The 2012 United States presidential election in Idaho 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. Idaho voters chose four electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting incumbentDemocraticPresidentBarack Obama and his running mate, Vice PresidentJoe Biden, against Republican challenger and former Massachusetts GovernorMitt Romney and his running mate, CongressmanPaul Ryan. Prior to the election, 17 news organizations considered this a state Romney would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Romney and Ryan carried Idaho with 64.09% of the popular vote to Obama's and Biden's 32.40%, thus winning the state's four electoral votes.[1] Romney's victory in Idaho made it his fourth strongest state in the 2012 election after Utah, Wyoming and Oklahoma.[2] He improved on McCain's performance in 2008, expanding his margin from 25.3% to 31.69% and flipping Teton County which had previously voted for Obama.
The Republican caucuses took place on Super Tuesday, March 6, 2012.[5][6] An advisory primary with no binding effect on delegates, scheduled to be held on Tuesday May 15, 2012, was cancelled by the Idaho Republican Party.[7] Five candidates were on the ballot. In order of filing they are Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, and Buddy Roemer. Although Roemer had withdrawn from the Republican race before the Idaho caucus, he still appeared on the ballot.[8]
Idaho has 32 delegates to the Republican national convention, of which 3 are RNC and 29 are AL.[clarification needed] The 3 RNC delegates pledged to go with the results of the Boise Straw Poll.[citation needed] The delegates will be determined by the caucuses results, based on a two-step approach. First, the delegates are primarily awarded winner-take-all by county after a series of votes in which candidates are successively removed from the ballot. Then, if a candidate receives half or more of the county delegates, he will receive all the 32 delegates; if not, the delegates will be split proportionately according to the number of county delegates.[9] Mitt Romney won 61% of the vote, thanks to a large majority of support (80-90% in most counties) in majority Mormon southeastern Idaho, rendering it a winner-take-all contest. Santorum and Paul split the Panhandle, winning five counties each, but came away empty in the delegate count.
Straw polls[]
Despite a complete lack of formal polling in the state,[9] there were a total of five straw polls conducted in Idaho, three of which were online. Ron Paul won three of these,[10][11][12] while Mitt Romney won two.[13]
January 2–4 online poll[]
This was the first ever Idaho straw poll.[14] It was conducted entirely online by Kaz Wittig KStar Enterprises. Ron Paul won with over 70% of the vote.[10]
Finish
Candidate
Percentage
1
Ron Paul
73.53%
2
Rick Santorum
8.09%
3
Newt Gingrich
7.35%
4
Mitt Romney
5.15%
5
Barack Obama
3.68%
6
Gary Johnson
1.47%
7
Rick Perry
0.74%
8
Jon Huntsman
0.00%
9
Michele Bachmann
0.00%
Total
100%
January 6 Boise poll[]
This poll used paper ballots and was conducted in Boise. Ron Paul won this poll. Rick Perry's campaign, although still active in the race at this time, did not participate.[11]
Finish
Candidate
Percentage
Votes
1
Ron Paul
43%
173
2
Mitt Romney
34%
135
3
Newt Gingrich
12%
47
4
Rick Santorum
10%
40
5
Jon Huntsman
1%
4
Total
100%
399
February 2–4 online poll[]
This online straw poll was also produced by Kaz Wittig KStar Enterprises. Mitt Romney won the poll by a small margin.[13]
Finish
Candidate
Percentage
1
Mitt Romney
45.39%
2
Ron Paul
42.70%
3
Rick Santorum
4.49%
4
Newt Gingrich
3.82%
5
Barack Obama
3.15%
6
Other
0.45%
Total
100%
March 1–3 online poll[]
This poll was also produced by Kaz Wittig KStar Enterprises. Ron Paul won by a double-digit margin.[12]
That these totals reflect the final caucus ballots in each county; where only two candidates have votes totaled, this was likely from other candidates being eliminated in previous rounds of voting. Where all candidates have at least one vote, only one ballot was necessary, since the winning candidate had a majority of votes in that county.
Vote totals for Buddy Roemer, who had formally withdrawn from the Republican race before the caucus, are not provided.
