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2012 Colorado Republican presidential caucuses

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2012 Colorado Republican caucuses

← 2008 February 7, 2012 (2012-02-07) 2016 →
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Candidate Rick Santorum Mitt Romney
Home state Pennsylvania Massachusetts
Delegate count 6 14
Popular vote 26,614 23,012
Percentage 40.3% 34.9%

 
Candidate Newt Gingrich Ron Paul
Home state Georgia Texas
Delegate count 0 4
Popular vote 8,445 7,759
Percentage 12.8% 11.8%

The 2012 Colorado Republican presidential caucuses took place on 7 February 2012. It was part of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries.

The Republican caucuses were held on "Republican Party Precinct Caucus Day" (February 7, 2012).[1] Caucus locations opened on 9 PM, February 7, 2012,[2] with 36 delegates at stake; 33 of which are tied to the caucuses while 3 are unpledged RNC delegates.[3] The event occurred alongside the Minnesota Republican caucuses as well the Missouri Republican primary. The race was widely expected to be won by Mitt Romney even on the day of the caucus, but a strong surge by Rick Santorum across all three races that day carried him to a close victory. However, the delegates were not legally bound to follow voter preferences, and most voted for Romney.

Background

[edit]

The Colorado legislature adopted the caucus system in a special session called by Governor John F. Shafroth in August 1910 as part of a package of progressive reforms. It was seen as a way to limit the power of party bosses and to attract more grassroots involvement. The caucus system was abolished in favor of presidential primaries in 1992 but restored in 2002 with the defeat of Amendment 29[4] and cost considerations. The fully restored Colorado Caucus was in 2004.[5]

Of the candidates in the 2008 Colorado Republican presidential caucuses, two candidates - Mitt Romney and Ron Paul - would return to contest the state in once again 2012. In 2008, these candidates had won 60.11% and 8.42% of the vote respectively.[6]

Polling

[edit]

Polling in 2010 and 2011 showed mixed results, with Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich being the favoured candidate depending on the poll. Polls leading up to election day showed Romney as the frontrunner.

Poll source Date 1st 2nd 3rd Other
Caucus results[7]

Turnout: 66,091

Feb. 7, 2012 Rick Santorum 40.3% Mitt Romney

34.9%

Newt Gingrich

12.8%

Ron Paul 11.8%, Rick Perry 0.1%, Jon Huntsman 0.1%, Michele Bachmann 0.0%, Others 0.1%
Public Policy Polling[8]

Margin of error: ±3.2% Sample size: 938

Feb. 4–6, 2012 Mitt Romney
37%
Rick Santorum

27%

Newt Gingrich

21%

Ron Paul 13%, Someone else/Not sure 2%
Public Policy Polling[9]

Margin of error: ±4.3% Sample size: 527

Feb. 4, 2012 Mitt Romney
40%
Rick Santorum

26%

Newt Gingrich

18%

Ron Paul 12%, Someone else/Not sure 3%
Public Policy Polling[10]

Margin of error: ±4.4% Sample size: 500

Dec. 1–4, 2011 Newt Gingrich
37%
Mitt Romney

18%

Michele Bachmann

9%

Ron Paul 6%, Rick Perry 4%, Rick Santorum 4%, Jon Huntsman 3%, Gary Johnson 1%, Undecided 16%
Project New West/Keating Research[11]

Margin of error: ±7.2% Sample size: –

Sep. 19–22, 2011 Mitt Romney
24%
Rick Perry
20%
Michele Bachmann

7%

Newt Gingrich 7%, Herman Cain 5%, undecided 19%
Public Policy Polling[12]

Margin of error: ±5.5% Sample size: 314

Aug. 4–7, 2011 Rick Perry
20%
Mitt Romney
20%
Michele Bachmann

12%

Sarah Palin 11%, Ron Paul 8%, Herman Cain 7%, Newt Gingrich 6%, Tim Pawlenty 3%, Jon Huntsman 2%, someone else/undecided 11%
Mitt Romney
22%
Rick Perry
21%
Michele Bachmann

15%

Newt Gingrich 9%, Ron Paul 7%, Tim Pawlenty 6%, Herman Cain 5%, Jon Huntsman 2%, someone else/undecided 13%
Public Policy Polling[13]

Margin of error: ±4.9% Sample size: 400

Feb. 4–6, 2011 Mitt Romney
19%
Mike Huckabee
16%
Sarah Palin
16%
Newt Gingrich 12%, Ron Paul 9%, Tim Pawlenty 7%, John Thune 4%, Mitch Daniels 3%, someone else/undecided 16%
Public Policy Polling[14]

