2012 United States presidential election in Tennessee
2012 United States presidential election in Tennessee Turnout 61.86% [ 1] 4.48 pp
County results
Congressional district results
State Senate district results
Romney
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
Obama
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
The 2012 United States presidential election in Tennessee was held on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Tennessee 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 Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan .
Romney easily carried Tennessee's 11 electoral votes, winning 59.42% of the vote in the state to Obama's 39.04%.[ 2] Tennessee has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since 1996 , when Bill Clinton won the state and many other states of the South , and Tennessee has not given a majority to a Democratic nominee since fellow Southerner Jimmy Carter carried it in 1976 . Thus, Tennessee has been seen as part of the modern-day red wall in the 21st century. After 1996, the state had been growing more Republican with almost each election.[ 3]
Winning Tennessee by 501,621 votes, Mitt Romney achieved his second-largest margin of victory by vote count nationwide, surpassed only by the 1,261,719-vote margin in Texas . Romney gained ground in every county, significantly outperforming prior Presidential GOP candidates in rural areas, particularly in Middle Tennessee . Notably, Romney also flipped two counties, Houston and Jackson , to the Republican column. Both of these majority-white counties had been Democratic strongholds with their strong ties to secessionism : they had each only voted for a Republican presidential nominee once prior to this election, in 1928 and 1920 , respectively.[ 4] Thus, Obama became the first Democrat to be elected without either county. As of the 2024 presidential election , this is the last time in which Hardeman County was won by the Democratic presidential nominee. This is also the first and only time that a Democratic president has won re-election without ever carrying Tennessee.
As consistent with the rest of the country, Obama carried heavily populated and diverse counties. The largest county, Shelby , was won by Obama by a 26.05% margin due to it being home to Memphis , Tennessee's largest city. In addition, the home of the state capital of Nashville , Davidson County , went to Obama by 18.53%. Hardeman and Haywood counties, both low-populated suburbs of Memphis, also went to Obama due to their high African American populations (42.2%[ 5] and 50.6%,[ 6] respectively). However, rural areas – including areas in the northwestern portion of the state that had long favored Democratic candidates – saw heavy margins for Romney, allowing him to offset Obama's wins in large cities. The eastern region of the state in Appalachia , some of the most historically Republican and Unionist counties in the country, saw margins of over 70% for the Republican ticket.[ 7]
Background
A Southern state in the heart of the Bible Belt , no Democrat has won Tennessee's electoral votes since Bill Clinton of neighboring Arkansas , who shared the ticket with favorite son Al Gore , in 1996 , nor has it been contested at the presidential level since 2000 , when Gore narrowly lost his home state by less than 4 points. The last Democratic presidential candidate to win at least 40% of the state vote was Barack Obama in 2008 , and Republicans have occupied all statewide offices in Tennessee since 2011 .
Primary elections
Democratic primary
The 2012 democratic primary in Tennessee took place on Super Tuesday , March 6, 2012, with Barack Obama receiving 80,355 (88.5%) votes. Other candidates received a combined total of 10,411 (11.5%) votes.[ 8] Tennessee had a total of 91 delegates to the 2012 Democratic National Convention , of which 82 were pledged to presidential contenders depending on the popular vote. The remaining 9 super-delegates were unbound.
