# 2012 United States presidential election in Montana

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vte :
The 2012 United States presidential election in Montana 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. Montana voters chose three 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.
Romney carried Montana with 55.30% of the vote to Obama's 41.66%, with a 13.64% margin of victory. Montana was the second-best state performance for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson, carrying about 3% of the vote.
Romney performed much better than John McCain had in 2008, when he narrowly won over Obama with only a 2.38% margin of victory. Romney also won over five counties that voted for Obama in 2008. Most of the counties Obama won were either majority Native American (such as Big Horn, Blaine, Glacier, and Roosevelt) or have some of Montana's most populous cities and towns, such as Missoula County (containing its namesake city, the second largest in the state and home of the University of Montana) and Silver Bow County (home to Butte and Montana Tech). As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last time that a Republican has won Gallatin County or that a Democrat has won Hill County or Roosevelt County.
Obama remains the only Democrat since statehood to win two terms in the White House without carrying Montana either time.

## Primary elections
### Republican primary

The Republican caucuses took place on June 14 to 16, 2012 as the Montana state convention. Ten days before, the state delegates were selected by the central committee in each county 23 delegates were to have been chosen, for a total of 26 delegates to go to the national convention. Prior to selecting delegates, a non-binding primary election was held June 5, 2012. Results were announced before the Republican National Convention in August.
2012 Montana Republican presidential primary :
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Delegates |
| Mitt Romney | 96,121 | 68.4% | |
| Ron Paul | 20,227 | 14.4% | |
| Rick Santorum | 12,546 | 8.9% | |
| Newt Gingrich | 6,107 | 4.3% | |
| No Preference | 5,456 | 3.9% | |
| Unpledged delegates: | Unpledged delegates: | Unpledged delegates: | 25 |
| Total: | 140,457 | | 26 |
| Key: | Withdrew prior to contest |

## General election
### Predictions

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

### Results

2012 United States presidential election in Montana :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Mitt Romney | 267,928 | 55.30 |
| | Democratic | Barack Obama (incumbent) | 201,839 | 41.66 |
| | Libertarian | Gary Johnson | 14,165 | 2.93 |
| | Others | Others | 116 | 0.02 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 484,048 | 100.0 |

