The 2012 United States presidential election in Rhode Island 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. Rhode Island voters chose four 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.

Also on the ballot were Libertarian nominee, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson and his running mate, jurist Jim Gray. The left-wing Green Party nominated activist and physician Jill Stein and her running mate, anti-poverty advocate Cheri 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 when Donald Trump won Kent County in 2016 – 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 since 1988, and has only voted for a Republican nominee four times since 1928 (all of which in landslide elections). State politics are dominated by the Providence and Warwick metropolitan areas, and Providence County gave Obama his largest margin in the state at 34.92%. However, white working 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.

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

Primary elections

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

No candidate ran against incumbent President Barack 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 214 write-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.

Rhode Island 2012 Democratic presidential primaryCandidateVotesPercentageAwarded Delegates Barack Obama (incumbent) 6,759 83.38% 35 Uncommitted 1,133 13.98% Write-in 214 2.64% Unannounced 5 Totals 8,106 100.00% 40

Republican primary

The 2012 Rhode Island Republican presidential primary took place on April 24, 2012. Former Massachusetts Governor and frontrunner Mitt Romney received 63.02% of the vote, followed by U.S. Representative from Texas Ron Paul with 23.85% and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich with 6.04%. Former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum, who dropped out on April 10, received 5.66% of the vote.

2012 Rhode Island Republican presidential primaryState of Rhode Island official election results 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

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 Rhode IslandPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Barack Obama (incumbent) Joe Biden (incumbent) 279,677 62.70% 4 Republican Mitt Romney Paul Ryan 157,204 35.24% 0 Libertarian Gary Johnson Jim Gray 4,388 0.98% 0 Green Jill Stein Cheri Honkala 2,421 0.54% 0 Others & write-in 2,359 0.53% 0 Totals 446,049 100.00% 4 Voter turnout 60.79%

By county County Barack ObamaDemocratic Mitt RomneyRepublican Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Bristol 14,974 60.68% 9,231 37.41% 471 1.91% 5,743 23.27% 24,676 Kent 45,564 57.73% 31,567 40.00% 1,792 2.27% 13,997 17.73% 78,923 Newport 23,463 59.47% 15,202 38.53% 787 2.00% 8,261 20.94% 39,452 Providence 159,520 66.53% 75,785 31.61% 4,481 1.86% 83,735 34.92% 239,786 Washington 35,888 57.07% 25,366 40.34% 1,625 2.59% 10,522 16.73% 62,879Totals279,67762.70%157,20435.24%9,1682.06%122,47327.46%446,049

By congressional district Obama won both congressional districts.

District Obama Romney Representative 66.21% 32.18%David Cicilline 59.84% 38.29%James Langevin

See also 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

References

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