2012 South Carolina Republican presidential primary

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25 pledged delegates to the 2012 Republican National Convention
Candidate Newt Gingrich Mitt Romney Home state Georgia Massachusetts Delegate count 23 2 Popular vote 244,065 168,123 Percentage 40.42% 27.85%   Candidate Rick Santorum Ron Paul Home state Pennsylvania Texas Delegate count 0 0 Popular vote 102,475 78,360 Percentage 16.97% 12.98%
Gingrich   30–40%   40–50%   50–60%   60–70% Romney   40–50%   50–60%

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The 2012 South Carolina Republican presidential primary took place on January 21, 2012.

The primary has become one of several key early state nominating contests in the process of choosing the nominee of the Republican Party for the election for President of the United States. It has historically been more important for the Republican Party than for the Democratic Party; from its inception in 1980, until the nomination of former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in 2012, the winner of the Republican presidential primary had gone on to win the nomination.^[1] As of 2012, the primary has cemented its place as the "First in the South" primary for both parties.^[2]

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was declared the winner of the race as soon as polls closed, however, Mitt Romney went on to win the nomination.

South Carolina had only 25 delegates up for grabs because it moved its primary to January 21. 11 delegates were awarded for the statewide winner, and two additional delegates were awarded to the winner of each of the seven congressional districts.

The 2012 South Carolina Republican primary was tentatively scheduled to occur on February 28, 2012,^[3] much later than the date in 2008, which almost immediately followed the beginning of the year in January 2008.^[4] On September 29, 2011, the entire schedule of caucuses and primaries was disrupted, however, when it was announced that the Republican Party of Florida had decided to move up its primary to January 31, in an attempt to bring attention to its own primary contest, and attract the presidential candidates to visit the state.^[5] Because of the move, the Republican National Committee decided to strip Florida of half of its delegates.^[6] Also as a result, the South Carolina Republican Party, along with Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada then sought to move their primaries and caucuses back into early January.^[6] All but Nevada, who agreed to follow Florida,^[7] confirmed their caucus and primary dates to take place throughout January, with South Carolina deciding to hold their contest on January 21, 2012.^[6] It is an open primary, meaning all registered voters can participate in the primary.^[8]

Nine candidates appeared on the presidential primary ballot.^[9]

During the primary election campaign, the candidates ran on a platform of government reform in Washington. Domestic, foreign and economic policy emerged as the main themes in the election campaign following the onset of the 2008 economic crisis, as well as policies implemented by the Obama administration. This included the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, termed "Obamacare" by its opponents, as well as government spending as a whole.

Newt Gingrich won the primary, becoming his first victory of the primary season and netting him 11 statewide delegates. Gingrich won the popular vote in every congressional district except for the 1st, where Mitt Romney finished first, giving Gingrich twelve additional delegates and Romney two delegates.^[10]

There were 2,804,231 registered voters, for a turnout of 21.60%.^[11]