2012 United States presidential election in South Dakota

Main article: 2012 United States presidential election

Romney Obama The 2012 United States presidential election in South Dakota 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. South Dakota voters chose three 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, all seventeen news organizations making predictions for the election considered this a state Romney would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. South Dakota has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Lyndon B. Johnson carried it in his 44-state landslide in 1964. South Dakota, just as all of the other states in the Great Plains, is among the most Republican states in the country. According to a 2012 Gallup poll, South Dakota is the 9th most conservative state in the country, with Republicans having an 11 percentage point advantage over Democrats in terms of party affiliation or identification. It is also the 10th whitest state in the country as of 2012, at 83.8%, and has the 4th highest gun ownership rate in the country at 56.6%, according to The Washington Post. Both of these voting blocs are relatively solid for the Republican Party.

While Obama lost the state by only 8.41% in 2008, illustrating a potential resurgence of Democratic strength among the agrarian population as seen in states such as Iowa, the state was returned to the safe Republican column in 2012. Romney won South Dakota by an 18.02% margin of victory. Romney was able to win back southeast Dakota: Obama became competitive there in 2008, when he won Minnehaha County (and many of its suburbs), home to the state's largest city of Sioux Falls, by only 587 votes. Romney carried upwards of 60% of the vote in many counties, with his best performance in the West River. He also flipped Brown County, where Aberdeen is.

Obama's best performance was in majority Native American counties in the west of the state. He carried 93.35% of the vote in Shannon County (now known as Oglala Lakota), home to the Pine Ridge Reservation and the Oglala Lakota tribe. The counties of Buffalo; Dewey; and Todd, where the Crow Creek; Cheyenne River and Standing Rock; and Rosebud reservations are located, respectively, also delivered great margins to the president. Clay County, home to the University of South Dakota, was the only county in the southeast to vote for Obama.

As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time in which the Democratic candidate won Corson County, Day County, Marshall County, and Roberts County.

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 South Dakota	Party	Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
**Republican**	**Mitt Romney**	**Paul Ryan**	**210,610**	**57.89%**	**3**
Democratic	Barack Obama (incumbent)	Joe Biden (incumbent)	145,039	39.87%	0
Libertarian	Gary Johnson	Jim Gray	5,795	1.59%	0
Constitution	Virgil Goode	Jim Clymer	2,371	0.65%	0
**Totals**	**363,815**	**100.00%**	**3**

