2012 United States presidential election in New York

The 2012 United States presidential election in New York 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. Voters chose 29 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.

Barack Obama carried the state of New York by a landslide margin, winning 63.35% of the vote to Mitt Romney's 35.17%. As in previous elections, the Democratic ticket easily won, for the most part due to racking up very large margins in New York City (which itself comprised over 40% of the state's population) and its metropolitan area. The city alone garnered Obama 1,995,241 votes (81.19% of its vote), and he carried all five boroughs, after losing Staten Island (Richmond County) in 2008. Putnam County, which McCain won in 2008, was the only county in the NYC metropolitan area that Obama lost to Romney. The rest of his votes mostly came from Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, Rochester, Syracuse, and their respective metropolitan areas, giving him a solid 28.18% lead over Romney. Obama even won in many rural counties. The Republicans won only in some rural parts of upstate and western New York.

New York was 1 of only 6 states to swing in President Obama's favor from 2008 to 2012, giving him the largest percentage of the vote for any presidential candidate in the state since 1964 and the second largest Democratic vote share in the state in history (as well as third most in the state's entire history, behind Warren Harding in 1920 as well). Similar to New Jersey, some news outlets, such as The New York Times, have proposed that Obama's improved performance in these states – as opposed to worsened performances in areas like the Rust Belt – was due to his handling of Hurricane Sandy, which made landfall on October 29. Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-Independent, endorsed Obama due to the federal government's handling of the hurricane.

As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time the Democratic nominee won the following counties: Cayuga, Cortland, Franklin, Madison, Niagara, Orange, Oswego, Otsego, Richmond (Staten Island), Seneca, St. Lawrence, Suffolk, Sullivan, Warren, and Washington. This is also the last presidential election in New York in which the Democratic nominee won more counties than the Republican nominee. In subsequent elections, despite Republicans winning more counties, they have been unable to break through the huge Democratic advantage in New York City and its suburbs, ensuring that the state has remained solidly blue.

Primary elections

Democratic primary Incumbent President Barack Obama ran uncontested in the Democratic primary, and it was therefore cancelled.

Republican primary

+ 2012 New York Republican presidential primary Candidate Votes Percentage Projected delegate count Mitt Romney 118,912 62.42% 92 92Ron Paul 27,699 14.54% 0 0Newt Gingrich 23,990 12.59% 1 0Rick Santorum 18,997 9.97% 0 0Blank 810 0.43% 0 0Void 106 0.06% 0 0Scattering 1 0.00% 0 0 Unprojected delegates: 2 3 95 Total: 190,515 100.00% 95 95 95 The 2012 New York Republican presidential primary took place on April 24, 2012.

By county, Romney won a plurality in every county, and a majority in all but six: Niagara, Cattaraugus, Wyoming, Orleans, Schuyler, Herkimer and Oswego.

Paul finished second in most counties. Santorum finished second in Otsego County. Gingrich finished second in two geographic areas: a cluster of counties in the Catskills and Hudson Valley (Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, and Westchester) and in most of the counties of Western New York (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Erie, Genesee, Niagara, and Wyoming), in addition to Herkimer and Oneida counties. Gingrich's relative strength in Western New York, as well as in Herkimer, can be attributed to the continued popularity and efforts of Carl Paladino, who carried those counties in the previous gubernatorial election and campaigned on Gingrich's behalf. The majority of New York politicians had endorsed Romney while the primary election was still competitive.

General election Predictions {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !Source !Ranking !As of |- | align="left" |The Huffington Post | |November 6, 2012 |- | align="left" |CNN | |November 6, 2012 |- | align=left | The New York Times | | November 6, 2012 |- | align="left" |The Washington Post''' | |November 6, 2012 |- | align="left" |RealClearPolitics | |November 6, 2012 |- | align="left" |Sabato's Crystal Ball| |November 5, 2012 |- | align="left" |FiveThirtyEight | |November 6, 2012

Candidate ballot access Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan, Republican Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Democratic Gary Johnson/Jim Gray, Libertarian Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala, Green Virgil Goode/Jim Clymer, Constitution Peta Lindsay/Yari Osorio, Party for Socialism and Liberation Write-in candidate access: Rocky Anderson/Luis J. Rodriguez, Justice

