2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky

The 2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 General Election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Kentucky voters chose 8 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.

Main article: 2012 United States presidential election

2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky

November 6, 2012
Turnout	59.70%[1]
Nominee Mitt Romney Barack Obama Party Republican Democratic Home state Massachusetts Illinois Running mate Paul Ryan Joe Biden Electoral vote 8 0 Popular vote 1,087,190 679,370 Percentage 60.49% 37.80%
County Results Romney   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90% Obama   40–50%   50–60%
President before election Barack Obama Democratic Elected President Barack Obama Democratic

Romney carried Kentucky by a landslide margin, winning 60.49% of the vote to Barack Obama's 37.80%, a margin of 22.69%.

Although Kentucky had been won by Southern Democrat Bill Clinton twice in the 1990s, Obama was seen as a poor cultural fit for the state, and he did not compete here either time he ran.

The Romney campaign also attacked Obama's administration as being hostile to the coal industry, historically an important part of the state's economy, because of its environmental harm. Consequently, Obama suffered a historically poor showing in the traditionally staunchly Democratic coalfields of Eastern Kentucky. Many counties which had voted even for landslide Democratic losers like George McGovern and Walter Mondale defected to the Republicans. Knott County, which had given Bill Clinton 73% of the vote in 1996, gave Mitt Romney 73% of the vote in 2012. Even Elliott County, the only county in the state in which Obama had broken 60% in 2008, barely held on in 2012, giving Obama a narrow 49-47 plurality win, his only victory in the region, and one of just 4 county wins in the entire state.

The only part of the state where Obama won convincingly was Jefferson County, the most urban and populous county in the state, where Louisville is located. He also eked out a close win in Fayette County, the second most populous county, home to Lexington. Obama's fourth county victory came from flipping Franklin County, home to the state capital of Frankfort, which he had narrowly lost in 2008.

General election

Results

On election night, Kentucky went as expected to the Republican candidate Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney over Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama of bordering Illinois. Obama was reelected but nonetheless, lost Kentucky. In most recent years Democrats have maintained their lead in registered voters compared to Republicans.[2] However, Kentucky is known as a highly conservative state with a populist streak. In most recent presidential elections in Kentucky, Democrats usually achieve lower 40 or upper 30% margins. Obama performed significantly worse in 2012 than he did in 2008. Appalachian Kentucky used to be a place were Democrats thrived because of working-class people, particularly unionized coal miners.[3] However this region has become more and more Republican in recent years. Romney performed, for the most part, very well statewide. Obama won four counties. Obama was however able to maintain a solid performance in perhaps the most Democratic place in the state, Jefferson County (Louisville Metro). The other counties Obama won were Franklin, Elliott and Fayette.

United States presidential election in Kentucky, 2012[4]
Party		Candidate	Running mate	Votes	Percentage	Electoral votes
	Republican	Mitt Romney	Paul Ryan	1,087,190	60.49%	8
	Democratic	Barack Obama	Joe Biden	679,370	37.80%	0
	Libertarian	Gary Johnson	Jim Gray	17,063	0.95%	0
	Independent	Randall Terry	Missy Smith	6,872	0.38%	0
	Green	Jill Stein	Cheri Honkala	6,337	0.35%	0
	Others			380	0.02%	0
Totals				1,797,212	100.00%	8
Voter turnout (registered voters)						59.24%

