Starting on Jan. 3, 2012 with the Iowa caucuses and ending June 26, 2012 with the Utah Republican primary, all 50 US states, DC, and five territories (American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana, Puerto Rico, and Virgin Islands) will hold presidential primaries or caucuses. "Super Tuesday,” the day with the most nominating contests, will take place on Mar. 6, 2012, with 13 states and American Samoa selecting their candidates.
36 states and DC are exclusively holding presidential primaries, and 12 states are holding caucuses only. Two states, Missouri and Utah, have one party holding a primary while the other caucuses to select convention delegates. The delegate selection process for some caucuses last longer than a single day. For our calendar below, we usually selected the day when the caucus begins to elect delegates to county conventions.
JANUARY
STATE
PARTY
CAUCUS or PRIMARY
3 Tuesday
Iowa
Democrat/
Republican
caucus
10 Tuesday
New Hampshire
Democrat/
Republican
primary
21 Saturday
Nevada
Democrat
caucus
21 Saturday
South Carolina
Republican
primary
28 Saturday
South Carolina
Democrat
primary
31 Tuesday
Florida
Democrat/
Republican
primary
FEBRUARY
STATE
PARTY
CAUCUS or PRIMARY
4 Saturday
Maine
Republican
caucus
4 Saturday
Nevada
Republican
caucus
7 Tuesday
Colorado
Republican
caucus
7 Tuesday
Missouri
Democrat
primary
7 Tuesday
Minnesota
Republican
caucus
7 Tuesday
Northern Mariana
Republican
caucus
28 Tuesday
Arizona
Republican
primary
28 Tuesday
Michigan
Democrat/
Republican
primary
MARCH
STATE
PARTY
CAUCUS or PRIMARY
3 Saturday
Washington
Republican
caucus
6 Tuesday
Alaska
Republican
caucus
6 Tuesday
Georgia
Democrat/
Republican
primary
6 Tuesday
Idaho
Republican
caucus
6 Tuesday
Massachusetts
Democrat/
Republican
primary
6 Tuesday
Oklahoma
Democrat/
Republican
primary
6 Tuesday
Tennessee
Democrat/
Republican
primary
6 Tuesday
Virginia
Democrat/
Republican
primary
6 Tuesday
Vermont
Democrat/
Republican
primary
6 Tuesday
Ohio
Democrat/
Republican
primary
6 Tuesday
Wyoming
Republican
caucus
6 Tuesday
Minnesota
Democrat
caucus
6 Tuesday
North Dakota
Republican
caucus
6 Tuesday
Colorado
Democrat
caucus
6 Tuesday
American Samoa
Democrat
caucus
7 Wednesday
Hawaii
Democrat
caucus
10 Saturday
Virgin Islands
Republican
caucus
10 Saturday
Guam
Republican
caucus
10 Saturday
Kansas
Republican
caucus
11 Sunday
Maine
Democrat
caucus
13 Tuesday
Alabama
Democrat/
Republican
primary
13 Tuesday
American Samoa
Republican
caucus
13 Tuesday
Hawaii
Republican
caucus
13 Tuesday
Mississippi
Democrat/
Republican
primary
13 Tuesday
Utah
Democrat
caucus
17 Saturday
Missouri
Republican
caucus
18 Sunday
Puerto Rico
Republican
caucus
20 Tuesday
Illinois
Democrat/
Republican
primary
24 Saturday
Louisiana
Democrat/
Republican
primary
APRIL
STATE
PARTY
CAUCUS or PRIMARY
3 Tuesday
Maryland
Democrat/
Republican
primary
3 Tuesday
Texas
Democrat/
Republican
primary
3 Tuesday
Wisconsin
Democrat/
Republican
primary
3 Tuesday
District of Columbia
Democrat/
Republican
primary
14 Saturday
Idaho
Democrat
caucus
14 Saturday
Kansas
Democrat
caucus
14 Saturday
Nebraska
Democrat
caucus
14 Saturday
Wyoming
Democrat
caucus
15 Sunday
Alaska
Democrat
caucus
15 Sunday
Florida
Democrat
caucus
15 Sunday
Washington
Democrat
caucus
24 Tuesday
New York
Democrat/
Republican
primary
24 Tuesday
Pennsylvania
Democrat/
Republican
primary
24 Tuesday
Rhode Island
Democrat/
Republican
primary
24 Tuesday
Connecticut
Democrat/
Republican
primary
24 Tuesday
Delaware
Democrat/
Republican
primary
MAY
STATE
PARTY
CAUCUS or PRIMARY
5 Tuesday
Guam
Democrat
primary
8 Tuesday
Indiana
Democrat/
Republican
primary
8 Tuesday
North Carolina
Democrat/
Republican
primary
8 Tuesday
West Virginia
Democrat/
Republican
primary
15 Tuesday
Nebraska
Democrat/
Republican
primary
15 Tuesday
Oregon
Democrat/
Republican
primary
22 Tuesday
Kentucky
Democrat/
Republican
primary
22 Tuesday
Arkansas
Democrat/
Republican
primary
JUNE
STATE
PARTY
CAUCUS or PRIMARY
3 Sunday
Puerto Rico
Democrat
caucus
3 Sunday
Virgin Islands
Democrat
caucus
5 Tuesday
Montana
Democrat/
Republican
primary
5 Tuesday
New Jersey
Democrat/
Republican
primary
5 Tuesday
New Mexico
Democrat/
Republican
primary
5 Tuesday
South Dakota
Democrat/
Republican
primary
5 Tuesday
North Dakota
Democrat
caucus
5 Tuesday
California
Democrat/
Republican
primary
26 Tuesday
Utah
Republican
primary
Sources:
Federal Election Commission, "2012 Presidential Primary Dates and Candidate Filing Deadlines for Ballot Access," www.fec.gov, Dec. 1, 2011