| [[File:Missouri Presidential Election Results 2012.svg|300px]]
| County results
|[[File:2012 United States Presidential election in Missouri by congressional district.svg|300px]]
|Congressional district results
RomneyObama
The 2012 United States presidential election in Missouri 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. Missouri voters chose 10 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.
Missouri was won by Romney, who took 53.64% of the vote to Obama's 44.28%, a margin of 9.36%. Although it was a battleground in past elections, and considered a bellwether up until 2008, Missouri trended in the early 21st century toward the Republicans, having been the only long-time swing state to be won (albeit narrowly) by Republican John McCain in 2008. Consequently, the state was not heavily contested by either side in 2012, and Romney ultimately carried Missouri by the largest margin since Ronald Reagan's 1984 landslide. Romney ultimately became only the second Republican to carry Missouri and lose the presidency just four years after John McCain's narrow victory in the state, with Obama also becoming the only Democrat to ever win two terms in the White House without carrying the state either time.
Primary elections
Democratic primary
Missouri Democratic primary, February 7, 2012
Candidate
Votes
Percentage
Delegates
**Barack Obama** **(incumbent)**
**64,366**
**88.39%**
**89**
Randall Terry
1,998
2.74%
-
John Wolfe Jr.
1,000
1.37%
-
Darcy Richardson
873
1.20%
-
Uncommitted
4,580
6.29%
-
Republican primary
The 2012 Missouri Republican presidential primary took place on February 7 and the caucuses ran from March 15 to March 24, 2012, except for one rescheduled for April 10. The primary election did not determine which delegates would be sent to the national convention; this is instead determined indirectly by the caucuses and directly by the Missouri Republican congressional-district conventions on April 21 and the state convention on June 2.
The unusual situation of having both the primary election and the caucus for the same party in the same election year in Missouri arose as a result of a change in the nominating rules of the Republican Party. State primaries in Missouri were previously held in early February. In September 2008, the Republican National Committee adopted a set of rules which included a provision that no states except Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada were allowed to begin the process of delegate selection (including binding primary elections) before the first Tuesday in March of an election year. In 2011, the Republican-controlled Missouri General Assembly attempted to move the primary election to mid-March, but the bill was vetoed by Democratic Governor Jay Nixon because of a provision limiting his power to fill vacancies in statewide elected offices. In a compromise solution, it was decided that Republican primary election would be made non-binding and instead delegates would be nominated by separate caucuses in late March, a move estimated to cost the state .
This marks the first time since 1996 that Missouri Republicans used a caucus system to nominate delegates to the Republican National Convention.
Primary
The primary was not to affect the selection of Missouri's delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention, so it had no official effect on the nomination and was widely described beforehand as a "beauty contest". However it was seen as an opportunity for Rick Santorum to face off against Mitt Romney due to the absence of Newt Gingrich, who missed the filing deadline and was not on the ballot. Santorum was the only candidate to actively campaign in the state ahead of the primary.
There were 326,438 total votes cast by party ballot (including votes for Democratic, Libertarian and Constitution Party candidates), a turnout of 7.99% of 4,085,582 registered voters. Noting the low Republican turnout, NPR found voters apathetic because the primary was nonbinding.
2012 Missouri Republican primary
Candidate
Votes
Percentage
**Rick Santorum**
**139,272**
**55.23%**
Mitt Romney
63,882
25.33%
Ron Paul
30,647
12.15%
Uncommitted
9,853
3.91%
*Rick Perry*
*2,456*
*0.97%*
*Herman Cain*
*2,306*
*0.91%*
*Michele Bachmann*
*1,680*
*0.67%*
*Jon Huntsman*
*1,044*
*0.41%*
*Gary Johnson*
*536*
*0.21%*
Michael J. Meehan
356
0.14%
Keith Drummond
153
0.06%
**Totals**
**252,185**
**100.00%**
**Key:**
Withdrew prior to contest.
Caucuses
The county caucuses elect delegates to congressional district conventions and the Missouri Republican Party state convention, which in turn elect 49 of Missouri's 52 delegates to the national convention. However, no straw poll is released to indicate levels of support to the general public. According to the state party, "Caucus-goers will be voting for delegates, and with few exceptions, these delegates will not be bound to a particular candidate. Because there is no vote on candidate preference, neither the Missouri GOP nor any election authority will have or release any data regarding the 'winner' of the caucuses."