Results 2012 United States presidential election in New York PartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Barack Obama 4,337,622 61.25% Working Families Barack Obama 148,119 2.09% Total Barack Obama (incumbent) Joe Biden (incumbent) 4,485,741 63.35% 29 Republican Mitt Romney 2,228,060 31.46% Conservative Mitt Romney 262,371 3.71% Total Mitt Romney Paul Ryan 2,490,431 35.17% 0 Libertarian Gary Johnson Jim Gray 47,256 0.67% 0 Green Jill Stein Cheri Honkala 39,982 0.56% 0 Write-ins Write-ins 9,076 0.13% 0 Constitution Virgil Goode Jim Clymer 6,274 0.09% 0 Socialism and Liberation Peta Lindsay Yari Osorio 2,050 0.03% 0 Justice Rocky Anderson (write-in) Luis J. Rodriguez 217 <0.01% 0 Freedom Socialist Stephen Durham Christina López 34 <0.01% 0 America's Tom Hoefling J. D. Ellis 34 <0.01% 0 Socialist Workers James Harris Maura DeLuca 27 <0.01% 0 Socialist Equality Jerry White Phyllis Scherrer 19 <0.01% 0 Twelve Visions Jill Reed Tom Cary 12 <0.01% 0 American Third Position Merlin Miller Virginia Abernethy 6 <0.01% 0 Totals 7,081,159 100.00% 29 Voter Turnout (Registered) 59.2%

New York City results 2012 presidential election in New York CityManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueens Staten IslandTotal Democratic-Working FamiliesBarack Obama502,674339,211604,443470,73278,1811,995,24181.19%83.7%91.45%82.02%79.08%50.7% Republican-ConservativeMitt Romney89,55929,967124,551118,58974,223436,88917.78%14.92%8.08%16.9%19.9%48.14% GreenJill Stein3,2416483,6162,12145710,0830.4%0.5%0.1%0.4%0.35%0.29% LibertarianGary Johnson2,5745292,0742,0507707,9970.32%0.69%0.07%0.3%0.34%0.49% OthersOthers2,2435832,2981,7535497,4260.29%0.37%0.16%0.31%0.29%0.35%TOTAL600,291370,938736,982595,245154,1802,457,636100.00%

