South Carolina — 2012 presidential election
Recent presidential results
Akashicstate2012 presidential electionSouth Carolina · PresidentRomneyR+10.5
How it voted
Share of the 2012 vote
| Mitt Romney ✓Republican | 54.6% | 1,071,645 |
|---|---|---|
| Barack ObamaDemocratic | 44.1% | 865,941 |
| OtherAll other candidates | 1.4% | 26,532 |
2012presidential margin
D+60R+60
46 counties, each filled by 2012 D-vs-R margin. Hover any county for its result.
South Carolina cast 9 electoral votes this cycle.
County-level results (46 counties) — table
| County | Winner | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Abbeville County, SC | Republican | R+13.5 |
| Aiken County, SC | Republican | R+26.6 |
| Allendale County, SC | Democratic | D+59.1 |
| Anderson County, SC | Republican | R+36.4 |
| Bamberg County, SC | Democratic | D+35.3 |
| Barnwell County, SC | Democratic | D+5.3 |
| Beaufort County, SC | Republican | R+17.5 |
| Berkeley County, SC | Republican | R+14.6 |
| Calhoun County, SC | Democratic | D+4.3 |
| Charleston County, SC | Democratic | D+2.4 |
| Cherokee County, SC | Republican | R+29.3 |
| Chester County, SC | Democratic | D+10.6 |
| Chesterfield County, SC | Republican | R+3.2 |
| Clarendon County, SC | Democratic | D+12.4 |
| Colleton County, SC | Democratic | D+0.2 |
| Darlington County, SC | Democratic | D+3.4 |
| Dillon County, SC | Democratic | D+16.1 |
| Dorchester County, SC | Republican | R+16.0 |
| Edgefield County, SC | Republican | R+13.3 |
| Fairfield County, SC | Democratic | D+31.8 |
| Florence County, SC | Republican | R+0.6 |
| Georgetown County, SC | Republican | R+7.6 |
| Greenville County, SC | Republican | R+27.8 |
| Greenwood County, SC | Republican | R+15.3 |
| Hampton County, SC | Democratic | D+27.4 |
| Horry County, SC | Republican | R+29.6 |
| Jasper County, SC | Democratic | D+15.8 |
| Kershaw County, SC | Republican | R+18.1 |
| Lancaster County, SC | Republican | R+17.8 |
| Laurens County, SC | Republican | R+17.4 |
| Lee County, SC | Democratic | D+35.3 |
| Lexington County, SC | Republican | R+37.7 |
| Marion County, SC | Democratic | D+30.2 |
| Marlboro County, SC | Democratic | D+24.6 |
| McCormick County, SC | Democratic | D+3.6 |
| Newberry County, SC | Republican | R+14.4 |
| Oconee County, SC | Republican | R+42.6 |
| Orangeburg County, SC | Democratic | D+43.4 |
| Pickens County, SC | Republican | R+49.0 |
| Richland County, SC | Democratic | D+32.0 |
| Saluda County, SC | Republican | R+21.1 |
| Spartanburg County, SC | Republican | R+23.2 |
| Sumter County, SC | Democratic | D+17.6 |
| Union County, SC | Republican | R+6.3 |
| Williamsburg County, SC | Democratic | D+39.9 |
| York County, SC | Republican | R+20.4 |
South Carolina results by county
46 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbeville County | Romney, Mitt+1,438 | 5,98156.0% | 4,54342.6% | 1471.4% | 10,671 |
| Aiken County | Romney, Mitt+18,720 | 44,04262.6% | 25,32236.0% | 9991.4% | 70,363 |
| Allendale County | Obama, Barack H.+2,459 | 83820.1% | 3,29779.2% | 280.7% | 4,163 |
| Anderson County | Romney, Mitt+26,304 | 48,70967.5% | 22,40531.0% | 1,0981.5% | 72,212 |
| Bamberg County | Obama, Barack H.+2,430 | 2,19431.9% | 4,62467.2% | 640.9% | 6,882 |
| Barnwell County | Obama, Barack H.+529 | 4,65947.0% | 5,18852.3% | 760.8% | 9,923 |
| Beaufort County | Romney, Mitt+12,839 | 42,68758.2% | 29,84840.7% | 7621.0% | 73,297 |
| Berkeley County | Romney, Mitt+9,933 | 38,47556.4% | 28,54241.9% | 1,1781.7% | 68,195 |
| Calhoun County | Obama, Barack H.+338 | 3,70747.3% | 4,04551.6% | 821.0% | 7,834 |
| Charleston County | Obama, Barack H.+3,858 | 77,62948.0% | 81,48750.4% | 2,5911.6% | 161,707 |
| Cherokee County | Romney, Mitt+6,083 | 13,31464.1% | 7,23134.8% | 2281.1% | 20,773 |
| Chester County | Obama, Barack H.+1,524 | 6,36744.2% | 7,89154.8% | 1491.0% | 14,407 |
| Chesterfield County | Romney, Mitt+532 | 8,49051.2% | 7,95848.0% | 1460.9% | 16,594 |
| Clarendon County | Obama, Barack H.+2,020 | 7,07143.4% | 9,09155.8% | 1300.8% | 16,292 |