Despite the nonbinding nature of the February primary, caucuses had the option to use its result as the basis for delegate allocation. Santorum was to appear personally at some caucuses, which The New York Times described as "part of the campaign's county-by-county strategy to try to outflank Mr. Romney and catch him in the delegate race".
Results
The county caucuses elect delegates to the congressional district conventions and the state convention. Delegates to the national convention are elected at each of those conventions. Typically, the body of a caucus votes on slates of delegates prepared by leaders of factions and coalitions within the caucus.
The following table shows who won the majority or plurality of delegates for each county according to available unofficial reports.
There were controversies surrounding the caucuses in Clay and Cass counties. The Missouri Republican Party ruled later that the slates of delegates elected at those caucuses were valid. A do-over caucus was required in St. Charles County after the first attempt disbanded over a rules dispute. Controversy also arose at the Jefferson County caucus, and a challenge was filed but later withdrawn.
District and state conventions
The following table shows who won the national delegates for each congressional district and statewide.
Convention results
Candidate
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
State
Party
leaders
Total
Mitt Romney
1
1
**2**
**3**
0
1
1
**3**
**19**
0
**31**
Rick Santorum
1
**2**
1
0
0
1
**2**
0
6
0
13
Ron Paul
1
0
0
0
**3**
0
0
0
0
0
4
Newt Gingrich
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
Uncommitted
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
**Total**
**24**
**25**
**3**
**52**
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
2012 United States presidential election in Missouri
Party
Candidate
Running mate
Votes
Percentage
Electoral votes
**Republican**
**Mitt Romney**
**Paul Ryan**
**1,482,440**
**53.64%**
**10**
Democratic
Barack Obama (incumbent)
Joe Biden (incumbent)
1,223,796
44.28%
0
Libertarian
Gary Johnson
Jim Gray
43,151
1.57%
0
Constitution
Virgil Goode
Jim Clymer
7,936
0.29%
0
**Totals**
**2,757,323**
**100.00%**
**10**
By county
County
Mitt Romney
Republican
Barack Obama
Democratic
Various candidates
Other parties
Margin
Total
#
%
#
%
#
%
#
%
Totals
1,482,440
53.64%
1,223,796
44.28%
57,453
2.08%
258,644
9.36%
2,763,689
Adair
5,651
55.81%
4,219
41.67%
256
2.52%
1,432
14.14%
10,126
Andrew
5,457
65.42%
2,649
31.76%
235
2.82%
2,808
33.66%
8,341
Atchison
1,902
70.21%
756
27.91%
51
1.88%
1,146
42.30%
2,709
Audrain
6,186
61.97%
3,539
35.45%
257
2.58%
2,647
26.52%
9,982
Barry
9,832
71.22%
3,667
26.56%
307
2.22%
6,165
44.66%
13,806
Barton
4,418
76.89%
1,230
21.41%
98
1.70%
3,188
55.48%
5,746
Bates
5,020
64.60%
2,557
32.90%
194
2.50%
2,463
31.70%
7,771
Benton
6,069
66.28%
2,925
31.94%
163
1.78%
3,144
34.34%
9,157
Bollinger
4,095
75.05%
1,213
22.23%
148
2.72%
2,882
52.82%
5,456
