2012 United States Presidential Election (Trump 2012)

The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and his running mate, former Governor Mike Huckabee, defeated the incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and incumbent Vice President Joe Biden. The election was the first since 1992 in which the incumbent President was not elected to a second term.

Obama faced virtually no opposition to the Democratic nomination. Trump, meanwhile, faced a highly competitive Republican primary in which he overcame several prominent Republican figures such as former Governor Mitt Romney and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

The campaign focused heavily on the lagging recovery from the Great Recession four years earlier. Other issues were Obama's trademark Affordable Care Act, federal spending, and gay marriage. Later on during the campaign, the Obama Administration's response to the Benghazi attacks of September 11, 2012 became a central issue.

Throughout the campaign, the tone was considered to be highly volatile as protests from extremists became common throughout the country. Protesting became so common that the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, Noth Carolina was forced to end early after protesters broke into the convention floor and became violent. The protests were also considered to significantly weaken Obama's campaign as Trump and other right-wing critics accused him of avoiding the topic.

Polling showed a very close election throughout the cycle, yet many pundits and experts believed that Obama would be reelected to a second term. Trump's victory on election night stunned many, even Obama's top campaign advisors who had not prepared a concession speech. Trump's victories in Iowa, Nevada, and Colorado were particularly stunning as polling showed Obama ahead by over five points in all three states the night before the election.

Trump's 0.6% popular vote victory was the slimmest of any election since 2000.