The 2012 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary took place on Tuesday, January 10, 2012, as the second major contest of the primary cycle following the Iowa caucuses the previous week. New Hampshire's 28 pledged delegates to the Democratic National Convention were allocated based on the results of the primary.
Incumbent President Barack Obama won the primary in a landslide facing no major opposition to his candidacy.
Procedure The presidential primary was semi-closed, meaning voters registered as Democrats or independents were eligible to vote.
New Hampshire was allocated 35 delegates to the Democratic National Convention: 28 were allocated based on the results of the primary, with the other seven being unpledged superdelegates.
In order to qualify for delegates, a candidate had to receive at least 15% of the vote statewide or in at least one congressional district. 10 of New Hampshire's delegates were allocated based on the statewide popular vote, consisting of six at-large delegates and four pledged PLEOs (party leaders and elected officials). Each of New Hampshire's two congressional districts were allotted nine pledged delegates.
Candidates The following candidates qualified to appear on the ballot: Randall Terry, West Virginia Aldous Tyler, Wisconsin John Wolfe Jr., Tennessee Ed Cowan, Vermont Bob Ely, Illinois Craig "Tax Freeze" Freis, California Bob Greene, California John D. Haywood, North Carolina Robert B. Jordan, California Barack Obama, Illinois Cornelius Edward O'Connor, Florida Edward T. O'Donnell, Jr., Delaware Darcy Richardson, Florida Vermin Supreme, Massachusetts
Lesser-Known Candidates Forum As it has done ahead of every New Hampshire presidential primary since 1972, the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College hosted its Lesser-Known Candidates Forum on December 19, 2011. Seven of the invited Democratic candidates participated in the forum: Ed Cowan, Bob Greene, John D. Haywood, Ed O'Donnell, Vermin Supreme, Randall Terry and John Wolfe Jr.
During the forum, satirical perennial candidate Vermin Supreme stood up and glitterbombed fellow candidate Randall Terry, founder of the anti-abortion organization Operation Rescue and vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, saying "Jesus told me to turn Randy Terry gay."
Results With a lack of major challengers to his renomination, incumbent president Barack Obama won the primary with over 80% of votes cast. Congressman Ron Paul, who finished second in the state's Republican presidential primary, won more than three percent of the vote through write-ins and placed second to Obama in the primary. Republican candidates Mitt Romney, who won the Republican primary, and Jon Huntsman Jr., who finished third, won more votes than Ed Cowan, the Democratic candidate who won the most votes other than Obama. 2012 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primaryCandidateVotes%DelegatesBarack Obama (incumbent)49,08080.9128Ron Paul (write-in)2,2893.77 rowspan="27" Mitt Romney (write-in)1,8142.99Jon Huntsman Jr. (write-in)1,2382.04Ed Cowan9451.56Vermin Supreme8331.37Randall Terry4420.73John D. Haywood4230.70Craig "Tax Freeze" Freis4000.66Rick Santorum (write-in)3020.50Bob Ely2870.47Newt Gingrich (write-in)2760.46Cornelius O'Connor2660.44Darcy Richardson2640.44John Wolfe Jr.2450.40Ed O'Donnell2220.37Bob Greene2130.35Robert B. Jordan1550.26Aldous Tyler1060.17Buddy Roemer (write-in)290.05Fred Karger (write-in)260.04Rick Perry (write-in)170.03Stewart Greenleaf (write-in)40.01Gary Johnson (write-in)40.01Michael Meehan (write-in)20.00Michele Bachmann (write-in)20.00Herman Cain (write-in)10.00Other write-ins7721.27Total60,659100%28
See also
2012 New Hampshire Republican presidential primary 2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries
References