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 2012 U.S. presidential election |
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The2012 United States presidential election in North Dakota took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the2012 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus theDistrict of Columbia participated.North Dakota voters chose three electors to represent them in theElectoral College via a popular vote pittingincumbentDemocraticPresidentBarack Obama and his running mate,Vice PresidentJoe Biden, againstRepublican challenger and formerMassachusetts GovernorMitt Romney and his running mate,CongressmanPaul Ryan.
Mitt Romney handily won the state with 58.32% of the vote to Barack Obama's 38.69%, a 19.63% margin of victory, considerably higher than McCain's 8.65% margin of victory. He flipped seven counties that Obama carried in2008, includingCass County, home toFargo, the state's largest city. Obama was the first Democrat sinceWoodrow Wilson in1912 to win without Mountrail County. As of the2024 presidential election, this is the last time a Democrat wonBenson,Ransom,Sargent, andSteele counties.
Despite Romney's comfortable margin of victory, Democratic candidateHeidi Heitkamp narrowly won theconcurrent senate election.
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The 2012 North Dakota Republican caucuses were held on March 6, 2012.[1] North Dakota has 28 delegates to the Republican National Convention;[2] despite Rick Santorum's nominal win in the preference poll conducted during the caucuses, the majority of the delegates elected by the state party convention later in March said they supported Romney.[3]
| 2012 North Dakota Republican presidential caucuses[4] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates[1] | |
| Rick Santorum | 4,510 | 39.7% | 6 | |
| Ron Paul | 3,186 | 28.1% | 2 | |
| Mitt Romney | 2,691 | 23.7% | 20 | |
| Newt Gingrich | 962 | 8.5% | 0 | |
| Unprojected delegates | 0 | |||
| Totals | 11,349 | 100.0% | 28 | |
TheNorth Dakota Republican Party held its state convention from Friday, March 30 to Sunday, April 1, where twenty-five unbound National Convention delegates were elected. Rick Santorum had won the straw poll at the Legislative Districts caucuses on Super Tuesday with a large margin to Ron Paul in second place and Mitt Romney in third place. The party leadership's recommended slate of delegates was to reflect this straw poll result. However, the slate gave Romney a large majority of the delegates. Former NDGOP ChairmanGary Emineth called the vote undemocratic and a railroad job.[5]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size | Margin of error | Barack Obama (D) | Mitt Romney (R) | Other | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mason-Dixon[6] | October 26–28 | 625 | ± 4.0% | 40% | 54% | 3% | 3% |
| Forum/Essman[7] | October 12–15 | 500 | ± 4.3% | 32% | 57% | - | 11% |
| Rasmussen Reports[8] | October 17–18 | 600 | ± 4.0% | 40% | 54% | 2% | 4% |
| Mason-Dixon[9] | October 3–5 | 625 | ± 4.0% | 40% | 54% | 1% | 5% |
