2012 Minnesota General Election Story

A head to head comparison of the 2012 Minnesota General Election gives us an idea of the break down of the voters.    

Barack Obama received 1,547,670 (54%) votes beating Mitt Romney who gained 1,321,580 (46%) by 226,090 votes in Minnesota.

Mitt Romney won 59 counties whereas Barack Obama won 28 counties in the total of the 87 counties in the State of Minnesota.

2012 General Election Barack Obama Popular Vote Count Contributed by Minnesota (MN)

During the 2012 General elections, over 122M total number of votes were cast. Barack Obama got 62,614,654 (62.6 Million) over Mitt Romney's 59,141,654 (59.1 Million). He won the popular vote by 3,472,979 (3.4 Million). His victory in the State of Minnesota (with 1,547,670 votes) represents 2.4% of his popular vote victory. The remaining 49 states contributed to the remaining 97.6% popular votes victory.

Top 15 Counties in Primary Elections vs General Elections

These 15 counties play an important role in these Primary elections. If a candidate, can get a sizable majority in the largest counties (Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota), it becomes very difficult to win majorities in the smaller counties without voter outreach and increased voter participation in them. However, steady win margins in less popular counties can amount the marginal win to win an entire State. (As in the case of Mitt Romney in the State of Minnesota).

Top 15 Counties Comparison in Primary Elections vs General Elections

Hennepin, Ramsey and Dakota, three of the larger counties, voted in favor of Barack Obama giving him a 288K vote advantage. However, steady marginal wins for Mitt Romney in the less popular counties (like Stearns, Wright and Scott) were not enough to overcome that deficit, making Barack Obama gain an upper hand in the State of Minnesota.

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Related References: 2016 Minnesota Primary Election Story, 2016 Minnesota General Election Story, 2020 Minnesota Primary Election Story, 2020 Minnesota General Election Story