Boone
37,404
47.10%
39,847
50.17%
2,171
2.73%
-2,443
-3.07%
79,422
Buchanan
18,660
53.15%
15,594
44.42%
852
2.43%
3,066
8.73%
35,106
Butler
12,248
72.52%
4,363
25.83%
278
1.65%
7,885
46.69%
16,889
Caldwell
2,721
65.30%
1,312
31.49%
134
3.21%
1,409
33.81%
4,167
Callaway
11,745
64.42%
6,071
33.30%
416
2.28%
5,674
31.12%
18,232
Camden
15,092
68.55%
6,458
29.33%
465
2.12%
8,634
39.22%
22,015
Cape Girardeau
25,370
70.81%
9,728
27.15%
731
2.04%
15,642
43.66%
35,829
Carroll
3,072
71.38%
1,154
26.81%
78
1.81%
1,918
44.57%
4,304
Carter
1,978
70.67%
754
26.94%
67
2.39%
1,224
43.73%
2,799
Cass
30,912
62.95%
17,044
34.71%
1,148
2.34%
13,868
28.24%
49,104
Cedar
4,376
72.39%
1,537
25.43%
132
2.18%
2,839
46.96%
6,045
Chariton
2,402
62.86%
1,339
35.04%
80
2.10%
1,063
27.82%
3,821
Christian
27,473
72.37%
9,813
25.85%
678
1.78%
17,660
46.52%
37,964
Clark
1,730
53.64%
1,398
43.35%
97
3.01%
332
10.29%
3,225
Clay
56,191
52.99%
47,310
44.61%
2,542
2.40%
8,881
8.38%
106,043
Clinton
5,931
60.15%
3,688
37.40%
242
2.45%
2,243
22.75%
9,861
Cole
24,490
65.85%
12,005
32.28%
695
1.87%
12,485
33.57%
37,190
Cooper
4,887
65.06%
2,474
32.94%
150
2.00%
2,413
32.12%
7,511
Crawford
6,434
67.17%
2,951
30.81%
194
2.02%
3,483
36.36%
9,579
Dade
2,895
74.31%
939
24.10%
62
1.59%
1,956
50.21%
3,896
Dallas
4,992
68.58%
2,122
29.15%
165
2.27%
2,870
39.43%
7,279
Daviess
2,290
65.04%
1,125
31.95%
106
3.01%
1,165
33.09%
3,521
DeKalb
3,056
70.25%
1,194
27.45%
100
2.30%
1,862
42.80%
4,350
Dent
4,883
73.20%
1,585
23.76%
203
3.04%
3,298
49.44%
6,671
Douglas
4,649
70.90%
1,710
26.08%
198
3.02%
2,939
44.82%
6,557
Dunklin
6,850
64.31%
3,636
34.14%
165
1.55%
3,214
30.17%
10,651
Franklin
29,396
62.64%
16,347
34.83%
1,186
2.53%
13,049
27.81%
46,929
Gasconade
4,895
68.62%
2,099
29.42%
140
1.96%
2,796
39.20%
7,134
Gentry
1,988
66.29%
937
31.24%
74
2.47%
1,051
35.05%
2,999
Greene
76,900
60.83%
46,219
36.56%
3,300
2.61%
30,681
24.27%
126,419
Grundy
3,030
69.27%
1,212
27.71%
132
3.02%
1,818
41.56%
4,374
Harrison
2,624
71.01%
984
26.63%
87
2.36%
1,640
44.38%
3,695
Henry
6,229
61.18%
3,606
35.42%
347
3.40%
2,623
25.76%
10,182
Hickory
2,835
60.58%
1,733
37.03%
112
2.39%
1,102
23.55%
4,680
Holt
1,725
74.68%
551
23.85%
34
1.47%
1,174
50.83%
2,310
Howard
3,017
61.99%
1,723
35.40%
127
2.61%
1,294
26.59%
4,867
Howell
11,544
70.62%
4,395
26.89%
407
2.49%
7,149
43.73%
16,346
Iron
2,252
55.87%
1,669
41.40%
110
2.73%
583
14.47%
4,031
Jackson
122,708
39.32%
183,953
58.95%
5,400
1.73%
-61,245
-19.63%
312,061
Jasper
31,349
69.33%
12,809
28.33%
1,060
2.34%
18,540
41.00%
45,218
Jefferson
53,978
55.07%
41,564
42.40%
2,482
2.53%
12,414
12.67%
98,024
Johnson
12,763
60.72%
7,667
36.47%
591
2.81%
5,096
24.25%
21,021
Knox
1,205
61.57%
698
35.67%
54
2.76%
507
25.90%
1,957
Laclede
10,934
70.84%
4,093
26.52%
408
2.64%
6,841
44.32%
15,435
Lafayette
9,803
61.79%
5,655
35.64%
408
2.57%
4,148
26.15%
15,866
Lawrence
11,421
72.49%
4,017
25.50%
317
2.01%
7,404
46.99%
15,755
Lewis
2,677
62.56%
1,508
35.24%
94
