The 2012 United States presidential election in Missouri 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. Missouri voters chose 10 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.
Missouri was won by Romney, who took 53.64% of the vote to Obama's 44.28%, a margin of 9.36%. Although it was a battleground in past elections, and considered a bellwether up until 2008, Missouri trended in the early 21st century toward the Republicans, having been the only long-time swing state to be won (albeit narrowly) by Republican John McCain in 2008. Consequently, the state was not heavily contested by either side in 2012, and Romney ultimately carried Missouri by the largest margin since Ronald Reagan's 1984 landslide.
Romney became the second Republican to carry Missouri and lose the presidency just four years after John McCain's narrow victory in the state, with Obama also becoming the only Democrat to ever win two terms in the White House without carrying the state at least once. Despite losing the state, Obama remains the last Democratic nominee to lose Missouri by less than 10%, as of 2024.
Primary elections
Democratic primary Missouri Democratic primary, February 7, 2012 Candidate Votes Percentage DelegatesBarack Obama (incumbent) 64,366 88.39% 89Randall Terry 1,998 2.74% -John Wolfe Jr. 1,000 1.37% -Darcy Richardson 873 1.20% -Uncommitted 4,580 6.29% -
Republican primary
The 2012 Missouri Republican presidential primary took place on February 7 and the caucuses ran from March 15 to March 24, 2012, except for one rescheduled for April 10. The primary election did not determine which delegates would be sent to the national convention; this is instead determined indirectly by the caucuses and directly by the Missouri Republican congressional-district conventions on April 21 and the state convention on June 2.
The unusual situation of having both the primary election and the caucus for the same party in the same election year in Missouri arose as a result of a change in the nominating rules of the Republican Party. State primaries in Missouri were previously held in early February. In September 2008, the Republican National Committee adopted a set of rules which included a provision that no states except Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada were allowed to begin the process of delegate selection (including binding primary elections) before the first Tuesday in March of an election year. In 2011, the Republican-controlled Missouri General Assembly attempted to move the primary election to mid-March, but the bill was vetoed by Democratic Governor Jay Nixon because of a provision limiting his power to fill vacancies in statewide elected offices. In a compromise solution, it was decided that Republican primary election would be made non-binding and instead delegates would be nominated by separate caucuses in late March, a move estimated to cost the state .
This marks the first time since 1996 that Missouri Republicans used a caucus system to nominate delegates to the Republican National Convention.
Primary The primary was not to affect the selection of Missouri's delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention, so it had no official effect on the nomination and was widely described beforehand as a "beauty contest". However it was seen as an opportunity for Rick Santorum to face off against Mitt Romney due to the absence of Newt Gingrich, who missed the filing deadline and was not on the ballot. Santorum was the only candidate to actively campaign in the state ahead of the primary.
The primary election was won by Santorum, who also won the Colorado and Minnesota Republican caucuses held that day.
There were 326,438 total votes cast by party ballotPlease note the website article had pagination. Page 2 can be viewed via Wayback . (including votes for Democratic, Libertarian and Constitution Party candidates), a turnout of 7.99% of 4,085,582 registered voters. Noting the low Republican turnout, NPR found voters apathetic because the primary was nonbinding.
2012 Missouri Republican primaryCandidateVotesPercentageRick Santorum139,27255.23%Mitt Romney 63,882 25.33%Ron Paul 30,647 12.15% Uncommitted 9,853 3.91%Rick Perry2,4560.97%Herman Cain2,3060.91%Michele Bachmann1,6800.67%Jon Huntsman1,0440.41%Gary Johnson5360.21% Michael J. Meehan 356 0.14% Keith Drummond 153 0.06%Totals252,185100.00%
Key:Withdrew prior to contest.
Caucuses
The county caucuses elect delegates to congressional district conventions and the Missouri Republican Party state convention, which in turn elect 49 of Missouri's 52 delegates to the national convention. However, no straw poll is released to indicate levels of support to the general public. According to the state party, "Caucus-goers will be voting for delegates, and with few exceptions, these delegates will not be bound to a particular candidate. Because there is no vote on candidate preference, neither the Missouri GOP nor any election authority will have or release any data regarding the 'winner' of the caucuses."
Despite the nonbinding nature of the February primary, caucuses had the option to use its result as the basis for delegate allocation. Santorum was to appear personally at some caucuses, which The New York Times described as "part of the campaign's county-by-county strategy to try to outflank Mr. Romney and catch him in the delegate race".
Results The county caucuses elect delegates to the congressional district conventions and the state convention. Delegates to the national convention are elected at each of those conventions. Typically, the body of a caucus votes on slates of delegates prepared by leaders of factions and coalitions within the caucus.
The following table shows who won the majority or plurality of delegates for each county according to available unofficial reports.
By number of counties won
Candidate Counties Rick Santorum 83 Mitt Romney 17 Ron Paul 11 Newt Gingrich 4 Uncommitted 0 Unknown 0Total115
By county
County Winner Delegates District SourceAdair Romney 9 6thAndrew Santorum 8 6thAtchison Santorum 3 6thAudrain Santorum 7 4thBarry Romney 14 7thBarton Santorum 7 4thBates Santorum 7 4thBenton Santorum 9 4thBollinger Santorum 6 8thBoone Paul 53 4thBuchanan Romney 28 6thButler Santorum 17 8thCaldwell Romney 4 6th and email.Callaway Romney 17 3rd and phone call.Camden Santorum 12 3rdCape Girardeau Santorum 36 8thCarroll Santorum 5 6thCarter Santorum 3 8thCass Santorum 43 4thCedar Santorum 6 4thChariton Santorum 4 6thChristian Santorum 37 7thClark Santorum 3 6thClay Romney 23+55 5th, 6thClinton Romney 9 6thCole Romney 35 3rdCooper Santorum 8 4thCrawford Santorum 9 8thDade Santorum 5 4thDallas Romney 7 4thDaviess Santorum 4 6thDeKalb Santorum 5 6thDent Santorum 7 8thDouglas Paul 7 8thDunklin Santorum 11 8thFranklin Paul 40 3rdGasconade Santorum 7 3rdGentry Santorum 3 6thGreene Paul 111 7thGrundy Paul 5 6thHarrison Romney 4 6thHenry Santorum 9 4thHickory Santorum 5 4thHolt Santorum 3 6thHoward Santorum 4 4thHowell Santorum 16 8thIron Santorum 3 8thJackson Paul 144+35 5th, 6thJasper Santorum 46 7thJefferson Santorum 15+39+19 2nd, 3rd, 8thJohnson Santorum 18 4thKnox Santorum 2 6thLaclede Paul 16 4thLafayette Romney 14 5thLawrence Santorum 17 7thLewis Santorum 4 6thLincoln Santorum 19 3rdLinn Santorum 5 6thLivingston Gingrich 6 6thMacon Santorum 7 6thMadison Santorum 5 8thMaries Santorum 5 3rdMarion Santorum 12 6thMcDonald Santorum 8 7thMercer Santorum 2 6thMiller Romney 12 3rdMississippi Santorum 5 8thMoniteau Santorum 7 4thMonroe Santorum 4 6thMontgomery Santorum 5 3rdMorgan Santorum 8 4thNew Madrid Santorum 7 8thNewton Santorum 26 7thNodaway Paul 8 6thOregon Santorum 4 8thOsage Santorum 8 3rdOzark Santorum 5 8thPemiscot Santorum 6 8thPerry Gingrich 8 8thPettis Romney 16 4th Mixed slate, probably all.Phelps Romney 17 8thPike Santorum 7 6thPlatte Gingrich 35 6thPolk Santorum 13 7thPulaski Santorum 14 4thPutnam Santorum 3 6thRalls Santorum 5 6thRandolph Romney 10 4thRay Santorum 8 5thReynolds Santorum 3 8thRipley Santorum 5 8thSt. Charles Paul 59+88 2nd, 3rdSt. Clair Santorum 5 4thSt. Francois Santorum 19 8thSt. Louis Romney A separate caucus was held in each township. 67+250 1st, 2ndSaint Louis (city) Paul 36 1stSainte Genevieve Santorum 6 8thSaline Santorum 8 5thSchuyler Santorum 2 6thScotland Santorum 2 6thScott Santorum 17 8thShannon Santorum 3 8thShelby Santorum 4 6thStoddard Romney 14 8thStone Santorum 16 7thSullivan Santorum 3 6thTaney Paul 22 7thTexas Gingrich 11 8thVernon Santorum 8 4thWarren Santorum 13 3rdWashington Santorum 7 8thWayne Santorum 6 8thWebster Santorum 11+4 4th, 7thWorth Santorum 2 6thWright Santorum 9 8th
Notes
Controversies
There were controversies surrounding the caucuses in Clay and Cass counties. The Missouri Republican Party ruled later that the slates of delegates elected at those caucuses were valid. A do-over caucus was required in St. Charles County after the first attempt disbanded over a rules dispute. Controversy also arose at the Jefferson County caucus, and a challenge was filed but later withdrawn.
District and state conventions The following table shows who won the national delegates for each congressional district and statewide. Convention results Candidate 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th State Partyleaders TotalMitt Romney 1 123 0 1 1319 031Rick Santorum 12 1 0 0 12 0 6 0 13Ron Paul 1 0 0 03 0 0 0 0 0 4Newt Gingrich 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1Uncommitted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3Total 2425352
General election Predictions SourceRankingAs ofHuffington PostNovember 6, 2012CNNNovember 6, 2012 New York Times November 6, 2012Washington PostNovember 6, 2012RealClearPoliticsNovember 6, 2012Sabato's Crystal BallNovember 5, 2012FiveThirtyEightNovember 6, 2012
Results 2012 United States presidential election in MissouriPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican Mitt Romney Paul Ryan 1,482,440 53.64% 10 Democratic Barack Obama (incumbent) Joe Biden (incumbent) 1,223,796 44.28% 0 Libertarian Gary Johnson Jim Gray 43,151 1.57% 0 Constitution Virgil Goode Jim Clymer 7,936 0.29% 0 Totals 2,757,323 100.00% 10
By county