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2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky

none

Field	Value
election_name	2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky
country	Kentucky
type	presidential
ongoing	no
previous_election	2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky
previous_year	2008
next_election	2016 United States presidential election in Kentucky
next_year	2016
election_date	November 6, 2012
image_size	x200px
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	8
popular_vote1	1,087,190
percentage1	60.49%
image2	President Barack Obama, 2012 portrait crop.jpg
nominee2	Barack Obama
party2	Democratic Party (United States)
home_state2	Illinois
running_mate2	Joe Biden
electoral_vote2	0
popular_vote2	679,370
percentage2	37.80%
map_image	{{Switcher
title	President
before_election	Barack Obama
before_party	Democratic Party (United States)
after_election	Barack Obama
after_party	Democratic Party (United States)
turnout	59.70%

Main article: 2012 United States presidential election

| [[File:Kentucky Presidential Election Results 2012.svg|380px]] | County results | [[File:KY-12-pres-districts.svg|380px]] | Congressional district results Romney Obama The 2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 General Election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Kentucky voters chose eight 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 carried Kentucky by a landslide margin, winning 60.47% of the vote to Obama's 37.78%. This represented a margin of 22.69%, a great improvement for the Republican Party from 2008, when they won with a 16.22% margin. Although Kentucky had been won by Southern Democrat Bill Clinton twice in the 1990s, Obama was seen as a poor cultural fit for the state, and he did not compete here either time he ran. The Romney campaign also attacked Obama's administration as being hostile to the coal industry, historically an important part of the state's economy. Consequently, Obama suffered a historically poor showing in the traditionally staunchly Democratic coalfields of Eastern Kentucky, where many counties that had even voted by wide margins for landslide Democratic losers like George McGovern and Walter Mondale defected to the Republicans in 2012.

Knott County, which had given Clinton 73% of the vote in 1996 and nearly 72% to Mondale in 1984 (despite the latter losing nationally by more than 18 percentage points and only carrying one state), gave Romney 73% of the vote in 2012. Even Elliott County, the only county in the state in which Obama had broken 60% in 2008, barely held on in 2012, giving Obama a narrow plurality win, his only victory in the region, and one of just four county wins in the entire state. This marked the first time since the county's founding that the Democratic nominee won less than 60% of the vote in Elliott County, and would prove to be the conclusion of Elliott's longest-in-the-nation, 140-year Democratic voting streak. The county would flip to the GOP by a landslide margin four years later. Wolfe County, which had returned to the Democratic Party in 2004 and 2008 after casting its first-ever Republican vote for George W. Bush in 2000, went for Romney by over twenty points. As such, Obama became the first Democrat to ever win the White House without carrying Wolfe County since its founding in 1860, Menifee County since its founding in 1869, or Henderson County since the founding of the Republican Party.

The only part of the state where Obama won convincingly was Jefferson County, the most urban and populous county in the state, and home to Louisville. He also eked out a close win in Fayette County, the second-most populous county, home to Lexington. Despite losing five counties he won in 2008, he managed to flip Franklin County, home to the state capital of Frankfort, which he had narrowly lost in 2008. As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time that Elliott and Franklin Counties voted for a Democrat in a presidential election. Obama is the only Democrat to ever win two terms without carrying the state at least once.

Primary elections

Democratic primary

|County Winner |[[File:2012 Kentucky Democratic primary voteshare.svg|300px]] Obama:
Uncommitted: |Vote share |default=1}}

Barack Obama's only "opponent" in the primary was the "Uncommitted" ballot option, which garnered more than 42% of the primary vote, making Kentucky one of Obama's worst contested primary results.

Kentucky Democratic primary, 2012	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
[[File:America Symbol.svg	14px]] Barack Obama (incumbent)	119,293	57.85%	39
Uncommitted	86,925	42.15%	34

Republican primary

(Note: Italicization indicates a withdrawn candidacy)

The Republican primary occurred on May 22, 2012. 42 delegates were chosen, all of which were allocated to and pledged to vote for Mitt Romney at the 2012 Republican National Convention. Three delegates remain unpledged to any candidate. All Republicans in Kentucky were allowed to participate in the primary. A Republican primary was also held in Arkansas on this day.

Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich withdrew from the presidential race on April 10 and May 2, 2012, respectively. Both endorsed Romney as the Republican nominee.

