The 2012 United States presidential election in Nebraska 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 five 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.
Prior to the election, Nebraska was considered to be a state that Romney would win or a safe red state. Although statewide elections aren't competitive, Nebraska is one of only two states (along with Maine) which splits its electoral votes based on the winner of each congressional district. The winner of the statewide vote receives two electoral votes and the remaining 3 electoral votes are awarded based on the winner of each congressional district.
Mitt Romney won Nebraska's statewide vote, taking 59.80% of the vote to Barack Obama's 38.03%, a margin of 21.77%, a noticeable improvement over McCain's 15% margin in 2008.
Romney also won all 3 congressional districts, thus winning all 5 of the state's electoral votes. This was a change from 2008, when the state as a whole had voted for Republican John McCain but Democrat Barack Obama still won an electoral vote from the state. Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, home to Omaha, had split with the rest of the state and awarded one of Nebraska's electoral votes to a Democratic presidential nominee for the first time since 1964. Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, Indiana, and North Carolina were the only sources of electoral votes won by Obama in 2008 that Romney managed to flip. This was the first time in the 21st Century that Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District voted for the overall losing presidential candidate, a feat that would be reprised in 2024.
Obama only won a single county, Thurston, largely due to its majority and increasingly politically active Native American population. He also narrowly lost three of four counties he won in 2008: Douglas, Lancaster, and Saline, home to the cities of Omaha, Lincoln, and Crete, respectively. He became the first Democrat since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to win without carrying Saline County.
As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time that the Democrat won Thurston County and the Republican won Douglas or Lancaster County.
Primary elections Democratic primary The Democratic primary was not held as Barack Obama ran unopposed and had secured enough delegates for nomination.
Republican primary
The Republican primary was on May 15, 2012. This primary was purely of an advisory nature. From June 1 to June 10 caucuses county conventions caucused to elect delegates to the state convention. These delegates were not bound to vote for any candidate, but at the state convention on July 14, elected 32 bound National delegates. 3 party leaders attended the National Convention unbound, making a total of 35 voting delegates going to the national convention from Nebraska.
2012 Nebraska Republican primary Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates Mitt Romney 131,436 70.89% 30 Rick Santorum 25,830 13.93% 0 Ron Paul 18,508 9.98% 2 Newt Gingrich 9,628 5.19% 0 Unpledged delegates: 3 Total: 185,402 100.0% 35 Key: Withdrew prior to contest
Convention The State Convention was held in Grand Island on July 14, 2012.
Convention ResultsCandidate1st2nd3rdStatePartyleadersTotalMitt Romney31323232Ron Paul020002Unknown000011Total923335
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 Source1st district2nd district3rd districtAs of New York Times November 6, 2012Sabato's Crystal Ball November 5, 2012
Results 2012 United States presidential election in NebraskaPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votesRepublicanMitt RomneyPaul Ryan475,06459.80%5DemocraticBarack Obama (incumbent)Joe Biden (incumbent) 302,081 38.03% 0LibertarianGary JohnsonJim Gray 11,109 1.40% 0 Write-Ins 3,717 0.47% 0 IndependentRandall Terry Missy Smith 2,408 0.30% 0Totals794,379100.00%5
By county CountyMitt RomneyRepublicanBarack ObamaDemocraticVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal#%#%#%#%Adams8,31665.64%4,06232.06%2922.30%4,25433.58%12,670Antelope2,59680.32%57117.67%652.01%2,02562.65%3,232Arthur22786.64%3011.45%51.91%19775.19%262Banner34684.18%5513.38%102.44%29170.80%411Blaine26888.45%299.57%61.98%23978.88%303Boone2,13876.19%61521.92%531.89%1,52354.27%2,806Box