The
2012 Democratic vice presidential primaries were a series of contests held to elect delegates to the 2012 Democratic National Convention to election the Democratic candidate for Vice President of the United State in the 2012 election. Incumbent Vice President James Pleasent was selected through a series of primary elections, however due to an unexpectedly strong challenge from Senator Francis Neece of West Virginia and Businessman Alexi Carter of Montana, the contest remained competitive for longer than anticipated, with Pleasent only winning the necessary delegates to secure renomination following a narrow victory at the New Jersey Primary on June 5th. Pleasent went on to be reelected to the Vice Presidency as running mate to President Andrea Campbell, who faced no significant opposition in her denomination campaign.
The vice presidential primaries consisted of a series of primary elections in state's selected by the national committee to represent a cross-section of America, the selection of which was seen as archaic and controversial among Democrats when compared to the otherwise national scope of the presidential primaries. The purpose of the process was to elect the 2,515 delegates to the Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Minnesota. In order to secure guaranteed nomination, a candidate was required to secure a simple majority of 1,258 delegates, who were awarded by the Jefferson method in each state. The state's not holding primaries were required to assembly delegates to caucus at the Democratic National Convention, and as such their vote tally's are considered separate to the primary process itself.
Three candidates contested the primary. Incumbent Vice President James Pleasent announced his reelection campaign alongside President Campbell in the fall of 2011, a suprise to many who believed Campbell would endorse her more liberal Secretary of State David Hunt following public disagreements between the President and Vice President over matters such as Health Care and environmentalism, with Pleasent advocating more tepid reforms over Campbell's progressive agenda. However Campbell endorsed Pleasent, declaring there to be "no finer man or woman in the United States" at a speech in the Rose Garden. Left-wing populist and self declared ultra-liberal, Senator Francis Neece, announced his intention to run against Pleasent to seek the Democratic nomination, believing Pleasent to be a threat to 'the program', and that Campbell needed a better running mate to emphasis her campaign's progressive agenda. Launching within days of Campbell's endorsement, the President, much to the anxiety of the Pleasent campaign, refused to condemn Neece and back Pleasent further, Campbell instead declaring that she believed "the best man will win". They were joined in December by Alexi Carter, a pro-business and conservative Democrat from Texas (although registered in his birth state of Montana) in what is considered a forerunner to his 2016 presidential campaign.
Pleasent won the New Hampshire primary by a close margin, failing to secure a majority of the vote and splitting the state delegation evenly with Neece; Carter failed to cross the threshold. The following election was more competitive than anticipated, Neece winning Georgia and Texas on narrow victories however losing Massachusetts and Illinois on large margins. Pspesrhologists note that Neece's inability to win decisively would likely deny him the nomination outright, with his victories in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin only further highlighting this as he beat Pleasent by only a few percentage points, while Pleasent was kept buoyant by a narrow lead in delegates that he sustained throughout the campaign after winning Massachusetts. By the time Campbell secured her renomination at the Maryland Primary, it was unclear who would win, however a blow-out victory for Pleasent in his home state of California gain an insurmountable lead, and in the final primaries of the election, New Jersey and Washington DC, secured enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee.
On August 1 2012, the Democratic National Convention officially nominated Pleasent for Vice President. On November 6 2012, Republican nominee Senator Bret Harlow of Alabama defeated Campbell, therefore meaning Republican Governor Fletcher Davis of Michigan defeated Pleasent to succeed him as Vice President of the United State.