2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 7 pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas
The 2008 United States presidential election in Kansas took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 6 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas
Kansas was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 14.9% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. He won all but three counties and one congressional district in the state. Obama still performed significantly better than Kerry, and his 41.55% of the vote remains the highest for a Democrat in the 21st century, although his running mate, Biden, would reach almost that percentage 12 years later, with a slight improvement in margin of victory.


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas
As of 2020, this is the last time that Crawford County went for the Democratic candidate in a presidential election.


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas, Campaign, Predictions
There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas, Campaign, Polling
McCain won every pre-election poll. Since March 16, McCain won each poll with a double-digit margin and at least 47% of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $1,219,074 in the state. Barack Obama raised $1,548,322.


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $62,108. McCain and his interest groups spent $13,693. Neither campaign visited the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas, Analysis
Kansas has always been a Republican stronghold at the presidential level, voting for GOP nominees in all but seven elections since statehood. The last Democratic presidential nominee to carry the Sunflower State was Lyndon B. Johnson in his landslide in 1964. Although the state did receive attention from Barack Obama, whose mother was born in Kansas, it wasn't enough to overcome the deeply planted GOP roots in the state. John McCain carried Kansas by a comfortable 15-percent margin of victory. McCain's margin of victory in Kansas, however, was less than that of George W. Bush who carried the state in 2004 with 62% of the vote over John Kerry's 36.62% showing in the state - a 10-point swing to the Democrats in 2008.


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas, Analysis
Obama only won three counties - Crawford (home to Pittsburg), Douglas (home to Lawrence), and Wyandotte (home to Kansas City). The first two were home to large college populations, while Wyandotte had a significant African-American population. He did, however, succeed in winning 41% of the state's popular vote. Only two other Democrats have cracked the 40 percent barrier in the state since Johnson's 1964 landslide (Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Michael Dukakis in 1988).


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas, Analysis
To highlight its status as a reliably red state, former State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, a Republican, ousted incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative Nancy Boyda to win back Kansas's 2nd Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jenkins received 50.80% of the vote to Boyda's 45.97%. At the same time, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Pat Roberts was reelected with 60.06% of the vote over former Democratic U.S. Representative Jim Slattery. Republicans also made gains in the Kansas Senate, picking up one seat.


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Crawford County voted for the Democratic candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas, Results breakdown, By congressional district
John McCain carried three of the state’s four congressional districts.


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas, Electors
Technically the voters of Kansas cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Kansas is allocated 6 electors because it has 4 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 6 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 6 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Kansas, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 6 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky
The 2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose eight representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky
Kentucky was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 16.23% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise a red state. In the primaries, Hillary Clinton slightly defeated McCain in hypothetical polls for the Bluegrass State. Once Barack Obama secured the Democratic nomination, Kentucky was reclassified as safe for the GOP. In the end, Kentucky voted for McCain with 57.40% of the vote. Obama did, however, improve on John Kerry's performance by two points. This was the first time since 1960 where Kentucky did not vote for the winning candidate in a presidential election. This was also the first time ever that Floyd and Knott Counties voted for the Republican candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky
As of 2020, this is the last time a Democrat won over 40% of the vote as a presidential candidate in Kentucky.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Campaign, Predictions
There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Campaign, Polling
McCain won every pre-election poll, almost all of them by a double-digit margin and with at least 49% of the vote. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading 56% to 41%.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $1,220,017. Barack Obama raised $2,394,198.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $183,738 while a conservative interest groups spent just $212. Each ticket visited the state once.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Analysis
Since 1964, Kentucky has only gone Democratic three times--Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, both of whom were White Anglo Saxon Protestants (WASPs) from the South, whereas Obama was an African American "big-city liberal" from Chicago. (Similar socio-cultural dynamics existed in other southern Appalachian states with a large ancestral Democratic base, such as Tennessee, West Virginia, and Arkansas.)


