2012 United States presidential election in Georgia
The 2012 United States presidential election in Georgia took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the 2012 [United States elections|2012 General Election] in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Georgia voters chose 16 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.
Romney won Georgia by a 7.82% margin, an improvement from 2008 [United States presidential election in Georgia|2008] when John McCain won by 5.20%. Romney received 53.19% of the vote to Obama's 45.39%. Early County flipped from supporting the Republican candidate to the Democratic candidate, while Chattahoochee County flipped from the Democratic column to the Republican column.
Obama is the only Democrat to ever win two terms without carrying the state at least once. Georgia is also one of only two states that voted against Obama in both 2008 and 2012 that his vice president Joe Biden would go on to win in 2020, the other being 2012 United States [presidential election in Arizona|Arizona].
As of 2024, this is the last time a Democratic presidential nominee won the rural Black Belt counties of Baker, Dooly, Early, Peach, Quitman, and Twiggs, and the last time that the suburban Atlanta counties of Gwinnett, Henry, and Cobb would vote Republican in a presidential race. This is also the last time that Georgia has backed the losing candidate in a presidential election and the last time a Democrat won the presidency without winning Georgia. Obama became the first Democratic president since Martin Van Buren to never win Georgia in two elections.
Primary elections
Democratic primary
Incumbent president Barack Obama was unopposed in the Georgia primary, therefore winning all of the state's delegates.Republican primary
The 2012 Georgia Republican primary took place on March 6, 2012.Georgia has 76 delegates to the Republic National Convention. The three super delegates are awarded winner-take-all to the statewide winner. Thirty-one delegates are awarded proportionately among candidates winning at least 20% of the vote statewide. Another 42 delegates are allocated by congressional district, 3 delegates for each district. If a candidate obtains a majority in a district, they win all 3 delegates; if no majority is won, the delegates are split 2 and 1 between the top two candidates, respectively.
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
- Virgil Goode/Jim Clymer, Constitution
- Rocky Anderson/Luis J. Rodriguez, Justice
Results
Out of a total of 6,066,961 registered voters at the time of the presidential election, turnout for the general election was 3,908,369, or 64.42% of registered voters.By county
;Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican;Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
By congressional district
Romney won ten of 14 congressional districts, including one that elected a Democrat.| District | Romney | Obama | Representative |
| 55.9% | 43% | Jack Kingston | |
| 40.8% | 58.6% | Sanford Bishop | |
| 65.85% | 33% | Lynn Westmoreland | |
| 25.6% | 73.6% | Hank Johnson | |
| 15.8% | 83.1% | John Lewis | |
| 60.8% | 37.45% | Tom Price | |
| 60.23% | 38.32% | Rob Woodall | |
| 61.63% | 37.48% | Austin Scott | |
| 78.14% | 20.5% | Doug Collins | |
| 62.46% | 36.3% | Paul Broun | |
| 66.9% | 31.5% | Phil Gingrey | |
| 55.42% | 43.64% | John Barrow | |
| 29.97% | 69.24% | David Scott | |
| 73.21% | 25.3% | Tom Graves |