2012 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

November 6, 2012
 
Nominee Mitt Romney Barack Obama
Party Republican Democratic
Home state Massachusetts Illinois
Running mate Paul Ryan Joe Biden
Electoral vote 7 0
Popular vote 891,325 443,547
Percentage 66.77% 33.23%


President before election

Barack Obama
Democratic

Elected President

Barack Obama
Democratic

The 2012 United States presidential election in Oklahoma 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 seven 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. For the third election in a row since 2004, no third parties were allowed on the ballot.

With an extremely socially conservative electorate, Oklahoma has in recent years become one of the most Republican states in the nation. For the third cycle in a row, the Republicans won over 65% of the vote and swept every single county in the state.

With 66.77% of the popular vote to Obama's mere 33.23%, Mitt Romney carried almost exactly two thirds of the vote in the state while Obama merely carried one third. His vote share also the remains the third-highest for any Republican presidential candidate in Oklahoma history; as well as the strongest ever for a candidate who was not nationally successful. Oklahoma was Romney's third strongest state in the 2012 election, after Utah and Wyoming.[1]

Primary elections

Democratic primary

President Obama faced four challengers in Oklahoma's Democratic primary. Challenger Randall Terry took 12 counties with candidate Jim Rogers winning in three counties. Candidates Bob Ely and Darcy Richardson also appeared on Oklahoma's ballot but failed to obtain a majority of votes in any county.

2012 Oklahoma Democratic presidential primary[2]
Candidate Votes Percentage Projected national delegates[2]
Barack Obama 64,259 57.07% 35
Randall Terry 20,294 18.02% 7
Jim Rogers 15,535 13.80% 3
Darcy Richardson 7,192 6.39% 0
Bob Ely 5,318 4.72% 0
Totals 112,598 100.00% 45

Republican primary

The Republican primary took place on Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012.[3][4]

Oklahoma had 43 delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention. Three superdelegates were unbound by the primary results. 15 delegates were allocated by congressional districts, with 3 delegates for each district. If a candidate got a majority of the vote in a district, he took all 3 delegates from that district; if no one got a majority, the delegates were split either 2-to-1 or 1-1-1 depending on how many candidates got at least 15% of the vote. Another 25 delegates were awarded to the candidate who won a majority in the state, or allocated proportionately among candidates winning at least 15% of the vote statewide if no one got a majority.[5]

Results

2012 Oklahoma Republican presidential primary[6]
Candidate Votes Percentage Projected national delegates[7]
Rick Santorum 96,849 33.8% 14
Mitt Romney 80,356 28.0% 13
Newt Gingrich 78,730 27.5% 13
Ron Paul 27,596 9.6% 0
Rick Perry 1,291 0.45% 0
Michele Bachmann 951 0.33% 0
Jon Huntsman 750 0.26% 0
Unprojected delegates 3
Totals 286,523 100.0% 43
Key:Withdrew
prior to contest

Republican Conventions for Oklahoma's Congressional Districts

Fifteen delegates to the 2012 Republican national convention were elected at congressional-district conventions March 31 to April 14, 2012 — three from each of Oklahoma's five congressional districts.[8][9]

Oklahoma Republican Convention

The Oklahoma Republican State Convention was held May 11–12, 2012 in Norman. Irregularities were reported.[8][10]

At least two Ron Paul supporters said they were physically attacked by Romney supporters.[11][12]

Oklahoma's (Republican) Governor Mary Fallin tried to speak at the convention. After loud chants of "Ron Paul" from the floor, she stated (referring to Romney) "We have a presidential nominee", resulting in loud booing.[12]

Paul supporters said that the convention was stopped with unfinished business, without a two-thirds vote, and therefore against parliamentary procedure.[13] It was reported that, after the convention was said to be adjourned, a partition in the room was moved, isolating many attendees from the rest of the body. The lights were turned out momentarily.[10]

After the convention was stopped and the chairman left, many Paul supporters assembled outside and held a rump convention, chaired by Jake Peters, at which they elected a slate of Paul supporters as delegates to the national convention.[12][14]

Four Paul supporters, including Jake Peters, made a formal complaint to the Oklahoma Republican Party, saying that Party rules were broken by failing to take a roll-call vote on the delegate slate and that the convention was adjourned without the required vote. The complaint asserted that state law is involved in the Republican Party's nominating process and cited case law to the effect that party process should be considered "an integral part of the State's election system".[13][15][16]

General election

Results

2012 United States presidential election in Oklahoma[17]
Party Candidate Running mate Votes Percentage Electoral votes
Republican Mitt Romney Paul Ryan 891,325 66.77% 7
Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 443,547 33.23% 0
Totals 1,334,872 100.00% 7

