2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania explained

See main article: 2012 United States presidential election.

Election Name:	2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania
Country:	Pennsylvania
Flag Image:	Flag of Pennsylvania.svg
Type:	presidential
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania
Previous Year:	2008
Election Date:	November 6, 2012
Next Election:	2016 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania
Next Year:	2016
Image1:	President Barack Obama, 2012 portrait crop.jpg
Nominee1:	Barack Obama
Party1:	Democratic Party (United States)
Home State1:	Illinois
Running Mate1:	Joe Biden
Electoral Vote1:	20
Popular Vote1:	2,990,274
Percentage1:	51.97%
President
Before Election:	Barack Obama
Before Party:	Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:	Barack Obama
After Party:	Democratic Party (United States)
Nominee2:	Mitt Romney
Party2:	Republican Party (United States)
Home State2:	Massachusetts
Running Mate2:	Paul Ryan
Electoral Vote2:	0
Popular Vote2:	2,680,434
Percentage2:	46.59%

The 2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania 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. The primary election to select the Democratic and Republican candidates had been held on April 24, 2012.^[1] Pennsylvania voters chose 20 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. Pennsylvania's electoral vote number was a reduction from the 2008 delegation, which had 21 electors. This change was due to reapportionment following the 2010 United States Census.^[2] Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes are allotted on a winner-take-all basis.^[3]

Democratic incumbent President Barack Obama received 51.97% of the vote, beating Republican challenger Mitt Romney's 46.59%.^[4] Also on the ballot were physician Jill Stein of the Green Party and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party, who received 0.37% and 0.87%, respectively.^[4] Other candidates could run as write-in candidates, which received a total 0.2% of the vote. The state had been considered likely, but not certain, to go to Obama.^[5] While the state had voted for a Democrat since 1992, it remained competitive, especially after Bush's loss of only 2.5% in 2004. Its competitiveness was attributable to the stark contrast between the state's diverse, urban voters in areas such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh; and rural, blue-collar voters in the rest of the state. However, massive margins in the urban regions of the state and victories in the Philadelphia suburbs, Lehigh Valley, Scranton, and Erie delivered a considerable victory for the president. Regardless, Romney improved on John McCain's 10.32% loss in the state in 2008, and flipped five counties that voted for Obama four years prior.^[6]

Five counties that voted for Obama in 2008 voted for Romney in 2012. This included Cambria County, which made Obama the first Democrat to win the presidency without carrying the county since Woodrow Wilson in 1916. Chester County, a Philadelphia suburb, also voted for Romney, though it would flip back into the Democratic column in 2016^[7] and remain there in 2020.^[8] Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Elk County since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940, and the first to do so without carrying Carbon County since John F. Kennedy in 1960. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that Chester County voted for the Republican candidate and the last time that Luzerne County voted for the Democratic candidate. This is also the last time Pennsylvania voted more Democratic than the nation as a whole.

Primary elections

Democratic primary

Incumbent Barack Obama ran unopposed on the Democratic primary ballot.^[1] He received 616,102 votes.^[1] There were 19,082 write-in votes.^{[9] [10]} In the floor vote taken at the Democratic National Convention, 242 Pennsylvania delegates voted for Obama,^[10] while the other 8 of the state's 250 allocated votes were not announced.^[10]

Republican primary

Four candidates were on the Republican primary ballot: Mitt Romney, former Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum, U.S. Representative from Texas Ron Paul, and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.^[1] His home state was set to be the make-or-break primary for Santorum.^[11] He had just lost 3 primaries to Romney, and Romney appeared poised to become the presumptive nominee by achieving a prohibitive lead.^[11]

As momentum in the Republican race built for Romney, Santorum suspended his campaign for four days to meet with 'movement conservatives' to strategize.^[12] Rather than returning to campaigning the next Monday, Rick and Karen Santorum canceled campaign events scheduled right after Easter weekend to be in the hospital with their youngest daughter.^[13]

In deference to the sick child, Romney ceased airing attack ads, replacing them with positive introductory ones.

