2012 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

2012 United States presidential election in Massachusetts

← 2008 November 6, 2012 2016 →
Turnout	73.2%
Nominee Barack Obama Mitt Romney Party Democratic Republican Home state Illinois Massachusetts Running mate Joe Biden Paul Ryan Electoral vote 11 0 Popular vote 1,921,761 1,188,460 Percentage 60.67% 37.52%
County Results Municipality Results Precinct Results Obama   40–50%   50–60%   60–70%   70–80%   80–90%   90–100% Romney   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% Tie
President before election Barack Obama Democratic Elected President Barack Obama Democratic

Elections in Massachusetts
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v t e

The 2012 United States presidential election in Massachusetts 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. Massachusetts voters chose 11 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.

Obama and Biden won Massachusetts with 60.67% of the popular vote to Romney's and Ryan's 37.52%, thus winning the state's 11 electoral votes by a 23.15% margin of victory, despite Massachusetts being Romney's home state where he served as governor from 2003 to 2007.^[1] This was the first time a presidential candidate lost his home state since Al Gore lost Tennessee in the 2000 election. Romney also became the first Republican candidate to lose his home state since Richard Nixon lost his then-home state of New York to Hubert Humphrey in 1968.

Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since 1928, and a Democratic stronghold since 1960, and has maintained extremely large Democratic margins since 1996. Even fending off one of the state's own former governors, Mitt Romney. Massachusetts has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1984. The 2012 election was also the sixth consecutive one (since 1992) in which the Democratic presidential candidate swept every one of the state's 14 counties. Romney became the first major party nominee to lose their home state by twenty or more percentage points in 80 years, which would happen again four years later when Donald Trump lost his then-home state of New York by 22 points.

Nevertheless, Romney's 37.52% vote share still stands as of the 2020 presidential election as the highest Republican vote share in Massachusetts since 1988. Romney's 4.20% defeat in Plymouth County represents, as of 2020, the closest a Republican has come to carrying any of Massachusetts' counties since 1988.

The 2012 presidential election marks the most recent cycle that Romney would stand for public office as a resident of Massachusetts. He would be on the ballot again in 2018, but as a candidate for U.S. senator from Utah. Despite Romney's expected wide loss, this is to date the best performance of a Republican presidential candidate in Massachusetts since George H. W. Bush in 1988, when he garnered more than 40% of the state's votes and won four of its counties (making him the most recent Republican to win any Massachusetts counties). Romney outperformed George W. Bush's vote share in 2004 by 0.74%, while Obama underperformed John Kerry's vote share by 1.27%. Obama's 23% margin was the smallest margin since 1992.