The 2012 United States presidential election in Nebraska 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. Voters chose five 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 .
Mitt Romney carried Nebraska , taking 59.80% of the vote to Barack Obama's 38.03%, a margin of 21.77%. Nebraska is one of two states (along with Maine ) which splits its electoral votes based on the winner in each congressional district. In 2012, Romney won all 3 congressional districts, thus winning all 5 of the state's electoral votes. This was a change from 2008 , when the state as a whole had voted for Republican John McCain but Democrat Barack Obama still won an electoral vote from the state. Nebraska's 2nd congressional district , home to Omaha , had split with the rest of the state and awarded one of Nebraska's electoral votes to a Democratic presidential nominee for the first time since 1964 . Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, Indiana , and North Carolina were the only sources of electoral votes won by Obama in 2008 that Romney managed to flip. Obama only won a single county, Thurston , largely due to its majority and increasingly politically active Native American population. He also narrowly lost three of four counties he won in 2008: Douglas , Lancaster , and Saline , home to the cities of Omaha , Lincoln , and Crete , respectively. He became the first Democrat since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to win without carrying Saline County.
As of the 2020 presidential election , this is the last time that the Democrat won Thurston County and the Republican won Douglas or Lancaster County. This is also the last time that Nebraska's 2nd congressional district did not back the overall winner of the Electoral College, and that the Democratic candidate won without carrying the district.
Primary elections [ edit ] Democratic primary [ edit ] The Democratic primary was not held as Barack Obama ran unopposed and had secured enough delegates for nomination.[1]
Republican primary [ edit ] 2012 Nebraska Republican presidential primary Nebraska results by county
Mitt Romney
(Note:
Italicization indicates a withdrawn candidacy)
The Republican primary was on May 15, 2012.[2] This primary was purely of an advisory nature. From June 1 to June 10 caucuses county conventions caucused to elect delegates to the state convention. These delegates were not bound to vote for any candidate, but at the state convention on July 14, elected 32 bound National delegates. 3 party leaders attended the National Convention unbound, making a total of 35 voting delegates going to the national convention from Nebraska.
2012 Nebraska Republican primary Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates Mitt Romney 131,436 70.89% 30 Rick Santorum 25,830 13.93% 0 Ron Paul 18,508 9.98% 2 Newt Gingrich 9,628 5.19% 0 Unpledged delegates: 3 Total: 185,402 100.0% 35
Key: Withdrew prior to contest
Convention [ edit ] The State Convention was held in Grand Island on July 14, 2012.
Convention Results[3] [4] Candidate 1st 2nd 3rd State Party leaders Total Mitt Romney 3 1 3 23 2 32 Ron Paul 0 2 0 0 0 2 Unknown 0 0 0 0 1 1 Total 9 23 3 35