Butte2,86960.98%1,69235.96%1443.06%1,17725.02%4,705Boyd87381.51%18817.55%100.94%68563.96%1,071Brown1,30283.73%22414.41%291.86%1,07869.32%1,555Buffalo13,57069.76%5,36527.58%5182.66%8,20542.18%19,453Burt2,02960.12%1,29138.25%551.63%73821.87%3,375Butler2,73870.95%1,04527.08%761.97%1,69343.87%3,859Cass7,55662.04%4,36735.85%2572.11%3,18926.19%12,180Cedar3,27875.63%95822.10%982.27%2,32053.53%4,334Chase1,58484.84%25413.60%291.56%1,33071.24%1,867Cherry2,55783.45%43614.23%712.32%2,12169.22%3,064Cheyenne3,44974.19%1,08423.32%1162.49%2,36550.87%4,649Clay2,23275.74%66722.63%481.63%1,56553.11%2,947Colfax2,05166.83%96931.57%491.60%1,08235.26%3,069Cuming2,87672.33%1,03125.93%691.74%1,84546.40%3,976Custer4,29678.14%1,08319.70%1192.16%3,21358.44%5,498Dakota3,09450.42%2,92247.62%1201.96%1722.80%6,136Dawes2,47866.47%1,13230.36%1183.17%1,34636.11%3,728Dawson5,46069.47%2,19927.98%2002.55%3,26141.49%7,859Deuel76375.02%21521.14%393.84%54853.88%1,017Dixon1,74564.97%87032.39%712.64%87532.58%2,686Dodge8,99560.17%5,67337.95%2821.88%3,32222.22%14,950Douglas113,22050.56%106,45647.54%4,2511.90%6,7643.02%223,927Dundy79280.41%17617.87%171.72%61662.54%985Fillmore2,00769.71%80728.03%652.26%1,20041.68%2,879Franklin1,11272.40%38425.00%402.60%72847.40%1,536Frontier1,00777.16%27120.77%272.07%73656.39%1,305Furnas1,78279.55%42318.88%351.57%1,35960.67%2,240Gage5,51357.06%3,90340.40%2452.54%1,61016.66%9,661Garden82975.99%24222.18%201.83%58753.81%1,091Garfield76981.81%14915.85%222.34%62065.96%940Gosper73475.05%23023.52%141.43%50451.53%978Grant32288.71%308.26%113.03%29280.45%363Greeley82069.20%34028.69%252.11%48040.51%1,185Hall12,64662.51%7,16135.40%4222.09%5,48527.11%20,229Hamilton3,60073.91%1,14623.53%1252.56%2,45450.38%4,871Harlan1,39578.46%35419.91%291.63%1,04158.55%1,778Hayes47688.31%519.46%122.23%42578.85%539Hitchcock1,17878.80%27418.33%432.87%90460.47%1,495Holt3,92279.41%88217.86%1352.73%3,04061.55%4,939Hooker33083.54%5914.94%61.52%27168.60%395Howard1,89065.85%91431.85%662.30%97634.00%2,870Jefferson2,16662.86%1,19534.68%852.46%97128.18%3,446Johnson1,22559.38%79038.29%482.33%43521.09%2,063Kearney2,34973.87%77324.31%581.82%1,57649.56%3,180Keith3,04475.01%92822.87%862.12%2,11652.14%4,058Keya Paha39381.20%8016.53%112.27%31364.67%484Kimball1,23573.21%39523.41%573.38%84049.80%1,687Knox2,88571.48%1,05926.24%922.28%1,82645.24%4,036Lancaster62,43449.02%62,01548.69%2,9062.29%4190.33%127,355Lincoln10,72868.53%4,45028.43%4773.06%6,27840.10%15,655Logan35682.60%6815.78%71.62%28866.82%431Loup29081.01%6217.32%61.67%22863.69%358Madison10,06272.47%3,48525.10%3382.43%6,57747.37%13,885McPherson23781.44%4114.09%134.47%19667.35%291Merrick2,49071.37%92526.51%742.12%1,56544.86%3,489Morrill1,68176.76%45520.78%542.46%1,22655.98%2,190Nance1,10668.23%48129.67%342.10%62538.56%1,621Nemaha2,01262.60%1,12835.10%742.30%88427.50%3,214Nuckolls1,57471.84%56825.92%492.24%1,00645.92%2,191Otoe4,25860.99%2,56136.68%1632.33%1,69724.31%6,982Pawnee89967.04%40029.83%423.13%49937.21%1,341Perkins1,13581.42%23817.07%211.51%89764.35%1,394Phelps3,40077.63%88020.09%1002.28%2,52057.54%4,380Pierce2,70778.90%63718.57%872.53%2,07060.33%3,431Platte10,06174.68%3,14823.37%2641.95%6,91351.31%13,473Polk1,89076.92%52821.49%391.59%1,36255.43%2,457Red Willow3,89178.83%95219.29%931.88%2,93959.54%4,936Richardson2,44365.34%1,19131.85%1052.81%1,25233.49%3,739Rock67285.17%10313.05%141.78%56972.12%789Saline2,55751.57%2,28946.17%1122.26%2685.40%4,958Sarpy43,21360.45%26,67137.31%1,6062.24%16,54223.14%71,490Saunders6,77065.65%3,30732.07%2352.28%3,46333.58%10,312Scotts Bluff9,64867.53%4,32730.29%3122.18%5,32137.24%14,287Seward5,00366.06%2,38631.51%1842.43%2,61734.55%7,573Sheridan2,02181.76%39015.78%612.46%1,63165.98%2,472Sherman92760.59%55236.08%513.33%37524.51%1,530Sioux62484.44%10113.67%141.89%52370.77%739Stanton1,94973.71%61423.22%813.07%1,33550.49%2,644Thayer1,87470.48%72827.38%572.14%1,14643.10%2,659Thomas36088.24%4210.29%61.47%31877.95%408Thurston93942.39%1,24756.30%291.31%-308-13.91%2,215Valley1,65775.49%49822.69%401.82%1,15952.80%2,195Washington6,89967.33%3,13230.57%2152.10%3,76736.76%10,246Wayne2,49367.71%1,07429.17%1153.12%1,41938.54%3,682Webster1,25872.22%44225.37%422.41%81646.85%1,742Wheeler34577.01%9320.76%102.23%25256.25%448York4,87476.70%1,37321.61%1081.69%3,50155.09%6,355Totals475,06459.80%302,08138.03%17,2342.17%172,98321.77%794,379
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Douglas (largest city: Omaha) Lancaster (largest city: Lincoln) Saline (largest city: Crete)
By congressional district Romney won all three of Nebraska's congressional districts.
District Romney Obama Representative 57% 41%Jeff Fortenberry 53% 46%Lee Terry 70% 28%Adrian Smith
See also United States presidential elections in Nebraska 2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries Nebraska Republican Party
References
External links The Green Papers: for Nebraska The Green Papers: Major state elections in chronological order