#### By county

| County | Mitt Romney Republican | Mitt Romney Republican | Barack Obama Democratic | Barack Obama Democratic | Various candidates Other parties | Various candidates Other parties | Margin | Margin | Total |
| County | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | Total |
| Beaverhead | 3,289 | 68.35% | 1,371 | 28.49% | 152 | 3.16% | 1,918 | 39.86% | 4,812 |
| Big Horn | 1,667 | 36.04% | 2,882 | 62.30% | 77 | 1.66% | -1,215 | -26.26% | 4,626 |
| Blaine | 1,178 | 41.20% | 1,616 | 56.52% | 65 | 2.28% | -438 | -15.32% | 2,859 |
| Broadwater | 2,152 | 71.47% | 764 | 25.37% | 95 | 3.16% | 1,388 | 46.10% | 3,011 |
| Carbon | 3,533 | 60.42% | 2,146 | 36.70% | 168 | 2.88% | 1,387 | 23.72% | 5,847 |
| Carter | 678 | 85.18% | 96 | 12.06% | 22 | 2.76% | 582 | 73.12% | 796 |
| Cascade | 18,345 | 53.06% | 15,232 | 44.05% | 999 | 2.89% | 3,113 | 9.01% | 34,576 |
| Chouteau | 1,758 | 62.32% | 978 | 34.67% | 85 | 3.01% | 780 | 27.65% | 2,821 |
| Custer | 3,373 | 62.87% | 1,833 | 34.17% | 159 | 2.96% | 1,540 | 28.70% | 5,365 |
| Daniels | 740 | 73.49% | 237 | 23.54% | 30 | 2.97% | 503 | 49.95% | 1,007 |
| Dawson | 3,029 | 68.48% | 1,219 | 27.56% | 175 | 3.96% | 1,810 | 40.92% | 4,423 |
| Deer Lodge | 1,448 | 32.47% | 2,860 | 64.13% | 152 | 3.40% | -1,412 | -31.66% | 4,460 |
| Fallon | 1,128 | 80.23% | 237 | 16.86% | 41 | 2.91% | 891 | 63.37% | 1,406 |
| Fergus | 4,257 | 70.12% | 1,640 | 27.01% | 174 | 2.87% | 2,617 | 43.11% | 6,071 |
| Flathead | 28,309 | 64.47% | 13,892 | 31.64% | 1,708 | 3.89% | 14,417 | 32.83% | 43,909 |
| Gallatin | 24,358 | 50.84% | 21,961 | 45.84% | 1,589 | 3.32% | 2,397 | 5.00% | 47,908 |
| Garfield | 622 | 88.73% | 66 | 9.42% | 13 | 1.85% | 556 | 79.31% | 701 |
| Glacier | 1,415 | 31.76% | 2,924 | 65.63% | 116 | 2.61% | -1,509 | -33.87% | 4,455 |
| Golden Valley | 351 | 73.28% | 110 | 22.96% | 18 | 3.76% | 241 | 50.32% | 479 |
| Granite | 1,107 | 64.93% | 533 | 31.26% | 65 | 3.81% | 574 | 33.67% | 1,705 |
| Hill | 3,164 | 46.36% | 3,403 | 49.86% | 258 | 3.78% | -239 | -3.50% | 6,825 |
| Jefferson | 4,055 | 62.18% | 2,272 | 34.84% | 194 | 2.98% | 1,783 | 27.34% | 6,521 |
| Judith Basin | 854 | 70.29% | 337 | 27.74% | 24 | 1.97% | 517 | 42.55% | 1,215 |
| Lake | 7,135 | 53.63% | 5,805 | 43.63% | 364 | 2.74% | 1,330 | 10.00% | 13,304 |
| Lewis and Clark | 16,803 | 50.43% | 15,620 | 46.88% | 895 | 2.69% | 1,183 | 3.55% | 33,318 |
| Liberty | 702 | 70.34% | 257 | 25.75% | 39 | 3.91% | 445 | 44.59% | 998 |
| Lincoln | 6,057 | 68.13% | 2,552 | 28.71% | 281 | 3.16% | 3,505 | 39.42% | 8,890 |
| Madison | 3,130 | 69.06% | 1,289 | 28.44% | 113 | 2.50% | 1,841 | 40.62% | 4,532 |
| McCone | 745 | 75.03% | 223 | 22.46% | 25 | 2.51% | 522 | 52.57% | 993 |
| Meagher | 670 | 68.93% | 269 | 27.67% | 33 | 3.40% | 401 | 41.26% | 972 |
| Mineral | 1,216 | 60.17% | 700 | 34.64% | 105 | 5.19% | 516 | 25.53% | 2,021 |
| Missoula | 22,652 | 39.58% | 32,824 | 57.35% | 1,756 | 3.07% | -10,172 | -17.77% | 57,232 |
| Musselshell | 1,833 | 76.15% | 492 | 20.44% | 82 | 3.41% | 1,341 | 55.71% | 2,407 |
| Park | 4,709 | 53.71% | 3,783 | 43.15% | 276 | 3.14% | 926 | 10.56% | 8,768 |
| Petroleum | 240 | 80.54% | 49 | 16.44% | 9 | 3.02% | 191 | 64.10% | 298 |
| Phillips | 1,688 | 75.76% | 471 | 21.14% | 69 | 3.10% | 1,217 | 54.62% | 2,228 |
| Pondera | 1,673 | 61.53% | 975 | 35.86% | 71 | 2.61% | 698 | 25.67% | 2,719 |
| Powder River | 833 | 81.11% | 170 | 16.55% | 24 | 2.34% | 663 | 64.56% | 1,027 |
| Powell | 1,806 | 65.03% | 888 | 31.98% | 83 | 2.99% | 918 | 33.05% | 2,777 |
| Prairie | 520 | 73.97% | 167 | 23.76% | 16 | 2.27% | 353 | 50.21% | 703 |
| Ravalli | 14,307 | 64.41% | 7,285 | 32.80% | 620 | 2.79% | 7,022 | 31.61% | 22,212 |
| Richland | 3,510 | 75.52% | 1,002 | 21.56% | 136 | 2.92% | 2,508 | 53.96% | 4,648 |
| Roosevelt | 1,514 | 41.23% | 2,086 | 56.81% | 72 | 1.96% | -572 | -15.58% | 3,672 |
| Rosebud | 2,004 | 56.88% | 1,422 | 40.36% | 152 | 2.76% | 582 | 16.52% | 3,523 |
| Sanders | 3,980 | 67.45% | 1,720 | 29.15% | 201 | 3.40% | 2,260 | 38.30% | 5,901 |
| Sheridan | 1,207 | 62.60% | 665 | 34.49% | 56 | 2.91% | 542 | 28.11% | 1,928 |
| Silver Bow | 5,430 | 32.41% | 10,857 | 64.79% | 469 | 2.80% | -5,427 | -32.38% | 16,756 |
| Stillwater | 3,337 | 70.97% | 1,248 | 26.54% | 117 | 2.49% | 2,089 | 44.43% | 4,702 |
| Sweet Grass | 1,594 | 75.30% | 475 | 22.44% | 48 | 2.26% | 1,119 | 52.86% | 2,117 |
| Teton | 2,113 | 64.40% | 1,082 | 32.98% | 86 | 2.62% | 1,031 | 31.42% | 3,281 |
| Toole | 1,440 | 68.51% | 582 | 27.69% | 80 | 3.80% | 858 | 40.82% | 2,102 |
| Treasure | 319 | 70.11% | 114 | 25.05% | 22 | 4.84% | 205 | 45.06% | 455 |
| Valley | 2,337 | 60.56% | 1,385 | 35.89% | 137 | 3.55% | 952 | 24.67% | 3,859 |
| Wheatland | 693 | 69.86% | 272 | 27.42% | 27 | 2.72% | 421 | 42.44% | 992 |
| Wibaux | 421 | 77.39% | 98 | 18.01% | 25 | 4.60% | 323 | 59.38% | 544 |
| Yellowstone | 40,500 | 58.86% | 26,403 | 38.37% | 1,904 | 2.77% | 14,097 | 20.49% | 68,807 |
| Totals | 267,928 | 55.30% | 201,839 | 41.66% | 14,717 | 3.04% | 66,089 | 13.64% | 484,484 |

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

* Cascade (largest city: Great Falls)
* Gallatin (largest city: Bozeman)
* Lake (largest city: Polson)
* Lewis and Clark (largest city: Helena)
* Rosebud (largest city: Colstrip)

#### By congressional district

Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated, the At-Large District. This district covers the entire state, and thus is equivalent to the statewide election results.
| District | Romney | Obama | Representative |
| At-large | 55.35% | 41.7% | Steve Daines |