| Rasmussen Reports[8] | July 10–11, 2012 | 400 | ± - 5% | 36% | 51% | 6% | 7% |
| Mason-Dixon[10] | June 4–12 | 625 | ± 4.0% | 39% | 52% | – | – |
‡Likely primary voters
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Huffington Post[11] | Safe R | November 6, 2012 |
| CNN[12] | Safe R | November 6, 2012 |
| New York Times[13] | Safe R | November 6, 2012 |
| Washington Post[14] | Safe R | November 6, 2012 |
| RealClearPolitics[15] | Solid R | November 6, 2012 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[16] | Solid R | November 5, 2012 |
| FiveThirtyEight[17] | Solid R | November 6, 2012 |
| 2012 United States presidential election in North Dakota[18] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | Mitt Romney | Paul Ryan | 188,163 | 58.32% | 3 | |
| Democratic-NPL | Barack Obama (incumbent) | Joe Biden (incumbent) | 124,827 | 38.69% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson | Jim Gray | 5,238 | 1.62% | 0 | |
| Other | 1,860 | 0.58% | 0 | |||
| Green | Jill Stein | Cheri Honkala | 1,362 | 0.42% | 0 | |
| Constitution | Virgil Goode | Jim Clymer | 1,186 | 0.37% | 0 | |
| Totals | 322,932 | 100.00% | 3 | |||
| County | Mitt Romney Republican | Barack Obama Democratic-NPL | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Adams | 918 | 71.38% | 328 | 25.51% | 40 | 3.11% | 590 | 45.87% | 1,286 |
| Barnes | 2,964 | 53.68% | 2,394 | 43.35% | 164 | 2.97% | 570 | 10.33% | 5,522 |
| Benson | 868 | 40.24% | 1,235 | 57.26% | 54 | 2.50% | -367 | -17.02% | 2,157 |
| Billings | 472 | 81.66% | 89 | 15.40% | 16 | 2.94% | 383 | 66.26% | 578 |
| Bottineau | 2,280 | 64.14% | 1,183 | 33.28% | 92 | 2.58% | 1,097 | 30.86% | 3,555 |
| Bowman | 1,280 | 73.69% | 414 | 23.83% | 43 | 2.48% | 866 | 49.86% | 1,737 |
| Burke | 769 | 75.17% | 230 | 22.48% | 24 | 2.35% | 539 | 52.69% | 1,023 |
| Burleigh | 27,951 | 64.42% | 14,122 | 32.55% | 1,314 | 3.03% | 13,829 | 31.87% | 43,387 |
| Cass | 36,855 | 49.90% | 34,712 | 47.00% | 2,288 | 3.10% | 2,143 | 2.90% | 73,855 |
| Cavalier | 1,195 | 57.76% | 818 | 39.54% | 56 | 2.70% | 377 | 18.22% | 2,069 |
| Dickey | 1,610 | 63.51% | 853 | 33.65% | 72 | 2.84% | 757 | 29.86% | 2,535 |
| Divide | 733 | 63.08% | 385 | 33.13% | 44 | 3.79% | 348 | 29.95% | 1,162 |
| Dunn | 1,506 | 74.04% | 508 | 24.98% | 20 | 0.98% | 998 | 49.06% | 2,034 |
| Eddy | 634 | 54.80% | 486 | 42.01% | 37 | 3.19% | 148 | 12.79% | 1,157 |
| Emmons | 1,435 | 76.17% | 383 | 20.33% | 66 | 3.50% | 1,052 | 55.84% | 1,884 |
| Foster | 1,030 | 61.24% | 607 | 36.09% | 45 | 2.67% | 423 | 25.15% | 1,682 |
| Golden Valley | 742 | 79.96% | 162 | 17.46% | 24 | 2.58% | 580 | 62.50% | 928 |
| Grand Forks | 15,060 | 50.15% | 14,032 | 46.73% | 937 | 3.12% | 1,028 | 3.42% | 30,029 |
| Grant | 1,025 | 72.54% | 334 | 23.64% | 54 | 3.82% | 691 | 48.90% | 1,413 |
| Griggs | 771 | 57.41% | 536 | 39.91% | 36 | 2.68% | 235 | 17.50% | 1,343 |
| Hettinger | 1,000 | 73.42% | 313 | 22.98% | 49 | 3.60% | 687 | 50.44% | 1,362 |
| Kidder | 870 | 65.51% | 393 | 29.59% | 65 | 4.90% | 477 | 35.92% | 1,328 |
