2012 United States presidential election in North Carolina
The 2012 United States presidential election in North Carolina took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 General Election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. North Carolina voters chose 15 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbentDemocraticPresident Barack Obama and his running mate, Vice President Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, CongressmanPaul Ryan. Mitt Romney narrowly carried the state of North Carolina, winning 50.39% of the vote to Barack Obama's 48.35%, a margin of 2.04%. North Carolina was one of just two states which flipped from voting for Obama in 2008 to voting Republican in 2012. Like Indiana, North Carolina had been a reliably Republican state prior to Obama's 2008 win, having not previously gone Democratic since 1976. Unlike Indiana, however, North Carolina was still considered a competitive swing state in 2012, and both campaigns targeted it heavily, with the Democrats holding their convention in Charlotte. Romney was the first presidential candidate since Zachary Taylor in 1848 to carry North Carolina while losing both Wake County and Mecklenburg County, which are the two most populous counties. Interestingly, while Obama lost North Carolina to Romney, he received more votes than he had received in 2008, garnering 35,740 more votes in 2012. This would also be only the third presidential election since 1956 when North Carolina backed the losing candidate in a presidential election. The same of which previously happened when it did the same for fellow losing Republican candidates George H.W. Bush in 1992, along with Bob Dole four years later in 1996 as well.
The 2012 North Carolina Democratic primary was held May 8, 2012. North Carolina awarded 157 delegates proportionally. No candidate ran against incumbent President Barack Obama in North Carolina's Democratic presidential preference primary. Obama received 766,079 votes, or 79.23% of the vote, with the remainder going to elect delegates with "No Preference". At the North Carolina Democratic state convention, 152 delegates were awarded to Obama, with 5 delegates remaining unannounced.
The 2012 North Carolina Republican primary was held May 8, 2012. North Carolina awarded 55 delegates proportionally. Ron Paul and Mitt Romney were the only active contenders on the ballot. By the time of the primary, Romney had already been declared the party's presumptive nominee. Romney won the North Carolina GOPpresidential primary with 65.62% of the vote. Paul narrowly edged out Santorum, and Gingrich came in last with 7.64% of the vote. 5.23% of voters registered "no preference". The awarded delegate count from North Carolina's Republican state convention was Romney with 48 delegates and Paul with 7 delegates.