By county County Barack ObamaDemocratic Mitt RomneyRepublican Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Albany 87,556 64.49% 45,064 33.19% 3,147 2.32% 42,492 31.30% 135,767 Allegany 6,139 36.21% 10,390 61.29% 424 2.50% −4,251 −25.08% 16,953 Bronx 339,211 91.45% 29,967 8.08% 1,760 0.47% 309,244 83.37% 370,938 Broome 41,970 51.46% 37,641 46.15% 1,954 2.39% 4,329 5.31% 81,565 Cattaraugus 12,649 42.49% 16,569 55.66% 549 1.85% −3,920 −13.17% 29,767 Cayuga 17,007 54.58% 13,454 43.18% 700 2.24% 3,553 11.40% 31,161 Chautauqua 23,812 45.05% 27,971 52.92% 1,069 2.03% −4,159 −7.87% 52,852 Chemung 16,797 47.98% 17,612 50.31% 601 1.71% −815 −2.33% 35,010 Chenango 9,116 47.20% 9,713 50.29% 485 2.51% −597 −3.09% 19,314 Clinton 18,961 61.85% 11,115 36.26% 580 1.89% 7,846 25.59% 30,656 Columbia 16,221 55.69% 12,225 41.97% 683 2.34% 3,996 13.72% 29,129 Cortland 10,482 53.41% 8,695 44.31% 447 2.28% 1,787 9.10% 19,624 Delaware 8,304 44.55% 9,938 53.32% 396 2.13% −1,634 −8.77% 18,638 Dutchess 65,312 52.80% 56,025 45.29% 2,368 1.91% 9,287 7.51% 123,705 Erie 237,356 57.31% 169,675 40.97% 7,164 1.72% 67,681 16.34% 414,195 Essex 9,784 58.53% 6,647 39.76% 286 1.71% 3,137 18.77% 16,717 Franklin 9,894 62.09% 5,740 36.02% 300 1.89% 4,154 26.07% 15,934 Fulton 8,607 43.47% 10,814 54.62% 378 1.91% −2,207 −11.15% 19,799 Genesee 9,601 38.80% 14,607 59.03% 538 2.17% −5,006 −20.23% 24,746 Greene 9,030 43.69% 11,174 54.06% 464 2.25% −2,144 −10.37% 20,668 Hamilton 1,128 36.24% 1,932 62.06% 53 1.70% −804 −25.82% 3,113 Herkimer 11,273 45.02% 13,282 53.04% 485 1.94% −2,009 −8.02% 25,040 Jefferson 17,099 47.89% 18,122 50.75% 487 1.36% −1,023 −2.86% 35,708 Kings 604,443 82.02% 124,551 16.90% 7,988 1.08% 479,892 65.12% 736,982 Lewis 4,724 44.90% 5,651 53.71% 147 1.39% −927 −8.81% 10,522 Livingston 11,705 43.72% 14,448 53.97% 617 2.31% −2,743 −10.25% 26,770 Madison 13,871 49.37% 13,622 48.49% 601 2.14% 249 0.88% 28,094 Monroe 193,501 57.97% 133,362 39.95% 6,950 2.08% 60,139 18.02% 333,813 Montgomery 8,493 46.70% 9,334 51.33% 359 1.97% −841 −4.63% 18,186 Nassau 302,695 53.28% 259,308 45.64% 6,148 1.08% 43,387 7.64% 568,151 New York 502,674 83.74% 89,559 14.92% 8,058 1.34% 413,115 68.82% 600,291 Niagara 43,986 49.42% 43,240 48.58% 1,787 2.00% 746 0.84% 89,013 Oneida 40,468 46.68% 44,530 51.36% 1,702 1.96% −4,062 −4.68% 86,700 Onondaga 122,254 59.72% 78,831 38.51% 3,632 1.77% 43,423 21.21% 204,717 Ontario 23,087 48.25% 23,820 49.78% 946 1.97% −733 −1.53% 47,853 Orange 73,315 52.13% 65,367 46.48% 1,946 1.39% 7,948 5.65% 140,628 Orleans 5,787 39.35% 8,594 58.44% 325 2.21% −2,807 −19.09% 14,706 Oswego 23,515 52.73% 19,980 44.81% 1,096 2.46% 3,535 7.92% 44,591 Otsego 12,117 50.20% 11,461 47.48% 561 2.32% 656 2.72% 24,139 Putnam 19,512 44.00% 24,083 54.31% 750 1.69% −4,571 −10.31% 44,345 Queens 470,732 79.08% 118,589 19.92% 5,924 1.00% 352,143 59.16% 595,245 Rensselaer 37,408 54.96% 29,113 42.77% 1,540 2.27% 8,295 12.19% 68,061 Richmond 78,181 50.71% 74,223 48.14% 1,776 1.15% 3,958 2.57% 154,180 Rockland 65,793 52.78% 57,428 46.07% 1,424 1.15% 8,365 6.71% 124,645 Saratoga 52,957 50.19% 50,382 47.75% 2,171 2.06% 2,575 2.44% 105,510 Schenectady 36,844 56.74% 26,568 40.92% 1,521 2.34% 10,276 15.82% 64,933 Schoharie 5,427 41.09% 7,467 56.54% 313 2.37% −2,040 −15.45% 13,207 Schuyler 3,674 45.10% 4,281 52.55% 191 2.35% −607 −7.45% 8,146 Seneca 7,094 53.48% 5,889 44.39% 283 2.13% 1,205 9.09% 13,266 St. Lawrence 21,353 57.41% 15,138 40.70% 700 1.89% 6,215 16.71% 37,191 Steuben 15,787 40.97% 21,954 56.98% 790 2.05% −6,167 −16.01% 38,531 Suffolk 304,079 51.17% 282,131 47.48% 8,056 1.35% 21,948 3.69% 594,266 Sullivan 15,268 53.73% 12,705 44.71% 442 1.56% 2,563 9.02% 28,415 Tioga 8,930 41.36% 12,117 56.13% 542 2.51% −3,187 −14.77% 21,589 Tompkins 27,244 68.48% 11,107 27.92% 1,430 3.60% 16,137 40.56% 39,781 Ulster 47,752 59.97% 29,759 37.37% 2,115 2.66% 17,993 22.60% 79,626 Warren 14,806 50.06% 14,119 47.73% 653 2.21% 687 2.33% 29,578 Washington 11,523 49.89% 11,085 48.00% 487 2.11% 438 1.89% 23,095 Wayne 16,635 44.30% 20,060 53.43% 852 2.27% −3,425 −9.13% 37,547 Westchester 240,785 61.99% 143,122 36.84% 4,540 1.17% 97,663 25.15% 388,447 Wyoming 5,661 34.66% 10,348 63.35% 326 1.99% −4,687 −28.69% 16,335 Yates 4,488 47.53% 4,798 50.82% 156 1.65% −310 −3.29% 9,442Totals4,485,87763.35%2,490,49635.17%105,1631.49%1,995,38128.18%7,081,536

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Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Chautauqua (county seat: Mayville)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Richmond (coterminous with Staten Island, a borough of New York City)

By congressional district Obama swept 24 of the state's 27 congressional districts, including three held by Republicans.