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 2012 U.S. presidential election |
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The2012 United States presidential election in Utah took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the2012 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus theDistrict of Columbia participated.Utah voters chose six 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.
Prior to the election, all leading news organizations making election predictions considered this a state Romney would win, or otherwise considered as a safered state. Alongside neighboring Wyoming & Idaho, Utah has voted for the Republican ticket in each presidential election starting in1968 and all but one starting1952. Utah is the only state to have a majorityMormon population, benefiting Romney, the first Mormon to head a major party presidential ticket. Romney won in a landslide, carrying 72.55% of the vote to Obama's 24.67%, a margin of 47.88% or 488,787 votes, the best raw vote margin in the state's history to date.[1] He won every county in the state by margins of over 15%, except forGrand andSummit County, home to the cities ofMoab andPark City, respectively. Romney flipped these counties along withSalt Lake County, where the state's largest city,Salt Lake City, is located.
With a 47.88% margin, Utah would prove to be Romney's strongest state in the election, and it would also be Romney's largest outperformance ofJohn McCain in2008, winning the state by almost 20 points more.[2] Romney waselected as aUnited States senator fromUtah six years later in2018, having moved there in 2014. Romney's vote share in Utah was also the highest of any presidential nominee in any state sinceRonald Reagan's in Utah in1984, and it remains so as of2024.
As of the2024 presidential election, this is the most recent time any presidential candidate has received more than 60% of the vote in Utah, as well as the last time any presidential candidate has carried every county. It is also the most recent election in whichSalt Lake andSummit Counties have voted for the Republican presidential nominee. 2012 is also the most recent time that Utah has been the most Republican state in a presidential election.
Due toPresidentBarack Obama running for reelection without serious opposition from theDemocratic Party in 2012, no Democratic Primary was held in Utah.
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 Utah results by county. Mitt Romney | |||||||||||||||||||
The 2012 Utah Republican presidential primary took place on 26 June 2012.[3] 37 delegates were chosen, for a total of 40 delegates to go to the national convention, all pledged to the primary winner.
In 2008,Mitt Romney received major support from theMormon (Latter Day Saints) and other religious population and was able to carry the state with 93.07% of the vote. Romney led the polling in 2012[4][5] and won the primary by more than a landslide, and no other candidate could either scrape past 5% of the vote, awarding him all 40 delegates.[6]
| 2012 Utah Republican presidential primary[6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates |
 Mitt Romney | 220,865 | 93.07% | 40 |
| Ron Paul | 11,209 | 4.72% | 0 |
| Rick Santorum | 3,541 | 1.49% | 0 |
| Newt Gingrich | 1,124 | 0.47% | 0 |
| Fred Karger | 578 | 0.24% | 0 |
| Pledged party leaders: | 3 | ||
| Total: | 237,317 | 100.0% | 40 |
| Key: | Withdrew prior to contest |
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Huffington Post[7] | Safe R | November 6, 2012 |
| CNN[8] | Safe R | November 6, 2012 |
| New York Times[9] | Safe R | November 6, 2012 |
| Washington Post[10] | Safe R | November 6, 2012 |
| RealClearPolitics[11] | Solid R | November 6, 2012 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[12] | Solid R | November 5, 2012 |
| FiveThirtyEight[13] | Solid R | November 6, 2012 |
Write-in access:
| 2012 United States presidential election in Utah[14] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Running mate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Republican | Mitt Romney | Paul Ryan | 740,600 | 72.55% | 6 | |
