California — 2012 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate2012 presidential electionCalifornia · PresidentObamaD+23.1
How it voted
Share of the 2012 vote
| Barack Obama ✓Democratic | 60.2% | 7,854,285 |
|---|---|---|
| Mitt RomneyRepublican | 37.1% | 4,839,958 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 2.8% | 361,572 |
2012presidential margin
D+60R+60
58 counties, each filled by 2012 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
California cast 55 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (58 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Alameda County, CA | Democratic | D+60.6 |
| Alpine County, CA | Democratic | D+23.4 |
| Amador County, CA | Republican | R+19.5 |
| Butte County, CA | Republican | R+2.0 |
| Calaveras County, CA | Republican | R+16.9 |
| Colusa County, CA | Republican | R+21.3 |
| Contra Costa County, CA | Democratic | D+35.1 |
| Del Norte County, CA | Republican | R+9.4 |
| El Dorado County, CA | Republican | R+17.8 |
| Fresno County, CA | Democratic | D+1.8 |
| Glenn County, CA | Republican | R+25.2 |
| Humboldt County, CA | Democratic | D+27.1 |
| Imperial County, CA | Democratic | D+32.0 |
| Inyo County, CA | Republican | R+11.4 |
| Kern County, CA | Republican | R+16.7 |
| Kings County, CA | Republican | R+14.9 |
| Lake County, CA | Democratic | D+16.9 |
| Lassen County, CA | Republican | R+39.6 |
| Los Angeles County, CA | Democratic | D+41.9 |
| Madera County, CA | Republican | R+17.1 |
| Marin County, CA | Democratic | D+51.2 |
| Mariposa County, CA | Republican | R+18.2 |
| Mendocino County, CA | Democratic | D+38.5 |
| Merced County, CA | Democratic | D+8.7 |
| Modoc County, CA | Republican | R+41.5 |
| Mono County, CA | Democratic | D+8.6 |
| Monterey County, CA | Democratic | D+36.9 |
| Napa County, CA | Democratic | D+28.7 |
| Nevada County, CA | Republican | R+0.6 |
| Orange County, CA | Republican | R+6.2 |
| Placer County, CA | Republican | R+19.3 |
| Plumas County, CA | Republican | R+16.8 |
| Riverside County, CA | Democratic | D+1.6 |
| Sacramento County, CA | Democratic | D+18.9 |
| San Benito County, CA | Democratic | D+20.6 |
| San Bernardino County, CA | Democratic | D+7.3 |
| San Diego County, CA | Democratic | D+7.6 |
| San Francisco County, CA | Democratic | D+70.4 |
| San Joaquin County, CA | Democratic | D+13.7 |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | Democratic | D+1.0 |
| San Mateo County, CA | Democratic | D+46.7 |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | Democratic | D+18.0 |
| Santa Clara County, CA | Democratic | D+42.8 |
| Santa Cruz County, CA | Democratic | D+55.5 |
| Shasta County, CA | Republican | R+29.1 |
| Sierra County, CA | Republican | R+22.4 |
| Siskiyou County, CA | Republican | R+15.2 |
| Solano County, CA | Democratic | D+29.2 |
| Sonoma County, CA | Democratic | D+45.7 |
| Stanislaus County, CA | Democratic | D+2.7 |
| Sutter County, CA | Republican | R+19.1 |
| Tehama County, CA | Republican | R+27.4 |
| Trinity County, CA | Republican | R+0.7 |
| Tulare County, CA | Republican | R+15.0 |
| Tuolumne County, CA | Republican | R+15.7 |
| Ventura County, CA | Democratic | D+7.0 |
| Yolo County, CA | Democratic | D+33.9 |
| Yuba County, CA | Republican | R+18.0 |
California results by county
58 counties. Third-party and independent votes are reported by the county source as one combined figure; every named candidate is listed in the complete result below.
