison		13,445		93.29%		832		5.77%		135		0.94%		12,613		87.52%		14,412
	Minidoka		5,442		78.04%		1,390		19.93%		141		2.03%		4,052		58.11%		6,973
	Nez Perce		9,967		58.65%		6,451		37.96%		575		3.39%		3,516		20.69%		16,993
	Oneida		1,838		87.98%		217		10.39%		34		1.63%		1,621		77.59%		2,089
	Owyhee		2,794		75.03%		833		22.37%		97		2.60%		1,961		52.66%		3,724
	Payette		6,004		70.68%		2,271		26.73%		220		2.59%		3,733		43.95%		8,495
	Power		1,870		64.39%		982		33.82%		52		1.79%		888		30.57%		2,904
	Shoshone		2,699		52.43%		2,277		44.23%		172		3.34%		422		8.20%		5,148
	Teton		2,458		54.34%		1,926		42.58%		139		3.08%		532		11.76%		4,523
	Twin Falls		19,773		69.70%		7,541		26.58%		1,055		3.72%		12,232		43.12%		28,369
	Valley		2,664		54.16%		2,095		42.59%		160		3.25%		569		11.57%		4,919
	Washington		3,128		72.22%		1,104		25.49%		99		2.29%		2,024		46.73%		4,331
Totals	420,911	64.09%	212,787	32.40%	23,044	3.51%	208,124	31.69%	656,742

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Teton (largest city: Victor)

Results by congressional district

Romney won both congressional districts.^[18]

District	Obama	Romney	Representative
		32.19%	64.91%		Raúl Labrador
		33.07%	64.14%		Mike Simpson

See also

• United States presidential elections in Idaho
• 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
• Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
• Idaho Republican Party

External links

• The Green Papers

for Idaho

• The Green Papers

Major state elections in chronological order

Notes and References

1. Web site: Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Idaho. 4 January 2013.
2. Web site: 2012 Presidential Election Statistics. Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. 2018-03-05.
3. Web site: Idaho Democratic Delegation 2012. 2016-07-14. www.thegreenpapers.com.
4. Web site: District of Columbia Democratic Delegation 2012. 2016-07-14. www.thegreenpapers.com.
5. Web site: Idaho Republican Delegation 2012.
6. Web site: Election and voting information.
7. Web site: Idaho Republican Presidential Nominating Process. March 5, 2012. The Green Papers.
8. Web site: Declared 2012 Republican Presidential Candidates. 27 May 2018.
9. News: Nate Silver. Nate Silver. March 4, 2012. Romney Could Win Majority of Super Tuesday Delegates. FiveThirtyEight. March 5, 2012.
10. Web site: Presidential Race Graph . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120306012448/http://www.idahostrawpoll.com/poll/graph1.html. 2012-03-06. 2012-02-28.
11. http://www.kivitv.com/news/local/136861888.html
12. Web site: Presidential Race Graph . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120306012504/http://www.idahostrawpoll.com/poll/graph3.html. 2012-03-06. 2012-03-04.
13. Web site: Presidential Race Graph . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120306012154/http://www.idahostrawpoll.com/poll/graph2.html. 2012-03-06. 2012-03-02.
14. Web site: Bodnar. Marissa. Idaho GOP Gears Up For 2012 Straw Poll, Caucus. 14 July 2016. Local News 8. NPG of Idaho, Inc.. September 18, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160918124816/http://www.localnews8.com/news/Idaho-GOP-Gears-Up-For-2012-Straw-Poll-Caucus/14525926. dead.
15. Web site: Caucus Results Idaho GOPIdaho GOP . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120720000734/http://idgop.org/caucus-results/. 2012-07-20. 2012-07-19.
16. News: Idaho County Map. CNN.
17. Web site: 2012 Presidential General Election Results - Idaho. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
18. Web site: Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts. Daily Kos. 11 August 2020.