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Analysis
In the 2008 primary, exits polls conducted found that 30 percent of Clinton supporters opted not to vote for Obama in the general election, 40% would vote McCain and the rest would support Obama in the general election. Several counties in the southeastern part of the state swung Republican and went to McCain as solidly Democratic Floyd and Knott counties voted Republican for the first time ever, and Breathitt County voted Republican for the first time since 1908.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Analysis
Obama decided to not spend campaign funds on Kentucky and instead went to more viable battleground states like North Carolina and Indiana instead. McCain won Kentucky by a margin of 16.22 points on election day and performed slightly worse than George Bush in 2004. Obama improved upon Kerry's performance in big cities and urban areas while McCain improved upon Bush in rural areas. Kentucky was the first state called for McCain an hour before Vermont was called for Obama.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Analysis
At the same time, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, who also served as Senate Minority Leader at the time, was just narrowly reelected with 52.97% of the vote to Democrat Bruce Lunsford's 47.03%. Republicans also held onto an open seat vacated by Ron Lewis in Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District. At the state level, however, Democrats picked up two seats in the Kentucky House of Representatives.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Rowan County, Hancock County, Menifee County, Wolfe County, and Henderson County voted for the Democratic candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Results breakdown, By congressional district
John McCain carried 5 of the state's 6 congressional districts, including one of the two districts held by a Democrat.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Electors
Technically the voters of Kentucky cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Kentucky is allocated 8 electors because it has 6 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 8 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 8 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 8 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana
The 2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana which took place on November 4, 2008, was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose nine representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana
Louisiana was won by Republican nominee John McCain by an 18.6% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise a "red state". Although Bill Clinton carried the state twice, it has since shifted strongly toward the Republican Party, despite having one of the largest percentages of African Americans in the country. It was one of five states to swing Republican from 2004. This marked the first time that Louisiana failed to back the winning candidate since 1968, when it voted for third-party candidate George Wallace. In doing so, Obama became the first winning Democratic presidential nominee to lose Louisiana since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and to lose Calcasieu Parish since the parish's founding in 1840.


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana, Campaign, Predictions
There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana, Campaign, Polling
McCain won every pre-election poll. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading 50% to 40%.


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $2,175,416 in the state. Barack Obama raised $1,438,276.


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $368,039. McCain and his interest groups spent $6,019. McCain visited the state once, in New Orleans.


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana, Analysis
Polling in Louisiana gave a strong lead to McCain, sometimes as high as 19%, and Barack Obama did not seriously contest the state. Governor Bobby Jindal endorsed McCain early on in the primary season. Louisiana was also one of only two states to list Ron Paul on their official ballot (the other being Montana which gave the largest percentage to any third-party candidate nationwide).


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana, Analysis
In 2008, Louisiana was one of five states that swung even more Republican from 2004. John McCain carried Louisiana with 58.56% of the vote, a tad bit better than George W. Bush's 56.72% of the vote in 2004.


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana, Analysis
At the same time, however, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu avoided the Republican trend in the state and held onto her U.S. Senate seat, taking in 52.11% of the vote to State Treasurer John N. Kennedy, a Democrat who switched parties to run against Landrieu. Republicans picked up two U.S. House seats in Louisiana (LA-02 and LA-06 with Joseph Cao and Bill Cassidy, respectively). In an extremely bad year for the Republican Party nationwide, Louisiana provided the GOP with a ray of hope and optimism.


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana, Results breakdown, By congressional district
John McCain carried 6 of the state’s 7 congressional districts.


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana, Electors
Technically the voters of Louisiana cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Louisiana is allocated 9 electors because it has 7 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 9 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 9 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Louisiana, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 9 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Maine
The 2008 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Maine is one of two states in the U.S. that instead of all of the state's 4 electors of the Electoral College to vote based upon the statewide results of the voters, two of the individual electors vote based on their congressional district because Maine has two congressional districts. The other two electors vote based upon the statewide results. See below in the section of Electors for more information.


2008 United States presidential election in Maine
Maine once again displayed its status as a blue state, with Democrat Barack Obama taking the state with 57.71% of the vote and a difference of 126,650 votes. Maine is one of only two states, along with Nebraska, to not allocate its electoral votes via a winner-take-all system; rather, two electoral votes are allocated to the statewide winner and one for the winner in each individual congressional district. Maine at-large and its 1st district has voted Democratic since 1992 (though Donald Trump won the 2nd district and its electoral vote in 2016 and 2020). It is also the only state in New England where a county voted for Republican John McCain, with Piscataquis County giving McCain roughly 50.7% of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Maine, Campaign, Polling
Obama won every single pre-election poll. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 55% to 39%.


2008 United States presidential election in Maine, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $465,676 in the state, while Barack Obama raised $2,205,059.


2008 United States presidential election in Maine, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $1,216,060 while McCain and the RNC spent $444,529. The Obama ticket didn't visit the state, but both McCain and Palin visited Maine once.


2008 United States presidential election in Maine, Analysis
Maine is located in New England, an area that has become a Democratic Party stronghold. It was once a classic Yankee Republican state. It identified with the newly formed GOP in 1856 and stayed in the GOP fold for most of the next 132 years. The GOP carried the state in all but three elections (1912, 1964 and 1968) from 1856 to 1988. Additionally, Maine and Vermont were the only two states that voted against Franklin D. Roosevelt in all four of his campaigns.


2008 United States presidential election in Maine, Analysis
However, no Republican presidential nominee has carried Maine since George H. W. Bush in 1988, leading many analysts to reckon the state as part of the solid bloc of blue states in the Northeast. While George W. Bush seriously contested the state in 2000 and 2004, polls in 2008 never showed anything but a significant Obama lead.


2008 United States presidential election in Maine, Analysis
Ultimately, Obama won the state by a comfortable margin, taking 57.71% of the vote--the highest percentage by a Democrat in Maine since Lyndon B. Johnson carried it as part of his 44-state landslide in 1964, although Bill Clinton in 1996 won with a wider margin when third parties were a factor that year. As evidence of how Democratic Maine has become, George W. Bush at the time was the only Republican ever to win the White House without carrying Maine. At the same time, however, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins defeated former Democratic U.S. Representative Tom Allen and won reelection to a third term with 61.33% of the vote. Maine was the only state carried by Obama to elect a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 2008.


2008 United States presidential election in Maine, Analysis
The seat in Maine's 1st Congressional District that was vacated by Tom Allen in his unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate was retained by Democrat Chellie Pingree. At the state level, Democrats made gains in the Maine Legislature, picking up six seats in the Maine House of Representatives and one seat in the Maine Senate.


2008 United States presidential election in Maine, Electors
Technically the voters of Maine cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Maine is allocated 4 electors because it has 2 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 4 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded just 2 of the electoral votes. The other 2 electoral votes are based upon the congressional district results. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.


2008 United States presidential election in Maine, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Maine, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. Since Obama won both congressional districts, all 4 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland
The 2008 United States presidential election in Maryland took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 10 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland
Maryland was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama by a 25.4% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. The Old Line State has voted for the Democratic presidential candidate of every election since 1992. In 2008, Obama easily captured the state's 10 electoral votes in a landslide victory, winning 61.92% of the popular vote to Republican John McCain's 36.47%.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Campaign, Predictions
There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Campaign, Polling
Obama won every single pre-election poll, each by a double-digit margin of victory and at least 51% of the vote. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 54% to 38%.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $3,439,120 in the state. Barack Obama raised $19,091,136.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $257,582 while McCain spent nothing. Both tickets visited the state once.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Analysis
Maryland has supported the Democratic nominee in each of the last five presidential elections by an average margin of 15.4%. In 1980, it was 1 of only 6 states to vote for Democrat Jimmy Carter over Republican Ronald Reagan. It has only supported a Republican six times since Franklin D. Roosevelt – 1948 and the Republican landslides of 1952, 1956, 1972, 1984 and 1988.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Analysis
Maryland is often among the Democratic nominees' best states. In 1992, Bill Clinton fared better in Maryland than any other state except his home state of Arkansas. In 1996, Maryland was Clinton's sixth best, in 2000 Maryland ranked fourth for Al Gore and in 2004 John Kerry showed his fifth best performance in Maryland.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Analysis
Republican presidential candidates typically win more counties by running up huge margins in western Maryland and the Eastern Shore. However, they are usually swamped by the heavily Democratic Baltimore-Washington, D.C. axis, which casts almost 75% of the state's vote. The state's four largest county-level jurisdictions – Montgomery, Prince George's and Baltimore counties and the City of Baltimore — are strongly Democratic. These areas, which contain 1.5 million voters combined, make it extremely difficult for a Republican to win Maryland.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Analysis
Even in bad years for Democrats, a Republican usually has to run the table in the rest of the state and win either Montgomery, Prince George's or Baltimore counties to have a realistic chance of carrying the state. In 1984, for instance, Ronald Reagan only carried Maryland by crushing Walter Mondale in Baltimore County and narrowly winning Montgomery. In 1988, George H. W. Bush ran up a 42,300-vote margin in Baltimore County over Michael Dukakis – almost 85% of his statewide margin of 49,800 votes.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Analysis
The 2008 election was no exception. Barack Obama won the state's 10 electoral votes in 2008 with 61.92% of the vote to John McCain's 36.47%. Obama carried Montgomery, Prince George's, Baltimore County and Baltimore City with 71.6%, 88.9%, 56.2 and 87.2% of the vote, respectively. Obama's combined 550,000-vote margin in these four areas would have been enough to carry the state. While McCain won more counties, the only large county he won was Anne Arundel County, home to the state capital, Annapolis.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Analysis
Both of Maryland's U.S. Senators and 7 of its 8 U.S. Representatives in Congress are Democrats, and Democrats hold supermajorities in the state Senate and House of Delegates. The state has elected only 5 Republican governors since 1900.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Analysis
U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer, a Democrat who represents Maryland's 5th Congressional District, was elected as House Majority Leader for the 110th Congress of the U.S. House of Representatives and 111th Congress, serving in that post since January 2007.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Analysis
While Maryland is a Democratic Party stronghold, its best known political figure is perhaps a Republican – former Governor Spiro Agnew, who served as Vice President under Richard Nixon. He was Vice President from 1969 to 1973, when he resigned in the aftermath of revelations that he had taken bribes while he was Governor of Maryland. In late 1973, a court found Agnew guilty of violating tax laws.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Analysis
In 2008, Democrats picked up a U.S. House an open seat in Maryland's 1st Congressional District as Democrat Frank M. Kratovil, Jr. defeated Republican Andy Harris by less than a 1% margin of victory.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Results, By congressional district
Barack Obama carried 6 of Maryland’s 8 congressional districts, all held by Democrats. John McCain carried two congressional districts, the only one held by a Republican and one that was won by a Democrat in 2008.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Electors
Technically the voters of Maryland cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Maryland is allocated 10 electors because it has 8 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 10 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 10 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Maryland, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 10 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts
The 2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts took place, as in all 50 states and D.C., as part of the 2008 United States presidential election of November 4, 2008. Voters chose 12 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who, in turn, voted for the office of president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts
Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama won the state by a 25.8% margin of victory: slightly better than John Kerry's 25.2% margin in 2004. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations forecast that Obama would win Massachusetts, or otherwise considered it to be a safe blue state. Massachusetts had been a Democratic-leaning state since 1928, and a Democratic stronghold since 1960, and has maintained extremely large Democratic margins since 1996. No Republican presidential nominee has won a single county in the state, nor obtained more than 40% of the vote, since George H. W. Bush in 1988. In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama captured the state's 12 electoral votes winning 61.80% of the popular vote to Republican John McCain's 35.99%. Massachusetts was also 1 of only 6 states in which neither Obama nor McCain won during the primary season.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Primaries, Democratic
The Massachusetts Democratic primary took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, and had a total of 93 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Massachusetts's 10 congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 61. Another 32 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Hillary Clinton. The 93 delegates represented Massachusetts at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. 26 other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Primaries, Democratic
Polls indicated that Clinton was leading Barack Obama in the days leading up to the contest in Massachusetts.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Primaries, Democratic
Hillary Rodham Clinton won a convincing victory in Massachusetts over Barack Obama due to a number of factors. According to exit polls, 85% of voters in the Massachusetts Democratic Primary were Caucasians and they opted for Clinton by a margin of 58–40% compared to the 6% of African American voters who backed Obama by a margin of 66–29. Hispanics/Latinos, which comprised 5% of the total voters, backed Clinton by a margin of 56–36%.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Primaries, Democratic
Clinton narrowly won the youth vote (those ages 18–29) by a margin of 49–48 and tied the vote among voters ages 30–44; she also won all voters over the age of 45 by a margin of 60.5–38. Pertaining to socioeconomic class, Clinton won all levels of family income except highly affluent voters making $200,000 or more a year, as they backed Obama by a narrow margin of 53–47%. As for educational attainment levels, Clinton won all categories except those with postgraduate degrees who backed Obama by a margin of 51–47%.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Primaries, Democratic
Among self-identified Democrats in the primary, which made up 65% of the total electorate, they went for Clinton by a 58–41 margin while Independents, which comprised a healthy 33% of the electorate, also went for Clinton by a 54–42 margin. She also won all ideological groups. Clinton also won most major religious denominations – Protestants 53–46; Roman Catholics 64-33; other Christians 51-47; and other religions 49-46. Obama won Jews by a margin of 52–48 as well as atheists/agnostics by a margin of 53-45.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Primaries, Democratic
Clinton performed extremely well statewide, carrying a majority of counties and sweeping most of the major urban areas and cities. Obama won Boston by fewer than 10,000 votes, while Clinton won other urban and conservative towns such as Springfield and Worcester.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Primaries, Democratic
Obama had picked up major endorsements from the Massachusetts Democratic establishment prior to Super Tuesday. Both U.S. Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry threw their support behind Obama, along with Governor Deval Patrick. Clinton also picked up a number of top-tier endorsements from Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Salvatore DiMasi along with U.S. Representatives Richard Neal and Barney Frank, one of the three openly gay members of the U.S. Congress.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Primaries, Republican
The Massachusetts Republican Primary took place on February 5, 2008, with 40 national delegates. Polls indicated that former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney was leading rival John McCain; Romney ended up defeating McCain by roughly 10% of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Primaries, Republican
* Candidate dropped out of the race before the primary


