# 2012 United States presidential election in New Mexico

"none" is preferred when the title is already sufficiently detailed; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
Elections in New Mexico :
Federal elections
Presidential elections
1912
1916
1920
1924
1928
1932
1936
1940
1944
1948
1952
1956
1960
1964
1968
1972
1976
1980
1984
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
Presidential primaries
Democratic
2000
2004
2008
2016
2020
2024
Republican
2008
2020
2024
Senate elections
1912
1913
1916
1918
1921 sp
1922
1924
1928
1928 sp
1930
1934
1934 sp
1936
1936 sp
1940
1942
1946
1948
1952
1954
1958
1960
1964
1966
1970
1972
1976
1978
1982
1984
1988
1990
1994
1996
2000
2002
2006
2008
2012
2014
2018
2020
2024
2026
House of Representatives elections
1911
1912
1914
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1957
AL sp
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1997
3rd sp
1998
1st sp
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2021
1st sp
2022
2024 :
State elections
General elections
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024
2026
Gubernatorial elections
1911
1916
1918
1920
1922
1924
1926
1928
1930
1932
1934
1936
1938
1940
1942
1944
1946
1948
1950
1952
1954
1956
1958
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1974
1978
1982
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2018
2022
2026
Secretary of State elections
2022
Attorney General elections
2022
Treasurer elections
2022
Senate elections
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2020
2024
House of Representatives elections
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
2024 :
Albuquerque
Mayoral elections
2001
2005
2009
2013
2017
2021
2025 :
vte :
2012 U.S. presidential election :
Timeline
General election debates
Electors
Polling
nationwide
statewide
Parties :
Democratic Party :
Candidates
Primaries
Results
Nominee
Convention :
Republican Party :
Prelude
Candidates
Debates and forums
Primaries
National polling
Statewide polling
Straw polls
Results
Nominee
VP candidate selection
Convention
Endorsements :
Minor parties :
Libertarian Party
candidates
primaries
nominee
convention
Green Party
primaries
nominee
convention
Constitution Party
nominee
convention
Justice Party
nominee
Americans Elect
All candidates :
Related races :
House
Senate
Governors
Vice President
Democratic
Republican :
| ← 2008 | 2012 | 2016 → |
vte :
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 2024 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
### Democratic caucuses

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

The 2012 New Mexico Republican presidential primary was proclaimed under state law on January 30, 2012 to take place on June 5, 2012. 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. 20 delegates were chosen, for a total of 23 delegates to go to the national convention.

#### Federal offices

* 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.
* 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

* Court of Appeals: One candidate to run for the unexpired term of Judge Robert E. Robles, currently held by appointee Judge J. Miles Hanisee.
* Public Regulation Commission: One candidate for each of District 1 and District 3 for four year terms.

#### Results

New Mexico Republican primary, 2012 :
| 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: | Unpledged delegates: | Unpledged delegates: | 3 |
| Total: | 90,113 | 100.0% | 23 |
| Key: | Withdrew prior to contest |

## General election
### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Huffington Post | Lean D | November 6, 2012 |
| CNN | Lean D | November 6, 2012 |
| New York Times | Lean D | November 6, 2012 |
| Washington Post | Tossup | November 6, 2012 |
| RealClearPolitics | Lean D | November 6, 2012 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Likely D | November 5, 2012 |
| FiveThirtyEight | Solid D | November 6, 2012 |

### Candidate ballot access

* 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

2012 United States presidential election in New Mexico :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Barack Obama (incumbent)Joe Biden (incumbent) | 415,335 | 52.99% | −3.92 |
| | Republican | Mitt RomneyPaul Ryan | 335,788 | 42.84% | +1.06 |
| | Libertarian | Gary JohnsonJim Gray | 27,788 | 3.55% | +3.26 |
| | Green | Jill SteinCheri Honkala | 2,691 | 0.34% | +0.15 |
| | Justice | Rocky AndersonLuis J. Rodriguez | 1,177 | 0.15% | N/A |
| | Constitution | Virgil GoodeJim Clymer | 983 | 0.13% | −0.06 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 783,756 | 100.00% | |
| | Democratic win | Democratic win | Democratic win | Democratic win | Democratic win |

#### By county

| County | Barack Obama Democratic | Barack Obama Democratic | Mitt Romney Republican | Mitt Romney Republican | Various candidates Other parties | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Margin | Total votes cast |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | 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 |
| Doña 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 |

##### Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Luna (largest city: Deming)

#### By congressional district

Obama won 2 of 3 congressional districts.
| 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 |