On April 10, Santorum formally suspended his campaign. On May 7, he endorsed Romney.^[14] Santorum and Gingrich both released their delegates to Romney in August, shortly before the Republican National Convention.^[15]

Candidate	Votes	Percentage		Projected delegates^[16]		Actual delegate vote^[17]
Mitt Romney	468,374	57.8%	31	67
Rick Santorum	149,056	18.4%	4	0
Ron Paul	106,148	13.1%	5	5
Newt Gingrich	84,537	10.4%	3	0
Write-in votes	2,819	0.3%
Unprojected delegates			29
Total:	810,934	100%	72	72

General election

Polling

In statewide opinion polling, incumbent Barack Obama consistently led challenger Mitt Romney by a margin of between 2 and 12 percentage points.^[18] Analysts rated Pennsylvania as a "likely Democratic" or "Democratic-leaning" state in the presidential race.^[5] On the morning of the election, polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight estimated that there was a 99% likelihood that Obama would win Pennsylvania's electoral votes.^[19] At the time, Pennsylvania's electoral votes had gone to the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since Bill Clinton won it in 1992.^[3] The average of the last three polls had Obama leading Romney 51% to 46%, which was very close to the actual result.^[20]

During the summer, there was significant spending on political advertisements in Pennsylvania, by both the Obama campaign and pro-Romney groups such as Crossroads GPS and Americans for Prosperity.^[21] However, because Obama maintained a consistent lead in polling, Pennsylvania came to be considered a "safe state" for Obama, and campaign advertising subsided substantially in August.^[21] This changed in October, when pro-Romney groups Restore Our Future and Americans for Job Security spent $3 million on advertising in Pennsylvania.^[21] Later that month, the Obama campaign and the Romney campaign both launched their own advertising campaigns in Pennsylvania.^[21] On November 1, the Republican National Committee announced that it would spend $3 million on television ads in Pennsylvania in the final days of the campaign.^[22] In total, pro-Romney spending in Pennsylvania was estimated to amount to as much as $12 million, much more than Obama campaign spending.^[22] The Obama campaign characterized the pro-Romney spending surge as "an act of sheer desperation", while the Romney campaign argued that they had a realistic chance of winning the state.^[22] In the end, Obama carried the state by a modest margin, albeit narrower than his 2008 landslide over Senator John McCain.

