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The [[primary election]] to select the Democratic and Republican candidates had been held on April 24, 2012.<ref name=PrimaryResults>{{Cite web|url=http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=12&ElectionID=45|title=2012 General Primary|publisher=Pennsylvania Department of State|access-date=October 18, 2012|year=2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120428135227/http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=12&ElectionID=45|archive-date=April 28, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The '''2012 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania''' took place on November 6, 2012, as part of the [[2012 United States presidential election]] in which all 50 states plus [[Washington, D.C.|the District of Columbia]] participated. [[Pennsylvania]] voters chose 20 electors to represent them in the [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]] via a popular vote pitting [[incumbent]] [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[President of the United States|President]] [[Barack Obama]] and his running mate, [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Joe Biden]], against [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] challenger and former [[Governor of Massachusetts|Massachusetts Governor]] [[Mitt Romney]] and his running mate, [[United States House of Representatives|Congressman]] [[Paul Ryan]]. Pennsylvania's electoral vote number was a reduction from the 2008 delegation, which had 21 electors. This change was due to [[reapportionment]] following the [[2010 United States Census]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=O'Neill|first=Brian|date=October 16, 2011|title=Don't let Pa. flunk out of the Electoral College|page=A-2|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}</ref> Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes are allotted on a [[Plurality voting|winner-take-all]] basis.<ref name="PostGazetteSept">{{Cite news|last=McNulty|first=Timothy|date=September 8, 2012|title=Romney campaign not expected to invest much in Pa.|page=A-1|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}</ref>
[[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] incumbent President [[Barack Obama]] received 51.97% of the vote, beating [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] challenger [[Mitt Romney]]'s 46.59%.<ref name=GeneralResults>{{Cite web|url=http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=12&ElectionID=53 |title=2012 General Primary |publisher=Pennsylvania Department of State |access-date=November 15, 2012 |year=2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119033506/http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=12&ElectionID=53 |archive-date=January 19, 2013 }}</ref> Also on the ballot were physician [[Jill Stein]] of the [[Green Party of the United States|Green Party]] and former [[New Mexico]] [[Governor of New Mexico|Governor]] [[Gary Johnson]] of the [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]], who received 0.37% and 0.87%, respectively.<ref name=GeneralResults/> [[Third-party and independent candidates for the 2012 United States presidential election|Other candidates]] could run as [[write-in candidate]]s, which received a total 0.2% of the vote. The state had been considered likely, but not certain, to go to Obama.<ref name=AnalystRatings>[[Electoral-vote.com]] labeled Pennsylvania "likely Democratic". {{Cite web|url=http://www.electoral-vote.com/|title=Electoral-vote.com|first=Andrew S|last=Tanenbaum|author-link=Andrew S. Tanenbaum|access-date=October 17, 2012}}<br />''[[The Washington Post]]'' labeled Pennsylvania "lean Democratic". {{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/election-map-2012/president/|title=2012 Election Map: The race for the presidency|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=October 17, 2012}}<br />[[CNN]] labeled Pennsylvania "leaning Obama". {{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/ecalculator|title=CNN Electoral Map|publisher=CNN|access-date=October 17, 2012|first1=Sophia|last1=Dengo|first2=Bryan|last2=Perry|first3=John|last3=Hayes|first4=Joel|last4=John|first5=A.D|last5=Slaton|work=CNN Politics}}<br />''[[The Cook Political Report]]'' labeled Pennsylvania "lean Democratic". {{Cite web|url=http://cookpolitical.com/presidential/maps|work=The Cook Political Report|title=Presidential: Maps|access-date=October 17, 2012}}</ref> While the state had voted for a Democrat since [[1992 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|1992]], it remained competitive, especially after Bush's loss of only 2.5% in [[2004 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|2004]]. Its competitiveness was attributable to the stark contrast between the state's diverse, urban voters in areas such as [[Philadelphia]] and [[Pittsburgh]]; and rural, blue-collar voters in the rest of the state. However, massive margins in the urban regions of the state and victories in the Philadelphia suburbs, [[Lehigh Valley]], [[Scranton, Pennsylvania|Scranton]], and [[Erie, Pennsylvania|Erie]] delivered a considerable victory for the president. Regardless, Romney improved on [[John McCain|John McCain's]] 10.32% loss in the state in [[2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|2008]], and flipped five counties that voted for Obama four years prior.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Woodall|first=Candy|title=Joe Biden wins Pennsylvania: Here's how he reclaimed his home state and the 'blue wall'|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/07/biden-wins-pa-how-he-reclaimed-his-home-state-and-blue-wall/6203382002/|access-date=2020-11-09|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US}}</ref>
Five counties that voted for [[Barack Obama|Obama]] in [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]] voted for [[Mitt Romney|Romney]] in 2012. This included Cambria County, which made Obama the first Democrat to win the presidency without carrying the county since [[Woodrow Wilson]] in [[1916 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|1916]]. Chester County, a [[Philadelphia|Philadelphia suburb]], also voted for Romney, though it would flip back into the Democratic column in [[2016 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|2016]]<ref>{{Cite news|date=2017-09-13|title=Pennsylvania Election Results 2016|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/pennsylvania|access-date=2020-11-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and remain there in [[2020 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|2020]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Pennsylvania Election Results|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-pennsylvania.html|access-date=2020-11-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying [[Elk County, Pennsylvania|Elk County]] since [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in [[1940 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|1940]], and the first to do so without carrying [[Carbon County, Pennsylvania|Carbon County]] since [[John F. Kennedy]] in [[1960 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|1960]]. As of the [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 election]], this marked the most recent time that [[Chester County, Pennsylvania|Chester County]] voted for the Republican candidate, and that [[Luzerne County, Pennsylvania|Luzerne County]] voted for the Democratic candidate.▼
This, as of 2022, is also the last time Pennsylvania voted to the right of [[Iowa]] and [[Wisconsin]]; and to the left of [[Virginia]] (very narrowly) and [[Colorado]] (by 0.02%)
▲Five counties that voted for [[Barack Obama|Obama]] in [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]] voted for [[Mitt Romney|Romney]] in 2012. This included Cambria County, which made Obama the first Democrat to win the presidency without carrying the county since [[Woodrow Wilson]] in [[1916 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|1916]]. Chester County, a [[Philadelphia|Philadelphia suburb]], also voted for Romney, though it would flip back into the Democratic column in [[2016 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|2016]]<ref>{{Cite news|date=2017-09-13|title=Pennsylvania Election Results 2016|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2016/results/pennsylvania|access-date=2020-11-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and remain there in [[2020 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|2020]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Pennsylvania Election Results|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/11/03/us/elections/results-pennsylvania.html|access-date=2020-11-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying [[Elk County, Pennsylvania|Elk County]] since [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in [[1940 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|1940]], and the first to do so without carrying [[Carbon County, Pennsylvania|Carbon County]] since [[John F. Kennedy]] in [[1960 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|1960]].
▲This, as of 2022, is also the last time Pennsylvania voted to the right of [[Iowa]] and [[Wisconsin]]; and to the left of [[Virginia]] (very narrowly) and [[Colorado]] (by 0.02%), two Republican leaning states in the early 2000s that would become solidly Democratic towards the late 2010s.
==Primaries==
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== General election ==
===Polling===
In [[Statewide opinion polling for the 2012 United States presidential election|statewide opinion polling]], incumbent Barack Obama consistently led challenger Mitt Romney by a margin of between 2 and 12 [[percentage point]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pennsylvania: Romney vs. Obama|work=RealClearPolitics|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/pa/pennsylvania_romney_vs_obama-1891.html#polls|access-date=October 17, 2012}}</ref> Analysts rated Pennsylvania as a "likely Democratic" or "Democratic-leaning" state in the presidential race.<ref name=AnalystRatings/> On the morning of the election, polling aggregator [[FiveThirtyEight]] estimated that there was a 99% likelihood that Obama would win Pennsylvania's electoral votes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/|title=FiveThirtyEight|last=Silver|first=Nate|author-link=Nate Silver|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 8, 2012}}</ref> At the time, Pennsylvania's electoral votes had gone to the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since [[Bill Clinton]] won it in [[1992 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania|1992]].<ref name=PostGazetteSept/> The average of the last three polls had Obama leading Romney 51% to 46%, which was very close to the actual result.<ref>https://uselectionatlas.org/POLLS/PRESIDENT/2012/polls.php?fips=42 {{Bare URL inline|date=April 2022}}</ref>
During the summer, there was significant spending on [[Campaign advertising|political advertisements]] in Pennsylvania, by both the [[Barack Obama 2012 presidential campaign|Obama campaign]] and pro-Romney groups such as [[American Crossroads|Crossroads GPS]] and [[Americans for Prosperity]].<ref name=LevyOct30>{{Cite news|title=Romney, Obama campaigns resume Pa. ad campaigns|url=http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20121030_ap_romneyobamacampaignsresumepaadcampaigns.html|newspaper=Philly.com|date=October 30, 2012|first=Marc|last=Levy|agency=Associated Press|access-date=November 2, 2012|archive-date=November 3, 2012|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6Bt5X4YtU?url=http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20121030_ap_romneyobamacampaignsresumepaadcampaigns.html|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> However, because Obama maintained a consistent lead in polling, Pennsylvania came to be considered a "safe state" for Obama, and campaign advertising subsided substantially in August.<ref name=LevyOct30/> This changed in October, when pro-Romney groups [[Restore Our Future]] and [[Americans for Job Security]] spent $3 million on advertising in Pennsylvania.<ref name=LevyOct30/> Later that month, the Obama campaign and the [[Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign|Romney campaign]] both launched their own advertising campaigns in Pennsylvania.<ref name=LevyOct30/> On November 1, the [[Republican National Committee]] announced that it would spend $3 million on television ads in Pennsylvania in the final days of the campaign.<ref name=LevyNov1>{{Cite news|title=Romney, RNC splashing down in Pa. in 11th-hour bid|first=Marc|last=Levy|agency=Associated Press|access-date=November 2, 2012|date=November 1, 2012|newspaper=Deseret News|url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765614482/Romney-RNC-splashing-down-in-Pa-in-11th-hour-bid.html|archive-date=March 30, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330113853/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765614482/Romney-RNC-splashing-down-in-Pa-in-11th-hour-bid.html|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In total, pro-Romney spending in Pennsylvania was estimated to amount to as much as $12 million, much more than Obama campaign spending.<ref name=LevyNov1/> The Obama campaign characterized the pro-Romney spending surge as "an act of sheer desperation", while the Romney campaign argued that they had a realistic chance of winning the state.<ref name=LevyNov1/> In the end, Obama carried the state by a modest margin, albeit narrower than his 2008 landslide over Senator [[John McCain]].
===Results===
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