2012 United States presidential election in South Carolina

Primaries

Democratic primary

Incumbent President Barack Obama ran unopposed in the Democratic primary and easily won with more than 99% of the vote. The Democratic primary was held on January 28, 2012, one week after the Republican primary.

Republican primary

Gingrich Romney The Republican primary was held on January 21, 2012.

During the primary election campaign, the candidates ran on a platform of government reform in Washington. Domestic, foreign and economic policy emerged as the main themes in the election campaign following the onset of the 2008 economic crisis, as well as policies implemented by the Obama administration. This included the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, termed "Obamacare" by its opponents, as well as government spending as a whole.

The primary has become one of several key early state nominating contests in the process of choosing the nominee of the Republican Party for the election for President of the United States. It has historically been more important for the Republican Party than for the Democratic Party; from its inception in 1980, until the nomination of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in 2012, the winner of the Republican presidential primary had gone on to win the nomination. As of 2012, the primary has cemented its place as the "First in the South" primary for both parties. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was declared the winner of the race as soon as polls closed, however, Mitt Romney went on to win the nomination.

Date

The 2012 South Carolina Republican primary was tentatively scheduled to occur on February 28, 2012, much later than the date in 2008, which almost immediately followed the beginning of the year in January 2008. On September 29, 2011, the entire schedule of caucuses and primaries was disrupted, however, when it was announced that the Republican Party of Florida had decided to move up its primary to January 31, in an attempt to bring attention to its own primary contest, and attract the presidential candidates to visit the state. Because of the move, the Republican National Committee decided to strip Florida of half of its delegates. Also as a result, the South Carolina Republican Party, along with Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada then sought to move their primaries and caucuses back into early January. All but Nevada, who agreed to follow Florida, confirmed their caucus and primary dates to take place throughout January, with South Carolina deciding to hold their contest on January 21, 2012. It is an open primary, meaning all registered voters can participate in the primary.

Ballot access

Nine candidates appeared on the presidential primary ballot. South Carolina had only 25 delegates up for grabs because it moved its primary to January 21. Eleven delegates were awarded for the statewide winner, Newt Gingrich, and two additional delegates were awarded to the winner of each of the seven congressional districts. Six districts were won by Gingrich, and one by Romney, giving Gingrich twelve additional delegates and Romney two delegates.

Polling

Main article: Statewide opinion polling for the January 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries#South Carolina (January 21)

Results

Main article: Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries

There were 2,804,231 registered voters, for a turnout of 21.60%.

General election

Predictions

Results

By county

Democratic Republican ]]

;Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Darlington (largest city: Hartsville)

By congressional district

Romney won six of seven congressional districts.

References

References

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2. "Decennial Census by Decades".
3. "The Road to 270: South Carolina".
4. "South Carolina Presidential Election Voting History".
5. "GOP bellwether South Carolina shows a tangled race: Pg 1". Christian Science Monitor.
6. "First in the South". Fox News.
7. Falcone, Michael. (September 2, 2011). "South Carolina GOP Officials Hope To Strike Deal With Florida To 'Calm' 2012 Primary Waters". ABC News.
8. "South Carolina Primary Results". The New York Times.
9. Taylor, Steven. (September 29, 2011). "Florida Moves its Primary". Outside the Beltway.
10. Jacobs, Jennifer. (October 25, 2011). "GOP chairman: Florida will be penalized, and 2012 race is now set". Des Moines Register.
11. Nir, David. (October 24, 2011). "Nevada Republicans cave, move caucuses to Feb. 4". Daily Kos.
12. Richard E. Berg-Andersson. "South Carolina Republican". The Green Papers.
13. Whitmire, C. "2012 Republican Presidential Primary Candidates". South Carolina State Election Commission.
14. Kleefeld, Eric. (January 4, 2012). "South Carolina GOP Chairman: 'Anyone Can Win' In Our Primary". [[Talking Points Memo]].
15. (February 3, 2012). "South Carolina Primary". South Carolina State Election Commission.
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18. "Election 2012 - The Electoral Map: Building a Path to Victory". [[The New York Times]].
19. "2012 Presidential Election Results". The Washington Post.
20. "RealClearPolitics - 2012 Election Maps - Battle for White House".
21. "PROJECTION: OBAMA WILL LIKELY WIN SECOND TERM".
22. "Nate Silver's political calculations predict 2012 election outcome".
23. "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts".