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Virginia was a top-tier battleground state and saw extensive activity.  Both the Obama and Romney campaigns built large organizations on the ground.  Voters saw a steady flow of candidate and surrogate events.  The advertising campaign was intense.  According to the Smart Media Group the Obama and Romney campaigns and their allies spent a total of $151 million on the ad war in Virginia, third only to Ohio ($197 million) and Florida ($191 million).  The Wesleyan Media Project (>) reported that Virginia media markets accounted for four of the top 15 media markets by volume of presidential ads in the period from October 1-29 (Washington, DC, Norfolk, Richmond and Roanoke).

After going for the Republican ticket in every election since 1964, Virginia went for Obama in 2008.  However, since then the Commonwealth seemed to trend Republican.  In 2009 Virginians elected Gov. Bob McDonnell and took back the House of Delegates.  In 2010 Republicans defeated three Democratic congressmen (Boucher, Ney, and Periello), expanded their majority in the House of Delegates and took back the Senate.  Virginia was thus one of the battleground states where control of the governor's office has shifted from Democratic to Republican. 

Growth in Northern Virginia, suburban and exurban Washington, DC is changing the state.  For example, according to the Census Bureau (+), the independent cities of Manassas Park and Fredericksburg were the fourth and sixth fastest growing county/county equivalents in the U.S. between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2011. Virginia also has a significant veterans population, according to the Department of Veterans 822,300 as of Sept. 30, 2010 (+) and both campaigns reached out to this group. 

Virginia is one of the states that adopted a new voter ID law, signed by Gov. McDonnell on May 18, 2012; the law was not seen as "drastic" as measures adopted in some other states.  Also of note were a controversy over the Voter Participation Center's voter registration efforts in Virginia, reports of a vote by phone scam, and instances of voter registration fraud by Strategic Allied Consulting/Pinpoint.

In 2008 then-Gov. Tim Kaine was a top vice presidential prospect for Obama; likewise this time McDonnell was mentioned in vice presidential speculation for Romney.  Virginia turned out to the the state where Romney announced his choice of Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate (the event was initially planned for New Hampshire).

Six months before Election Day 2012, on May 5, Obama held his first two official campaign rallies and one of them was in Richmond (+).  On July 13, during the course of remarks at an event at a fire station in Roanoke, Obama made the "You Didn't Build That" remark, which the Romney campaign seized upon and made a central point of attack for several months (+).  Obama also did debate prep in Williamsburg prior to the second presidential debate.

Five candidates were on the ballot (+).  Early on some observers opined that former U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, Jr. of Rocky Mount, VA, the Constitution Party nominee for president, might siphon some votes away from Romney, but his no-budget campaign proved to be a non-factor.

Newspaper Endorsements (Sample)

OBAMA	ROMNEY
The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg] (Oct. 28, 2012) + The News Leader [Stauton] (Nov. 3, 2012) +	Daily Press [Hampton Roads] (Oct. 27, 2012) + Danville Register & Bee (Oct. 28, 2012) + Loudoun Times Mirror (Oct. 24, 2012) + The News & Advance [Lynchburg] (Oct. 28, 2012) + Richmond Times-Dispatch (Oct. 28, 2012)   108,559 (70) +

Results by CD

CD	Obama/Biden	%	Romney/Ryan	%	Others	Total
1	166,510	45.52%	193,647	52.94%	5,572	365,729
2	159,695	49.96%	154,935	48.47%	4,963	319,593
3	66,391	19.94%	262,265	78.80%	4,140	332,796
4	176,311	48.68%	181,265	50.05%	4,581	362,157
5	164,555	45.81%	188,485	52.47%	6,165	370,205
6	132,153	39.38%	197,045	58.72%	6,341	335,539
7	163,331	41.64%	222,915	56.83%	5,964	392,210
8	243,746	67.62%	111,518	30.94%	5,149	360,413
9	108,641	34.83%	196,354	62.96%	6,844	311,839
10	182,432	48.68%	186,650	49.81%	5,604	374,686
11	212,181	62.34%	123,317	36.23%	4,824	340,322