Results

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By county

County^[23]	Barack Obama Democratic		Mitt Romney Republican		Gary Johnson Libertarian		Jill Stein Green		Various candidates Other parties		Margin		Total votes cast
		%		%		%		%		%		%
	Adams		15,091		35.40%		26,767		62.80%		437		1.03%		162		0.38%		168		0.39%		-11,676		-27.40%		42,625
	Allegheny		352,687		56.54%		262,039		42.01%		5,196		0.83%		2,159		0.35%		1,746		0.28%		90,648		14.53%		623,827
	Armstrong		9,045		30.43%		20,142		67.77%		297		1.00%		118		0.40%		119		0.40%		-11,097		-37.34%		29,721
	Beaver		37,055		45.86%		42,344		52.41%		794		0.98%		281		0.35%		319		0.39%		-5,289		-6.55%		80,793
	Bedford		4,788		22.01%		16,702		76.79%		143		0.66%		64		0.29%		53		0.24%		-11,914		-54.78%		21,750
	Berks		83,011		48.64%		84,702		49.63%		1,832		1.07%		775		0.45%		356		0.21%		-1,691		-0.99%		170,676
	Blair		16,276		32.32%		33,319		66.16%		464		0.92%		182		0.36%		124		0.25%		-17,043		-33.84%		50,365
	Bradford		8,624		36.64%		14,410		61.21%		243		1.03%		149		0.63%		114		0.48%		-5,786		-24.57%		23,540
	Bucks		160,521		49.97%		156,579		48.74%		2,863		0.89%		1,053		0.33%		250		0.08%		3,942		1.23%		321,266
	Butler		28,550		31.83%		59,761		66.62%		819		0.91%		315		0.35%		254		0.28%		-31,211		-34.79%		89,699
	Cambria		24,249		40.06%		35,163		58.10%		712		1.18%		402		0.66%		0		0.00%		-10,914		-18.04%		60,526
	Cameron		724		34.07%		1,359		63.95%		19		0.89%		9		0.42%		14		0.66%		-635		-29.88%		2,125
	Carbon		11,580		45.07%		13,504		52.56%		356		1.39%		141		0.55%		113		0.44%		-1,924		-7.49%		25,694
	Centre		34,176		48.90%		34,001		48.65%		1,049		1.50%		400		0.57%		260		0.37%		175		0.25%		69,886
	Chester		124,311		49.22%		124,840		49.43%		2,082		0.82%		740		0.29%		603		0.24%		-529		-0.21%		252,576
	Clarion		5,056		31.08%		10,828		66.55%		208		1.28%		94		0.58%		84		0.52%		-5,772		-35.47%		16,270
	Clearfield		11,121		34.62%		20,347		63.34%		339		1.06%		160		0.50%		155		0.48%		-9,226		-28.72%		32,122
	Clinton		5,734		43.08%		7,303		54.86%		171		1.28%		57		0.43%		46		0.35%		-1,569		-11.78%		13,311
	Columbia		10,937		42.48%		14,236		55.30%		324		1.26%		126		0.49%		121		0.47%		-3,299		-12.82%		25,744
	Crawford		13,883		39.02%		20,901		58.75%		436		1.23%		168		0.47%		187		0.52%		-7,018		-19.73%		35,575
	Cumberland		44,367		39.90%		64,809		58.29%		1,191		1.07%		447		0.40%		377		0.34%		-20,442		-18.39%		111,191
	Dauphin		64,965		52.26%		57,450		46.22%		1,128		0.91%		465		0.37%		293		0.24%		7,515		6.04%		124,301
	Delaware		171,792		60.16%		110,853		38.82%		2,002		0.70%		917		0.32%		0		0.00%		60,939		21.34%		285,564
	Elk		5,463		41.14%		7,579		57.08%		117		0.88%		79		0.59%		41		0.31%		-2,116		-15.94%		13,279
	Erie		68,036		57.12%		49,025		41.16%		1,087		0.91%		471		0.40%		495		0.42%		19,011		15.96%		119,114
	Fayette		21,971		45.16%		26,018		53.48%		365		0.75%		151		0.31%		144		0.30%		-4,047		-8.32%		48,649
	Forest		896		38.55%		1,383		59.51%		23		0.99%		10		0.43%		12		0.52%		-487		-20.96%		2,324
	Franklin		18,995		30.00%		43,260		68.32%		571		0.90%		252		0.40%		242		0.38%		-24,265		-38.32%		63,320
	Fulton		1,310		21.06%		4,814		77.38%		50		0.80%		21		0.34%		26		0.42%		-3,504		-56.32%		6,221
	Greene		5,852		40.23%		8,428		57.94%		116		0.80%		68		0.47%		82		0.56%		-2,576		-17.71%		14,546
	Huntingdon		5,409		30.57%		11,979		67.71%		135		0.76%		116		0.66%		53		0.30%		-6,570		-37.14%		17,692
	Indiana		14,473		39.71%		21,257		58.33%		385		1.06%		206		0.57%		123		0.34%		-6,784		-18.62%		36,444
	Jefferson		4,787		26.33%		13,048		71.78%		173		0.95%		89		0.49%		81		0.44%		-8,261		-45.45%		18,178