By county

County	Romney%	Romney#	Obama%	Obama#	Others%	Others#	Totals
Adair	75.67%	5,841	21.51%	1,660	1.28%	99	7,719
Allen	72.39%	5,184	25.25%	1,808	1.49%	107	7,161
Anderson	65.38%	6,822	31.77%	3,315	1.73%	181	10,435
Ballard	67.23%	2,647	30.20%	1,189	1.50%	59	3,937
Barren	65.09%	10,922	32.18%	5,400	1.45%	243	16,780
Bath	52.43%	2,275	40.79%	1,770	1.77%	77	4,339
Bell	74.89%	7,127	23.37%	2,224	1.38%	131	9,517
Boone	68.06%	35,920	29.61%	15,628	1.79%	947	52,776
Bourbon	58.42%	4,692	38.28%	3,075	1.77%	142	8,032
Boyd	56.10%	10,883	40.08%	7,776	1.96%	381	19,399
Boyle	61.81%	7,703	35.88%	4,471	1.56%	194	12,462
Bracken	60.53%	2,029	34.22%	1,147	1.61%	54	3,352
Breathitt	63.62%	3,318	29.95%	1,562	2.45%	128	5,215
Breckinridge	62.27%	5,025	35.01%	2,825	1.45%	117	8,070
Bullitt	66.51%	21,306	31.13%	9,971	1.55%	498	32,032
Butler	72.66%	3,716	25.28%	1,293	0.96%	49	5,114
Caldwell	66.06%	3,904	31.34%	1,852	1.76%	104	5,910
Calloway	62.15%	9,438	34.99%	5,314	2.05%	312	15,186
Campbell	59.95%	24,240	37.30%	15,080	2.11%	853	40,434
Carlisle	69.09%	1,835	28.24%	750	1.28%	34	2,656
Carroll	53.54%	1,999	43.63%	1,629	1.39%	52	3,734
Carter	59.27%	5,279	37.99%	3,383	2.74%	244	8,906
Casey	80.51%	4,904	17.83%	1,086	1.66%	101	6,091
Christian	61.38%	13,475	37.59%	8,252	1.03%	226	21,953
Clark	64.45%	9,931	33.93%	5,228	1.63%	251	15,410
Clay	83.65%	6,176	15.05%	1,111	1.30%	96	7,383
Clinton	81.24%	3,569	17.12%	752	1.64%	72	4,393
Crittenden	73.66%	2,839	24.91%	960	1.43%	55	3,854
Cumberland	77.67%	2,216	21.00%	599	1.33%	38	2,853
Daviess	59.63%	25,092	38.52%	16,208	1.85%	779	42,079
Edmonson	69.30%	3,232	29.46%	1,374	1.24%	58	4,664
Elliott	46.94%	1,126	49.44%	1,186	3.63%	87	2,399
Estill	72.32%	3,749	26.16%	1,356	1.52%	79	5,184
Fayette	48.32%	60,793	49.34%	62,078	2.34%	2,950	125,821
Fleming	65.38%	3,780	33.05%	1,911	1.57%	91	5,782
Floyd	65.71%	9,784	31.79%	4,733	2.51%	373	14,890
Franklin	48.61%	11,345	49.43%	11,535	1.96%	457	23,337
Fulton	57.44%	1,425	41.19%	1,022	1.37%	34	2,481
Gallatin	57.45%	1,758	40.46%	1,238	2.09%	64	3,060
Garrard	75.03%	5,310	23.47%	1,661	1.50%	106	7,077
Grant	65.81%	5,664	32.65%	2,810	1.53%	132	8,606
Graves	69.06%	10,699	29.35%	4,547	1.59%	247	15,493
Grayson	69.09%	6,404	29.60%	2,744	1.31%	121	9,269
Green	74.84%	3,634	23.99%	1,165	1.17%	57	4,856
Greenup	58.41%	8,855	39.76%	6,027	1.83%	277	15,159
Hancock	53.52%	2,212	44.35%	1,833	2.13%	88	4,133
Hardin	59.57%	23,357	38.80%	15,214	1.63%	641	39,212
Harlan	81.19%	8,653	17.17%	1,830	1.64%	175	10,658
Harrison	63.60%	4,556	34.50%	2,471	1.90%	136	7,163
Hart	64.28%	4,256	34.48%	2,283	1.24%	82	6,621
Henderson	55.31%	10,296	43.47%	8,091	1.22%	227	18,614
Henry	59.83%	3,940	38.42%	2,530	1.75%	115	6,585
Hickman	66.90%	1,431	32.07%	686	1.03%	22	2,139
Hopkins	69.22%	13,681	29.29%	5,789	1.49%	295	19,765
Jackson	86.15%	4,365	12.20%	618	1.66%	84	5,067
Jefferson	43.72%	148,423	54.84%	186,179	1.45%	4,922	339,524
Jessamine	69.02%	14,232	29.10%	6,001	1.88%	387	20,620
Johnson	78.53%	7,095	19.07%	1,723	2.40%	217	9,035
Kenton	61.15%	41,387	36.82%	24,917	2.03%	1,375	67,679