Kentucky Republican primary, 2012	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
[[File:America Symbol.svg	14px]] Mitt Romney	117,621	66.8%	42
Ron Paul	22,074	12.53%	0
Rick Santorum	15,629	8.87%	0
Newt Gingrich	10,479	5.95%	0
Uncommitted	10,357	5.88%	0
Unpledged delegates:	3
Total:	176,160	100.00%	45

Key:	Withdrew prior to contest

General election

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Huffington Post		November 6, 2012
CNN		November 6, 2012
New York Times		November 6, 2012
Washington Post		November 6, 2012
RealClearPolitics		November 6, 2012
Sabato's Crystal Ball		November 5, 2012
FiveThirtyEight		November 6, 2012

Results

United States presidential election in Kentucky, 2012	Party	Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
Republican	Mitt Romney	Paul Ryan	1,087,190	60.47%	8
Democratic	Barack Obama (incumbent)	Joe Biden (incumbent)	679,370	37.78%	0
Libertarian	Gary Johnson	Jim Gray	17,063	0.95%	0
Independent	Randall Terry	Missy Smith	6,872	0.38%	0
Green	Jill Stein	Cheri Honkala	6,337	0.35%	0
Others			380	0.02%	0
Totals		1,797,212		100.00%		8
Voter turnout (registered voters)		59.24%

