2012 Electoral Map

2012 Election Results

Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney, winning 332 electoral votes to 206 and roughly 51% of the popular vote. His margin narrowed from 2008, but he preserved enough of his expanded coalition to win a second term comfortably in the Electoral College.

Romney recovered Indiana, North Carolina and Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District. Every other state stayed with the party it had supported four years earlier. Obama held the traditional Democratic base while keeping Virginia, Colorado and Nevada, demonstrating that his gains in those states could survive a less favorable national environment.

Ohio remained a central battleground, and Obama carried it by about three percentage points. He also held Florida by less than one point. But his coalition gave him room for error: he would still have won an Electoral College majority without either state. Romney’s problem was broader than falling short in one contested race.

A slow economic recovery made Obama vulnerable, but Romney struggled to turn dissatisfaction into a majority for change. Obama defended the auto industry rescue and portrayed Romney’s business record and tax policies as favoring the wealthy. The election showed the resilience of Obama’s coalition of younger voters, minority voters and women, even after four difficult years in office.