Margin of error: ±5.3% Sample size: 341

Oct. 30–31, 2010 Mitt Romney
22%
Newt Gingrich
17%
Sarah Palin
17%
Mike Huckabee 14%, Tim Pawlenty 6%, Mike Pence 3%, John Thune 2%, Mitch Daniels 1%, someone else/undecided 18%
Public Policy Polling[15]

Margin of error: ±4.6% Sample size: 448

May 14–16, 2010 Sarah Palin
29%
Mitt Romney
25%
Mike Huckabee

18%

Newt Gingrich 16%, Ron Paul 9%, undecided 3%
Public Policy Polling[16]

Margin of error: ±4.4% Sample size: 497

Mar. 5–8, 2010 Mitt Romney
44%
Sarah Palin

25%

Mike Huckabee

17%

Undecided 14%

Results

[edit]
Colorado Republican caucus, February 7, 2012[17]
Candidate Votes Percentage Projected delegate count Convention Results [18][19]
MSNBC

[20]

GP

[21]

Rick Santorum 26,614 40.31% 6 6 6
Mitt Romney 23,012 34.85% 13 14 13
Newt Gingrich 8,445 12.79% 0 0 0
Ron Paul 7,759 11.75% 3 0 0
Rick Perry 52 0.08% 0 0 0
Jon Huntsman 46 0.07% 0 0 0
Michele Bachmann 28 0.04% 0 0 0
Others 71 0.11% 0 0 0
Unprojected delegates: 14 0 0
Unpledged delegates: 0 16 17
Totals: 66,027 100.00% 36 36 36
Key: Withdrew
prior to contest

Conventions

[edit]

There is no formal system of allocating delegates to candidates in any step of the election process. At each meeting the participants decides what the best course of action is.
None of the 36 delegates are legally bound to vote for a candidate.[22]

  • 12–13 April: Seven congressional conventions elects 3 National Convention delegates each and also elects delegates for the state convention.
  • 14 April: State convention elects 12 National Convention delegates.
Convention Results[18][23]
Candidate 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th State Party leaders Total
Uncommitted 2 2 2 2 0 1 1 4 3 17
Mitt Romney 0 0 1 0 1 2 1 8 0 13
Rick Santorum 1 1 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 6
Total 21 12 3 36

Analysis

[edit]

The Colorado caucuses were held on the same day as elections in Minnesota and Missouri. All three contests broke for Santorum. This was seen as undermining Romney's status as frontrunner.[24]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2011-08-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Colorado GOP moves up 2012 caucuses to Feb. 7". Denver Post. Associated Press. September 24, 2011. Retrieved October 3, 2011.
  3. ^ "Republican Delegate Allocation". The Green Papers. Retrieved 2011-12-03.
  4. ^ 2002 Amendment 29
  5. ^ Daum, Courtenay W.; Straayer, John A.; Duffy, Robert J. (2011). State of Change. University Press of Colorado. ISBN 9781457111549.
  6. ^ "2008 Colorado Republican Caucus". Colorado Republican Party. Archived from the original on 2008-05-28. Retrieved 2008-05-24.
  7. ^ Caucus results
  8. ^ Public Policy Polling
  9. ^ Public Policy Polling
  10. ^ Public Policy Polling
  11. ^ Project New West/Keating Research
  12. ^ Public Policy Polling
  13. ^ Public Policy Polling
  14. ^ Public Policy Polling
  15. ^ Public Policy Polling
  16. ^ Public Policy Polling
  17. ^ "2012 Colorado GOP Presidential Caucus Results". Colorado Republican Party. Archived from the original on 2012-02-10. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
  18. ^ a b "National Delegate Results". cologop.org. Colorado Republican Party. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  19. ^ The Republic,CO GOP Assembly Archived 2012-04-18 at the Wayback Machine (April 22, 2012)
  20. ^ "Republican Caucuses " (May 7, 2012). MSNBC.
  21. ^ "Republican Caucus"
  22. ^ Trinko, Katrina (2012-02-16). "Ron Paul's delegate strategy targets the unbound - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
  23. ^ Bartels, Lynn (14 April 2012). "Colorado Republicans split delegate votes between Romney, unified Paul and Santorum supporters". denverpost.com. Denver Post. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  24. ^ "Rick Santorum Sweeps: Stops Mitt Romney in Minnesota, Missouri, Colorado". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-07-07.