2012 Presidential Campaign Blog

Tim Pawlenty to Headline Saturday Night Dinner at the California Republican Convention on Saturday, February 25, 2012

Team Romney National Co-Chair and former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty to Headline Saturday Night Dinner

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Republican Party announced today that Tim Pawlenty, Co-Chair of Mitt Romney’s Presidential campaign and former Governor of Minnesota, will headline the Saturday night dinner event at next weekend’s Convention.
 
Pawlenty, who was a Presidential candidate himself, will provide an update on the 2012 Presidential election. He will join Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus for the evening event.
 
He served as Governor of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011, where he eliminated that State’s budget deficit by focusing largely on spending cuts. In 2007-2008, he served as Chairman of the National Governor’s Association. He previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives (1993–2003) where he was Majority Leader for two terms.

Mitt Romney Named Winner of the Maine GOP Caucuses

Mitt Romney Named Winner of the Maine GOP Caucuses

Portland, ME Feb 11, 2012 – Maine Republican Chairman Charles M. Webster and Vice Chair Ruth Summers issued the following statements announcing Mitt Romney as the winner of this year’s caucus process and thanking our volunteers and Maine voters for participating in the process. Romney wins Maine caucuses with 39.2 percent of the vote.

“We would like to congratulate Governor Romney on his win in the Maine caucuses, and thank Ron Paul and Mitt Romney for making stops in Maine over the past several weeks. Maine People were excited to cast their first vote against the Obama agenda and we look forward to working with our Republican presidential nominee to defeat Barack Obama in Maine,” said Maine GOP Chairman Charlie Webster.

Maine GOP Vice Chair Ruth Summers said, “We owe many thanks and congratulations to our volunteers across the state who worked so diligently organizing these caucuses. These caucuses would not have been possible without our State Committee who promoted this concept. It was wonderful to see so many Maine people turn out to vote in the presidential straw poll and participate in the caucus business. We are truly a grassroots party and the work they started is critical to moving our Party forward and winning in November.”

Maine is considered a ‘beauty contest’ state when it comes to caucuses. That is to say, there are no national delegates ‘won’ or ‘bound’ to any Presidential candidate in our caucus process. At the caucuses, we elect state delegates, election clerks, and in some cases town officers. What we also do is ask those participating in the caucus, to take a poll on which Presidential candidate they prefer. This is an unofficial, non-binding poll, that just simply show’s a ‘snapshot’, or takes the current ‘pulse’, of which Presidential candidate has the most support at the participating caucuses throughout the state. Some caucuses decided to not participate in the Presidential poll, and will caucus after this announcement. Their results WILL NOT be factored into this announcement after the fact. Again, this is an unofficial, non-binding poll, and we will elect our actual national delegation, from the floor of the state convention on May 5TH and 6TH.

Mitt Romney has 39.2 percent of the vote with 2190 votes, Ron Paul has 35.7 percent with 1996 votes, Rick Santorum has 17.7percent with 989 votes, and Newt Gingrich has 6.25 percent with 349 votes.

CPAC 2012 Straw Poll Results: Romney 38% Santorum 31% Gingrich 15% Paul 12%

 

Romney Wins CPAC Straw Poll

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney won the CPAC Straw Poll, sponsored by the Washington Times and conducted by pollster Tony Fabrizio, who announced the results Saturday afternoon along with the results of a parallel national poll of conservative voters.

Fabrizio said 3,408 attendees at CPAC participated in the straw poll, giving their opinions on various issues including their pick between presidential hopefuls.

Unique to CPAC 2012 the poll was completed online allowing all voters the chance to hear the presidential hopefuls speak before voting as well as polling conservatives across the nation through a telephone poll.

Results showed that CPAC attendees and American conservatives alike, feel the same on most issues, though CPAC results show stronger sentiments across the board.