| Led by | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alameda County | Barack Obama+361,502 | 469,68478.7% | 108,18218.1% | 19,0273.2% | 596,893 |
| Alpine County | Barack Obama+153 | 38959.5% | 23636.1% | 294.4% | 654 |
| Amador County | Mitt Romney+3,451 | 6,83038.6% | 10,28158.1% | 5823.3% | 17,693 |
| Butte County | Mitt Romney+1,810 | 42,66946.9% | 44,47948.9% | 3,8734.3% | 91,021 |
| Calaveras County | Mitt Romney+3,695 | 8,67039.7% | 12,36556.6% | 8273.8% | 21,862 |
| Colusa County | Mitt Romney+1,287 | 2,31438.3% | 3,60159.6% | 1302.2% | 6,045 |
| Contra Costa County | Barack Obama+154,307 | 290,82466.2% | 136,51731.1% | 11,8042.7% | 439,145 |
| Del Norte County | Mitt Romney+823 | 3,79143.2% | 4,61452.6% | 3654.2% | 8,770 |
| El Dorado County | Mitt Romney+15,807 | 35,16639.5% | 50,97357.3% | 2,8593.2% | 88,998 |
| Fresno County | Barack Obama+4,639 | 129,12949.7% | 124,49047.9% | 6,0782.3% | 259,697 |
| Glenn County | Mitt Romney+2,331 | 3,30135.7% | 5,63261.0% | 3053.3% | 9,238 |
| Humboldt County | Barack Obama+15,632 | 34,45759.7% | 18,82532.6% | 4,4047.6% | 57,686 |
| Imperial County | Barack Obama+12,359 | 25,13665.2% | 12,77733.1% | 6521.7% | 38,565 |
| Inyo County | Mitt Romney+918 | 3,42242.6% | 4,34054.0% | 2743.4% | 8,036 |
| Kern County | Mitt Romney+37,123 | 89,49540.3% | 126,61857.0% | 6,0762.7% | 222,189 |
| Kings County | Mitt Romney+4,692 | 12,97941.3% | 17,67156.2% | 7682.4% | 31,418 |
| Lake County | Barack Obama+3,963 | 13,16356.3% | 9,20039.3% | 1,0284.4% | 23,391 |
| Lassen County | Mitt Romney+4,243 | 3,05328.5% | 7,29668.0% | 3763.5% | 10,725 |
| Los Angeles County | Barack Obama+1,331,570 | 2,216,90369.7% | 885,33327.8% | 78,8312.5% | 3,181,067 |
| Madera County | Mitt Romney+6,834 | 16,01840.1% | 22,85257.2% | 1,0632.7% | 39,933 |
| Marin County | Barack Obama+69,016 | 99,89674.1% | 30,88022.9% | 3,9552.9% | 134,731 |
| Mariposa County | Mitt Romney+1,642 | 3,49838.7% | 5,14056.9% | 4004.4% | 9,038 |
| Mendocino County | Barack Obama+13,535 | 23,19366.0% | 9,65827.5% | 2,2866.5% | 35,137 |
| Merced County | Barack Obama+5,424 | 33,00553.0% | 27,58144.3% | 1,6362.6% | 62,222 |
| Modoc County | Mitt Romney+1,666 | 1,11127.6% | 2,77769.1% | 1313.3% | 4,019 |
| Mono County | Barack Obama+448 | 2,73352.8% | 2,28544.1% | 1633.1% | 5,181 |
| Monterey County | Barack Obama+45,530 | 82,92067.1% | 37,39030.3% | 3,2082.6% | 123,518 |
| Napa County | Barack Obama+16,344 | 35,87063.0% | 19,52634.3% | 1,5722.8% | 56,968 |
| Nevada County | Mitt Romney+323 | 24,66347.7% | 24,98648.4% | 2,0273.9% | 51,676 |
| Orange County | Mitt Romney+69,892 | 512,44045.6% | 582,33251.9% | 27,8922.5% | 1,122,664 |
| Placer County | Mitt Romney+33,103 | 66,81838.9% | 99,92158.2% | 4,9722.9% | 171,711 |
| Plumas County | Mitt Romney+1,695 | 4,02639.9% | 5,72156.8% | 3333.3% | 10,080 |
| Riverside County | Barack Obama+10,936 | 329,06349.6% | 318,12748.0% | 15,9262.4% | 663,116 |
| Sacramento County | Barack Obama+97,989 | 300,50358.1% | 202,51439.1% | 14,5652.8% | 517,582 |