Knott	72.55%	4,130	24.94%	1,420	2.51%	143	5,693
Knox	76.28%	8,467	22.38%	2,484	1.34%	149	11,100
LaRue	67.85%	3,911	30.07%	1,733	2.08%	120	5,764
Laurel	81.00%	18,151	17.43%	3,906	1.57%	352	22,409
Lawrence	71.44%	3,995	27.18%	1,520	1.38%	77	5,592
Lee	75.37%	1,977	22.68%	595	1.94%	51	2,623
Leslie	89.68%	4,439	8.75%	433	1.58%	78	4,950
Letcher	77.77%	6,811	19.43%	1,702	2.80%	245	8,758
Lewis	69.74%	3,326	28.14%	1,342	2.12%	101	4,769
Lincoln	70.10%	6,416	28.21%	2,582	1.68%	154	9,152
Livingston	68.48%	3,089	29.84%	1,346	1.68%	76	4,511
Logan	65.65%	6,899	33.01%	3,469	1.34%	141	10,509
Lyon	62.85%	2,412	35.77%	1,373	1.38%	53	3,838
Madison	63.42%	21,128	34.55%	11,512	2.03%	677	33,317
Magoffin	69.12%	3,391	29.21%	1,433	1.67%	82	4,906
Marion	51.94%	3,800	46.72%	3,418	1.34%	98	7,316
Marshall	66.20%	10,402	31.96%	5,022	1.85%	290	15,714
Martin	83.14%	3,180	15.01%	574	1.86%	71	3,825
Mason	60.99%	4,194	37.70%	2,592	1.31%	90	6,876
McCracken	65.42%	19,979	32.95%	10,062	1.63%	499	30,540
McCreary	80.01%	4,564	18.74%	1,069	1.24%	71	5,704
McLean	64.40%	2,705	34.10%	1,432	1.50%	63	4,200
Meade	60.52%	6,606	37.76%	4,122	1.71%	187	10,915
Menifee	57.12%	1,484	40.34%	1,048	2.54%	66	2,598
Mercer	68.64%	6,820	29.85%	2,966	1.51%	150	9,936
Metcalfe	63.96%	2,676	34.06%	1,425	1.98%	83	4,184
Monroe	79.27%	3,762	19.72%	936	1.01%	48	4,746
Montgomery	62.43%	6,398	36.11%	3,701	1.45%	149	10,248
Morgan	67.55%	3,021	30.61%	1,369	1.83%	82	4,472
Muhlenberg	60.94%	7,762	37.46%	4,771	1.60%	204	12,737
Nelson	57.59%	10,673	41.07%	7,611	1.34%	248	18,532
Nicholas	61.36%	1,583	36.74%	948	1.90%	49	2,580
Ohio	67.07%	6,470	30.97%	2,987	1.96%	189	9,646
Oldham	67.55%	20,179	30.93%	9,240	1.52%	454	29,873
Owen	65.23%	2,971	32.95%	1,501	1.82%	83	4,555
Owsley	80.95%	1,279	17.91%	283	1.14%	18	1,580
Pendleton	64.26%	3,556	33.59%	1,859	2.15%	119	5,534
Perry	78.52%	8,040	19.99%	2,047	1.49%	153	10,240
Pike	74.43%	17,589	23.89%	5,645	1.68%	398	23,632
Powell	61.38%	2,726	36.48%	1,620	2.14%	95	4,441
Pulaski	79.66%	20,714	19.14%	4,976	1.20%	313	26,003
Robertson	61.93%	579	36.36%	340	1.71%	16	935
Rockcastle	80.89%	5,028	17.65%	1,097	1.46%	91	6,216
Rowan	52.81%	4,035	44.99%	3,438	2.20%	168	7,641
Russell	80.26%	6,346	18.27%	1,445	1.47%	116	7,907
Scott	61.65%	12,679	36.63%	7,532	1.72%	354	20,565
Shelby	63.19%	11,790	35.55%	6,634	1.26%	235	18,659
Simpson	61.43%	4,355	37.38%	2,650	1.18%	84	7,089
Spencer	67.92%	5,726	30.23%	2,549	1.85%	156	8,431
Taylor	68.98%	7,551	30.00%	3,284	1.01%	111	10,946
Todd	68.82%	3,247	29.74%	1,403	1.44%	68	4,718
Trigg	67.06%	4,520	31.38%	2,115	1.56%	105	6,740
Trimble	60.25%	2,133	38.28%	1,355	1.47%	52	3,540
Union	66.14%	3,952	32.49%	1,941	1.37%	82	5,975
Warren	60.12%	26,384	38.29%	16,805	1.59%	700	43,889
Washington	66.98%	3,495	31.99%	1,669	1.03%	54	5,218
Wayne	73.36%	5,289	25.73%	1,855	0.92%	66	7,210
Webster	65.94%	3,607	32.27%	1,765	1.79%	98	5,470
Whitley	78.30%	10,232	20.53%	2,683	1.17%	153	13,068
Wolfe	60.26%	1,542	38.14%	976	1.60%	41	2,559
Woodford	58.54%	7,219	39.60%	4,883	1.87%	230	12,332
Totals	60.49%	1,087,190	37.80%	679,370	1.70%	30,652	1,797,212