Tennessee Democratic primary, 2012[ 9]
Candidate
Popular vote
Delegates
Count
Percentage
Pledged delegates
Super delegates
Total delegates
Barack Obama (incumbent)
80,705
88.48%
82
9
91
Uncommitted
10,497
11.51%
0
0
0
John Wolfe Jr. (write-in)
7
0.00%
0
0
0
Total:
91,209
100%
82
9
91
Republican primary
Tennessee Republican primary, 2012
County winner Vote share Santorum Romney Gingrich
Santorum 30 – 40%
40 – 50%
50 – 60%
Romney 30 – 40%
Gingrich 30 – 40%
The Republican primary took place on Super Tuesday , March 6, 2012.[ 10] [ 11]
Tennessee has 58 delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention . Three superdelegates are unbound. 27 delegates are awarded by congressional district, 3 delegates for each district. If a candidate wins two-thirds of the vote in a district, he takes all 3 delegates there; if not, delegates are split 2-to-1 between the top two candidates. Another 28 delegates are awarded to the candidate who wins two-thirds of the vote statewide, or allocated proportionately among candidates winning at least 20% of the vote if no one gets two-thirds.[ 12]
Former Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum won the primary with a plurality, carrying 37.11% of the vote and all but four counties, awarding him 29 delegates. Former Massachusetts Governor and eventual nominee, Mitt Romney , came second with 28.06% of the vote and 19 delegates. He carried only three counties: Davidson , Loudon , and Williamson . Former Speaker of the House of Representatives , Newt Gingrich of neighboring Georgia , came third with 23.96% of the vote and 9 delegates, carrying only the county of Marion . Representative from Texas Ron Paul received 9.04% of the vote and all other candidates received under 1% of the vote.[ 13]
Results
Tennessee Republican primary, 2012[ 14]
Candidate
Votes
Percentage
Projected delegate count
NYT [ 15]
CNN [ 16]
FOX [ 17]
Rick Santorum
205,809
37.11%
29
27
26
Mitt Romney
155,630
28.06%
14
15
12
Newt Gingrich
132,889
23.96%
9
8
9
Ron Paul
50,156
9.04%
0
0
0
Rick Perry (withdrawn)
1,966
0.35%
0
0
0
Michele Bachmann (withdrawn)
1,895
0.34%
0
0
0
Jon Huntsman (withdrawn)
1,239
0.22%
0
0
0
Buddy Roemer (withdrawn)
881
0.16%
0
0
0
Gary Johnson (withdrawn)
572
0.10%
0
0
0
Uncommitted
3,536
0.64%
0
0
0
Unprojected delegates:
6
8
9
Total:
554,573
100.00%
58
58
58
General election
Predictions
Results
United States presidential election in Tennessee, 2012
Party
Candidate
Running mate
Votes
Percentage
Electoral votes
Republican
Mitt Romney
Paul Ryan
1,462,330
59.42%
11
Democratic
Barack Obama (incumbent)
Joe Biden (incumbent)
960,709
39.04%
0
Libertarian
Gary Johnson
Jim Gray
18,623
0.67%
0
Green
Jill Stein
Cheri Honkala
6,515
0.26%
0
Constitution
Virgil Goode
Jim Clymer
6,022
0.24%
0
Justice
Rocky Anderson
Luis J. Rodriguez
2,639
0.11%
0
American Third Position
Merlin Miller
Virginia D. Abernethy
1,739
0.07%
0
Totals
2,458,577
100.00%
11
By county
County
Mitt Romney Republican
Barack Obama Democratic
Various candidates Other parties
Margin
Total
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Anderson
18,968
63.95%
10,122
34.13%
569
1.92%
8,846
29.82%
29,659
Bedford
10,034
69.46%
4,211
29.15%
200
1.39%
5,823
40.31%
14,445
Benton
