The Green Papers
2012 Presidential Primaries at a Glance


 

This "at a glance" look at the Presidential Primaries simply lists the winner (and, in many cases, the candidate who came in second) in each Primary in chronological order. It seems a quick method of discerning the progress of the eventual presidential nominee of the given Major Party (along with that of any significant challengers to that nominee) as the Primaries have progressed through time.

In fact, [presidential] primaries have been much more likely to sow division than unity, and most likely to leave things as they are [re: a potential consensus nominee identified prior to the earliest presidential primaries and caucuses]--
William R. Keech and Donald R. Matthews: The Party's Choice: Studies in Presidential Selection (Brookings Institution, 1977)

 
2012 Presidential Primaries at a Glance
Date State Democrat
Democrat
Republican
Republican
 Link  Type Winner % Second %  Link  Type Winner % Second %
Tuesday 10 January 2012 New Hampshire NH-D   Obama       NH-R   Romney 39 Paul 23
Saturday 21 January 2012 South Carolina             SC-R PR Gingrich 40 Romney 28
Saturday 28 January 2012 South Carolina SC-D PR Obama P                
Tuesday 31 January 2012 Florida FL-D   Obama (non-binding) P     FL-R   Romney 47 Gingrich 32
Tuesday 7 February 2012 Missouri MO-D   Obama       MO-R   Santorum (non-binding) D Paul  
Tuesday 28 February 2012 Arizona             AZ-R   Romney 47 Santorum 27
Michigan MI-D   Obama (non-binding)       MI-R   Romney 41 Santorum 38
Tuesday 6 March 2012 Georgia GA-D   Obama U     GA-R   Gingrich 47 Romney 26
Massachusetts MA-D   Obama       MA-R   Romney L Santorum  
Ohio OH-D           OH-R   Romney 38 Santorum 37
Oklahoma OK-D   Obama D Terry   OK-R   Santorum 34 Gingrich 28
Tennessee TN-D   Obama       TN-R   Santorum 37 Romney 28
Vermont VT-D   Obama U     VT-R   Romney 40 Santorum 24
Virginia VA-D   Obama P     VA-R   Romney D Paul  
Tuesday 13 March 2012 Alabama AL-D   Obama       AL-R   Santorum 35 Gingrich 29
Mississippi MS-D   Obama U     MS-R   Santorum 33 Gingrich 31
Sunday 18 March 2012 Puerto Rico             PR-R   Romney      
Tuesday 20 March 2012 Illinois IL-D   Obama U     IL-R   Romney 47 Santorum 35
Saturday 24 March 2012 Louisiana LA-D   Obama       LA-R   Santorum 49 Romney 27
Tuesday 3 April 2012 District of Columbia DC-D   Obama       DC-R   Romney L Paul  
Maryland MD-D   Obama       MD-R   Romney 49 Santorum 29
Wisconsin WI-D   Obama       WI-R   Romney 44 Santorum 37
Tuesday 24 April 2012 Connecticut CT-D   Obama P     CT-R   Romney L Paul  
Delaware             DE-R   Romney D Gingrich  
New York NY-D           NY-R   Romney D Paul  
Pennsylvania PA-D   Obama U     PA-R   Romney D Santorum  
Rhode Island RI-D   Obama       RI-R   Romney L Paul  
Saturday 5 May 2012 Guam GU-D PR                    
Tuesday 8 May 2012 Indiana IN-D   Obama U     IN-R   Romney L Paul  
North Carolina NC-D   Obama       NC-R   Romney L Paul  
West Virginia WV-D   Obama D Judd   WV-R   Romney L Santorum  
Tuesday 15 May 2012 Nebraska NE-D   Obama       NE-R   Romney L Santorum  
Oregon OR-D   Obama U     OR-R   Romney L Paul  
Tuesday 22 May 2012 Arkansas AR-D   Obama D Wolfe   AR-R   Romney L Paul  
Kentucky KY-D   Obama D Uncommitted   KY-R   Romney L Paul  
Tuesday 29 May 2012 Texas TX-D   Obama       TX-R   Romney L Paul  
Tuesday 5 June 2012 California CA-D   Obama U     CA-R   Romney      
Montana MT-D   Obama       MT-R   Romney L Paul  
New Jersey NJ-D   Obama U     NJ-R   Romney      
New Mexico NM-D   Obama U     NM-R   Romney L Santorum  
South Dakota SD-D   Obama P     SD-R   Romney L Paul  
Tuesday 26 June 2012 Utah             UT-R   Romney      
 
 

Link

  • state-party. T indicates a tentative date.

Type

  • PR indicates a Party-run Primary.

%

  • If a presidential contender wins 75.5% or more of the primary vote, the second place finisher is not listed.
  • U means that this presidential contender- or his/her delegate slate [depending on the type of Primary]- ran in the Primary unopposed (that is, with no other presidential contenders appearing on the ballot but him/her). Please note that write-ins do NOT count as such "other presidential contenders on the ballot" but the appearance of "Uncommitted" (or equivalent, such as "None of the Above") on a ballot DOES.
  • L indicates a landslide majority [60.5 to 75.4% of the primary vote] for the winner.
  • D indicates a decisive majority [52.5 to 60.4% of the primary vote] for the winner.
  • N indicates a narrow majority [50.0(+1 vote) to 52.4% of the primary vote] for the winner.
  • Where a winning presidential contender has failed to gain at least a majority of the primary vote, the winner of the primary and the contender who came in second are both listed with their respective percentages of the primary vote rounded up or down to the nearest whole integer.
  • P indicates Primary cancelled / nomination by default because nominee was the only presidential contender to have filed for this Party's Primary for this office. P also applies to nominees-to-be by apparent Party consensus (i.e. no opposition at an ensuing Convention).
 


  Election 2012 - Presidential Primary, Caucus, and Convention Home  
 
  Presidential Candidates  
 
Rule Making and Process
  30 December 2009 - Democratic Change Commission's Recommendations for the 2012 Presidential Nominating Process  
  20 August 2010 - Democratic National Committee approves 2012 Call To Convention and Delegate Selection Rules  
  6 August 2010 - Republican Temporary Delegate Selection Committee's Recommendations for the 2012 Presidential Nominating Process  
 
  States Alphabetically  
  Events Chronologically  
  Major Events Chronologically  
  Democratic "First Determining Step" Chronologically  
 
  Chronological Cumulative Allocation of Delegates  
  Weekly Delegate Distribution and Availability  
  Democratic Pledged and Unpledged Summary   --   Republican Pledged and Unpledged Summary  
  Democratic Hard and Floor Summary   --   Republican Hard and Floor Summary  
 
Delegate Allocation
  Democratic Quick Reference   --   Republican Quick Reference  
  Democratic Detailed Delegate Allocation   --   Republican Detailed Delegate Allocation  
 
  Democratic Delegate Selection and Voter Eligibility   --   Republican Delegate Selection and Voter Eligibility  
 
  Primaries at a Glance  
 
Documentation
  Historical Analysis of the Presidential Nominating Process  
  Historical Analysis of the apportionment of delegate votes at the National Conventions of the two major parties  
  Primary/Caucus/Convention Glossary  
  Statutory Election Information of the Several states / Presidential Primary  
  Dates of PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES re: selection and/or allocation/distribution of Delegates to Major Party National Conventions  
 
  Major Third Party (Constitution, Green, Libertarian) Presidential Nomination Process  
 
  Straw Polls