The 2012 United States presidential election in Alaska 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. Alaska 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.
Prior to the election, all leading news organizations considered this a state Romney would win, making Alaska a safe red state. Romney won the state of Alaska with 54.80% of the vote, while Obama received 40.81%. State of Alaska 2012 General Election Official Results This was the first time since 1968 that a Democrat received more than 40% of the vote in Alaska. No Democrat has won Alaska since it was won by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
Although Romney easily won its three electoral votes, it was one of six states to swing toward Obama relative to 2008, when Alaska was won with a 21.5% margin of victory by Republican nominee John McCain running with the incumbent governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, as his vice-presidential candidate. Obama closed his margin of defeat by 7.55% compared to his 2008 loss, thereby making it the state with the strongest Democratic gain in 2012.
Obama also flipped seven boroughs and census areas that he had lost in 2008. As of the 2024 election, this is the last election in which Haines Borough voted for the Republican candidate.
Caucuses Democratic caucuses The Alaska Democratic caucuses were held from April 10 to 14, 2012, with the state party convention being held from May 11 to 13. Precincts within House Districts combined to hold caucuses to pledge delegates to the State Convention. Obama ran mostly unopposed (with the exception of Randall Terry, who was on the ballot but received no votes) and consequently received all of the 500 popular votes and 24 delegates.
Republican caucuses
The Alaska Republican caucuses were held Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012. The presidential preference poll portion of the caucuses was scheduled between 4 pm and 8 pm local time (which is 8 pm to midnight EST) at locations across the state and one caucus in Washington, D.C.
Similar to the 2012 Nevada caucuses, the results of the presidential preference poll will be used to directly and proportionately apportion 24 national convention delegates among the candidates. Another 3 super delegates are unbound and not determined by the caucus results.
2012 Alaska Republican presidential caucusesNew York Times, Retrieved March 23, 2012. Candidate Votes Percentage Estimated national delegates Mitt Romney 4,285 32.42% 8Rick Santorum 3,860 29.20% 7 Ron Paul 3,175 24.02% 6 Newt Gingrich 1,865 14.11% 3 Uncommitted 34 0.26% Unprojected delegates: 3 Totals 13,219 100.00% 27
General election Predictions SourceRankingAs ofHuffington PostNovember 6, 2012CNNNovember 6, 2012 The New York Times November 6, 2012The Washington PostNovember 6, 2012RealClearPoliticsNovember 6, 2012Sabato's Crystal BallNovember 5, 2012FiveThirtyEightNovember 6, 2012
Candidate ballot access Barack Obama/Joseph Biden, Democratic Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan, Republican Gary Johnson/James P. Gray, Libertarian Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala, Green Write-in candidate access Rocky Anderson/Luis J. Rodriguez, Justice
Results 2012 United States presidential election in AlaskaPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votesRepublicanMitt RomneyPaul Ryan164,67654.80%3DemocraticBarack Obama (incumbent)Joe Biden (incumbent) 122,640 40.81% 0LibertarianGary JohnsonJim Gray 7,392 2.46% 0GreenJill SteinCheri Honkala 2,917 0.97% 0 Write-ins Write-ins 2,870 0.96% 0Totals300,495100.00%3
Boroughs and census areas that flipped from Republican to Democratic
Aleutians West Census Area (largest city: Unalaska) Dilingham Census Area (largest city: Dilingham) Lake & Peninsula Borough (largest city: Newhalen) North Slope Borough (largest city: Barrow) Northwest Arctic Borough (largest city: Kotzebue) Prince of Wales–Hyder Census Area (largest city: Craig) Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area (largest city: Fort Yukon)
By congressional district Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated. This district, an at-large district because it covers the entire state, is thus equivalent to the statewide election results. District Romney Obama RepresentativeAt-large 54.80% 40.81%Don Young
See also List of 2012 United States presidential electors 2012 United States presidential election 2008 United States presidential election in Alaska 2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries Alaska Democratic Party Alaska Republican Party United States presidential elections in Alaska
Notes
References
External links The Green Papers: for Alaska The Green Papers: Major state elections in chronological order Official website of the Alaska Republican Party Official website of the Alaska Democratic Party