	Juniata		2,547		26.55%		6,862		71.52%		83		0.87%		43		0.45%		60		0.63%		-4,315		-44.97%		9,595
	Lackawanna		61,838		62.87%		35,085		35.67%		743		0.76%		349		0.35%		336		0.34%		26,753		27.20%		98,351
	Lancaster		88,481		39.62%		130,669		58.50%		2,527		1.13%		759		0.34%		915		0.41%		-42,188		-18.88%		223,351
	Lawrence		17,513		44.69%		21,047		53.71%		334		0.85%		142		0.36%		153		0.39%		-3,534		-9.02%		39,189
	Lebanon		19,900		35.05%		35,872		63.18%		589		1.04%		219		0.39%		197		0.35%		-15,972		-28.13%		56,777
	Lehigh		78,283		53.17%		66,874		45.42%		1,331		0.90%		514		0.35%		222		0.15%		11,409		7.75%		147,224
	Luzerne		64,307		51.51%		58,325		46.72%		1,261		1.01%		546		0.44%		406		0.33%		5,982		4.79%		124,845
	Lycoming		15,203		32.58%		30,658		65.69%		409		0.88%		223		0.48%		176		0.38%		-15,455		-33.11%		46,669
	McKean		5,297		34.95%		9,545		62.99%		178		1.17%		88		0.58%		46		0.30%		-4,248		-28.04%		15,154
	Mercer		24,232		47.48%		25,925		50.79%		487		0.95%		219		0.43%		176		0.34%		-1,693		-3.31%		51,039
	Mifflin		4,273		26.03%		11,939		72.73%		107		0.65%		52		0.32%		45		0.27%		-7,666		-46.70%		16,416
	Monroe		35,221		55.89%		26,867		42.63%		596		0.95%		233		0.37%		106		0.17%		8,354		13.26%		63,023
	Montgomery		233,356		56.52%		174,381		42.24%		3,253		0.79%		1,210		0.29%		669		0.16%		58,975		14.28%		412,869
	Montour		3,053		38.85%		4,652		59.19%		96		1.22%		30		0.38%		28		0.36%		-1,599		-20.34%		7,859
	Northampton		67,606		51.59%		61,446		46.89%		1,188		0.91%		495		0.38%		309		0.24%		6,160		4.70%		131,044
	Northumberland		13,072		39.19%		19,518		58.51%		422		1.27%		200		0.60%		144		0.43%		-6,446		-19.32%		33,356
	Perry		5,685		29.59%		13,120		68.28%		238		1.24%		85		0.44%		87		0.45%		-7,435		-38.69%		19,215
	Philadelphia		588,806		85.24%		96,467		13.97%		2,892		0.42%		2,162		0.31%		449		0.06%		492,339		71.27%		690,776
	Pike		10,210		43.86%		12,786		54.93%		194		0.83%		89		0.38%		0		0.00%		-2,576		-11.07%		23,279
	Potter		1,897		26.06%		5,231		71.86%		78		1.07%		36		0.49%		37		0.51%		-3,334		-45.80%		7,279
	Schuylkill		24,546		42.29%		32,278		55.61%		617		1.06%		286		0.49%		321		0.55%		-7,732		-13.32%		58,048
	Snyder		4,687		31.11%		10,073		66.85%		180		1.19%		62		0.41%		66		0.44%		-5,386		-35.74%		15,068
	Somerset		9,436		27.69%		23,984		70.38%		334		0.98%		188		0.55%		136		0.40%		-14,548		-42.69%		34,078
	Sullivan		1,034		35.06%		1,868		63.34%		30		1.02%		17		0.58%		0		0.00%		-834		-28.28%		2,949
	Susquehanna		6,935		38.28%		10,800		59.62%		202		1.12%		107		0.59%		72		0.40%		-3,865		-21.34%		18,116
	Tioga		5,357		31.34%		11,342		66.35%		195		1.14%		110		0.64%		90		0.53%		-5,985		-35.01%		17,094
	Union		6,109		37.39%		9,896		60.57%		184		1.13%		79		0.48%		69		0.42%		-3,787		-23.18%		16,337
	Venango		7,945		35.70%		13,815		62.07%		299		1.34%		108		0.49%		90		0.40%		-5,870		-26.37%		22,257
	Warren		6,995		40.44%		10,010		57.86%		205		1.19%		89		0.51%		0		0.00%		-3,015		-17.42%		17,299
	Washington		40,345		42.48%		53,230		56.04%		854		0.90%		321		0.34%		228		0.24%		-12,885		-13.56%		94,978
	Wayne		8,396		38.74%		12,896		59.50%		195		0.90%		120		0.55%		67		0.31%		-4,500		-20.76%		21,674
	Westmoreland		63,722		37.58%		103,932		61.29%		1,426		0.84%		492		0.29%		0		0.00%		-40,210		-23.71%		169,572
	Wyoming		5,061		42.45%		6,587		55.26%		152		1.28%		72		0.60%		49		0.42%		-1,526		-12.81%		11,921
	York		73,191		38.52%		113,304		59.63%		1,985		1.04%		749		0.39%		776		0.41%		-40,113		-21.11%		190,005
Totals	2,990,274	51.95%	2,680,434	46.57%	49,991	0.87%	21,341	0.37%	13,580	0.24%	309,840	5.38%	5,755,620

