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| Elections in New Mexico |
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 2012 U.S. presidential election | |
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| Republican Party | |
| Related races | |
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The 2012 United States presidential election in New Mexico 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. This was the 25th U.S. presidential election in which New Mexico participated. New Mexico 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.
Prior to the election, 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. President Obama and Vice President Biden carried New Mexico with 52.99% of the vote to Mitt Romney's 42.84%, a victory margin of 10.15%. Libertarian Gary Johnson, a former Republican who served two terms as Governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003, garnered 3.55% of the vote, his strongest statewide performance in the nation, and the strongest 3rd party showing in the state since 2000 (although that was easily surpassed by Johnson in 2016, when he received nearly 10% of the vote in New Mexico).
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time where Colfax County, Hidalgo County, and Valencia County voted for the Democratic candidate. (Valencia County picked Donald Trump, Obama's successor, in both his 2016 win and 2020 loss, thus ending its reputation as a pivotal bellwether in presidential elections.) Since its statehood in 1912, no incumbent president of either party has ever won another term in office without carrying New Mexico. This is the last time that the presidential candidate who carried New Mexico won a majority of New Mexico's counties.
Caucuses and primaries[edit]
Democratic caucuses[edit]
The Democratic caucus in New Mexico was uncontested as no one challenged incumbent President Barack Obama for the nomination. As a result, all of the state's 50 delegates were allocated to Obama.
Republican primary[edit]
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 New Mexico results by county
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The 2012 New Mexico Republican presidential primary was proclaimed under state law on January 30, 2012[1] to take place on June 5, 2012.[1][2] Under New Mexico law it is a closed primary, with only registered members of the New Mexico Republican Party being eligible to vote in the Republican primary.[3] 20 delegates were chosen, for a total of 23 delegates to go to the national convention.
Federal offices[edit]
- President of the United States: This is a "proportional primary". The twenty delegates to the National Republican Convention are bound proportionally, according to the percentage of votes received, to presidential contenders who receive 15% or more of the primary vote statewide.[4]
- United States Senate: A single candidate to run for the seat formerly held by Jeff Bingaman.
- United States House of Representatives: One candidate from each of the three congressional districts.
Statewide offices[edit]
- Court of Appeals: One candidate to run for the unexpired term[1] of Judge Robert E. Robles, currently held by appointee Judge J. Miles Hanisee.[5]
- Public Regulation Commission: One candidate for each of District 1 and District 3 for four year terms.[1]
Results[edit]
| New Mexico Republican primary, 2012[6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates |
 Mitt Romney
|
65,935 | 73.2% | 20 |
| Rick Santorum | 9,517 | 10.56% | 0 |
| Ron Paul | 9,363 | 10.39% | 0 |
| Newt Gingrich | 5,298 | 5.88% | 0 |
| Unpledged delegates: | 3 | ||
| Total: | 90,113 | 100.0% | 23 |
| Key: | Withdrew prior to contest |
General election[edit]
Candidate ballot access[edit]
- Barack Obama / Joe Biden, Democratic
- Mitt Romney / Paul Ryan, Republican
- Gary Johnson / James P. Gray, Libertarian
- Jill Stein / Cheri Honkala, Green
- Virgil Goode / Jim Clymer, Constitution
- Rocky Anderson / Luis J. Rodriguez, Justice
Results[edit]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |
|
415,335 | 52.99% | −3.92 | |
| Republican | 335,788 | 42.84% | +1.06 | ||
| Libertarian | 27,788 | 3.55% | +3.26 | ||
| Green | 2,691 | 0.34% | +0.15 | ||
| Justice | 1,177 | 0.15% | N/A | ||
| Constitution |
|
983 | 0.13% | −0.06 | |
| Total votes | 783,756 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratic win | |||||
By county[edit]
| County | Barack Obama Democratic |
Mitt Romney Republican |
Various candidates Other parties |
Margin | Total votes cast | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Bernalillo | 150,739 | 55.63% | 106,408 | 39.27% | 13,822 | 5.10% | 44,331 | 16.36% | 270,969 |
| Catron | 560 | 26.38% | 1,494 | 70.37% | 69 | 3.25% | -934 | -43.99% | 2,123 |
| Chaves | 6,604 | 32.54% | 13,088 | 64.50% | 600 | 2.96% | -6,484 | -31.96% | 20,292 |
| Cibola | 4,961 | 60.18% | 2,998 | 36.37% | 284 | 3.45% | 1,963 | 23.81% | 8,243 |
| Colfax | 2,828 | 49.06% | 2,699 | 46.83% | 237 | 4.11% | 129 | 2.23% | 5,764 |
