The 2012 United States presidential election in Montana 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. Montana voters chose three 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.

Romney carried Montana with 55.30% of the vote to Obama's 41.66%, with a 13.64% margin of victory. Montana was the second-best state performance for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, carrying about 3% of the vote. Montana in 2012 and 2016 had a larger than ever margin for the Libertarian Party.

Romney performed much better than John McCain had in 2008, when he narrowly won over Obama with only a 2.38% margin of victory. Romney also won over five counties that voted for Obama in 2008. Most of the counties Obama won were either majority Native American (such as Big Horn, Blaine, Glacier, and Roosevelt) or have some of Montana's most populous cities and towns, such as Missoula County (containing its namesake city, the second largest in the state and home of the University of Montana) and Silver Bow County (home to Butte and Montana Tech). As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time that a Republican has won Gallatin County or that a Democrat has won Hill County or Roosevelt County.

Obama remains the only Democrat since statehood to win two terms in the White House without carrying Montana either time.

Primary elections

Democratic primary

Republican primary

The Republican caucuses took place on June 14 to 16, 2012 as the Montana state convention. Ten days before, the state delegates were selected by the central committee in each county 23 delegates were to have been chosen, for a total of 26 delegates to go to the national convention. Prior to selecting delegates, a non-binding primary election was held June 5, 2012. Results were announced before the Republican National Convention in August.

2012 Montana Republican presidential primaryunofficial election results . Secretary of State. June 22, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2012. Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates Mitt Romney 96,121 68.4% Ron Paul 20,227 14.4% Rick Santorum 12,546 8.9% Newt Gingrich 6,107 4.3% No Preference 5,456 3.9% Unpledged delegates: 25 Total: 140,457 26 Key: Withdrew prior to contest

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

By county CountyMitt RomneyRepublicanBarack ObamaDemocraticVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal#%#%#%#%Beaverhead3,28968.35%1,37128.49%1523.16%1,91839.86%4,812Big Horn1,66736.04%2,88262.30%771.66%-1,215-26.26%4,626Blaine1,17841.20%1,61656.52%652.28%-438-15.32%2,859Broadwater2,15271.47%76425.37%953.16%1,38846.10%3,011Carbon3,53360.42%2,14636.70%1682.88%1,38723.72%5,847Carter67885.18%9612.06%222.76%58273.12%796Cascade18,34553.06%15,23244.05%9992.89%3,1139.01%34,576Chouteau1,75862.32%97834.67%853.01%78027.65%2,821Custer3,37362.87%1,83334.17%1592.96%1,54028.70%5,365Daniels74073.49%23723.54%302.97%50349.95%1,007Dawson3,02968.48%1,21927.56%1753.96%1,81040.92%4,423Deer Lodge1,44832.47%2,86064.13%1523.40%-1,412-31.66%4,460Fallon1,12880.23%23716.86%412.91%89163.37%1,406Fergus4,25770.12%1,64027.01%1742.87%2,61743.11%6,071Flathead28,30964.47%13,89231.64%1,7083.89%14,41732.83%43,909Gallatin24,35850.84%21,96145.84%1,5893.32%2,3975.00%47,908Garfield62288.73%669.42%131.85%55679.31%701Glacier1,41531.76%2,92465.63%1162.61%-1,509-33.87%4,455Golden Valley35173.28%11022.96%183.76%24150.32%479Granite1,10764.93%53331.26%653.81%57433.67%1,705Hill3,16446.36%3,40349.86%2583.78%-239-3.50%6,825Jefferson4,05562.18%2,27234.84%1942.98%1,78327.34%6,521Judith Basin85470.29%33727.74%241.97%51742.55%1,215Lake7,13553.63%5,80543.63%3642.74%1,33010.00%13,304Lewis and Clark16,80350.43%15,62046.88%8952.69%1,1833.55%33,318Liberty70270.34%25725.75%393.91%44544.59%998Lincoln6,05768.13%2,55228.71%2813.16%3,50539.42%8,890Madison3,13069.06%1,28928.44%1132.50%1,84140.62%4,532McCone74575.03%22322.46%252.51%52252.57%993Meagher67068.93%26927.67%333.40%40141.26%972Mineral1,21660.17%70034.64%1055.19%51625.53%2,021Missoula22,65239.58%32,82457.35%1,7563.07%-10,172-17.77%57,232Musselshell1,83376.15%49220.44%823.41%1,34155.71%2,407Park4,70953.71%3,78343.15%2763.14%92610.56%8,768Petroleum24080.54%4916.44%93.02%19164.10%298Phillips1,68875.76%47121.14%693.10%1,21754.62%2,228Pondera1,67361.53%97535.86%712.61%69825.67%2,719Powder River83381.11%17016.55%242.34%66364.56%1,027Powell1,80665.03%88831.98%832.99%91833.05%2,777Prairie52073.97%16723.76%162.27%35350.21%703Ravalli14,30764.41%7,28532.80%6202.79%7,02231.61%22,212Richland3,51075.52%1,00221.56%1362.92%2,50853.96%4,648Roosevelt1,51441.23%2,08656.81%721.96%-572-15.58%3,672Rosebud2,00456.88%1,42240.36%1522.76%58216.52%3,523Sanders3,98067.45%1,72029.15%2013.40%2,26038.30%5,901Sheridan1,20762.60%66534.49%562.91%54228.11%1,928Silver Bow5,43032.41%10,85764.79%4692.80%-5,427-32.38%16,756Stillwater3,33770.97%1,24826.54%1172.49%2,08944.43%4,702Sweet Grass1,59475.30%47522.44%482.26%1,11952.86%2,117Teton2,11364.40%1,08232.98%862.62%1,03131.42%3,281Toole1,44068.51%58227.69%803.80%85840.82%2,102Treasure31970.11%11425.05%224.84%20545.06%455Valley2,33760.56%1,38535.89%1373.55%95224.67%3,859Wheatland69369.86%27227.42%272.72%42142.44%992Wibaux42177.39%9818.01%254.60%32359.38%544Yellowstone40,50058.86%26,40338.37%1,9042.77%14,09720.49%68,807Totals267,92855.30%201,83941.66%14,7173.04%66,08913.64%484,484

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Cascade (largest city: Great Falls) Gallatin (largest city: Bozeman) Lake (largest city: Polson) Lewis and Clark (largest city: Helena) Rosebud (largest city: Colstrip)

By congressional district Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated, the At-Large District. This district covers the entire state, and thus is equivalent to the statewide election results. District Romney Obama RepresentativeAt-large 55.35% 41.7%Steve Daines

See also United States presidential elections in Montana 2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries Montana Republican Party

References

External links The Green Papers: for Montana The Green Papers: Major state elections in chronological order