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.