| Curry | 4,022 | 29.52% | 9,251 | 67.90% | 352 | 2.58% | -5,229 | -38.38% | 13,625 |
| De Baca | 287 | 31.82% | 586 | 64.97% | 29 | 3.21% | -299 | -33.15% | 902 |
| Dona Ana | 37,139 | 55.91% | 27,322 | 41.13% | 1,962 | 2.96% | 9,817 | 14.78% | 66,423 |
| Eddy | 6,142 | 31.88% | 12,583 | 65.30% | 544 | 2.82% | -6,441 | -33.42% | 19,269 |
| Grant | 7,090 | 54.95% | 5,358 | 41.53% | 454 | 3.52% | 1,732 | 13.42% | 12,902 |
| Guadalupe | 1,488 | 69.70% | 557 | 26.09% | 90 | 4.21% | 931 | 43.61% | 2,135 |
| Harding | 260 | 43.26% | 327 | 54.41% | 14 | 2.33% | -67 | -11.15% | 601 |
| Hidalgo | 995 | 51.42% | 899 | 46.46% | 41 | 2.12% | 96 | 4.96% | 1,935 |
| Lea | 4,080 | 23.98% | 12,548 | 73.75% | 387 | 2.27% | -8,468 | -49.77% | 17,015 |
| Lincoln | 2,942 | 31.83% | 5,961 | 64.50% | 339 | 3.67% | -3,019 | -32.67% | 9,242 |
| Los Alamos | 5,191 | 48.72% | 4,796 | 45.02% | 667 | 6.26% | 395 | 3.70% | 10,654 |
| Luna | 3,583 | 47.77% | 3,670 | 48.93% | 247 | 3.30% | -87 | -1.16% | 7,500 |
| McKinley | 15,841 | 72.24% | 5,546 | 25.29% | 542 | 2.47% | 10,295 | 46.95% | 21,929 |
| Mora | 1,955 | 74.88% | 595 | 22.79% | 61 | 2.33% | 1,360 | 52.09% | 2,611 |
| Otero | 6,829 | 34.12% | 12,451 | 62.22% | 732 | 3.66% | -5,622 | -28.10% | 20,012 |
| Quay | 1,383 | 37.31% | 2,202 | 59.40% | 122 | 3.29% | -819 | -22.09% | 3,707 |
| Rio Arriba | 11,465 | 74.72% | 3,397 | 22.14% | 481 | 3.14% | 8,068 | 52.58% | 15,343 |
| Roosevelt | 1,727 | 28.93% | 4,043 | 67.73% | 199 | 3.34% | -2,316 | -38.80% | 5,969 |
| San Juan | 15,855 | 34.29% | 28,849 | 62.39% | 1,533 | 3.32% | -12,994 | -28.10% | 46,237 |
| San Miguel | 8,850 | 76.90% | 2,303 | 20.01% | 356 | 3.09% | 6,547 | 56.89% | 11,509 |
| Sandoval | 27,236 | 50.36% | 24,387 | 45.10% | 2,455 | 4.54% | 2,849 | 5.26% | 54,078 |
| Santa Fe | 50,872 | 73.47% | 15,500 | 22.38% | 2,873 | 4.15% | 35,372 | 51.09% | 69,245 |
| Sierra | 1,964 | 38.49% | 2,928 | 57.39% | 210 | 4.12% | -964 | -18.90% | 5,102 |
| Socorro | 4,058 | 56.42% | 2,722 | 37.84% | 413 | 5.74% | 1,336 | 18.58% | 7,193 |
| Taos | 11,978 | 78.09% | 2,730 | 17.80% | 631 | 4.11% | 9,248 | 60.29% | 15,339 |
| Torrance | 2,428 | 37.93% | 3,529 | 55.12% | 445 | 6.95% | -1,101 | -17.19% | 6,402 |
| Union | 472 | 26.83% | 1,236 | 70.27% | 51 | 2.90% | -764 | -43.44% | 1,759 |
| Valencia | 13,511 | 48.73% | 12,825 | 46.25% | 1,392 | 5.02% | 686 | 2.48% | 27,728 |
| Total | 415,335 | 52.99% | 335,788 | 42.84% | 32,634 | 4.16% | 79,547 | 10.15% | 783,757 |
| Democratic Hold | Republican Hold Gain from Democratic |
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican[edit]
Results by congressional district[edit]
Obama won 2 of 3 congressional districts.[8]
| District | Obama | Romney | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 55.25% | 39.6% | Michelle Lujan Grisham |
| 2nd | 44.9% | 51.72% | Steve Pearce |
| 3rd | 57.52% | 38.67% | Ben Ray Luján |
See also[edit]
- 2012 Republican Party presidential debates and forums
- 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
- Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries
- New Mexico Republican Party
Notes[edit]
- ^ a b c d Martinez, Susana (30 January 2012) "Primary Election Proclamation", archived at Archived 2012-04-13 at the Wayback Machine by Webcite on 6 February 2012
- ^ "Primary and Caucus Printable Calendar". CNN. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
- ^ "In a primary election, a voter shall not be permitted to vote for a candidate of a party different from the party designation shown on the voter's certificate of registration." New Mexico Statutes Annotated §1-12-7.2(D) (2011), archived by Webcite at Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine on 6 February 2012
- ^ "each candidate and the uncommitted category shall be entitled to a share of the total vote allotted to the delegation that is equal to the proportion that the vote he received in the presidential primary bears to the total combined vote received by all qualified candidates; provided that no candidate shall be excluded who has received at least fifteen percent of the total vote cast for candidates for president of that party, and no candidate shall be excluded in violation of any political party rule" New Mexico Statutes Annotated §1-15A-9(C)(1) (2011), archived by Webcite at Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine on 6 February 2012
- ^ Barbati, Duane (1 February 2012) "Appeals judge wants to retain seat" Alamogordo Daily News, archive at Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine by Webcite on 6 February 2012
- ^ Secretary of State official election results Archived July 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. June 26, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
- ^ "New Mexico Secretary of State". Retrieved November 11, 2012.
- ^ "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts". Daily Kos. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
External links[edit]
- The Green Papers: for New Mexico
- The Green Papers: Major state elections in chronological order