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Berks (largest city: Reading)
• Cambria (largest city: Johnstown)
• Carbon (largest borough: Lehighton)
• Chester (largest city: West Chester)
• Elk (largest city: St. Marys)

By congressional district

Despite losing the state overall, Romney won 13 of the 18 congressional districts.

District	Romney	Obama	Representative
		16.89%	82.26%		Bob Brady
		8.95%	90.41%		Chaka Fattah
		55.60%	43.05%		Mike Kelly
	57.07%	41.51%		Jason Altmire
			Scott Perry
		56.95%	41.35%		Glenn Thompson
		50.57%	48.12%		Jim Gerlach
		50.36%	48.53%		Pat Meehan
		49.42%	49.35%		Mike Fitzpatrick
		62.82%	35.87%		Bill Shuster
		60.11%	38.46%		Tom Marino
		53.90%	44.57%		Lou Barletta
	57.81%	40.94%		Mark Critz
			Keith Rothfus
		32.91%	66.17%		Allyson Schwartz
		30.64%	67.99%		Mike Doyle
		50.78%	47.87%		Charlie Dent
		52.35%	46.25%		Joe Pitts
	43.26%	55.38%		Tim Holden
			Matt Cartwright
		57.95%	40.99%		Tim Murphy

See also

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

External links

• The Green Papers

for Pennsylvania

• The Green Papers

Major state elections in chronological order

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2012 General Primary. Pennsylvania Department of State. October 18, 2012. 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120428135227/http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=12&ElectionID=45. April 28, 2012. dead. mdy-all.
2. News: O'Neill. Brian. October 16, 2011. Don't let Pa. flunk out of the Electoral College. A-2. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
3. News: McNulty. Timothy. September 8, 2012. Romney campaign not expected to invest much in Pa.. A-1. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
4. Web site: 2012 General Primary . Pennsylvania Department of State . November 15, 2012 . 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130119033506/http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=12&ElectionID=53 . January 19, 2013 .
5. [Electoral-vote.com]
6. Web site: Woodall. Candy. Joe Biden wins Pennsylvania: Here's how he reclaimed his home state and the 'blue wall'. 2020-11-09. USA TODAY. en-US.
7. News: 2017-09-13. Pennsylvania Election Results 2016. en-US. The New York Times. 2020-11-09. 0362-4331.
8. News: Pennsylvania Election Results. en-US. The New York Times. 3 November 2020 . 2020-11-09. 0362-4331.
9. Web site: 2012 General Primary Write-in Totals. Pennsylvania Department of State. October 18, 2012. 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304061002/http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_160329_1265843_0_0_18/2012WRITEINS.pdf. March 4, 2016. live. mdy-all.
10. Web site: 2012 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions: Pennsylvania Democrat. The Green Papers. 2012. October 18, 2012.
11. News: The Philadelphia Inquirer. Santorum meets with conservatives as Romney, in Pa., looks to the fall. Thomas. Fitzgerald. Amy. Worden. April 6, 2012. A1.
12. Web site: Santorum Taking Four-Day Break from Campaign Trail . Fox Television Stations, Inc . 4 April 2012.
13. Web site: Santorum Cancels Monday Events to Be With Ill Child . The Wall Street Journal . 7 April 2012.
14. News: Rick Santorum Formally Endorses Mitt Romney. May 7, 2012. Shushannah. Walshe. The Note. ABC News. October 24, 2012.
15. News: Santorum releases GOP convention delegates. August 24, 2012. USA Today. Catalina. Camia. October 24, 2012.
16. Web site: Primaries & Caucuses: Results: Pennsylvania. CNN. October 20, 2012. July 30, 2012. CNN Politics.
17. When Pennsylvania delegation chair Tom Corbett announced the Pennsylvania delegates' votes on the convention floor, he said that sixty-seven delegates had voted for Romney and five had voted for Paul Ryan. However, since Ryan was not a candidate (rather, he was Romney's running mate), it is generally assumed that Corbett misspoke—that the five votes were actually for Ron Paul.
    • Web site: 2012 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions: Republican Convention. The Green Papers. 2012. October 20, 2012.
    • News: Catherine. Brown. NJ Puts Romney Over the Top. October 20, 2012. August 29, 2012. NBC10 Philadelphia. Later, as the roll call continued, the Pennsylvania delegation led by Gov. Tom Corbett (R), cast 67 of its delegate votes for Romney, the rest went to Ron Paul, although Corbett may have actually said 'Paul Ryan,' in a possible slip of the tongue..
    • August 29, 2012. October 20, 2012. Ron Paul's Followers and the GOP: Where To From Here, and How?. Brian. Doherty. Brian Doherty (journalist). Reason. In the end, Paul got around 190 delegates votes (if we presume Pennsylvania's five for 'Paul Ryan' were actually meant for Ron Paul)..
18. Web site: Pennsylvania: Romney vs. Obama. RealClearPolitics. October 17, 2012.
19. Web site: FiveThirtyEight. Silver. Nate. Nate Silver. The New York Times. November 8, 2012.
20. Web site: 2012 Presidential Election Polls - PA. US Election Atlas.
21. News: Romney, Obama campaigns resume Pa. ad campaigns. Philly.com. October 30, 2012. Marc. Levy. Associated Press. November 2, 2012. November 3, 2012. https://archive.today/20121103015118/http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20121030_ap_romneyobamacampaignsresumepaadcampaigns.html. live. mdy-all.
22. News: Romney, RNC splashing down in Pa. in 11th-hour bid. Marc. Levy. Associated Press. November 2, 2012. November 1, 2012. Deseret News. March 30, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140330113853/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765614482/Romney-RNC-splashing-down-in-Pa-in-11th-hour-bid.html. live. mdy-all.
23. Web site: Pennsylvania Elections – County Breakdown Results . electionreturns.pa.gov . November 6, 2012 . December 28, 2019.