| San Benito County | Barack Obama+3,933 | 11,27659.1% | 7,34338.5% | 4622.4% | 19,081 |
| San Bernardino County | Barack Obama+42,751 | 305,10952.3% | 262,35845.0% | 15,4632.7% | 582,930 |
| San Diego County | Barack Obama+90,231 | 626,95752.5% | 536,72645.0% | 30,2662.5% | 1,193,949 |
| San Francisco County | Barack Obama+254,647 | 301,72383.4% | 47,07613.0% | 12,9963.6% | 361,795 |
| San Joaquin County | Barack Obama+28,050 | 114,12155.6% | 86,07141.9% | 5,1722.5% | 205,364 |
| San Luis Obispo County | Barack Obama+1,291 | 61,25848.6% | 59,96747.6% | 4,7413.8% | 125,966 |
| San Mateo County | Barack Obama+133,329 | 206,08572.1% | 72,75625.5% | 6,8792.4% | 285,720 |
| Santa Barbara County | Barack Obama+29,523 | 94,12957.4% | 64,60639.4% | 5,1503.1% | 163,885 |
| Santa Clara County | Barack Obama+275,975 | 450,81870.0% | 174,84327.1% | 18,6162.9% | 644,277 |
| Santa Cruz County | Barack Obama+66,758 | 90,80575.4% | 24,04720.0% | 5,5334.6% | 120,385 |
| Shasta County | Mitt Romney+22,248 | 25,81933.7% | 48,06762.8% | 2,6153.4% | 76,501 |
| Sierra County | Mitt Romney+403 | 65336.3% | 1,05658.7% | 905.0% | 1,799 |
| Siskiyou County | Mitt Romney+3,031 | 8,04640.2% | 11,07755.4% | 8704.4% | 19,993 |
| Solano County | Barack Obama+44,691 | 96,78363.3% | 52,09234.1% | 3,9652.6% | 152,840 |
| Sonoma County | Barack Obama+99,158 | 153,94271.0% | 54,78425.3% | 8,1393.8% | 216,865 |
| Stanislaus County | Barack Obama+4,265 | 77,72449.9% | 73,45947.1% | 4,6333.0% | 155,816 |
| Sutter County | Mitt Romney+5,930 | 12,19239.2% | 18,12258.3% | 7692.5% | 31,083 |
| Tehama County | Mitt Romney+6,301 | 7,93434.5% | 14,23562.0% | 8083.5% | 22,977 |
| Trinity County | Mitt Romney+42 | 2,67446.6% | 2,71647.3% | 3496.1% | 5,739 |
| Tulare County | Mitt Romney+15,204 | 41,75241.2% | 56,95656.2% | 2,5712.5% | 101,279 |
| Tuolumne County | Mitt Romney+3,882 | 9,99840.4% | 13,88056.1% | 8803.6% | 24,758 |
| Ventura County | Barack Obama+22,971 | 170,92952.2% | 147,95845.1% | 8,8252.7% | 327,712 |
| Yolo County | Barack Obama+25,347 | 48,71565.2% | 23,36831.3% | 2,5883.5% | 74,671 |
| Yuba County | Mitt Romney+3,564 | 7,71139.0% | 11,27557.1% | 7753.9% | 19,761 |
Nominees: Barack Obama (D) · Mitt Romney (R)
California's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 2012 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | +1.2% |
| 1896 | −0.6% |
| 1900 | −13.1% |
| 1904 | −34.9% |
| 1908 | −22.5% |
| 1912 | +41.8% |
| 1916 | +0.4% |
| 1920 | −41.9% |
| 1924 | −49.0% |
| 1928 | −30.5% |
| 1932 | +21.0% |
| 1936 | +35.3% |
| 1940 | +16.1% |
| 1944 | +13.5% |
| 1948 | +0.4% |
| 1952 | −13.6% |
| 1956 | −11.1% |
| 1960 | −0.5% |
| 1964 | +18.3% |
| 1968 | −3.1% |
| 1972 | −13.5% |
| 1976 | −1.8% |
| 1980 | −16.8% |
| 1984 | −16.2% |
| 1988 | −3.6% |
| 1992 | +13.4% |
| 1996 | +12.9% |
| 2000 | +11.8% |
| 2004 | +9.9% |
| 2008 | +24.0% |
| 2012 | +23.1% |
| 2016 | +30.0% |
| 2020 | +29.1% |
| 2024 | +20.1% |
Same ballot, 2012CA
Source. MIT Election Data + Science Lab — 2012 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.