General election [ edit ] Results [ edit ] By county [ edit ] County Mitt Romney Republican Barack Obama Democratic Various candidates Other parties Margin Total # % # % # % # % Adams 8,316 65.64% 4,062 32.06% 292 2.30% 4,254 33.58% 12,670 Antelope 2,596 80.32% 571 17.67% 65 2.01% 2,025 62.65% 3,232 Arthur 227 86.64% 30 11.45% 5 1.91% 197 75.19% 262 Banner 346 84.18% 55 13.38% 10 2.44% 291 70.80% 411 Blaine 268 88.45% 29 9.57% 6 1.98% 239 78.88% 303 Boone 2,138 76.19% 615 21.92% 53 1.89% 1,523 54.27% 2,806 Box Butte 2,869 60.98% 1,692 35.96% 144 3.06% 1,177 25.02% 4,705 Boyd 873 81.51% 188 17.55% 10 0.94% 685 63.96% 1,071 Brown 1,302 83.73% 224 14.41% 29 1.86% 1,078 69.32% 1,555 Buffalo 13,570 69.76% 5,365 27.58% 518 2.66% 8,205 42.18% 19,453 Burt 2,029 60.12% 1,291 38.25% 55 1.63% 738 21.87% 3,375 Butler 2,738 70.95% 1,045 27.08% 76 1.97% 1,693 43.87% 3,859 Cass 7,556 62.04% 4,367 35.85% 257 2.11% 3,189 26.19% 12,180 Cedar 3,278 75.63% 958 22.10% 98 2.27% 2,320 53.53% 4,334 Chase 1,584 84.84% 254 13.60% 29 1.56% 1,330 71.24% 1,867 Cherry 2,557 83.45% 436 14.23% 71 2.32% 2,121 69.22% 3,064 Cheyenne 3,449 74.19% 1,084 23.32% 116 2.49% 2,365 50.87% 4,649 Clay 2,232 75.74% 667 22.63% 48 1.63% 1,565 53.11% 2,947 Colfax 2,051 66.83% 969 31.57% 49 1.60% 1,082 35.26% 3,069 Cuming 2,876 72.33% 1,031 25.93% 69 1.74% 1,845 46.40% 3,976 Custer 4,296 78.14% 1,083 19.70% 119 2.16% 3,213 58.44% 5,498 Dakota 3,094 50.42% 2,922 47.62% 120 1.96% 172 2.80% 6,136 Dawes 2,478 66.47% 1,132 30.36% 118 3.17% 1,346 36.11% 3,728 Dawson 5,460 69.47% 2,199 27.98% 200 2.55% 3,261 41.49% 7,859 Deuel 763 75.02% 215 21.14% 39 3.84% 548 53.88% 1,017 Dixon 1,745 64.97% 870 32.39% 71 2.64% 875 32.58% 2,686 Dodge 8,995 60.17% 5,673 37.95% 282 1.88% 3,322 22.22% 14,950 Douglas 113,220 50.56% 106,456 47.54% 4,251 1.90% 6,764 3.02% 223,927 Dundy 792 80.41% 176 17.87% 17 1.72% 616 62.54% 985 Fillmore 2,007 69.71% 807 28.03% 65 2.26% 1,200 41.68% 2,879 Franklin 1,112 72.40% 384 25.00% 40 2.60% 728 47.40% 1,536 Frontier 1,007 77.16% 271 20.77% 27 2.07% 736 56.39% 1,305 Furnas 1,782 79.55% 423 18.88% 35 1.57% 1,359 60.67% 2,240 Gage 5,513 57.06% 3,903 40.40% 245 2.54% 1,610 16.66% 9,661 Garden 829 75.99% 242 22.18% 20 1.83% 587 53.81% 1,091 Garfield 769 81.81% 149 15.85% 22 2.34% 620 65.96% 940 Gosper 734 75.05% 230 23.52% 14 1.43% 504 51.53% 978 Grant 322 88.71% 30 8.26% 11 3.03% 292 80.45% 363 Greeley 820 69.20% 340 28.69% 25 2.11% 480 40.51% 1,185 Hall 12,646 62.51% 7,161 35.40% 422 2.09% 5,485 27.11% 20,229 Hamilton 3,600 73.91% 1,146 23.53% 125 2.56% 2,454 50.38% 4,871 Harlan 1,395 78.46% 354 19.91% 29 1.63% 1,041 58.55% 1,778 Hayes 476 88.31% 51 9.46% 12 2.23% 425 78.85% 539 Hitchcock 1,178 78.80% 274 18.33% 43 2.87% 904 60.47% 1,495 Holt 3,922 79.41% 882 17.86% 135 2.73% 3,040 61.55% 4,939 Hooker 330 83.54% 59 14.94% 6 1.52% 271 68.60% 395 Howard 1,890 65.85% 914 31.85% 66 2.30% 976 34.00% 2,870 Jefferson 2,166 62.86% 1,195 34.68% 85 2.46% 971 28.18% 3,446 Johnson 1,225 59.38% 790 38.29% 48 2.33% 435 21.09% 2,063 Kearney 2,349 73.87% 773 24.31% 58 1.82% 1,576 49.56% 3,180 Keith 3,044 75.01% 928 22.87% 86 2.12% 2,116 52.14% 