By county

County Mitt Romney
Republican
Barack Obama
Democratic
Margin Total
# % # % # %
Adair 4,381 67.32% 2,127 32.68% 2,254 34.64% 6,508
Alfalfa 1,761 84.54% 322 15.46% 1,439 69.08% 2,083
Atoka 3,538 74.00% 1,243 26.00% 2,295 48.00% 4,781
Beaver 2,062 89.42% 244 10.58% 1,818 78.84% 2,306
Beckham 5,508 79.54% 1,417 20.46% 4,091 59.08% 6,925
Blaine 2,824 74.00% 992 26.00% 1,832 48.00% 3,816
Bryan 9,520 72.12% 3,681 27.88% 5,839 44.24% 13,201
Caddo 5,687 64.25% 3,164 35.75% 2,523 28.50% 8,851
Canadian 35,625 77.17% 10,537 22.83% 25,088 54.34% 46,162
Carter 12,214 71.34% 4,908 28.66% 7,306 42.68% 17,122
Cherokee 8,162 57.05% 6,144 42.95% 2,018 14.10% 14,306
Choctaw 3,572 70.51% 1,494 29.49% 2,078 41.02% 5,066
Cimarron 1,082 90.39% 115 9.61% 967 80.78% 1,197
Cleveland 59,116 62.97% 34,771 37.03% 24,345 25.94% 93,887
Coal 1,710 72.49% 649 27.51% 1,061 44.98% 2,359
Comanche 17,664 58.52% 12,521 41.48% 5,143 17.04% 30,185
Cotton 1,796 73.22% 657 26.78% 1,139 46.44% 2,453
Craig 3,559 67.08% 1,747 32.92% 1,812 34.16% 5,306
Creek 18,986 72.70% 7,128 27.30% 11,858 45.40% 26,114
Custer 7,446 75.94% 2,359 24.06% 5,087 51.88% 9,805
Delaware 10,080 70.61% 4,196 29.39% 5,884 41.22% 14,276
Dewey 1,792 85.62% 301 14.38% 1,491 71.24% 2,093
Ellis 1,575 87.45% 226 12.55% 1,349 74.90% 1,801
Garfield 15,177 76.23% 4,733 23.77% 10,444 52.46% 19,910
Garvin 6,925 73.02% 2,559 26.98% 4,366 46.04% 9,484
Grady 14,833 75.61% 4,786 24.39% 10,047 51.22% 19,619
Grant 1,675 81.00% 393 19.00% 1,282 62.00% 2,068
Greer 1,344 73.36% 488 26.64% 856 46.72% 1,832
Harmon 659 71.40% 264 28.60% 395 42.80% 923
Harper 1,261 87.94% 173 12.06% 1,088 75.88% 1,434
Haskell 3,069 72.31% 1,175 27.69% 1,894 44.62% 4,244
Hughes 2,838 67.44% 1,370 32.56% 1,468 34.88% 4,208
Jackson 5,965 75.33% 1,954 24.67% 4,011 50.66% 7,919
Jefferson 1,634 72.98% 605 27.02% 1,029 45.96% 2,239
Johnston 2,649 69.97% 1,137 30.03% 1,512 39.94% 3,786
Kay 11,499 71.31% 4,627 28.69% 6,872 42.62% 16,126
Kingfisher 4,870 84.43% 898 15.57% 3,972 68.86% 5,768
Kiowa 2,316 67.68% 1,106 32.32% 1,210 35.36% 3,422
Latimer 2,628 69.19% 1,170 30.81% 1,458 38.38% 3,798
LeFlore 11,177 70.57% 4,662 29.43% 6,515 41.14% 15,839
Lincoln 9,553 74.48% 3,273 25.52% 6,280 48.96% 12,826
Logan 12,314 72.27% 4,724 27.73% 7,590 44.54% 17,038
Love 2,436 70.20% 1,034 29.80% 1,402 40.40% 3,470
Major 2,700 85.82% 446 14.18% 2,254 71.64% 3,146
Marshall 3,744 72.84% 1,396 27.16% 2,348 45.68% 5,140
Mayes 9,637 66.65% 4,823 33.35% 4,814 33.30% 14,460
McClain 11,112 77.67% 3,194 22.33% 7,918 55.34% 14,306
McCurtain 7,635 75.78% 2,440 24.22% 5,195 51.56% 10,075
McIntosh 4,509 61.87% 2,779 38.13% 1,730 23.74% 7,288
Murray 3,606 70.07% 1,540 29.93% 2,066 40.14% 5,146
Muskogee 13,404 57.39% 9,952 42.61% 3,452 14.78% 23,356
Noble 3,488 75.32% 1,143 24.68% 2,345 50.64% 4,631
Nowata 2,832 69.48% 1,244 30.52% 1,588 38.96% 4,076
Okfuskee 2,335 65.02% 1,256 34.98% 1,079 30.04% 3,591
Oklahoma 149,728 58.33% 106,982 41.67% 42,746 16.66% 256,710
Okmulgee 7,731 58.73% 5,432 41.27% 2,299 17.46% 13,163
Osage 11,242 62.64% 6,704 37.36% 4,538 25.28% 17,946
Ottawa 6,466 64.82% 3,509 35.18% 2,957 29.64% 9,975
Pawnee 4,232 70.01% 1,813 29.99% 2,419 40.02% 6,045
Payne 16,481 64.18% 9,198 35.82% 7,283 28.36% 25,679
Pittsburg 10,841 69.17% 4,831 30.83% 6,010 38.34% 15,672
Pontotoc 8,945 69.38% 3,947 30.62% 4,998 38.76% 12,892
Pottawatomie 16,250 69.33% 7,188 30.67% 9,062 38.66% 23,438
Pushmataha 3,087 74.75% 1,043 25.25% 2,044 49.50% 4,130
Roger Mills 1,402 83.75% 272 16.25% 1,130 67.50% 1,674
Rogers 27,553 75.07% 9,148 24.93% 18,405 50.14% 36,701
Seminole 4,856 65.13% 2,600 34.87% 2,256 30.26% 7,456
Sequoyah 9,578 69.55% 4,193 30.45% 5,385 39.10% 13,771
Stephens 12,908 76.62% 3,939 23.38% 8,969 53.24% 16,847
Texas 4,930 85.12% 862 14.88% 4,068 70.24% 5,792
Tillman 1,815 66.70% 906 33.30% 909 33.40% 2,721
Tulsa 145,062 63.68% 82,744 36.32% 62,318 27.36% 227,806
Wagoner 20,900 72.85% 7,791 27.15% 13,109 45.70% 28,691
Washington 15,668 73.91% 5,532 26.09% 10,136 47.82% 21,200
Washita 3,494 80.95% 822 19.05% 2,672 61.90% 4,316
Woods 2,727 80.25% 671 19.75% 2,056 60.50% 3,398
Woodward 5,945 83.99% 1,133 16.01% 4,812 67.98% 7,078
Totals891,32566.77%443,54733.23%447,77833.54%1,334,872