Democratic primary

Barack Obama's only "opponent" in the primary was the "Uncommited" ballot option, which garnered more than 42% of the primary vote, making Kentucky one of Obama's worst contested primary results.[5]

Kentucky Democratic primary, 2012[6]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
Barack Obama	119,293	57.85%	39
Uncommitted	86,925	42.15%	34

Kentucky Democratic primary, 2012

May 22, 2012 (2012-05-22)

Candidate Barack Obama Uncommited Home state Illinois n/a Delegate count 39 34 Popular vote 119,293 86,925 Percentage 57.85% 42.15%

Kentucky results by county   Barack Obama   Uncommited   Tie

Republican primary

Kentucky Republican primary, 2012

May 22, 2012 (2012-05-22)

Candidate Mitt Romney Ron Paul Rick Santorum Home state Massachusetts Texas Pennsylvania Delegate count 42 0 0 Popular vote 117,621 22,074 15,629 Percentage 66.77% 12.53% 8.87%   Candidate Newt Gingrich Uncommited Home state Georgia N/A Delegate count 0 0 Popular vote 10,479 10,357 Percentage 5.95% 5.88%

Kentucky results by county   Mitt Romney (Note: Italicization indicates a withdrawn candidacy)

The Republican primary occurred on May 22, 2012.[7][8] 42 delegates were chosen, all of which were allocated to and pledged to vote for Mitt Romney at the 2012 Republican National Convention. Three delegates remain unpledged to any candidate. All Republicans in Kentucky were allowed to participate in the primary. A Republican primary was also held in Arkansas on this day.

Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich withdrew from the presidential race on April 10 and May 2, 2012, respectively. Both endorsed Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee.

Kentucky Republican primary, 2012[9]
Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Delegates
Mitt Romney	117,621	66.8%	42
Ron Paul	22,074	12.53%	0
Rick Santorum	15,629	8.87%	0
Newt Gingrich	10,479	5.95%	0
Uncommitted	10,357	5.88%	0
Unpledged delegates:			3
Total:	176,160	100.00%	45

Key:	Withdrew prior to contest

See also

• Republican Party presidential debates, 2012
• Republican Party presidential primaries, 2012
• Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries

References

1. https://elect.ky.gov/SiteCollectionDocuments/Election%20Statistics/turnout/2011-2019/2012/SUMMARYGEn12.txt
2. "Registration Statistics – State Board of Elections". elect.ky.gov. Archived from the original on 2018-01-01. Retrieved 2017-12-02.
3. "Appalachia Used To Be A Democratic Stronghold. Here's How To Make It One Again". Retrieved 2017-12-02.
4. "Kentucky State Board of Elections". Kentucky State Board of Elections.
5. Dougherty, Michael Brendan (2012-05-22). "Obama Is Getting Humiliated In The Kentucky Primary, 40 Percent Of Democrats Voted For 'Uncommitted'". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-07-09.
6. "Kentucky Secretary of State" (PDF). elect.ky.gov. May 22, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
7. "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
8. "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
9. Kentucky State Board of Elections

External links

• The Green Papers: for Kentucky
• The Green Papers: major state elections in chronological order