2.20%
1,169
27.32%
4,279
Lincoln
14,332
62.93%
7,734
33.96%
710
3.11%
6,598
28.97%
22,776
Linn
3,344
60.25%
2,041
36.77%
165
2.98%
1,303
23.48%
5,550
Livingston
4,006
66.17%
1,906
31.48%
142
2.35%
2,100
34.69%
6,054
Macon
4,701
65.66%
2,309
32.25%
150
2.09%
2,392
33.41%
7,160
Madison
3,227
65.46%
1,588
32.21%
115
2.33%
1,639
33.25%
4,930
Maries
3,165
69.74%
1,299
28.62%
74
1.64%
1,866
41.12%
4,538
Marion
7,923
65.17%
4,031
33.16%
204
1.67%
3,892
32.01%
12,158
McDonald
5,694
72.84%
1,920
24.56%
203
2.60%
3,774
48.28%
7,817
Mercer
1,255
75.83%
353
21.33%
47
2.84%
902
54.50%
1,655
Miller
8,099
73.31%
2,651
24.00%
298
2.69%
5,448
49.31%
11,048
Mississippi
2,997
60.91%
1,858
37.76%
65
1.33%
1,139
23.15%
4,920
Moniteau
4,704
73.01%
1,608
24.96%
131
2.03%
3,096
48.05%
6,443
Monroe
2,564
63.20%
1,398
34.46%
95
2.34%
1,166
28.74%
4,057
Montgomery
3,490
65.31%
1,740
32.56%
114
2.13%
1,750
32.75%
5,344
Morgan
5,733
65.99%
2,773
31.92%
182
2.09%
2,960
34.07%
8,688
New Madrid
4,284
59.09%
2,814
38.81%
152
2.10%
1,470
20.28%
7,250
Newton
18,181
72.17%
6,425
25.50%
587
2.33%
11,756
46.67%
25,193
Nodaway
5,593
62.31%
3,172
35.34%
211
2.35%
2,421
26.97%
8,976
Oregon
2,886
65.28%
1,419
32.10%
116
2.62%
1,467
33.18%
4,421
Osage
5,329
77.02%
1,473
21.29%
117
1.69%
3,856
55.73%
6,919
Ozark
3,080
69.17%
1,261
28.32%
112
2.51%
1,819
40.85%
4,453
Pemiscot
3,598
56.80%
2,671
42.16%
66
1.04%
927
14.64%
6,335
Perry
5,669
70.98%
2,184
27.34%
134
1.68%
3,485
43.64%
7,987
Pettis
10,842
63.13%
5,904
34.38%
429
2.49%
4,938
28.75%
17,175
Phelps
11,895
65.05%
5,798
31.71%
593
3.24%
6,097
33.34%
18,286
Pike
4,577
62.52%
2,582
35.27%
162
2.21%
1,995
27.25%
7,321
Platte
25,618
56.04%
19,175
41.95%
917
2.01%
6,443
14.09%
45,710
Polk
9,252
70.52%
3,580
27.29%
287
2.19%
5,672
43.23%
13,119
Pulaski
9,092
67.00%
4,199
30.94%
280
2.06%
4,893
36.06%
13,571
Putnam
1,673
72.46%
587
25.42%
49
2.12%
1,086
47.04%
2,309
Ralls
3,231
64.16%
1,736
34.47%
69
1.37%
1,495
29.69%
5,036
Randolph
6,667
66.84%
3,031
30.39%
277
2.77%
3,636
36.45%
9,975
Ray
5,815
56.09%
4,275
41.24%
277
2.67%
1,540
14.85%
10,367
Reynolds
1,931
60.31%
1,157
36.13%
114
3.56%
774
24.18%
3,202
Ripley
3,743
71.12%
1,396
26.52%
124
2.36%
2,347
44.60%
5,263
Saline
5,104
56.04%
3,790
41.61%
214
2.35%
1,314
14.43%
9,108
Schuyler
1,174
60.55%
697
35.95%
68
3.50%
477
24.60%
1,939
Scotland
1,246
64.36%
643
33.21%
47
2.43%
603
31.15%
1,936
Scott
11,623
68.37%
5,122
30.13%
254
1.50%
6,501
38.24%
16,999
Shannon
2,262
61.27%
1,302
35.27%
128
3.46%
960
26.00%
3,692
Shelby
2,188
67.70%
966
29.89%
78
2.41%
1,222
37.81%
3,232
St. Charles
110,784
59.44%
71,838
38.55%
3,744
2.01%
38,946
20.89%
186,366
St. Clair
3,019
65.26%
1,460
31.56%
147
3.18%
1,559
33.70%
4,626
St. Francois
13,248
58.35%
8,829
38.89%
628
2.76%
4,419
19.46%
22,705
St. Louis
224,742
42.39%
297,097
56.04%
8,277
1.57%
-72,355
-13.65%
530,116
St. Louis City
22,943
15.93%
118,780
82.45%
2,343
1.62%
-95,837
-66.52%
144,066
Ste. Genevieve
4,055
50.25%
