2012 Election Voter Preferences

Based on registered voters:

Question: Now, suppose the 2012 presidential election were being held TODAY. If you had to choose between Barack Obama, the Democrat OR Mitt Romney, the Republican, who would you vote for? 

Obama | Romney

Obama

1/16/2012 2/12/2012 3/11/2012 4/15/2012 5/20/2012 6/17/2012 7/9/2012 7/26/2012 9/16/2012 10/7/2012 10/28/2012 11/3/2012
ALL REGISTERED VOTERS 50 52 54 49 49 50 50 51 51 46 47 49
SEX Men 46 45 49 44 46 43 47 46 46 44 44 44
Women 53 59 58 53 51 55 53 56 56 49 50 54
AGE 18-49 54 53 57 52 51 53 53 55 54 47 52 52
50+ 46 52 52 46 47 46 48 47 48 46 43 47
DETAILED AGE 18-29 60 – 63 61 54 57 61 58 59 52 58 60
30-49 52 47 54 47 50 52 49 54 52 45 48 48
50-64 47 55 55 47 51 48 51 49 50 52 47 49
65+ 45 46 48 44 42 43 44 45 46 38 38 43
GENDER BY AGE Men 18-49 51 45 50 47 48 47 51 48 52 44 47 46
Men 50+ 41 45 49 42 45 40 44 45 40 44 41 42
Women 18-49 57 61 64 56 54 60 55 63 56 50 56 58
Women 50+ 50 58 54 50 49 51 52 49 56 48 45 50
RACE White non-Hispanic 40 44 44 39 40 41 40 42 43 38 37 40
Black non-Hispanic 97 93 99 95 92 96 91 92 92 90 93 91
Hispanic – – – 67 67 – 65 70 69 – – 66
EDUCATION College grad + 53 55 59 53 52 51 54 50 53 48 48 50
Some college 49 52 53 44 45 49 48 47 47 42 44 47
HS or less 47 50 51 49 50 49 49 56 52 49 48 50
INCOME More than $75,000 52 45 50 48 47 46 49 46 49 41 44 44
$30,000-$74,999 46 48 55 47 48 48 48 52 49 45 46 48
Less than $30,000 54 64 60 56 59 59 60 60 60 60 58 61
REGION Northeast 56 61 62 54 52 57 54 56 56 54 50 58
Midwest 53 55 52 47 51 51 50 50 51 46 52 49
South 44 44 52 44 45 44 45 48 48 41 42 44
West 50 55 52 54 50 51 56 53 52 50 48 50
PARTY ID Republican 9 9 8 7 9 7 9 6 6 7 9 6
Democrat 91 94 93 92 89 90 88 91 92 93 93 94
Independent 40 51 47 42 43 44 46 43 44 42 40 43
PARTY WITH LEANERS Rep/Rep lean 9 10 9 8 9 9 9 6 6 7 8 6
Dem/Dem lean 88 93 93 91 89 90 88 91 92 91 89 92
IDEOLOGY Conservative 24 20 26 24 25 24 23 27 27 25 24 24
Moderate 59 61 62 55 57 59 59 59 55 55 53 56
Liberal 89 89 90 83 83 82 87 86 86 82 84 86
PARTY AND IDEOLOGY Conservative Republican 3 4 6 5 5 4 5 4 4 6 6 3
Mod/Lib Republican – – 12 13 16 15 19 12 12 – 16 15
Mod/Cons Democrat 87 93 91 89 87 89 82 89 89 91 90 92
Liberal Democrat 98 96 98 95 94 95 97 95 97 96 95 97
RELIGIOUS ATTENDANCE Weekly or more 39 39 48 38 40 40 41 40 42 35 38 41
Less than weekly 57 60 58 56 56 56 57 58 57 55 53 55

Obama | Romney

Romney

1/16/2012 2/12/2012 3/11/2012 4/15/2012 5/20/2012 6/17/2012 7/9/2012 7/26/2012 9/16/2012 10/7/2012 10/28/2012 11/3/2012
ALL REGISTERED VOTERS 45 44 42 45 42 46 43 41 42 46 45 42
SEX Men 49 50 46 50 44 53 46 47 47 47 47 48
Women 41 38 38 40 40 40 40 37 37 45 43 37
AGE 18-49 41 44 40 42 40 42 42 36 39 45 39 39
50+ 48 45 44 48 44 50 44 47 44 46 50 46
DETAILED AGE 18-29 36 – 35 33 36 38 37 34 33 35 31 28
30-49 43 48 42 46 42 43 45 37 41 51 43 44
50-64 46 42 41 46 41 48 41 45 43 40 46 44
65+ 50 50 48 50 49 52 48 49 47 55 57 49
GENDER BY AGE Men 18-49 45 50 46 46 42 48 43 44 41 47 42 44
Men 50+ 52 52 47 53 48 57 49 50 52 49 53 52
Women 18-49 38 37 33 38 39 36 42 28 37 44 37 33
Women 50+ 44 39 41 43 41 43 39 44 38 45 48 41
RACE White non-Hispanic 54 52 52 54 52 54 54 51 50 55 55 51
Black non-Hispanic 1 4 1 2 3 1 4 4 2 3 2 3
Hispanic – – – 27 21 – 25 26 24 – – 26
EDUCATION College grad + 43 43 39 42 41 46 40 44 42 46 43 42
Some college 46 45 43 51 46 47 46 43 44 52 47 44
HS or less 45 45 44 43 39 45 43 38 40 41 45 41
INCOME More than $75,000 46 53 48 46 47 50 46 46 46 54 52 51
$30,000-$74,999 48 48 41 47 45 49 46 44 43 48 46 44
Less than $30,000 39 32 34 37 31 35 33 32 33 33 33 29
REGION Northeast 39 34 35 41 36 40 40 36 34 38 41 32
Midwest 42 44 44 46 40 45 43 41 42 46 42 42
South 49 51 44 50 47 50 48 44 45 52 50 48
West 45 43 42 40 42 44 37 42 43 43 42 40
PARTY ID Republican 90 89 91 90 87 91 89 90 91 89 89 91
Democrat 7 5 5 6 8 7 8 6 6 5 5 4
Independent 50 42 44 48 43 49 45 45 42 44 43 40
PARTY WITH LEANERS Rep/Rep lean 88 87 88 88 86 88 87 89 90 89 89 89
Dem/Dem lean 9 5 5 6 8 8 8 6 5 4 5 3
IDEOLOGY Conservative 71 76 71 70 67 72 71 68 67 72 71 69
Moderate 35 34 34 38 36 35 33 31 37 33 36 34
Liberal 7 10 9 13 11 14 9 11 8 10 8 6
PARTY AND IDEOLOGY Conservative Republican 96 94 93 92 92 94 94 94 94 92 93 94
Mod/Lib Republican – – 87 84 77 83 78 81 83 – 81 80
Mod/Cons Democrat 11 7 7 8 10 8 12 8 7 6 7 5
Liberal Democrat 0 4 2 4 4 4 2 2 3 1 2 1
RELIGIOUS ATTENDANCE Weekly or more 55 58 48 56 51 55 52 52 51 59 55 50
Less than weekly 38 36 38 37 36 40 37 35 36 36 39 37

Detailed Trends: Voter Preferences Among Religious Groups

Latest survey report: Obama Gains Edge in Campaign’s Final Days

Campaign 2012: Pew Research Center’s data and analysis about voters, candidates, issues and more.