| LaMoure | 1,377 | 62.76% | 740 | 33.73% | 77 | 3.51% | 637 | 29.03% | 2,194 |
| Logan | 810 | 75.49% | 232 | 21.62% | 31 | 2.89% | 578 | 53.87% | 1,073 |
| McHenry | 1,678 | 61.87% | 943 | 34.77% | 91 | 3.36% | 735 | 27.10% | 2,712 |
| McIntosh | 1,035 | 67.65% | 459 | 30.00% | 36 | 2.35% | 576 | 37.65% | 1,530 |
| McKenzie | 2,458 | 71.23% | 927 | 26.86% | 66 | 1.91% | 1,531 | 44.37% | 3,451 |
| McLean | 3,141 | 63.61% | 1,670 | 33.82% | 127 | 2.57% | 1,471 | 29.79% | 4,938 |
| Mercer | 3,152 | 70.75% | 1,166 | 26.17% | 137 | 3.08% | 1,986 | 44.58% | 4,455 |
| Morton | 8,680 | 63.76% | 4,469 | 32.83% | 464 | 3.41% | 4,211 | 30.93% | 13,613 |
| Mountrail | 1,962 | 56.75% | 1,403 | 40.58% | 92 | 2.67% | 559 | 16.17% | 3,457 |
| Nelson | 865 | 51.55% | 767 | 45.71% | 46 | 2.74% | 98 | 5.84% | 1,678 |
| Oliver | 693 | 68.41% | 281 | 27.74% | 39 | 3.85% | 412 | 40.67% | 1,013 |
| Pembina | 1,899 | 58.34% | 1,253 | 38.49% | 103 | 3.17% | 646 | 19.85% | 3,255 |
| Pierce | 1,465 | 67.26% | 660 | 30.30% | 53 | 2.44% | 805 | 36.96% | 2,178 |
| Ramsey | 2,665 | 53.31% | 2,164 | 43.29% | 170 | 3.40% | 501 | 10.02% | 4,999 |
| Ransom | 1,009 | 41.61% | 1,343 | 55.38% | 73 | 3.01% | -334 | -13.77% | 2,425 |
| Renville | 851 | 66.59% | 398 | 31.14% | 29 | 2.27% | 453 | 35.45% | 1,278 |
| Richland | 4,229 | 55.55% | 3,198 | 42.01% | 186 | 2.44% | 1,031 | 13.54% | 7,613 |
| Rolette | 1,092 | 23.99% | 3,353 | 73.66% | 107 | 2.35% | -2,261 | -49.67% | 4,552 |
| Sargent | 879 | 43.80% | 1,075 | 53.56% | 53 | 2.64% | -196 | -9.76% | 2,007 |
| Sheridan | 642 | 78.10% | 163 | 19.83% | 17 | 2.07% | 479 | 58.27% | 822 |
| Sioux | 225 | 19.67% | 900 | 78.67% | 19 | 1.66% | -675 | -59.00% | 1,144 |
| Slope | 341 | 78.03% | 83 | 18.99% | 13 | 2.98% | 258 | 59.04% | 437 |
| Stark | 8,521 | 73.25% | 2,812 | 24.17% | 300 | 2.58% | 5,709 | 49.08% | 11,633 |
| Steele | 498 | 47.79% | 518 | 49.71% | 26 | 2.50% | -20 | -1.92% | 1,042 |
| Stutsman | 5,685 | 59.48% | 3,585 | 37.51% | 288 | 3.01% | 2,100 | 21.97% | 9,558 |
| Towner | 623 | 52.71% | 516 | 43.65% | 43 | 3.64% | 107 | 9.06% | 1,182 |
| Traill | 1,996 | 50.91% | 1,811 | 46.19% | 114 | 2.90% | 185 | 4.72% | 3,921 |
| Walsh | 2,656 | 55.44% | 1,985 | 41.43% | 150 | 3.13% | 671 | 14.01% | 4,791 |
| Ward | 16,230 | 63.74% | 8,441 | 33.15% | 792 | 3.11% | 7,789 | 30.59% | 25,463 |
| Wells | 1,654 | 69.53% | 673 | 28.29% | 52 | 2.18% | 981 | 41.24% | 2,379 |
| Williams | 7,184 | 73.25% | 2,322 | 23.67% | 302 | 3.08% | 4,862 | 49.58% | 9,808 |
| Totals | 188,163 | 58.32% | 124,827 | 38.69% | 9,637 | 2.99% | 63,336 | 19.63% | 322,627 |
| Democratic Hold | Republican Hold Gain from Democratic |
Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated. This district is an at-large district, because it covers the entire state, and thus is equivalent to the statewide election results.
| District | Romney | Obama | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| At-large | 58.32% | 38.7% | Kevin Cramer |
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