Mitt Romney 38%
Rick Santorum 31%
Newt Gingrich 15%
Ron Paul 12%

Other results from the straw poll include responds preferring debt reduction over tax increases, a flat tax over a national sales tax, and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio being the respondents’ first choice for the Republican vice presidential nominee, followed by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. Others getting votes including U.S. Rep. Allen West of Florida and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Colorado Republican Party Announces Certified 2012 Caucus Results

Colorado Republican Party Announces Certified 2012 Caucus Results

Greenwood Village, CO – Today the Colorado Republican Party announced its final caucus results, with Senator Rick Santorum certified as the winner of the 2012 Colorado Republican Caucuses. Across the state nearly 3,000 Republican volunteers helped facilitate a successful caucus in what will be a springboard to a Republican victory in Colorado in the general election.  Colorado Republican Party Chairman Ryan Call issued the following statement:

“Last night, Colorado Republicans took an enthusiastic  first step in nominating our candidate to defeat Barack Obama in November. I congratulate Senator Rick Santorum on his victory and I’m confident that no matter who our eventual nominee is, Colorado will do its part this November to elect a Republican President. Poll after poll shows that after three years of broken promises and failed economic policies, Coloradans have soured on Barack Obama, and tonight we proved that we have the momentum heading into November.”

The official results with 100% of precincts reporting are as follows:

Rick Santorum: 26,614 - 40.31%

Mitt Romney: 23,012 – 34.85%

Newt Gingrich: 8,445 – 12.79%

Ron Paul: 7,759 – 11.75%

Write In: 71 - .11%

Rick Perry: 52 - .08%

Jon Huntsman: 46 - .07%

Michele Bachmann: 28 - .04%

Total turnout: 66,027

Five Republican Presidential Candidates Qualify For Idaho GOP Presidential Caucus On March 6, 2012

FIVE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES QUALIFY FOR IDAHO GOP PRESIDENTIAL CAUCUS

Boise, Idaho – The Idaho Republican Party announced today that five Republican Presidential Candidates have qualified for the first-ever Idaho Republican Party Presidential Caucus that will take place in every county across the state on March 6th, commonly known as Super Tuesday. The five candidates who have qualified for the ballot are: Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Buddy Roemer (in the order they filed with the State Party).

“We are delighted to have these five Republican candidates file to participate in the Idaho Republican Party Presidential Caucus,” stated Chairman Norm Semanko. “It is becoming apparent that we are on the radar of the Republican Presidential candidates as they realize that Idaho’s 32 delegates are more delegates than Iowa, New Hampshire or Nevada.”

To learn more about the historic March 6th caucuses, along with locations and directions for the county caucuses, visit the Idaho Republican Party Caucus website at www.idaho-republican-caucus.com

Nevada GOP Caucus Certified Results: Romney 50%, Gingrich 21.1%, Paul 18.7%, Santorum 9.9%

NVGOP Caucus Results Certified
Romney wins, Gingrich 2nd, Paul 3rd, Santorum 4th

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – The Nevada Republican Party (NVGOP) has certified the results of the 2012 Nevada Republican Caucus, officially declaring Governor Mitt Romney the winner.  This evening the NVGOP received final certified ballot counts from the Clark County Republican Party and final statewide totals were certified by the NVGOP Executive Board as required by party rules.
 
Party rules state that NVGOP must certify the entire state within a day of the caucus.  The final results have been reviewed by the presidential campaigns and unanimously certified by the Nevada GOP Executive Board to ensure accuracy and transparency.   While in some states it takes days or weeks to complete certification, NVGOP certified the results in less than a day.  Results as follows:

Nevada Caucus
 
February 4, 2012
100% reporting (1800/1800)

All Candidates

Romney
 
50.0%
16,486

Gingrich

21.1%
6,956

Paul

18.7%
6,175
 
Santorum
 
9.9%
3,277

Acting Nevada Republican Party Chairman James Smack and Secretary Jim DeGraffenried issued the following statements:
 
“The Nevada Republican Party congratulates Governor Mitt Romney on his victory as well as the entire field for their participation in the caucuses,” said acting Chairman James Smack.  “Republicans in Nevada are moving in the right direction, we continue to register more voters than the Democratic Party, and we are enthusiastic to move forward after our caucuses to beat Barack Obama and build on our GOP victories in 2010,” Smack continued.
 