By congressional district

Romney won all 5 congressional districts.[18]

District Romney Obama Representative
1st 65.8% 34.2% Jim Bridenstine
2nd 67.8% 32.2% Markwayne Mullin
3rd 73.9% 26.1% Frank Lucas
4th 67.1% 32.9% Tom Cole
5th 59.22% 40.8% James Lankford

Analysis

As expected, Mitt Romney swept every county in the state, carrying 66.77% of the vote to Obama's measly 33.23%. Romney capitalized on his strength amongst white and conservative voters – Oklahoma's population is 65.6% white[19] (a demographic Romney won nationwide by 59% to Obama's 39%)[20] and the state has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+20, tied for the second most Republican in the nation along with Utah.[21] His strongest performance was in the Oklahoma Panhandle, one of the most staunchly conservative regions in the country, where he garnered 80% to 90% of the vote in many of these counties. Romney also performed well in the Little Dixie region and on the state's border with Texas. Despite many counties having a plurality of registered Democratic voters exceeding the number of registered Republicans (such as Comanche and Okmulgee),[22] Obama failed to carry any counties. However, Obama was still able to garner margins of around 45% to Romney's 55% in some counties, such as Cherokee County (Obama's best performance), which is 36.4% Native American and home to the capital of the Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah,[23][24] and Muskogee County, which is located in the Creek Nation.[25] He also had a formidable, but still lackluster, performance in Oklahoma County, home to the state's capital and largest city, Oklahoma City, which is quite conservative despite being the state's most urban region.

See also

References

  1. "2012 Presidential Election Statistics". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  2. 1 2 The Green Papers, Retrieved July 8, 2015
  3. "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 12, 2012.
  4. "Presidential Primary Dates" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Retrieved January 23, 2012.
  5. Nate Silver (March 4, 2012). "Romney Could Win Majority of Super Tuesday Delegates". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  6. State of Oklahoma Unofficial Results, Retrieved March 23, 2012
  7. The Green Papers, Retrieved April 27
  8. 1 2 "Oklahoma Republican Presidential Nominating Process". Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  9. McNutt, Michael (May 13, 2012). "Oklahoma Republicans elect delegates to national convention". newsok.com. Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  10. 1 2 "Rachel Maddow Discusses Ron Paul & GOP Conventions Chaos". YouTube. May 14, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
  11. "2 Romney Supporters ASSAULT 2 Ron Paul Supporters in OK". www.youtube.com R11110000. May 13, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  12. 1 2 3 "Violent OK GOP State Convention". newsODP/www.youtube.com. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
  13. 1 2 "Ron Paul Supporters Submit Challenge to Oklahoma GOP State Convention". Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  14. "Ron Paul Supporters Stage Rump Convention in OK – May 12, 2012". Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
  15. "Rules of the Oklahoma Republican Party, Amended August 27, 2011" (PDF). Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  16. "Report of the Committee on Rules and Order of Business". Oklahoma Republican State Convention. May 12, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.
  17. "Oklahoma State Election Board". Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  18. "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts". Daily Kos. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  19. "State Population By Race, Ethnicity Data". www.governing.com. July 2, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  20. "President Exit Polls". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  21. "State PVIs". The Cook Political Report. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  22. "Current Registration Statistics by County" (PDF). Oklahoma State Election Board. January 15, 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 17, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  23. "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Cherokee County, Oklahoma". www.census.gov. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  24. "Cherokee County | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture". www.okhistory.org. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  25. "Muskogee County | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture". www.okhistory.org. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
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