General election[]
Candidate Ballot Access
Barack Obama/Joseph 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[]
2012 United States presidential election in Idaho
Party
Candidate
Running mate
Votes
Percentage
Electoral votes
Republican
Mitt Romney
Paul Ryan
420,911
64.09%
4
Democratic
Barack Obama
Joe Biden
212,787
32.40%
0
Libertarian
Gary Johnson
Jim Gray
9,453
1.44%
0
Write-Ins
Write-Ins
4,429
0.67%
0
Green
Jill Stein
Cheri Honkala
4,402
0.67%
0
Justice
Rocky Anderson
Luis J. Rodriguez
2,499
0.38%
0
Constitution
Virgil Goode
Jim Clymer
2,222
0.34%
0
Peace & Freedom
Roseanne Barr
Cindy Sheehan
39
0.01%
0
Totals
656,742
100.00%
4
By county[]
County
Obama%
Obama#
Romney%
Romney#
Others%
Others#
Total
Ada
42.72%
77,137
54.03%
97,554
3.24%
5,855
180,546
Adams
28.01%
577
68.59%
1,413
3.40%
70
2,060
Bannock
37.48%
13,214
59.59%
21,010
2.94%
1,036
35,260
Bear Lake
10.70%
302
88.20%
2,489
1.10%
31
2,822
Benewah
29.97%
1,164
66.84%
2,596
3.19%
124
3,884
Bingham
21.71%
3,822
76.35%
13,440
1.94%
341
17,603
Blaine
58.78%
5,992
38.64%
3,939
2.58%
263
10,194
Boise
30.57%
1,053
66.30%
2,284
3.13%
108
3,445
Bonner
35.07%
6,500
61.32%
11,367
3.61%
669
18,536
Bonneville
22.92%
9,903
74.69%
32,276
2.39%
1,034
43,213
Boundary
26.96%
1,225
69.06%
3,138
3.98%
181
4,544
Butte
20.06%
258
77.84%
1,001
2.10%
27
1,286
Camas
27.51%
159
69.55%
402
2.94%
17
578
Canyon
30.06%
19,866
67.13%
44,369
2.81%
1,855
66,090
Caribou
12.65%
386
85.45%
2,608
1.90%
58
3,052
Cassia
13.08%
1,098
85.21%
7,154
1.72%
144
8,396
Clark
20.12%
66
71.65%
235
8.23%
27
328
Clearwater
27.92%
1,032
68.75%
2,541
3.33%
123
3,696
Custer
22.53%
530
74.15%
1,744
3.32%
78
2,352
Elmore
31.41%
2,513
65.33%
5,227
3.26%
261
8,001
Franklin
05.80%
325
92.77%
5,195
1.43%
80
5,600
Fremont
13.96%
810
84.57%
4,907
1.47%
85
5,802
Gem
26.13%
1,957
70.91%
5,311
2.96%
222
7,490
Gooding
25.15%
1,287
72.22%
3,696
2.64%
135
5,118
Idaho
21.79%
1,708
75.55%
5,921
2.65%
208
7,837
Jefferson
11.45%
1,303
86.94%
9,895
1.61%
183
11,381
Jerome
25.43%
1,699
71.91%
4,804
2.66%
178
6,681
Kootenai
31.51%
18,851
65.82%
39,381
2.67%
1,596
59,828
Latah
49.56%
8,306
45.28%
7,589
5.16%
864
16,759
Lemhi
23.36%
960
73.70%
3,029
2.94%
121
4,110
Lewis
24.54%
396
72.68%
1,173
2.79%
45
1,614
Lincoln
28.22%
469
68.65%
1,141
3.13%
52
1,662
Madison
05.77%
832
93.29%
13,445
0.94%
135
14,412
Minidoka
19.93%
1,390
78.04%
5,442
2.02%
141
6,973
Nez Perce
38.29%
6,451
59.16%
9,967
2.55%
430
16,848
Oneida
10.39%
217
87.98%
1,838
1.63%
34
2,089
Owyhee
22.37%
833
75.03%
2,794
2.60%
97
3,724
Payette
26.73%
2,271
70.68%
6,004
2.59%
220
8,495
Power
33.83%
982
64.42%
1,870
1.76%
51
2,903
Shoshone
44.23%
2,277
52.43%
2,699
3.34%
172
5,148
Teton
42.58%
1,926
54.34%
2,458
3.07%
139
4,523
Twin Falls
26.80%
7,541
70.26%
19,773
2.94%
828
28,142
Valley
42.59%
2,095
54.16%
2,664
3.25%
160
4,919
Washington
25.50%
1,104
72.24%
3,128
2.26%
98
4,330
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican[]