Election Day: By the numbers

Election Day has passed, but the data crunching continues. Here’s a look at how the election broke down, according to an analysis by the National Association of Counties (NACo).

About 119 million people voted in the 2012 elections, down from 131 million who voted in 2008. President Barack Obama was reelected with 332 electoral votes, winning the popular vote by about 3 million votes.

There was a marked split in the presidential election among rural and urban counties. In rural areas, those communities and unincorporated areas with a population of less than 10,000, the Republican candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, received 59 percent of the vote.

Urban counties voted overwhelmingly for President Obama. In the 98 largest urban counties, those communities with at least 500,000 population, Obama received 77.5 percent of the vote. In seven of the 10 largest urban counties, Obama’s vote totals were:

• Los Angeles County, Calif., 69.3 percent
• Cook County, Ill., 74 percent
• Harris County, Texas, 49.4 percent
• San Diego County, Calif., 51.2 percent
• Miami Dade County, Fla., 61.6 percent
• Dallas County, Texas, 57.1 percent
• San Bernardino County, Calif., 51.4 percent

Local government officials also played a role in the election as candidates for higher office. That included more than two dozen current and former county officials vying for a governorship, four U.S. Senate seats and 28 House seats. Former Dane County, Wis., supervisor Tammy Baldwin was elected to the Senate, while 12 current or former county officials won House seats.

Two former mayors also fared well, according to the National League of Cities. Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory won the North Carolina governor’s race, while Lois Frankel, former mayor of West Palm Beach, Fla., was elected to Florida’s 22^nd Congressional District.