“This evening after a unanimous approval by the Nevada GOP Executive Board, consultation with the presidential campaigns, I have officially certified the 2012 Nevada Caucus results,” said DeGraffenried.

2012 Florida Presidential Preference Primary Voting Results - by County 100% Reporting January 31, 2012

2012 Florida Presidential Preference Primary Voting Results - by County 100% Reporting January 31, 2012

County			Newt Gingrich (REP)			Ron Paul (REP)		Mitt Romney (REP)	Rick Santorum (REP)
Alachua			6321			1954		6203	2406
Baker			1272			137		812	409
Bay			7645			1785		7701	3763
Bradford			1127			144		704	474
Brevard			24215			5652		31448	11239
Broward			22012			4817		35795	8604
Calhoun			286			49		180	153
Charlotte			6998			1506		9043	2882
Citrus			7555			1631		8834	2898
Clay			12247			1393		10476	4075
Collier			13080			2075		29084	6083
Columbia			2387			378		1928	1034
DeSoto			578			95		524	263
Dixie			485			45		235	108
Duval			33745			5689		35125	11580
Escambia			14665			3537		13111	5881
Flagler			3765			540		5042	1358
Franklin			340			45		223	94
Gadsden			734			165		594	438
Gilchrist			774			147		455	358
Glades			297			35		237	113
Gulf			664			66		376	238
Hamilton			359			57		137	67
Hardee			478			105		397	186
Hendry			650			115		628	258
Hernando			6441			1578		7915	2603
Highlands			3788			515		4542	1567
Hillsborough			25520			6943		43129	14125
Holmes			697			81		323	242
Indian River			6050			1213		11936	2657
Jackson			1542			179		755	623
Jefferson			440			75		322	216
Lafayette			259			27		128	87
Lake			14427			2244		18361	4946
Lee			22420			4254		35139	10836
Leon			6528			2193		8317	4747
Levy			1644			252		1086	594
Liberty			74			14		43	39
Madison			492			68		266	209
Manatee			10617			2482		18589	6314
Marion			14991			2612		19877	5237
Martin			6562			1915		12898	3099
Miami-Dade			29164			5356		67181	6841
Monroe			2597			721		4067	791
Nassau			5109			714		4656	1560
Okaloosa			10662			2909		10867	4707
Okeechobee			873			125		717	488
Orange			25256			5402		36631	8674
Osceola			5045			1020		5904	1859
Palm Beach			23191			5596		45269	8571
Pasco			13057			3871		19175	6731
Pinellas			24491			10779		50762	15452
Polk			16160			3282		20570	8184
Putnam			2704			358		1871	835
Santa Rosa			9311			2097		7531	3636
Sarasota			15151			3900		28319	7653
Seminole			15938			3277		22785	5561
St. Johns			11588			1704		16157	4378
St. Lucie			6806			1953		10913	3288
Sumter			6373			534		11613	1807
Suwannee			1680			304		909	702
Taylor			627			111		349	225
Union			335			52		243	142
Volusia			15057			2775		18634	4971
Wakulla			862			203		546	521
Walton			3442			764		2997	1197
Washington			1158			274		886	605
Total:			531808			116888		772470	222482

South Carolina Republican Party Releases Final Delegate Numbers following 2012 Presidential Primary

SC Republican Party Releases Final Delegate Numbers following 2012 Presidential Primary

Columbia, S.C.-The South Carolina Republican Party today released final delegate numbers following the January 21, 2012 South Carolina Presidential Primary.

With 100% of 2,117 precincts reporting, the statewide primary winner was Newt Gingrich. Gingrich won 11 at-large delegates with 40.43% of the vote. Mitt Romney finished second, winning no at large delegates with 27.85% of the vote.

Gingrich also won two delegates in each of the following Congressional districts: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th (for a total of 12 delegates). Romney won two delegates by winning the first Congressional district.

The total allocation of South Carolina’s 25 delegates is as follows: Newt Gingrich 23, Mitt Romney 2.

