The 2012 United States presidential election in New Hampshire 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. New Hampshire voters chose four 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. New Hampshire voters chose to re-elect President Barack Obama, giving him 51.98% of the vote to Mitt Romney's 46.40%, a Democratic victory margin of 5.58%. Despite Obama winning all of the state's counties in 2008 (the first presidential candidate to do so since George H. W. Bush in 1988, and the first Democrat since Franklin Pierce in 1852) he lost three of them to Romney this election: Belknap, Carroll, and Rockingham. As of 2020, this is the most recent election in which the Democratic candidate won Coös County. This is also the most recent election that New Hampshire voted to the right of Wisconsin, Michigan or Iowa, and the most recent election it voted to the left of Colorado or Virginia. Primaries Democratic New Hampshire held its primaries on January 10, 2012. The state is historically the first in the nation to hold presidential primaries, and moved its date up from February after Florida moved its primary date to January 31. Because New Hampshire has a proportional-delegate primary, the state's 12 national delegates will be allocated in proportion to candidates' percent of the popular vote. Incumbent president Barack Obama won all the delegates and was renominated. A Democratic presidential candidates debate, held at Saint Anselm College in December 2011, was attended by seven candidates; Obama did not participate. 60,659 votes were cast in the primary. Obama won with 49,080 votes. The total votes cast were more than 30% fewer than in 1996, the last time that a Democratic president ran for re-election without significant opposition. Republican The Republican primary took place on Tuesday, January 10, 2012. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney won the primary. Campaign Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum were heavily contesting and campaigning in the New Hampshire primary. Santorum won the Iowa Caucus on