3,850
61.84%
2,258
36.27%
118
1.89%
1,592
25.57%
6,226
Bledsoe
3,022
69.33%
1,267
29.07%
70
1.60%
1,755
40.26%
4,359
Blount
35,441
71.98%
12,934
26.27%
859
1.75%
22,507
45.71%
49,234
Bradley
27,422
75.97%
8,037
22.27%
637
1.76%
19,385
53.70%
36,096
Campbell
8,604
71.10%
3,328
27.50%
169
1.40%
5,276
43.60%
12,101
Cannon
3,309
66.54%
1,564
31.45%
100
2.01%
1,745
35.09%
4,973
Carroll
7,225
66.58%
3,475
32.02%
151
1.40%
3,750
34.56%
10,851
Carter
15,503
75.20%
4,789
23.23%
325
1.57%
10,714
51.97%
20,617
Cheatham
10,268
67.63%
4,659
30.69%
255
1.68%
5,609
36.94%
15,182
Chester
4,684
73.07%
1,624
25.34%
102
1.59%
3,060
47.73%
6,410
Claiborne
7,617
74.84%
2,433
23.90%
128
1.26%
5,184
50.94%
10,178
Clay
1,747
61.95%
1,037
36.77%
36
1.28%
710
25.18%
2,820
Cocke
8,459
73.85%
2,804
24.48%
191
1.67%
5,655
49.37%
11,454
Coffee
13,023
67.62%
5,870
30.48%
366
1.90%
7,153
37.14%
19,259
Crockett
3,783
68.81%
1,669
30.36%
46
0.83%
2,114
38.45%
5,498
Cumberland
18,653
73.73%
6,261
24.75%
384
1.52%
12,392
48.98%
25,298
Davidson
97,622
39.76%
143,120
58.29%
4,792
1.95%
-45,498
-18.53%
245,534
Decatur
2,874
67.61%
1,303
30.65%
74
1.74%
1,571
36.96%
4,251
DeKalb
4,143
64.40%
2,174
33.79%
116
1.81%
1,969
30.61%
6,433
Dickson
11,296
63.34%
6,233
34.95%
306
1.71%
5,063
28.39%
17,835
Dyer
9,921
71.81%
3,757
27.19%
138
1.00%
6,164
44.62%
13,816
Fayette
12,689
64.83%
6,688
34.17%
197
1.00%
6,001
30.66%
19,574
Fentress
5,243
76.04%
1,561
22.64%
91
1.32%
3,682
53.40%
6,895
Franklin
10,262
63.66%
5,603
34.76%
254
1.58%
4,659
28.90%
16,119
Gibson
12,883
65.51%
6,564
33.38%
220
1.11%
6,319
32.13%
19,667
Giles
6,915
64.03%
3,760
34.82%
124
1.15%
3,155
29.21%
10,799
Grainger
5,470
75.43%
1,668
23.00%
114
1.57%
3,802
52.43%
7,252
Greene
17,245
72.19%
6,225
26.06%
417
1.75%
11,020
46.13%
23,887
Grundy
2,516
59.38%
1,643
38.78%
78
1.84%
873
20.60%
4,237
Hamblen
14,522
72.49%
5,234
26.13%
276
1.38%
9,288
46.36%
20,032
Hamilton
79,933
56.39%
58,836
41.51%
2,972
2.10%
21,097
14.88%
141,741
Hancock
1,527
74.63%
475
23.22%
44
2.15%
1,052
51.41%
2,046
Hardeman
4,865
46.60%
5,482
52.51%
92
0.89%
-617
-5.91%
10,439
Hardin
7,886
75.14%
2,467
23.51%
142
1.35%
5,419
51.63%
10,495
Hawkins
14,382
72.50%
5,088
25.65%
367
1.85%
9,294
46.85%
19,837
Haywood
2,960
39.11%
4,569
60.36%
40
0.53%
-1,609
-21.25%
7,569
Henderson
7,421
73.80%
2,517
25.03%
117
1.17%
4,904
48.77%
10,055
Henry
8,193
64.31%
4,339
34.06%
207
1.63%
3,854
30.25%
12,739
Hickman
4,758
62.59%
2,698
35.49%
146
1.92%
2,060
27.10%
7,602
Houston
1,579
52.16%
1,400
46.25%
48
1.59%
179
5.91%
3,027
Humphreys
3,833
55.85%
2,905
42.33%
125
1.82%
928
13.52%
6,863
Jackson
2,383
56.96%
1,739
41.56%
62
1.48%
644
15.40%
4,184
Jefferson
13,038
74.25%
4,232
24.10%
289
1.65%
8,806
50.15%
17,559
Johnson
4,611
74.44%
1,483
23.94%
100
1.62%
3,128
50.50%
6,194
Knox
109,707
63.60%
59,399
34.43%
3,401
1.97%
50,308
29.17%
172,507
Lake
1,163
55.73%
884
42.36%
40
1.91%
279
13.37%
2,087
Lauderdale
4,616
53.12%
4,011
46.16%
62
0.72%
605
6.96%
8,689
Lawrence
10,770
70.77%
4,237
27.84%
212
1.39%
6,533
42.93%
15,219
Lewis
3,117
66.40%
1,447
30.83%
130
2.77%
1,670
35.57%
4,694
Lincoln
9,803
73.88%
3,290
24.80%
175
1.32%
6,513
49.08%
13,268
Loudon
16,707
75.69%
5,058
22.91%
308
1.40%