By county

County	Mitt Romney
Republican	Barack Obama
Democratic	Various candidates
Other parties	Margin	Total	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Totals	1,087,190	60.47%	679,370	37.78%	31,488	1.75%	407,820	22.69%	1,798,048
	Adair		5,841		76.86%		1,660		21.84%		99		1.30%		4,181		55.02%		7,600
	Allen		5,184		73.01%		1,808		25.46%		108		1.53%		3,376		47.55%		7,100
	Anderson		6,822		66.10%		3,315		32.12%		183		1.78%		3,507		33.98%		10,320
	Ballard		2,647		67.96%		1,189		30.53%		59		1.51%		1,458		37.43%		3,895
	Barren		10,922		65.92%		5,400		32.59%		246		1.49%		5,522		33.33%		16,568
	Bath		2,275		55.19%		1,770		42.94%		77		1.87%		505		12.25%		4,122
	Bell		7,127		75.16%		2,224		23.45%		131		1.39%		4,903		51.71%		9,482
	Boone		35,922		68.41%		15,629		29.76%		960		1.83%		20,293		38.65%		52,511
	Bourbon		4,692		59.22%		3,075		38.81%		156		1.97%		1,617		20.41%		7,923
	Boyd		10,884		57.14%		7,776		40.82%		389		2.04%		3,108		16.32%		19,049
	Boyle		7,703		62.26%		4,471		36.14%		199		1.60%		3,232		26.12%		12,373
	Bracken		2,029		62.78%		1,147		35.49%		56		1.73%		882		27.29%		3,232
	Breathitt		3,318		66.25%		1,562		31.19%		128		2.56%		1,756		35.06%		5,008
	Breckinridge		5,025		63.06%		2,825		35.45%		119		1.49%		2,200		27.61%		7,969
	Bullitt		21,306		67.04%		9,971		31.38%		502		1.58%		11,335		35.66%		31,779
	Butler		3,716		73.44%		1,293		25.55%		51		1.01%		2,423		47.89%		5,060
	Caldwell		3,904		66.62%		1,852		31.60%		104		1.78%		2,052		35.02%		5,860
	Calloway		9,440		62.63%		5,317		35.28%		315		2.09%		4,123		27.35%		15,072
	Campbell		24,240		60.33%		15,080		37.53%		857		2.14%		9,160		22.80%		40,177
	Carlisle		1,835		70.06%		750		28.64%		34		1.30%		1,085		41.42%		2,619
	Carroll		1,999		54.32%		1,629		44.27%		52		1.41%		370		10.05%		3,680
	Carter		5,279		59.26%		3,383		37.98%		246		2.76%		1,896		21.28%		8,908
	Casey		4,904		80.51%		1,086		17.83%		101		1.66%		3,818		62.68%		6,091
	Christian		13,475		61.38%		8,252		37.59%		228		1.03%		5,223		23.79%		21,955
	Clark		9,931		64.42%		5,228		33.91%		257		1.67%		4,703		30.51%		15,416
	Clay		6,176		83.65%		1,111		15.05%		96		1.30%		5,065		68.60%		7,383
	Clinton		3,569		81.24%		752		17.12%		72		1.64%		2,817		64.12%		4,393
	Crittenden		2,839		73.66%		960		24.91%		55		1.43%		1,879		48.75%		3,854
	Cumberland		2,216		77.65%		599		20.99%		39		1.36%		1,617		56.66%		2,854
	Daviess		25,092		59.62%		16,208		38.51%		787		1.87%		8,884		21.11%		42,087
	Edmonson		3,232		69.24%		1,374		29.43%		62		1.33%		1,858		39.81%		4,668
	Elliott		1,126		46.94%		1,186		49.44%		87		3.62%		-60		-2.50%		2,399
	Estill		3,749		72.32%		1,356		26.16%		79		1.52%		2,393		46.16%		5,184
	Fayette		60,795		48.30%		62,080		49.32%		2,991		2.38%		-1,285		-1.02%		125,866
	Fleming		3,780		65.38%		1,911		33.05%		91		1.57%		1,869		32.33%		5,782
	Floyd		9,784		65.71%		4,733		31.79%		373		2.50%		5,051		33.92%		14,890
	Franklin		11,345		48.61%		11,535		49.43%		457		1.96%		-190		-0.82%		23,337
	Fulton		1,425		57.44%		1,022		41.19%		34		1.37%		403		16.25%		2,481
	Gallatin		1,758		57.43%		1,238		40.44%		65		2.13%		520		16.99%		3,061
	Garrard		5,310		75.03%		1,661		23.47%		106		1.50%		3,649		51.56%		7,077
	Grant		5,664		65.80%		2,810		32.64%		134		1.56%		2,854		33.16%		8,608
	Graves		10,699		69.01%		4,547		29.33%		257		1.66%		6,152		39.68%		15,503
	Grayson		6,404		69.08%		2,744		29.60%		123		1.32%		3,660		39.48%		9,271
	Green		3,634		74.84%		1,165		23.99%		57		1.17%		2,469		50.85%		4,856
	Greenup		8,855		58.38%		6,027		39.73%		286		1.89%		2,828		18.65%		15,168
	Hancock		2,212		53.51%		1,833		44.34%		89		2.15%		379		9.17%		4,134
	Hardin		23,357		59.56%		15,214		38.79%		647		1.65%		8,143		20.77%		39,218
	Harlan		8,652		81.19%		1,830		17.17%		175		1.64%		6,822		64.02%		10,657
	Harrison		4,556		63.60%		2,471		34.50%		136		1.90%		2,085		29.10%		7,163
	Hart		4,257		64.29%		2,283		34.48%		82		1.23%		1,974		29.81%		6,622
	Henderson		10,296		55.29%		8,091		43.45%		235		1.26%		2,205		11.84%		18,622
	Henry		3,940		59.79%		2,530		38.39%		120		1.82%		1,410		21.40%		6,590
	Hickman		1,431		66.90%		686		32.07%		22		1.03%		745		34.83%		2,139
	Hopkins		13,681		69.21%		5,789		29.29%		297		1.50%		7,892		39.92%		19,767
	Jackson		4,365		86.25%		612		12.09%		84		1.66%		3,753		74.16%		5,061
	Jefferson		148,423		43.60%		186,181		54.69%		5,808		1.71%		-37,758		-11.09%		340,412
	Jessamine		14,233		68.98%		6,001		29.08%		399		1.94%		8,232		39.90%		20,633
	Johnson		7,095		78.53%		1,723		19.07%		217		2.40%		5,372		59.46%		9,035
