Virginia Election Results 2012 MAP: Presidential, Senate, And House Winners (REAL-TIME DATA)

Below you can find the 2012 presidential election results for the state of Virginia.

Despite going handily to President Barack Obama in the 2008 election, Virginia proved to be a key battleground state in 2012.

Virginia carries 13 electoral college votes. Obama held a marginal lead in the state in the days leading up to November 6, though early in the campaign, polls had shown the incumbent with a substantial lead. The close race in the Old Dominion has exemplified Virginia's retreat to its more conservative roots since 2008.

Prior to 2008, the state had voted Republican in the previous nine presidential elections. But the political climate in the state has become more diverse, according to the New York Times' Five Thirty Eight blog:

The political landscape in Virginia has shifted dramatically in recent years, and the disagreement among the polls is essentially a disagreement about which Virginia will dominate on Election Day: the reliably Republican “Old Virginia,” which is more religious, rural, working-class and white, or the politically competitive “New Virginia,” which is more secular, urban, diverse and white-collar.

This dichotomy has made Virginia crucial to both the Obama and Romney campaigns. The candidates, their wives and their running mates have made over 90 appearances in the state in 2012. According to the Washington Post, each side has poured tens of millions of dollars in campaign financing into the state.