11,649
52.78%
22,073
Macon
5,260
76.18%
1,552
22.48%
93
1.34%
3,708
53.70%
6,905
Madison
21,993
54.03%
18,367
45.13%
342
0.84%
3,626
8.90%
40,702
Marion
6,272
60.26%
3,953
37.98%
184
1.76%
2,319
22.28%
10,409
Marshall
6,832
63.61%
3,725
34.68%
184
1.71%
3,107
28.93%
10,741
Maury
20,708
62.74%
11,825
35.83%
473
1.43%
8,883
26.91%
33,006
McMinn
12,967
72.71%
4,609
25.84%
258
1.45%
8,358
46.87%
17,834
McNairy
7,015
71.57%
2,645
26.98%
142
1.45%
4,370
44.59%
9,802
Meigs
2,734
68.97%
1,163
29.34%
67
1.69%
1,571
39.63%
3,964
Monroe
11,731
71.80%
4,372
26.76%
235
1.44%
7,359
45.04%
16,338
Montgomery
30,245
54.28%
24,499
43.97%
976
1.75%
5,746
10.31%
55,720
Moore
2,053
73.35%
705
25.19%
41
1.46%
1,348
48.16%
2,799
Morgan
4,669
71.79%
1,725
26.52%
110
1.69%
2,944
45.27%
6,504
Obion
8,814
71.68%
3,321
27.01%
162
1.31%
5,493
44.67%
12,297
Overton
4,775
62.30%
2,805
36.60%
84
1.10%
1,970
25.70%
7,664
Perry
1,578
60.21%
992
37.85%
51
1.94%
586
22.36%
2,621
Pickett
1,712
69.79%
712
29.03%
29
1.18%
1,000
40.76%
2,453
Polk
4,108
67.80%
1,856
30.63%
95
1.57%
2,252
37.17%
6,059
Putnam
17,254
67.66%
7,802
30.60%
444
1.74%
9,452
37.06%
25,500
Rhea
7,802
73.67%
2,628
24.82%
160
1.51%
5,174
48.85%
10,590
Roane
14,724
69.82%
6,018
28.53%
348
1.65%
8,706
41.29%
21,090
Robertson
17,643
67.11%
8,290
31.53%
356
1.36%
9,353
35.58%
26,289
Rutherford
60,846
61.56%
36,414
36.84%
1,588
1.60%
24,432
24.72%
98,848
Scott
5,117
76.74%
1,452
21.78%
99
1.48%
3,665
54.96%
6,668
Sequatchie
3,541
68.72%
1,489
28.90%
123
2.38%
2,052
39.82%
5,153
Sevier
25,984
76.73%
7,418
21.91%
462
1.36%
18,566
54.82%
33,864
Shelby
135,649
36.50%
232,443
62.55%
3,524
0.95%
-96,794
-26.05%
371,616
Smith
4,495
63.41%
2,470
34.84%
124
1.75%
2,025
28.57%
7,089
Stewart
2,963
57.93%
2,069
40.45%
83
1.62%
894
17.48%
5,115
Sullivan
43,562
72.74%
15,321
25.58%
1,004
1.68%
28,241
47.16%
59,887
Sumner
46,003
70.28%
18,579
28.38%
875
1.34%
27,424
41.90%
65,457
Tipton
16,672
69.23%
7,133
29.62%
276
1.15%
9,539
39.61%
24,081
Trousdale
1,612
55.49%
1,240
42.69%
53
1.82%
372
12.80%
2,905
Unicoi
5,032
71.01%
1,913
27.00%
141
1.99%
3,119
44.01%
7,086
Union
4,282
73.35%
1,478
25.32%
78
1.33%
2,804
48.03%
5,838
Van Buren
1,386
60.26%
875
38.04%
39
1.70%
511
22.22%
2,300
Warren
8,010
61.54%
4,752
36.51%
253
1.95%
3,258
25.03%
13,015
Washington
32,808
68.30%
14,325
29.82%
899
1.88%
18,483
38.48%
48,032
Wayne
4,253
77.52%
1,163
21.20%
70
1.28%
3,090
56.32%
5,486
Weakley
8,605
69.75%
3,548
28.76%
184
1.49%
5,057
40.99%
12,337
White
6,197
67.80%
2,795
30.58%
148
1.62%
3,402
37.22%
9,140
Williamson
69,850
72.59%
25,142
26.13%
1,233
1.28%
44,708
46.46%
96,225
Wilson
36,109
69.98%
14,695
28.48%
793
1.54%
21,414
41.50%
51,597
Totals
1,462,330
59.42%
960,709
39.04%
37,865
1.54%
501,621
20.38%
2,460,904
Swing by county
Republican—+<5%
Republican—+5-10%
Republican—+10-15%
Republican—+15-20%
County flips
Democratic
Hold
Republican
Hold
Gain from Democratic
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
By congressional district
Mitt Romney swept the state and carried seven of the state's nine congressional districts , all represented by Republicans . Barack Obama carried the state's two congressional districts, the 5th and 9th , anchored by the two largest cities of Nashville and Memphis , respectively.[ 25]