| Democratic | Barack Obama (incumbent) | Joe Biden (incumbent) | 251,813 | 24.67% | 0 | |
| Libertarian | Gary Johnson | Jim Gray | 12,572 | 1.23% | 0 | |
| Justice | Rocky Anderson | Luis J. Rodriguez | 5,335 | 0.52% | 0 | |
| Green | Jill Stein | Cheri Honkala | 3,817 | 0.37% | 0 | |
| Constitution | Virgil Goode | Jim Clymer | 2,871 | 0.28% | 0 | |
| Socialism and Liberation | Gloria La Riva | Filberto Ramirez Jr. | 393 | 0.04% | 0 | |
| Others | Others | 3,460 | 0.34% | 0 | ||
| Totals | 1,020,861 | 100.00% | 6 | |||
| County[15] | Mitt Romney Republican | Barack Obama Democratic | Gary Johnson Libertarian | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Total votes cast | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Beaver | 2,174 | 84.92% | 346 | 13.52% | 17 | 0.66% | 23 | 0.90% | 1,828 | 71.40% | 2,560 |
| Box Elder | 17,101 | 88.11% | 1,984 | 10.22% | 150 | 0.77% | 173 | 0.89% | 15,117 | 77.89% | 19,408 |
| Cache | 35,039 | 82.85% | 6,244 | 14.76% | 543 | 1.28% | 467 | 1.10% | 28,795 | 68.09% | 42,293 |
| Carbon | 5,090 | 67.27% | 2,275 | 30.06% | 88 | 1.16% | 114 | 1.51% | 2,815 | 37.21% | 7,567 |
| Daggett | 406 | 78.08% | 94 | 18.08% | 16 | 3.08% | 4 | 0.77% | 312 | 60.00% | 520 |
| Davis | 96,861 | 80.00% | 21,889 | 18.08% | 1,217 | 1.01% | 1,102 | 0.91% | 74,972 | 61.92% | 121,069 |
| Duchesne | 5,698 | 89.32% | 581 | 9.11% | 41 | 0.64% | 59 | 0.92% | 5,117 | 80.21% | 6,379 |
| Emery | 3,777 | 84.90% | 569 | 12.79% | 48 | 1.08% | 55 | 1.23% | 3,208 | 72.11% | 4,449 |
| Garfield | 1,832 | 83.96% | 308 | 14.12% | 17 | 0.78% | 25 | 1.15% | 1,524 | 69.84% | 2,182 |
| Grand | 1,996 | 50.53% | 1,727 | 43.72% | 71 | 1.80% | 156 | 3.95% | 269 | 6.81% | 3,950 |
| Iron | 14,200 | 84.47% | 2,148 | 12.78% | 202 | 1.20% | 261 | 1.55% | 12,052 | 71.69% | 16,811 |
| Juab | 3,448 | 85.99% | 451 | 11.25% | 27 | 0.67% | 84 | 2.09% | 2,997 | 74.74% | 4,010 |
| Kane | 2,522 | 74.81% | 744 | 22.07% | 47 | 1.39% | 58 | 1.72% | 1,778 | 52.74% | 3,371 |
| Millard | 4,478 | 88.59% | 431 | 8.53% | 43 | 0.85% | 103 | 2.04% | 4,047 | 80.06% | 5,055 |
| Morgan | 4,114 | 89.49% | 403 | 8.77% | 36 | 0.78% | 44 | 0.95% | 3,711 | 80.72% | 4,597 |
| Piute | 697 | 89.13% | 74 | 9.46% | 5 | 0.64% | 6 | 0.77% | 623 | 79.67% | 782 |
| Rich | 915 | 90.15% | 83 | 8.18% | 6 | 0.59% | 11 | 1.09% | 832 | 81.97% | 1,015 |
| Salt Lake | 223,811 | 58.26% | 146,147 | 38.04% | 5,521 | 1.44% | 8,695 | 2.26% | 77,664 | 20.22% | 384,174 |
| San Juan | 3,074 | 57.92% | 2,139 | 40.31% | 42 | 0.79% | 52 | 0.98% | 935 | 17.61% | 5,307 |
| Sanpete | 8,406 | 88.05% | 980 | 10.27% | 69 | 0.72% | 92 | 0.96% | 7,426 | 77.78% | 9,547 |
| Sevier | 7,207 | 89.32% | 738 | 9.15% | 56 | 0.69% | 68 | 0.84% | 6,469 | 80.17% | 8,069 |
| Summit | 8,884 | 50.49% | 8,072 | 45.87% | 301 | 1.71% | 340 | 1.93% | 812 | 4.62% | 17,597 |
| Tooele | 14,268 | 73.77% | 4,524 | 23.39% | 232 | 1.20% | 318 | 1.64% | 9,744 | 50.38% | 19,342 |
| Uintah | 10,421 | 89.75% | 997 | 8.59% | 71 | 0.61% | 122 | 1.05% | 9,424 | 81.16% | 11,611 |
| Utah | 156,950 | 88.32% | 17,281 | 9.72% | 2,120 | 1.19% | 1,362 | 0.77% | 139,669 | 78.60% | 177,713 |
| Wasatch | 7,220 | 74.90% | 2,191 | 22.73% | 90 | 0.93% | 139 | 1.45% | 5,029 | 52.17% | 9,640 |
| Washington | 44,698 | 82.43% | 8,337 | 15.37% | 541 | 1.00% | 650 | 1.19% | 36,361 | 67.06% | 54,226 |
| Wayne | 1,089 | 82.06% | 215 | 16.20% | 6 | 0.45% | 17 | 1.28% | 874 | 65.86% | 1,327 |
| Weber | 54,224 | 71.08% | 19,841 | 26.01% | 949 | 1.24% | 1,276 | 1.68% | 34,383 | 45.07% | 76,290 |
| Totals | 740,600 | 72.55% | 251,813 | 24.67% | 12,572 | 1.23% | 15,876 | 1.55% | 488,787 | 47.88% | 1,020,861 |
Mitt Romney won all four congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat.[16]
| District | Romney | Obama | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 77% | 20% | Rob Bishop |
| 2nd | 68% | 29% | Chris Stewart |
| 3rd | 78% | 19% | Jason Chaffetz |
| 4th | 67% | 30% | Jim Matheson |
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