2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island

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Turnout	60.8%[1] 6.1pp
Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney Party Democratic Republican Home state Illinois Massachusetts Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan Electoral vote 4 0 Popular vote 279,677 157,204 Percentage 62.70% 35.24%
County results Municipality results Congressional district results Precinct results Obama   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Romney   40–50%   50–60%
President before election Barack Obama Democratic Elected President Barack Obama Democratic

The2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the2012 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus theDistrict of Columbia participated.Rhode Island voters chose four 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.

Also on the ballot were Libertarian nominee, formerNew Mexico GovernorGary Johnson and his running mate,juristJim Gray. The left-wingGreen Party nominatedactivist andphysicianJill Stein and her running mate, anti-poverty advocateCheri Honkala.

Rhode Island was won by Democratic nominee Obama by a 27.46% margin of victory. This was the seventh straight win for the Democratic Party in Rhode Island on the presidential level. It was also the seventh time in a row that the Democratic nominee for president won all 5 counties – a streak which would be broken whenDonald Trump wonKent County in2016^[2] – and the sixth consecutive time that a Republican nominee failed to break 40% of the vote in Rhode Island. Rhode Island has been a safe Democratic state since1988, and has only voted for a Republican nominee four times since1928 (all of which inlandslide elections). State politics are dominated by theProvidence andWarwick metropolitan areas, andProvidence County gave Obama his largest margin in the state at 34.92%. However,whiteworking class voters in the inland and diverse,urban voters on the coast alike consistently vote Democratic, enough to provide the Democratic nominee with landslide margins in each election.^[3]

To date, this is the last time that the towns ofBurrillville,Coventry,Exeter,Foster,Glocester,Hopkinton,Johnston,North Smithfield, andSmithfield voted Democratic, and the last time that the town ofEast Greenwich voted Republican.

The 2012 Rhode Island Democratic primary was held April 24, 2012. Rhode Island awarded 40 delegates proportionally.

No candidate ran against incumbentPresidentBarack Obama in Rhode Island's Democratic presidential preference primary. Obama received 6,759 votes, or 83.38% of the vote, with 1,133 uncommitted votes (13.98%) and 214write-in votes (2.64%)

At the Rhode Island Democratic state convention held on June 21, 2012, 35 delegates were awarded to Barack Obama, with 5 delegates remaining unannounced.^[4]

2012Rhode Island Republican presidential primary

← 2008 April 24, 2012 (2012-04-24) 2016 →

Candidate Mitt Romney Ron Paul Newt Gingrich Home state Massachusetts Texas Georgia Delegate count 12 4 0 Popular vote 9,157 3,462 878 Percentage 63.02% 23.85% 6.04%

Rhode Island results by county   Mitt Romney

The2012Rhode Island Republican presidential primary took place on April 24, 2012.^[5] FormerMassachusetts Governor and frontrunnerMitt Romney received 63.02% of the vote, followed byU.S. Representative fromTexasRon Paul with 23.85% and formerSpeaker of the HouseNewt Gingrich with 6.04%.^[6] FormerU.S. Senator fromPennsylvaniaRick Santorum, who dropped out on April 10, received 5.66% of the vote.

2012 Rhode Island Republican presidential primary[6][7]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
Mitt Romney	9,178	63.02%	12
Ron Paul	3,473	23.85%	4
Newt Gingrich	880	6.04%	0
Rick Santorum	825	5.66%	0
Uncommitted	131	0.90%	3
Buddy Roemer	40	0.27%	0
Write-in	37	0.25%	0
Unprojected delegates:			0
Total:	14,564	100%	19

Shift by county

Trend relative to the state by county

Legend

•   Republican — >15%
•   Republican — +12.5−15%
•   Republican — +10−12.5%
•   Republican — +7.5−10%
•   Republican — +5−7.5%
•   Republican — +2.5−5%
•   Republican — +0−2.5%
•   Democratic — +0−2.5%
•   Democratic — +2.5−5%
•   Democratic — +5−7.5%
•   Democratic — +7.5-10%
•   Democratic — +10−12.5%
•   Democratic — +12.5−15%
•   Democratic — >15%

Obama won both congressional districts.^[16]

• United States presidential elections in Rhode Island
• 2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums
• 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
• Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
• Rhode Island Republican Party

• The Green Papers: for Rhode Island
• The Green Papers: Major state elections in chronological order

• United States presidential elections in Rhode Island
• 2012 Rhode Island elections
• 2012 United States presidential election by state

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