See also
References
^ "Tennessee Voter Turnout in 2012" . Tennessee Secretary of State . November 6, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2023 .
^ "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Tennessee" . Retrieved January 4, 2013 .
^ Moskowitz, Seth (March 2, 2020). "The Road to 270: Tennessee" . 270toWin . Retrieved November 29, 2020 .
^ Skelley, Geoffrey. "County winners, 1836-2016" . Google Sheets . Retrieved November 29, 2020 .
^ "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Hardeman County, Tennessee" . United States Census Bureau . Retrieved November 29, 2020 .
^ "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Haywood County, Tennessee" . United States Census Bureau . Retrieved November 29, 2020 .
^ Rothenberg, Stuart (October 3, 2017). "What Happened to Mountain Republicans in the South?" . Inside Elections . Retrieved November 29, 2020 .
^ "State of Tennessee Democratic presidential primary" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2016 .
^ "State of Tennessee March 6, 2012 Democratic Primary Presidential Preference" (PDF) . Tennessee Elections . Tennessee Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2016 .
^ "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar" . CNN . Retrieved January 12, 2012 .
^ "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF) . Federal Election Commission . Retrieved January 23, 2012 .
^ Nate Silver (March 4, 2012). "Romney Could Win Majority of Super Tuesday Delegates" . FiveThirtyEight . Retrieved March 5, 2012 .
^ "Tennessee Republican Primary - Election Results" . The New York Times . ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved November 29, 2020 .
^ "Election results March 2012. County totals" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on April 18, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2012 .
^ "Election 2012: Tennessee Republican Primary" . The New York Times . March 8, 2012. Archived from the original on June 4, 2012.
^ "America's Choice 2012 Election Center - Results: Tennessee" . CNN . March 29, 2012. Archived from the original on June 4, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2012 .
^ "2012 Tennessee Primary" . Fox News . 2012. Archived from the original on June 4, 2012.
^ "Huffington Post Election Dashboard" . HuffPost . Archived from the original on August 13, 2013.
^ "America's Choice 2012 Election Center: CNN Electoral Map" . CNN . Archived from the original on January 19, 2013.
^ "Election 2012 - The Electoral Map: Building a Path to Victory" . The New York Times . Archived from the original on July 8, 2012.
^ "2012 Presidential Election Results" . The Washington Post . Archived from the original on July 26, 2012.
^ "RealClearPolitics - 2012 Election Maps - Battle for White House" . Archived from the original on June 8, 2011.
^ "PROJECTION: OBAMA WILL LIKELY WIN SECOND TERM" .
^ "Nate Silver's political calculations predict 2012 election outcome" .
^ Nir, David (November 19, 2020). "Daily Kos Elections' presidential results by congressional district for 2020, 2016, and 2012" . Daily Kos .
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