	Kenton		41,389		61.13%		24,920		36.81%		1,395		2.06%		16,469		24.32%		67,704
	Knott		4,130		72.55%		1,420		24.94%		143		2.51%		2,710		47.61%		5,693
	Knox		8,467		76.28%		2,484		22.38%		149		1.34%		5,983		53.90%		11,100
	LaRue		3,911		67.85%		1,733		30.07%		120		2.08%		2,178		37.78%		5,764
	Laurel		18,151		81.00%		3,905		17.43%		352		1.57%		14,246		63.57%		22,408
	Lawrence		3,995		71.44%		1,520		27.18%		77		1.38%		2,475		44.26%		5,592
	Lee		1,977		75.37%		595		22.68%		51		1.95%		1,382		52.69%		2,623
	Leslie		4,439		89.62%		433		8.74%		81		1.64%		4,006		80.88%		4,953
	Letcher		6,811		77.77%		1,702		19.43%		245		2.80%		5,109		58.34%		8,758
	Lewis		3,326		69.74%		1,342		28.14%		101		2.12%		1,984		41.60%		4,769
	Lincoln		6,416		70.10%		2,582		28.21%		154		1.69%		3,834		41.89%		9,152
	Livingston		3,089		68.48%		1,346		29.84%		76		1.68%		1,743		38.64%		4,511
	Logan		6,899		65.64%		3,469		33.01%		142		1.35%		3,430		32.63%		10,510
	Lyon		2,412		62.83%		1,373		35.76%		54		1.41%		1,039		27.07%		3,839
	Madison		21,128		63.41%		11,512		34.55%		682		2.04%		9,616		28.86%		33,322
	Magoffin		3,391		69.12%		1,433		29.21%		82		1.67%		1,958		39.91%		4,906
	Marion		3,800		51.93%		3,418		46.71%		100		1.36%		382		5.22%		7,318
	Marshall		10,402		66.17%		5,022		31.95%		295		1.88%		5,380		34.22%		15,719
	Martin		3,180		83.16%		574		15.01%		70		1.83%		2,606		68.15%		3,824
	Mason		4,197		60.99%		2,592		37.67%		92		1.34%		1,605		23.32%		6,881
	McCracken		19,979		65.40%		10,062		32.94%		510		1.66%		9,917		32.46%		30,551
	McCreary		4,564		79.97%		1,069		18.73%		74		1.30%		3,495		61.24%		5,707
	McLean		2,705		64.40%		1,432		34.10%		63		1.50%		1,273		30.30%		4,200
	Meade		6,606		60.52%		4,122		37.76%		188		1.72%		2,484		22.76%		10,916
	Menifee		1,484		57.12%		1,048		40.34%		66		2.54%		436		16.78%		2,598
	Mercer		6,820		68.62%		2,966		29.84%		153		1.54%		3,854		38.78%		9,939
	Metcalfe		2,676		63.96%		1,425		34.06%		83		1.98%		1,251		29.90%		4,184
	Monroe		3,762		79.27%		936		19.72%		48		1.01%		2,826		59.55%		4,746
	Montgomery		6,398		62.43%		3,701		36.11%		149		1.46%		2,697		26.32%		10,248
	Morgan		3,021		67.55%		1,369		30.61%		82		1.84%		1,652		36.94%		4,472
	Muhlenberg		7,762		60.93%		4,771		37.45%		206		1.62%		2,991		23.48%		12,739
	Nelson		10,673		57.59%		7,611		41.07%		249		1.34%		3,062		16.52%		18,533
	Nicholas		1,583		61.33%		948		36.73%		50		1.94%		635		24.60%		2,581
	Ohio		6,470		67.07%		2,987		30.97%		189		1.96%		3,483		36.10%		9,646
	Oldham		20,179		67.52%		9,240		30.92%		465		1.56%		10,939		36.60%		29,884
	Owen		2,971		65.20%		1,501		32.94%		85		1.86%		1,470		32.26%		4,557
	Owsley		1,279		80.95%		283		17.91%		18		1.14%		996		63.04%		1,580
	Pendleton		3,556		64.26%		1,859		33.59%		119		2.15%		1,697		30.67%		5,534
	Perry		8,040		78.51%		2,047		19.99%		154		1.50%		5,993		58.52%		10,241
	Pike		17,590		74.42%		5,646		23.89%		400		1.69%		11,944		50.53%		23,636
	Powell		2,766		61.73%		1,620		36.15%		95		2.12%		1,146		25.58%		4,481
	Pulaski		20,714		79.66%		4,976		19.14%		313		1.20%		15,738		60.52%		26,003
	Robertson		579		61.93%		340		36.36%		16		1.71%		239		25.57%		935
	Rockcastle		5,028		80.89%		1,097		17.65%		91		1.46%		3,931		63.24%		6,216
	Rowan		4,035		52.64%		3,438		44.85%		192		2.51%		597		7.79%		7,665
	Russell		6,346		80.24%		1,445		18.27%		118		1.49%		4,901		61.97%		7,909
	Scott		12,679		61.63%		7,532		36.61%		362		1.76%		5,147		25.02%		20,573
	Shelby		11,790		63.17%		6,634		35.55%		239		1.28%		5,156		27.62%		18,663
	Simpson		4,355		61.40%		2,650		37.36%		88		1.24%		1,705		24.04%		7,093
	Spencer		5,726		67.92%		2,549		30.23%		156		1.85%		3,177		37.69%		8,431
	Taylor		7,551		68.96%		3,285		30.00%		114		1.04%		4,266		38.96%		10,950
	Todd		3,247		68.82%		1,403		29.74%		68		1.44%		1,844		39.08%		4,718
	Trigg		4,520		67.04%		2,115		31.37%		107		1.59%		2,405		35.67%		6,742
	Trimble		2,133		60.20%		1,355		38.24%		55		1.56%		778		21.96%		3,543
	Union		3,955		66.15%		1,942		32.48%		82		1.37%		2,013		33.67%		5,979
	Warren		26,384		60.10%		16,805		38.28%		714		1.62%		9,579		21.82%		43,903
	Washington		3,495		66.97%		1,669		31.98%		55		1.05%		1,826		34.99%		5,219
	Wayne		5,289		73.36%		1,855		25.73%		66		0.91%		3,434		47.63%		7,210
	Webster		3,607		65.94%		1,765		32.27%		98		1.79%		1,842		33.67%		5,470
	Whitley		10,232		78.27%		2,683		20.52%		157		1.21%		7,549		57.75%		13,072
	Wolfe		1,542		60.26%		976		38.14%		41		1.60%		566		22.12%		2,559
	Woodford		7,219		58.54%		4,883		39.60%		230		1.86%		2,336		18.94%		12,332