3,813
47.25%
202
2.50%
242
3.00%
8,070
Stoddard
9,496
73.81%
3,153
24.51%
217
1.68%
6,343
49.30%
12,866
Stone
11,787
73.45%
3,923
24.45%
337
2.10%
7,864
49.00%
16,047
Sullivan
1,610
62.04%
908
34.99%
77
2.97%
702
27.05%
2,595
Taney
15,746
72.44%
5,479
25.20%
513
2.36%
10,267
47.24%
21,738
Texas
7,618
70.77%
2,871
26.67%
275
2.56%
4,747
44.10%
10,764
Vernon
5,758
67.57%
2,580
30.28%
183
2.15%
3,178
37.29%
8,521
Warren
9,150
62.35%
5,219
35.56%
307
2.09%
3,931
26.79%
14,676
Washington
5,071
58.32%
3,417
39.30%
207
2.38%
1,654
19.02%
8,695
Wayne
3,790
66.26%
1,813
31.70%
117
2.04%
1,977
34.56%
5,720
Webster
10,708
69.10%
4,409
28.45%
379
2.45%
6,299
40.65%
15,496
Worth
664
63.36%
341
32.54%
43
4.10%
323
30.82%
1,048
Wright
5,830
73.29%
1,953
24.55%
172
2.16%
3,877
48.74%
7,955
County flips: {{col-begin}}
DemocraticRepublican
]]
;Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Buchanan (largest city: St. Joseph)
Iron (largest city: Ironton)
Jefferson (largest city: Arnold)
Sainte Genevieve (largest city: Ste. Genevieve)
Washington (largest city: Potosi)
By congressional district
Romney won six of eight congressional districts.
District
Romney
Obama
Representative
18.9%
**79.87%**
Lacy Clay
**57.14%**
41.44%
Ann Wagner
**62%**
36%
Blaine Luetkemeyer
**61.24%**
36.41%
Vicky Hartzler
39.36%
**58.9%**
Emanuel Cleaver
**60%**
37.9%
Sam Graves
**67.56%**
30.34%
Billy Long
**65.88%**
32%
Jo Ann Emerson
Analysis
As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time Missouri was decided by a single-digit margin. In addition, this was the first time since 1900 that Missouri was not carried by the victor of the presidential contest two times consecutively, after Obama had failed to win the state in 2008, as well as the first time since 1900 when the overall loser of the presidential election won the state by a margin larger than 1% of the statewide vote. Thus, the 2012 election seemingly marked the end of Missouri's swing state status. Obama is the only president of either party since William McKinley to win two terms in the White House without carrying Missouri either time. This election also remains the only time in history that a Democrat was elected twice to the presidency without ever carrying Missouri.
Obama became the first Democrat since 1960 to win without Buchanan, Iron, and Washington counties; the first since 1916 without Jefferson County; and the first since 1944 without St. Genevieve County.
Obama carried only three counties and the City of St. Louis. He carried Boone County, home to Columbia and the University of Missouri; Jackson County, where most of Kansas City is located; and St. Louis County, home to many St. Louis suburbs. While Obama won many counties in the St. Louis metropolitan area in 2008 such as Iron, Jefferson, Ste. Genevieve, and Washington counties, the Republicans won them in this election, all but Ste. Genevieve by comfortable margins.
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