The 2012 United States presidential election in Tennessee was held on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Tennessee voters chose 11 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 easily carried Tennessee's 11 electoral votes, with 59.42% of the statewide vote to Obama's 39.04% and a 20.38% margin of victory. Tennessee has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since 1996, when Bill Clinton of neighboring Arkansas won it along with many other Southern states, nor has the state done so with a majority of the vote share since Jimmy Carter of neighboring Georgia carried it in 1976. Thus, Tennessee has been seen as part of the modern-day red wall in the 21st century. After 1996, the state has been growing more Republican with almost each election.
Winning Tennessee by 501,621 votes, Mitt Romney achieved his second-largest margin of victory by vote count nationwide, surpassed only by his 1,261,719-vote margin in Texas, also located in the South. Romney gained ground in every county, significantly outperforming prior GOP presidential candidates in rural areas, particularly in Middle Tennessee. Notably, Romney also flipped two counties, Houston and Jackson, to the Republican column. Both of these majority-white counties had been Democratic strongholds with their strong ties to secessionism: they had each only voted for a Republican presidential nominee once prior to this election, in 1928 and 1920, respectively. Thus, Obama became the first Democrat to be elected without either county. As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time in which Hardeman County was won by the Democratic presidential nominee.
As consistent with the rest of the country, Obama carried heavily populated and diverse counties. The largest county, Shelby, was won by Obama by a 26.05% margin due to it being home to Memphis, Tennessee's largest city. In addition, the home of the state capital of Nashville, Davidson County, went to Obama by 18.53%. Hardeman and Haywood counties, both low-populated rural counties in West Tennessee, also went to Obama due to their high African American populations (42.2% and 50.6%, respectively). However, rural areas – including areas in the northwestern portion of the state that had long favored Democratic candidates – saw heavy margins for Romney, allowing him to offset Obama's wins in large cities. The eastern region of the state in Appalachia, some of the most historically Republican and Unionist counties in the country, saw margins of over 70% for the Republican ticket. This was the first election since 1908 in which Tennessee backed the national loser a second consecutive time. Obama is the only Democrat to ever win two terms without carrying the state at least once.
Primary elections Democratic primary
The 2012 Democratic primary in Tennessee took place on Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012, with Barack Obama receiving 80,355 (88.5%) votes. Other candidates received a combined total of 10,411 (11.5%) votes. Tennessee had a total of 91 delegates to the 2012 Democratic National Convention, of which 82 were pledged to presidential contenders depending on the popular vote. The remaining 9 super-delegates were unbound. + Tennessee Democratic primary, 2012CandidatePopular voteDelegatesCountPercentagePledged delegatesSuper delegatesTotal delegates Barack Obama (incumbent)80,70588.48%82991Uncommitted10,49711.51%000John Wolfe Jr. (write-in)70.00%000Total:91,209100.00%82991
Republican primary
The Republican primary took place on Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012.
Tennessee has 58 delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention. Three superdelegates are unbound. 27 delegates are awarded by congressional district, 3 delegates for each district. If a candidate wins two-thirds of the vote in a district, he takes all 3 delegates there; if not, delegates are split 2-to-1 between the top two candidates. Another 28 delegates are awarded to the candidate who wins two-thirds of the vote statewide, or allocated proportionately among candidates winning at least 20% of the vote if no one gets two-thirds.
Former Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum won the primary with a plurality, carrying 37.11% of the vote and all but four counties, awarding him 29 delegates. Former Massachusetts Governor and eventual nominee, Mitt Romney, came second with 28.06% of the vote and 19 delegates. He carried only three counties: Davidson, Loudon, and Williamson. Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich of neighboring Georgia, came third with 23.96% of the vote and 9 delegates, carrying only the county of Marion. Representative from Texas Ron Paul received 9.04% of the vote and all other candidates received under 1% of the vote.
Results + Tennessee Republican primary, 2012 Candidate Votes Percentage Projected delegate count NYT CNN FOX Rick Santorum 205,809 37.11% 29 27 26 Mitt Romney 155,630 28.06% 14 15 12 Newt Gingrich 132,889 23.96% 9 8 9 Ron Paul 50,156 9.04% 0 0 0 Rick Perry (withdrawn) 1,966 0.35% 0 0 0 Michele Bachmann (withdrawn) 1,895 0.34% 0 0 0 Jon Huntsman (withdrawn) 1,239 0.22% 0 0 0 Buddy Roemer (withdrawn) 881 0.16% 0 0 0 Gary Johnson (withdrawn) 572 0.10% 0 0 0 Uncommitted 3,536 0.64% 0 0 0 Unprojected delegates: 6 8 9 Total: 554,573 100.00% 58 58 58
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
Electoral slates The following individuals were nominated as presidential electors: Mitt Romney and Paul RyanRepublican PartyBarack Obama and Joe BidenDemocratic PartyGary Johnson and James P. GrayLibertarian PartyJill Stein and Cheri HonkalaGreen PartyJennie T. McCabeDavid SnodgrassScott NiswongerJoe BaileyJerry SinkAndy AdamsBob RialRuth HagertyKurt HolbertAnnabel WoodallRobert Bradley MartinChip ForresterGale Jones CarsonBruce ShineGloria JohnsonJustin WilkinsSandra PerkinsonJerry MaynardDavid HarperGerard StranchDavid JohnsonLois DeBerryMichael ManessJay PolkMaria C. MitchellGina ChandlerChristopher BlalockHeather ScottJohn T. Polk IIBarry SimmonsJames L. TomasikDaniel T. LewisSteven RodriguezRobert SmithMartin PleasantMike BascomJoan ThomasElizabeth DachowskiDanville SweetonKatey A. CulverEdward M. MaclinScott BanburyHoward SwitzerMartin HolsingerVirgil Goode and Jim ClymerConstitution PartyRocky Anderson and Luis J. RodriguezJustice PartyMerlin Miller and Virginia AbernethyAmerican Third PositionDonald PhillipsKelleigh NelsonH. James HeadingsEdward JohnsonBrian WebbDavid GravesWilliam Robert DavidsonCharles W. LewisJames M. WebbJoseph R. CoffeyConnie WiggsSteven DentonMorna K. ErwinAmy ClarkKenneth R. ClarkKelly L. GrooverMackenzie NellisBarry D. EvansJason MoodyJames C. WilliamsPamela G. EvansJon K. ShellSusan V. MillerThomas H. PierceDanielle KinserJim DooleyC. Gregory SmithJaniece D. HamblenLisa S. SealsJames EdwardsWilliam A. RolenSusan A. Pope HelmanWilliam R. Simms
Results
+ United States presidential election in Tennessee, 2012PartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican Mitt Romney Paul Ryan 1,462,330 59.42% 11 Democratic Barack Obama (incumbent) Joe Biden (incumbent) 960,709 39.04% 0 Libertarian Gary Johnson Jim Gray 18,623 0.67% 0 Green Jill Stein Cheri Honkala 6,515 0.26% 0 Constitution Virgil Goode Jim Clymer 6,022 0.24% 0 Justice Rocky Anderson Luis J. Rodriguez 2,639 0.11% 0 American Third Position Merlin Miller Virginia D. Abernethy 1,739 0.07% 0 Totals 2,458,577 100.00% 11
By county