The 2012 Colorado Republican presidential caucuses took place on 7 February 2012. It was part of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries.
The Republican caucuses were held on "Republican Party Precinct Caucus Day" (February 7, 2012). Caucus locations opened on 9 PM, February 7, 2012, with 36 delegates at stake; 33 of which are tied to the caucuses while 3 are unpledged RNC delegates. The event occurred alongside the Minnesota Republican caucuses as well the Missouri Republican primary. The race was widely expected to be won by Mitt Romney even on the day of the caucus, but a strong surge by Rick Santorum across all three races that day carried him to a close victory. However, the delegates were not legally bound to follow voter preferences, and most voted for Romney.
Background
The Colorado legislature adopted the caucus system in a special session called by Governor John F. Shafroth in August 1910 as part of a package of progressive reforms. It was seen as a way to limit the power of party bosses and to attract more grassroots involvement. The caucus system was abolished in favor of presidential primaries in 1992 but restored in 2002 with the defeat of Amendment 292002 Amendment 29 and cost considerations. The fully restored Colorado Caucus was in 2004.
Of the candidates in the 2008 Colorado Republican presidential caucuses, two candidates - Mitt Romney and Ron Paul - would return to contest the state once again 2012. In 2008, these candidates had won 60.11% and 8.42% of the vote respectively.
Polling Polling in 2010 and 2011 showed mixed results, with Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich being the favoured candidate depending on the poll. Polls leading up to election day showed Romney as the frontrunner. Poll sourceDate1st2nd3rdOtherCaucus resultsCaucus results Turnout: 66,091Feb. 7, 2012Rick Santorum 40.3% Mitt Romney 34.9%Newt Gingrich 12.8%Ron Paul 11.8%, Rick Perry 0.1%, Jon Huntsman 0.1%, Michele Bachmann 0.0%, Others 0.1%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling Margin of error: ±3.2% Sample size: 938Feb. 4–6, 2012Mitt Romney37%Rick Santorum 27%Newt Gingrich 21%Ron Paul 13%, Someone else/Not sure 2%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling Margin of error: ±4.3% Sample size: 527Feb. 4, 2012Mitt Romney40%Rick Santorum 26%Newt Gingrich 18%Ron Paul 12%, Someone else/Not sure 3%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling Margin of error: ±4.4% Sample size: 500Dec. 1–4, 2011Newt Gingrich37%Mitt Romney 18%Michele Bachmann 9%Ron Paul 6%, Rick Perry 4%, Rick Santorum 4%, Jon Huntsman 3%, Gary Johnson 1%, Undecided 16%Project New West/Keating ResearchProject New West/Keating Research Margin of error: ±7.2% Sample size: –Sep. 19–22, 2011Mitt Romney24%Rick Perry20%Michele Bachmann 7%Newt Gingrich 7%, Herman Cain 5%, undecided 19%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling Margin of error: ±5.5% Sample size: 314Aug. 4–7, 2011Rick Perry20%Mitt Romney20%Michele Bachmann 12%Sarah Palin 11%, Ron Paul 8%, Herman Cain 7%, Newt Gingrich 6%, Tim Pawlenty 3%, Jon Huntsman 2%, someone else/undecided 11%Mitt Romney22%Rick Perry21%Michele Bachmann 15%Newt Gingrich 9%, Ron Paul 7%, Tim Pawlenty 6%, Herman Cain 5%, Jon Huntsman 2%, someone else/undecided 13%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling Margin of error: ±4.9% Sample size: 400Feb. 4–6, 2011Mitt Romney19%Mike Huckabee16%Sarah Palin16%Newt Gingrich 12%, Ron Paul 9%, Tim Pawlenty 7%, John Thune 4%, Mitch Daniels 3%, someone else/undecided 16%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling Margin of error: ±5.3% Sample size: 341Oct. 30–31, 2010Mitt Romney22%Newt Gingrich17%Sarah Palin17%Mike Huckabee 14%, Tim Pawlenty 6%, Mike Pence 3%, John Thune 2%, Mitch Daniels 1%, someone else/undecided 18%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling Margin of error: ±4.6% Sample size: 448May 14–16, 2010Sarah Palin29%Mitt Romney25%Mike Huckabee 18%Newt Gingrich 16%, Ron Paul 9%, undecided 3%Public Policy PollingPublic Policy Polling Margin of error: ±4.4% Sample size: 497Mar. 5–8, 2010Mitt Romney44%Sarah Palin 25%Mike Huckabee 17%Undecided 14%
Results Colorado Republican caucus, February 7, 2012CandidateVotesPercentageProjected delegate countConvention Results The Republic,CO GOP Assembly (April 22, 2012)MSNBC "Republican Caucuses " (May 7, 2012). MSNBC.GP "Republican Caucus"Rick Santorum26,61440.31%666Mitt Romney23,01234.85%131413Newt Gingrich8,44512.79%000Ron Paul7,75911.75%300Rick Perry520.08%000Jon Huntsman460.07%000Michele Bachmann280.04%000Others710.11%000Unprojected delegates:1400Unpledged delegates:01617Totals:66,027100.00%363636 Key: Withdrewprior to contest
Conventions There is no formal system of allocating delegates to candidates in any step of the election process. At each meeting the participants decides what the best course of action is.None of the 36 delegates are legally bound to vote for a candidate. 12–13 April: Seven congressional conventions elects 3 National Convention delegates each and also elects delegates for the state convention. 14 April: State convention elects 12 National Convention delegates. Convention ResultsCandidate1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7thStateParty leadersTotalUncommitted22220114317Mitt Romney00101218013Rick Santorum1101201006Total2112336
Analysis The Colorado caucuses were held on the same day as elections in Minnesota and Missouri. All three contests broke for Santorum. This was seen as undermining Romney's status as frontrunner.
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