2012 United States presidential election in California


The 2012 United States presidential election in California 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. California voters chose 55 electors, the most out of any state, to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, [Vice President of the United States|President of the United States|Vice President] Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and his running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan.
Prior to the election, every major news network considered California to be a state Obama would win or a safe blue state. According to Secretary of State Debra Bowen's website, the President won the popular vote with 60.24%, with Mitt Romney in second place at 37.12%, and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson in third at 1.10%. The Democrats have won the state in every presidential election after Republican George H. W. Bush won the state in 1988.
As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last presidential election in which the nominee from the Republican Party won Orange County—a longtime, traditional bastion for the national GOP—and Nevada County. With its 55 electoral votes, California was Obama's largest electoral prize in 2012.

Primary elections

Democratic primary

The 2012 California Democratic presidential primary took place on June 5, 2012, as part of the 2012 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
! Candidate
! Popular vote
! %
! Delegates
! Total
! 2,076,309
! 100%
! 609

Republican primary

The 2012 California Republican Party presidential primary took place on June 5, 2012, as part of the Republican Party presidential primaries. 169 delegates were chosen, for a total of 172 delegates at the 2012 Republican National Convention.
As noted in the Green Papers for California, "159 district delegates are to be bound to presidential contenders based on the primary results in each of the 53 congressional districts: each congressional district is assigned 3 National Convention delegates and the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in that district will receive all 3 of that district's National Convention delegates. 10 at-large delegates are to be bound to the presidential contender receiving the greatest number of votes in the primary statewide. In addition, 3 party leaders, the National Committeeman, the National Committeewoman, and the chairman of the California's Republican Party, will attend the convention as unpledged delegates by virtue of their position."
! Candidate
! Popular vote
! %
! Delegates
! Total
! 1,924,970
! 100%
! 172

Green primary

The 2012 California Green Party presidential primary took place on June 5, 2012, as part of the 2012 Green Party presidential primaries.
CandidateVotesPercentageNational delegates
Jill Stein9,16549.36%35
Roseanne Barr7,39939.85%26
Kent Meslplay2,00510.80%7
Total18,569100%68

Libertarian primary

The 2012 California Libertarian Party presidential primary took place on June 5, 2012, as part of the 2012 Libertarian Party presidential primaries.
The primary was non-binding, and took place after Gary Johnson had already won the Libertarian nomination at the Party's 2012 convention.
CandidateVotesPercentage
Gary Johnson6,78050.0%
Barbara Joy Waymire2,11815.6%
Scott Keller1,2088.9%
R. J. Harris6704.9%
Bill Still6704.9%
Roger Gary5594.1%
James Ogle5584.1%
Carl Person5233.9%
Lee Wrights4793.5%
Total13,565100%

Other parties

American Independent

The American Independent Party, a far-right and paleoconservative political party that formed when endorsing the candidacy of George Wallace in 1968 held a small presidential primary on June 5. It was won by Edward C. Noonan. However, the party would instead opt to nominate Tom Hoefling for president.
CandidateVotesPercentage
Edward C. Noonan16,92638.7%
Laurie Roth16,32637.4%
Mad Max Riekse10,43023.9%
Raymond Delmond Smith '60.0%
Andrew Abe Diaz '40.0%
Total43,692100%

General election

Candidate ballot access

  • Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan, Republican
  • Barack Obama/Joseph Biden, Democratic
  • Gary Johnson/James P. Gray, Libertarian
  • Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala, Green
  • Tom Hoefling/Robert Ornelas, Independent
  • Roseanne Barr/Cindy Sheehan, Peace and Freedom
Write-in candidate access:
  • Virgil Goode/Jim Clymer, Constitution
  • Rocky Anderson/Luis J. Rodriguez, Justice
  • James Harris/Maura DeLuca, Socialist Workers
  • Stewart Alexander/Alejandro Mendoza, Socialist
  • Jerry White/Phyllis Scherrer, Socialist Equality
  • Stephen Durham/Christina Lopez, Freedom Socialist
  • Ron Paul/Andrew Napolitano

Results

By county

;Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

By congressional district

Obama won 41 of 53 congressional districts, including three held by Republicans.
DistrictObamaRomneyRepresentative
40%57%Doug LaMalfa
69%27%Jared Huffman
54%43%John Garamendi
40%58%Tom McClintock
70%27%Mike Thompson
69%28%Doris Matsui
51%47%Ami Bera
42%56%Paul Cook
58%40%Jerry McNerney
51%47%Jeff Denham
68%30%George Miller
84%12%Nancy Pelosi
88%9%Barbara Lee
74%24%Jackie Speier
68%30%Eric Swalwell
59%39%Jim Costa
72%26%Mike Honda
68%29%Anna Eshoo
71%27%Zoe Lofgren
71%26%Sam Farr
55%44%David Valadao
42%57%Devin Nunes
36%62%Kevin McCarthy
54%43%Lois Capps
48%50%Buck McKeon
54%44%Julia Brownley
63%35%Judy Chu
70%27%Adam Schiff
77%21%Tony Cárdenas
65%32%Brad Sherman
57%41%Gary Miller
65%32%Grace Napolitano
61%37%Henry Waxman
83%14%Xavier Becerra
67%31%Gloria Negrete McLeod
51%48%Raul Ruiz
85%13%Karen Bass
65%33%Linda Sánchez
47%51%Ed Royce
81%17%Lucille Roybal-Allard
62%36%Mark Takano
41%57%Ken Calvert
78%20%Maxine Waters
85%14%Janice Hahn
43%55%John B. T. Campbell III
61%36%Loretta Sánchez
60%37%Alan Lowenthal
43%55%Dana Rohrabacher
46%52%Darrell Issa
38%60%Duncan Hunter
69%29%Juan Vargas
52%46%Scott Peters
61%36%Susan Davis

By city

Official winners by city.
Cities & unincorporated areas that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Cities & unincorporated areas that flipped from Republican to Democratic