4,058 Keya Paha 393 81.20% 80 16.53% 11 2.27% 313 64.67% 484 Kimball 1,235 73.21% 395 23.41% 57 3.38% 840 49.80% 1,687 Knox 2,885 71.48% 1,059 26.24% 92 2.28% 1,826 45.24% 4,036 Lancaster 62,434 49.02% 62,015 48.69% 2,906 2.29% 419 0.33% 127,355 Lincoln 10,728 68.53% 4,450 28.43% 477 3.06% 6,278 40.10% 15,655 Logan 356 82.60% 68 15.78% 7 1.62% 288 66.82% 431 Loup 290 81.01% 62 17.32% 6 1.67% 228 63.69% 358 Madison 10,062 72.47% 3,485 25.10% 338 2.43% 6,577 47.37% 13,885 McPherson 237 81.44% 41 14.09% 13 4.47% 196 67.35% 291 Merrick 2,490 71.37% 925 26.51% 74 2.12% 1,565 44.86% 3,489 Morrill 1,681 76.76% 455 20.78% 54 2.46% 1,226 55.98% 2,190 Nance 1,106 68.23% 481 29.67% 34 2.10% 625 38.56% 1,621 Nemaha 2,012 62.60% 1,128 35.10% 74 2.30% 884 27.50% 3,214 Nuckolls 1,574 71.84% 568 25.92% 49 2.24% 1,006 45.92% 2,191 Otoe 4,258 60.99% 2,561 36.68% 163 2.33% 1,697 24.31% 6,982 Pawnee 899 67.04% 400 29.83% 42 3.13% 499 37.21% 1,341 Perkins 1,135 81.42% 238 17.07% 21 1.51% 897 64.35% 1,394 Phelps 3,400 77.63% 880 20.09% 100 2.28% 2,520 57.54% 4,380 Pierce 2,707 78.90% 637 18.57% 87 2.53% 2,070 60.33% 3,431 Platte 10,061 74.68% 3,148 23.37% 264 1.95% 6,913 51.31% 13,473 Polk 1,890 76.92% 528 21.49% 39 1.59% 1,362 55.43% 2,457 Red Willow 3,891 78.83% 952 19.29% 93 1.88% 2,939 59.54% 4,936 Richardson 2,443 65.34% 1,191 31.85% 105 2.81% 1,252 33.49% 3,739 Rock 672 85.17% 103 13.05% 14 1.78% 569 72.12% 789 Saline 2,557 51.57% 2,289 46.17% 112 2.26% 268 5.40% 4,958 Sarpy 43,213 60.45% 26,671 37.31% 1,606 2.24% 16,542 23.14% 71,490 Saunders 6,770 65.65% 3,307 32.07% 235 2.28% 3,463 33.58% 10,312 Scotts Bluff 9,648 67.53% 4,327 30.29% 312 2.18% 5,321 37.24% 14,287 Seward 5,003 66.06% 2,386 31.51% 184 2.43% 2,617 34.55% 7,573 Sheridan 2,021 81.76% 390 15.78% 61 2.46% 1,631 65.98% 2,472 Sherman 927 60.59% 552 36.08% 51 3.33% 375 24.51% 1,530 Sioux 624 84.44% 101 13.67% 14 1.89% 523 70.77% 739 Stanton 1,949 73.71% 614 23.22% 81 3.07% 1,335 50.49% 2,644 Thayer 1,874 70.48% 728 27.38% 57 2.14% 1,146 43.10% 2,659 Thomas 360 88.24% 42 10.29% 6 1.47% 318 77.95% 408 Thurston 939 42.39% 1,247 56.30% 29 1.31% -308 -13.91% 2,215 Valley 1,657 75.49% 498 22.69% 40 1.82% 1,159 52.80% 2,195 Washington 6,899 67.33% 3,132 30.57% 215 2.10% 3,767 36.76% 10,246 Wayne 2,493 67.71% 1,074 29.17% 115 3.12% 1,419 38.54% 3,682 Webster 1,258 72.22% 442 25.37% 42 2.41% 816 46.85% 1,742 Wheeler 345 77.01% 93 20.76% 10 2.23% 252 56.25% 448 York 4,874 76.70% 1,373 21.61% 108 1.69% 3,501 55.09% 6,355 Totals 475,064 59.80% 302,081 38.03% 17,234 2.17% 172,983 21.77% 794,379
County Flips: Democratic Hold
Republican Hold
Gain from Democratic
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican [ edit ] Results by congressional district [ edit ] Romney won all three of Nebraska's congressional districts.[5]
District Romney % Romney # Obama % Obama # Johnson % Johnson # Terry % Terry # Representative 1st 57.43% 152,021 40.83% 108,082 1.45% 3,847 0.28% 762 Jeff Fortenberry 2nd 52.85% 140,976 45.70% 121,889 1.27% 3,393 0.18% 469 Lee Terry 3rd 70.23% 182,067 27.82% 72,110 1.44% 3,869 0.45% 1,177 Adrian Smith
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