By county

County	Mitt Romney
Republican	Barack Obama
Democratic	Gary Johnson
Libertarian	Virgil Goode
Constitution	Margin	Total votes cast	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Totals	210,610	57.89%	145,039	39.87%	5,795	1.59%	2,371	0.65%	65,571	18.02%	363,815
	Aurora		804		57.43%		556		39.71%		27		1.93%		13		0.93%		248		17.72%		1,400
	Beadle		4,230		58.24%		2,881		39.67%		107		1.47%		45		0.62%		1,349		18.57%		7,263
	Bennett		626		52.04%		548		45.55%		18		1.50%		11		0.91%		78		6.49%		1,203
	Bon Homme		1,830		59.53%		1,167		37.96%		55		1.79%		22		0.72%		663		21.57%		3,074
	Brookings		6,220		50.16%		5,827		46.99%		253		2.04%		100		0.81%		393		3.17%		12,400
	Brown		8,321		51.79%		7,250		45.12%		409		2.55%		88		0.55%		1,071		6.67%		16,068
	Brule		1,499		63.01%		824		34.64%		37		1.56%		19		0.80%		675		28.37%		2,379
	Buffalo		166		25.90%		472		73.63%		3		0.47%		0		0.00%		-306		-47.73%		641
	Butte		3,073		73.03%		1,000		23.81%		94		2.23%		39		0.93%		2,071		49.22%		4,208
	Campbell		616		78.27%		153		19.44%		12		1.52%		6		0.76%		463		58.83%		787
	Charles Mix		2,230		59.25%		1,483		39.40%		30		0.80%		21		0.56%		747		19.85%		3,764
	Clark		1,067		58.59%		713		39.15%		27		1.48%		14		0.77%		354		19.44%		1,821
	Clay		2,147		41.02%		2,955		56.46%		107		2.04%		25		0.48%		-808		-15.44%		5,234
	Codington		6,696		58.10%		4,588		39.81%		169		1.47%		71		0.62%		2,108		18.29%		11,524
	Corson		515		42.92%		648		54.00%		30		2.50%		7		0.58%		-133		-11.08%		1,200
	Custer		3,062		67.74%		1,335		29.54%		83		1.84%		40		0.88%		1,727		38.20%		4,520
	Davison		4,757		59.68%		3,042		38.16%		125		1.57%		47		0.59%		1,715		21.52%		7,971
	Day		1,320		45.95%		1,497		52.11%		33		1.15%		23		0.80%		-177		-6.16%		2,873
	Deuel		1,175		54.12%		941		43.34%		32		1.47%		23		1.06%		234		10.78%		2,171
	Dewey		663		34.99%		1,207		63.69%		15		0.79%		10		0.53%		-544		-28.70%		1,895
	Douglas		1,334		78.93%		332		19.64%		16		0.95%		8		0.47%		1,002		59.29%		1,690
	Edmunds		1,264		65.29%		622		32.13%		37		1.91%		13		0.67%		642		33.16%		1,936
	Fall River		2,258		64.22%		1,140		32.42%		75		2.13%		43		1.22%		1,118		31.80%		3,516
	Faulk		765		67.88%		331		29.37%		22		1.95%		9		0.80%		434		38.51%		1,127
	Grant		2,034		56.41%		1,493		41.40%		48		1.33%		31		0.86%		541		15.01%		3,606
	Gregory		1,507		70.06%		599		27.85%		31		1.44%		14		0.65%		908		42.21%		2,151
	Haakon		940		86.08%		138		12.64%		8		0.73%		6		0.55%		802		73.44%		1,092
	Hamlin		1,803		64.55%		921		32.98%		47		1.68%		22		0.79%		882		31.57%		2,793
	Hand		1,242		67.21%		575		31.11%		21		1.14%		10		0.54%		667		36.10%		1,848
	Hanson		1,627		67.34%		760		31.46%		16		0.66%		13		0.54%		867		35.88%		2,416
	Harding		638		86.33%		82		11.10%		16		2.17%		3		0.41%		556		75.23%		739
	Hughes		5,219		64.00%		2,786		34.16%		107		1.31%		43		0.53%		2,433		29.84%		8,155
	Hutchinson		2,451		71.56%		923		26.95%		25		0.73%		26		0.76%		1,528		44.61%		3,425
	Hyde		531		72.44%		189		25.78%		11		1.50%		2		0.27%		342		46.66%		733
	Jackson		661		59.76%		426		38.52%		9		0.81%		10		0.90%		235		21.24%		1,106
	Jerauld		538		53.48%		452		44.93%		11		1.09%		5		0.50%		86		8.55%		1,006
	Jones		490		80.46%		108		17.73%		9		1.48%		2		0.33%		382		62.73%		609
	Kingsbury		1,451		55.64%		1,092		41.87%		45		1.73%		20		0.77%		359		13.77%		2,608
	Lake		3,419		54.40%		2,724		43.34%		98		1.56%		44		0.70%		695		11.06%		6,285
	Lawrence		7,025		61.85%		3,973		34.98%		262		2.31%		99		0.87%		3,052		26.87%		11,359
	Lincoln		13,611		62.00%		7,982		36.36%		261		1.19%		98		0.45%		5,629		25.64%		21,952
	Lyman		933		59.46%		605		38.56%		24		1.53%		7		0.45%		328		20.90%		1,569
	Marshall		889		44.74%		1,061		53.40%		29		1.46%		8		0.40%		-172		-8.66%		1,987
	McCook		1,655		63.34%		905		34.63%		33		1.26%		20		0.77%		750		28.71%		2,613
	McPherson		921		75.80%		272		22.39%		12		0.99%		10		0.82%		649		53.41%		1,215
	Meade		7,566		69.95%		2,928		27.07%		214		1.98%		109		1.01%		4,638		42.88%		10,817
	Mellette		381		49.54%		375		48.76%		5		0.65%		8		1.04%		6		0.78%		769
	Miner		636		55.79%		479		42.02%		18		1.58%		7		0.61%		157		13.77%		1,140
	Minnehaha		40,342		52.68%		34,674		45.28%		1,118		1.46%		449		0.59%		5,668		7.40%		76,583
	Moody		1,535		50.61%		1,429		47.12%		47		1.55%		22		0.73%		106		3.49%		3,033
	Pennington		28,232		63.49%		15,125		34.02%		816		1.84%		291		0.65%		13,107		29.47%		44,464
	Perkins		1,205		75.79%		319		20.06%		39		2.45%		27		1.70%		886		55.73%		1,590
	Potter		1,029		74.51%		339		24.55%		10		0.72%		3		0.22%		690		49.96%		1,381
	Roberts		1,883		44.24%		2,302		54.09%		42		0.99%		29		0.68%		-419		-9.85%		4,256
	Sanborn		688		61.70%		389		34.89%		22		1.97%		16		1.43%		299		26.81%		1,115
	Shannon		188		5.98%		2,937		93.39%		14		0.45%		6		0.19%		-2,749		-87.41%		3,145
	Spink		1,670		54.92%		1,300		42.75%		54		1.78%		17		0.56%		370		12.17%		3,041
	Stanley		1,063		69.03%		435		28.25%		33		2.14%		9		0.58%		628		40.78%		1,540
	Sully		613		74.94%		186		22.74%		16		1.96%		3		0.37%		427		52.20%		818
	Todd		498		19.94%		1,976		79.13%		11		0.44%		12		0.48%		-1,478		-59.19%		2,497
	Tripp		1,905		70.79%		737		27.39%		23		0.85%		26		0.97%		1,168		43.40%		2,691
	Turner		2,715		64.49%		1,411		33.52%		47		1.12%		37		0.88%		1,304		30.97%		4,210
	Union		4,698		61.85%		2,782		36.62%		81		1.07%		35		0.46%		1,916		25.23%		7,596
	Walworth		1,731		70.31%		671		27.25%		41		1.67%		19		0.77%		1,060		43.06%		2,462
	Yankton		5,495		55.09%		4,226		42.37%		199		2.00%		54		0.54%		1,269		12.72%		9,974
	Ziebach		314		41.26%		439		57.69%		6		0.79%		2		0.26%		-125		-16.43%		761

Democratic Republican ]]

;Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Brookings (largest city: Brookings)
• Brown (largest city: Aberdeen)
• Lake (largest city: Madison)
• Miner (largest city: Howard)
• Minnehaha (largest city: Sioux Falls)
• Moody (largest city: Flandreau)

By congressional district

South Dakota has only one congressional district because of its small population compared to other states. This district, called the at-large district because it covers the entire state, is equivalent to the statewide election results.

District	Romney	Obama	Representative		At-large
**57.89%**	39.87%		Kristi Noem