| Colleton County | Obama, Barack H.+32 | 8,44349.4% | 8,47549.6% | 1681.0% | 17,086 |
| Darlington County | Obama, Barack H.+1,023 | 14,43447.9% | 15,45751.3% | 2590.9% | 30,150 |
| Dillon County | Obama, Barack H.+2,096 | 5,42741.6% | 7,52357.7% | 850.7% | 13,035 |
| Dorchester County | Romney, Mitt+9,086 | 32,53157.2% | 23,44541.2% | 8791.5% | 56,855 |
| Edgefield County | Romney, Mitt+1,545 | 6,51256.2% | 4,96742.9% | 1070.9% | 11,586 |
| Fairfield County | Obama, Barack H.+3,778 | 3,99933.6% | 7,77765.4% | 1191.0% | 11,895 |
| Florence County | Romney, Mitt+347 | 28,96149.8% | 28,61449.2% | 5470.9% | 58,122 |
| Georgetown County | Romney, Mitt+2,363 | 16,52653.4% | 14,16345.7% | 2760.9% | 30,965 |
| Greenville County | Romney, Mitt+53,615 | 121,68563.0% | 68,07035.2% | 3,4341.8% | 193,189 |
| Greenwood County | Romney, Mitt+4,376 | 16,34857.0% | 11,97241.8% | 3521.2% | 28,672 |
| Hampton County | Obama, Barack H.+2,522 | 3,31236.0% | 5,83463.4% | 600.7% | 9,206 |
| Horry County | Romney, Mitt+33,242 | 72,12764.2% | 38,88534.6% | 1,3811.2% | 112,393 |
| Jasper County | Obama, Barack H.+1,588 | 4,16941.6% | 5,75757.4% | 950.9% | 10,021 |
| Kershaw County | Romney, Mitt+5,065 | 16,32458.4% | 11,25940.3% | 3631.3% | 27,946 |
| Lancaster County | Romney, Mitt+5,914 | 19,33358.3% | 13,41940.5% | 3921.2% | 33,144 |
| Laurens County | Romney, Mitt+4,428 | 14,74658.0% | 10,31840.6% | 3521.4% | 25,416 |
| Lee County | Obama, Barack H.+3,145 | 2,83231.8% | 5,97767.1% | 981.1% | 8,907 |
| Lexington County | Romney, Mitt+42,514 | 76,66268.1% | 34,14830.3% | 1,8131.6% | 112,623 |
| Marion County | Obama, Barack H.+4,524 | 5,16434.5% | 9,68864.6% | 1340.9% | 14,986 |
| Marlboro County | Obama, Barack H.+2,424 | 3,67637.3% | 6,10061.9% | 770.8% | 9,853 |
| McCormick County | Obama, Barack H.+186 | 2,46747.8% | 2,65351.4% | 400.8% | 5,160 |
| Newberry County | Romney, Mitt+2,347 | 9,26056.6% | 6,91342.3% | 1781.1% | 16,351 |
| Oconee County | Romney, Mitt+13,061 | 21,61170.5% | 8,55027.9% | 5051.6% | 30,666 |
| Orangeburg County | Obama, Barack H.+18,698 | 12,02227.9% | 30,72071.4% | 2990.7% | 43,041 |
| Pickens County | Romney, Mitt+22,318 | 33,47473.5% | 11,15624.5% | 9192.0% | 45,549 |
| Richland County | Obama, Barack H.+50,884 | 53,10533.4% | 103,98965.3% | 2,0601.3% | 159,154 |
| Saluda County | Romney, Mitt+1,807 | 5,13560.0% | 3,32838.9% | 1011.2% | 8,564 |
| Spartanburg County | Romney, Mitt+25,508 | 66,96960.9% | 41,46137.7% | 1,4761.3% | 109,906 |
| Sumter County | Obama, Barack H.+8,315 | 19,27440.7% | 27,58958.3% | 4460.9% | 47,309 |
| Union County | Romney, Mitt+788 | 6,58452.5% | 5,79646.2% | 1611.3% | 12,541 |
| Williamsburg County | Obama, Barack H.+6,511 | 4,82429.6% | 11,33569.5% | 1450.9% | 16,304 |
| York County | Romney, Mitt+20,415 | 59,54659.4% | 39,13139.0% | 1,5331.5% | 100,210 |
complete certified result
South Carolina candidate results
Top three shown first · expand for every reported candidate and write-in category
Source: MIT Election Data + Science Lab — U.S. President 1976–2024 state candidate returns
Nominees: Barack Obama (D) · Mitt Romney (R)
South Carolina's presidential margins
1892–2024, the 2012 contest in context
| Year | Margin (D minus R) |
|---|---|
| 1892 | +58.6% |
| 1896 | +71.8% |
| 1900 | +86.0% |
| 1904 | +90.8% |
| 1908 | +87.8% |
| 1912 | +95.9% |
| 1916 | +94.3% |
| 1920 | +92.1% |
| 1924 | +94.3% |
| 1928 | +82.9% |
| 1932 | +98.0% |
| 1936 | +98.6% |
| 1940 | +91.3% |
| 1944 | +83.2% |
| 1948 | +20.4% |
| 1952 | +1.4% |
| 1956 | +20.2% |
| 1960 | +2.5% |
| 1964 | −17.8% |
| 1968 | −8.5% |
| 1972 | −42.7% |
| 1976 | +13.1% |
| 1980 | −1.5% |
| 1984 | −28.0% |
| 1988 | −23.9% |
| 1992 | −8.1% |
| 1996 | −6.0% |
| 2000 | −15.9% |
| 2004 | −17.1% |
| 2008 | −9.0% |
| 2012 | −10.5% |
| 2016 | −14.3% |
| 2020 | −11.7% |
| 2024 | −17.9% |
Same ballot, 2012SC
Source. MIT Election Data + Science Lab — 2012 presidential returns · official county-level results. Real returns — nothing estimated.