Obama to win Florida, CNN projects, sweeping all battlegrounds
November 10th, 2012
12:56 PM ET
10 years ago

Obama to win Florida, CNN projects, sweeping all battlegrounds

(CNN) - President Barack Obama will narrowly win the presidential vote in Florida, CNN projected, based on updated vote totals provided by the counties to the state by Saturday’s noon deadline.

Obama won the state with 50.01% of the vote compared with 49.13% for GOP nominee Mitt Romney, according to those numbers. The incumbent's margin of victory was just shy of 74,000 votes.

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With the Sunshine State's results in – the last undecided state - CNN projects Obama's electoral vote total comes to 332, well above the 270 required to win the presidency. CNN projects Romney to finish with 206 electoral votes.

The state's 29 electoral votes have proved decisive in the past and were expected to be important this year.

But Obama ran the board on Election Day, and it was another heavily contested battleground, Ohio, that put Obama over the top.

Obama's narrow victory in Florida means he has swept all eight of the states CNN, along with other media outlets, rated as "toss-ups," where the vote was within reach of either candidate.

Heading into Election Day, polls had shown a particularly tight race in Florida, a state that is no stranger to close presidential races. Since 2000, the contest has never been decided by more than 5 percentage points.

Obama won Florida in 2008 by 3 percentage points.

Obama outspent Romney in television advertising in the state, according to CNN consultant Kantar Media/CMAG, although Romney visited the state more. Obama spent $69.5 million on ads in Florida to Romney's $42 million. Romney made 33 visits to the state, compared to Obama's 24.


Filed under: 2012 • Florida
soundoff (334 Responses)
  1. Alois

    This will most likely be the only time in Americas history that we have been without a legitmate president for 8 years straight.

    November 10, 2012 04:04 pm at 4:04 pm |
  2. Ed

    It was never close, 332 electoral votes, 51 to 48 popular vote, yet media called it even. When Bush won in 2004 a much narrow win, he called it mandate and the whole media bowed their heads, but this win is not big enough.

    November 10, 2012 04:05 pm at 4:05 pm |
  3. White Lotus

    So much for the lackadaisical employment and growth numbers being a "major factor" in the election as media experts called it. It's very obvious to me, the poor employment numbers had absolutely no factor whatsoever in this election because Obama took all 8 battleground states that were considered a toss up. He destroyed Romney in the electoral votes by 3:2 margin. This may have been a close popular vote, but in terms of electoral votes (the only ones that matter) it wasn't even a contest.

    November 10, 2012 04:05 pm at 4:05 pm |
  4. Harry

    Can you say landslide victory for Obama? I sure can!

    November 10, 2012 04:05 pm at 4:05 pm |
  5. Leroy Moore

    Well guys there it is ! The President has finished the race in grand style by sweeping all eight battleground states. I guess there is no more argument about his approval rating anymore.

    November 10, 2012 04:05 pm at 4:05 pm |
  6. Derrick, Atlanta

    Fair and square... let's finally move on.

    November 10, 2012 04:05 pm at 4:05 pm |
  7. Aezel

    So when Bush barely eeked out with 284 and losing the popular vote he had a "mandate." But according to the Republicans now that Obama has DESTROYED them by winning the popular vote and a landslide victory in the electoral college he "barely won."

    This is Republican logic for you, and it is why they never saw their demise coming.

    November 10, 2012 04:06 pm at 4:06 pm |
  8. Anonymous

    GOP recipe for success-disenfranchise women and people of color, strategize based on the 2010 midterms and believe everything you hear on FOX

    November 10, 2012 04:10 pm at 4:10 pm |
  9. wiseone

    Republicans usually say "The American People Have Spoken". As if they know exactly what we think. I wonder why this part of their dialogue is absent while they grumble over the devastating loss.

    November 10, 2012 04:10 pm at 4:10 pm |
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