Claim: Mitt Romney lost an election.

The United States presidential election of 2012 was the 57th quadrennial American presidential election . It was held on Tuesday , November 6 , 2012 . The Democratic nominee , incumbent President Barack Obama , and his running mate , Vice President Joe Biden , were elected to a second term , defeating the Republican nominee , former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney and his running mate , Representative and future House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin .   As the incumbent president , Obama secured the Democratic nomination with no serious opposition . The Republican Party was more fractured ; Mitt Romney was consistently competitive in the polls , but faced challenges from a number of more conservative contenders whose popularity each fluctuated , often besting Romney 's . Romney effectively secured the nomination by early May as the economy improved , albeit at a persistently laggard rate . The campaign was marked by a sharp rise in fundraising , including from new nominally independent Super PACs . The campaigns focused heavily on domestic issues : debate centered largely around sound responses to the Great Recession in terms of economic recovery and job creation . Other issues included long-term federal budget issues , the future of social insurance programs , and the Affordable Care Act . Foreign policy was also discussed including the phase-out of the Iraq War , the size of and spending on the military , preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons , and appropriate counteractions to terrorism .   Obama defeated Romney , winning both the popular vote and the electoral college , with 332 electoral votes to Romney 's 206 . Obama carried all states and districts -LRB- among states that allocate electoral votes by district -RRB- that he had won in the 2008 presidential election except North Carolina , Indiana , and Nebraska 's 2nd congressional district . As such , his margin of victory decreased from 2008 . Consequently , Obama became the first incumbent since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944 to win reelection with fewer electoral votes and a lower popular vote percentage . Nonetheless , Obama also became the first two-term president since Ronald Reagan to win both his presidential bids with an absolute majority of the nationwide popular vote . Not since 1820 had three consecutive American presidents succeeded in securing two consecutive terms .