County Flips: {{col-begin}}

Democratic Republican ]]

;Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Hancock (largest city: Lewisport)
Henderson (largest city: Henderson)
Menifee (largest city: Frenchburg)
Rowan (largest city: Morehead)
Wolfe (largest city: Campton)

;Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Franklin (largest city: Frankfort)

By congressional district

Romney won five of six congressional districts.

District	Romney	Representative
66.4%	32.1%	Ed Whitfield
63.28%	35.15%	Brett Guthrie
42.8%	55.73%	John Yarmuth
63.38%	34.83%	Thomas Massie
75%	23.25%	Hal Rogers
55.8%	42.16%	Andy Barr

Analysis

On election night, Kentucky went as expected to the Republican candidate, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, over incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama of bordering Illinois. Obama was reelected but nonetheless, lost Kentucky. In most recent years, Democrats have maintained their lead in registered voters compared to Republicans. However, Kentucky is known as a highly conservative state with a populist streak. In most recent presidential elections in Kentucky, Democrats usually achieve lower 40 or upper 30% margins. Obama performed significantly worse in 2012 than he did in 2008. Appalachian Kentucky used to be a place were Democrats thrived because of working-class people, particularly unionized coal miners. However, this region has become increasingly Republican in recent years. Romney performed, for the most part, very well statewide. Obama won four counties. Obama was, however, able to maintain a solid performance in perhaps the most Democratic place in the state, Jefferson County (Louisville Metro). The other counties Obama won were Franklin, Elliott and Fayette.

References

"Summary TXT file".
Dougherty, Michael Brendan. (2012-05-22). "Obama Is Getting Humiliated In The Kentucky Primary, 40 Percent Of Democrats Voted For 'Uncommitted'". Business Insider.
(May 22, 2012). "Kentucky Secretary of State".
"Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN.
"Presidential Primary Dates". [[Federal Election Commission]].
"Kentucky State Board of Elections".
"Huffington Post Election Dashboard". [[HuffPost]].
"America's Choice 2012 Election Center: CNN Electoral Map". [[CNN]].
"Election 2012 - The Electoral Map: Building a Path to Victory". [[The New York Times]].
"2012 Presidential Election Results". The Washington Post.
"RealClearPolitics - 2012 Election Maps - Battle for White House".
"PROJECTION: OBAMA WILL LIKELY WIN SECOND TERM".
"Nate Silver's political calculations predict 2012 election outcome".
"Kentucky State Board of Elections". Kentucky State Board of Elections.
"Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts".
"Registration Statistics – State Board of Elections".
"Appalachia Used To Be A Democratic Stronghold. Here's How To Make It One Again.".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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Report

Kentucky Republican primary, 2012	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
[[File:America Symbol.svg	14px]] Mitt Romney	117,621	66.8%	42
Ron Paul	22,074	12.53%	0
Rick Santorum	15,629	8.87%	0
Newt Gingrich	10,479	5.95%	0
Uncommitted	10,357	5.88%	0
Unpledged delegates:	3
Total:	176,160	100.00%	45