Presidential Tracker


 

Candidate Tracker: Where have the candidates been holding campaign events since the end of the Democratic National Convention?

State

President Obama

Vice President Biden

Governor Romney

Congressman Ryan

Total

Colorado

5

3

6

9

23

Florida

9

8

15

8

40

Iowa

5

6

7

9

27

Michigan

0

0

0

1

1

Minnesota

0

0

0

1

1

Nevada

4

2

3

4

13

New Hampshire

4

4

3

2

13

North Carolina

0

2

1

0

3

Ohio

15

13

27

18

73

Pennsylvania

0

0

3

2

5

Virginia

6

4

17

9

36

Wisconsin

5

6

1

6

18

The 39 Other States

0

0

0

0

0

Total

53

48

83

69

253

Updated on November 16, 2012 

Methodology: To tally campaign events, FairVote has been using CNN's 'On The Trail' , which publishes daily details on the candidates' travels. We are defining a campaign event as an event that is meant to woo voters in the location of the event in particular. For example, a rally or town hall is a campaign event, but a national television appearance or fundraiser is not. For information on where President Obama, Governor Romney, Vice President Biden, and Congressman Ryan have been traveling in the two months prior to Election Day, contact Andrea Levien at alevien [at] fairvote.org.

Money Tracker: Where did the Obama and Romney campaigns spend their television advertising money?

 


 

Methodology: Maps and spending figures are derived from the Washington Post's 'Mad Money' page. As money was spent by media market, not by state, and many media markets cross state borders, totals were calculated by adding together the money spent in media markets that were within or overlapped with swing states. For example, if a media market was located in both Florida and Georgia, the money spent in that market was considered to be spent targeting voters in Florida, not Georgia. Apart from the ten states indicated above, the candidates also spent some money (0.4% of Obama's and 0.1% of Romney's) targeting voters in Michigan and Minnesota.

Presidential Tracker: Which states have seen President Obama the most since his inauguration?

Since 2009, FairVote has been tracking the movements of the President using data from the Washington Post's ‘POTUS Tracker'  and CNN's 'On The Trail' Tracker in order to examine the effect of battleground status on presidential attention. Fairvote's analysis of Presidential visits and events shows a significant emphasis on the declared 'battleground states' for the 2012 election and, in the period before the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, a heightened attention to states that traditionally have high donation rates.

President Obama's Travels from His First Inauguration to the End of the Democratic National Convention

Below, you can find blogs about the President's recent travels, as well as relevant news articles. Check out the map at the bottom of the page for information of where Obama travelled between the time he took office on January 20, 2009, and the end of the Democratic National Convention on September 7, 2012.  It contains information on the number and type of events held in each state. If you are interested in examining the compiled data in spreadsheet form, it is available here. 

President Obama's Ten Most Visited States (1/20/09-9/7/12):

Ranking State

Number of

Total Events

Margin

of Victory (%)

% of National

Donations in 2008

1 New York 71 25.5% 10.52%
2 California 56 23.6 17.76
3 Florida 46 2.5 4.91
4 Virginia 46 6.3 5.27
5 Ohio 44 4.0 1.88
6 Illinois 32 24.9 5.98
7 Maryland 31 25.2 3.37
8 Iowa
30 9.3 0.43
9 Pennsylvania 28 10.4 2.81
10 Texas 21 -11.7 5.44

Governor Romney's  Travels from April 24, 2012 to the End of the Democratic National Convention

Governor Romney has also been focused on battleground states since he became the presumptive Republican nominee in April. To see where Romney held campaign events between April 24, 2012 and September 7, 2012, check here.

 

Latest Blog Posts on Presidential Travels

  • Tracking Presidential Campaign Field Operations

    November 14, 2012

    The most visible ways that Democratic and Republican presidential candidates show favoritism for swing states are through public campaign events and ad spending. However, tracking where candidates opened field offices is another useful method of measuring candidate attention. Unsurprisingly, field office placement in the 2012 presidential election showed a strong bias towards swing states. 

  • Presidential Campaign Attention: Why Most States Aren't Worth Any Despite Their Generosity

    November 1, 2012

    For the past two months, FairVote has been highlighting the inequality that the winner-take-all method of allocating electoral votes perpetuates: swing states are targetted and safe states are not. However, another type of inequality to consider is the inequality this rule creates between wealthy and non-wealthy safe state residents. Wealthy residents in every state are targetted at fundrairsers, as they provide a good portion of the money funding the campaigns. Low and middle income swing state residents are targetted because they provide votes that could swing a state to one candidate or another. Low and middle income safe state residents, on the other hand, are out of luck.

Latest Entries on the National Popular Vote