"I congratulate Speaker Gingrich and Governor Romney on winning delegates in South Carolina's critically important Presidential Primary. South Carolina voters turned out in record numbers to help ensure that Barack Obama is simply the worst one-term president in U.S. history,” said SCGOP Chairman Chad Connelly.

605,710 voters participated in the 2012 primary (21.60%). The previous record turnout was 573,101 in the 2000 Presidential Primary, with turnout in the 2008 primary at 445,499.

South Carolina Primary, January 21, 2012 - Election Results

PRESIDENT (Vote For 1)		Contest Detail Map
2116 of 2129 Precincts Reporting
Percent Votes Michele Bachmann 0.08% 494 Herman Cain 1.05% 6,324 Newt Gingrich 40.45% 243,153 Jon Huntsman 0.19% 1,161 Gary Johnson 0.04% 213 Ron Paul 12.97% 77,993 Rick Perry 0.41% 2,491 Mitt Romney 27.83% 167,280 Rick Santorum 16.98% 102,057       601,166

via www.enr-scvotes.org

Secretary of State Kemp Announces Presidential Primary Absentee Voting Options for Georgia’s Military and Overseas Citizens

Secretary of State Kemp Announces Presidential Primary Absentee Voting Options for Georgia’s Military and Overseas Citizens

Will Work with Major General Jim Butterworth, Georgia National Guard, to Promote Voting Opportunities

Atlanta – Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp announced today that beginning Saturday, January 21, 2012, the state’s military and overseas citizens can access their absentee ballot electronically for the Tuesday, March 6, 2012 presidential primary. Kemp also announced that he and Major General Jim Butterworth, Adjutant General, Georgia National Guard, will conduct a joint outreach and education effort to promote voting opportunities for military personnel and their families.
 
One portion of the outreach and education effort will include a tour of Georgia military bases by Secretary Kemp on Tuesday, January 17, 2012, where he will meet with base leaders and military personnel.
 
Secretary Kemp also created two tutorial videos that specifically address absentee ballot voting options for Georgia’s military and overseas citizens. To access these videos please visit the Secretary of State’s website at http://sos.ga.gov.
 
Secretary Kemp said, “Georgia is keeping its promise to our overseas citizens and the men and women who fight to protect our Constitution and our freedoms, by protecting their voting rights and providing them additional opportunities to vote and fully participate in our elections.”
 
Major General Butterworth stated, “I applaud Secretary Kemp’s efforts to educate our Guardsmen on how to exercise their right to vote both at home and when deployed overseas. The ballot box is among the truest symbols of our democracy and I will always encourage our men and women in uniform to participate in this sacred process.”
 
To access a presidential primary ballot electronically, Georgia’s military and overseas citizens must request an absentee ballot from their county election office, be sure to indicate a political party preference, and check the appropriate box to receive their ballot electronically. They can then log on to a secure website, print and vote their ballot, and then mail it back to their county election office. Additionally, military and overseas voters may receive access to absentee ballots for an entire year’s election cycle, removing the need to submit multiple ballot requests. Georgia’s military and overseas citizens can request their absentee ballot on the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page website at http://www.sos.ga.gov/mvp.
 
Additionally, the Secretary of State’s Elections Division website features a “Military and Overseas Voters” page that includes:
 •Who qualifies as a military or overseas voter, and how to request and return an absentee ballot;
 •Downloadable absentee ballot request forms;
 •Contact information for your county election office; and
 •Important links to state and federal voting information.
 
Major General Jim Butterworth has been the Adjutant General of Georgia since September 2011. In this position, he reports directly to the Governor with responsibility for over 14,000 personnel of the Georgia Department of Defense – which includes the Georgia Army National Guard, the Georgia Air National Guard, and the Georgia State Defense Force. The Georgia Department of Defense provides ready and relevant military forces to the Combatant Commanders, and with the consent of the Governor provides command and control and capabilities to support homeland defense and defense support of civil authorities.
 
Brian Kemp has been Secretary of State since January, 2010. Among the office’s wide-ranging responsibilities, the Secretary of State is charged with conducting efficient and secure elections, the registration of corporations, and the regulation of securities and professional license holders. The office also oversees the Georgia Archives.