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Primaries, Green-Rainbow
The Massachusetts Green-Rainbow primary took place on February 5. Six candidates appeared on the ballot. Ralph Nader won, despite not running for the nomination of the party.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Primaries, Working Families Party
The Working Families Party did not have any candidates run in its presidential primary.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Campaign, Predictions
There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Campaign, Polling
Very early on the election polls were tight, with McCain even leading by 5 in one poll on January 21 and a tie in a poll on March 16, but Obama won every poll after March 18. He won each by a double-digit margin since August 8. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 56% to 36%.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised $4,072,206 in the state. Barack Obama raised $24,358,264.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $46,839 while the Republican ticket spent nothing. Neither campaign visited the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Analysis
Massachusetts was (and is) one of the safest blue states in the nation, in terms of voting for the Democrat in presidential elections. Massachusetts is ethnically diverse, highly educated, and less religious. The Bay State has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election since 1960 except for Ronald Reagan's landslide victories of  1980 and 1984. In 1972, only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia voted for Democratic U.S. Senator George McGovern as Republican Richard M. Nixon won reelection.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Analysis
Barack Obama won the state's 12 electoral votes with 61.80% of the vote to John McCain's 35.99%. This is slightly higher than Kerry's victory in 2004. Despite that, 4 counties in the state trended away from the Democratic party: Bristol, Plymouth, Norfolk, and Worcester.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Analysis
Both of Massachusetts's U.S. Senators and all 10 of its U.S. Representatives were Democrats, and Democrats held supermajorities in the Massachusetts Legislature. At the same time in 2008, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry was reelected with 65.86% of the vote over Republican Jeff Beatty's 30.93% as were all of the state's delegates in the U.S. House of Representatives. At the state level, Democrats picked up three seats in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and one seat in the Massachusetts Senate.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Electors
Technically the voters of Massachusetts cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Massachusetts is allocated 12 electors because it has 10 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 12 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 12 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Massachusetts, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 12 were pledged to Obama and Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan
The 2008 United States presidential election in Michigan took place on November 4, 2008. It was part of the 2008 United States presidential election which happened throughout all 50 states and D.C.. Voters chose 17 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan
Michigan was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama by a 16.5% margin of victory. Early on, the state was heavily targeted as a swing state. However, Obama started to pull away in the polls during the last few months due to the worsening of the state's economy, causing McCain to stop campaigning there. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan
The Great Lakes State has leaned Democratic in recent decades, as it has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election since 1992 except 2016. In the end, Obama won Michigan by a larger-than-expected margin of victory: 57.33% - 40.89%. With Obama winning the state by a whopping 823,275 votes, this is the highest Democratic margin of victory in Michigan since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and the highest margin of victory for any presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan's landslide reelection in 1984. Obama won 46 of the 83 counties.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan
As of 2020, this is the last time that Michigan voted to the left of New Jersey, Oregon, or New Mexico, and the last time a Democrat won the majority of Michigan's counties in a presidential election. Obama's 2,867,680 votes is the most received by a presidential candidate in the state's history.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Campaign, Predictions
There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Campaign, Polling
Very early on, polling was tight as Obama was having a difficult time getting support from the pessimistic state. Since September 21, Obama swept all the polls taken from the state. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 54% to 40%.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $4,330,872 in the state. Barack Obama raised $7,299,275.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $12,995,614. McCain and his interest group spent $13,332,086. The Democratic ticket visited the state 10 times to McCain's 9 times.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Analysis
Michigan had not supported a Republican for president since 1988, and would not do so again until 2016. However, the state's 17 electoral votes had been continually a prime target for Republicans, and the Democratic margin of victory incrementally decreased from 1996 to 2004. In 2008, Republican presidential nominee John McCain put an early effort into winning Michigan, hoping to convert blue-collar voters disaffected by Obama's unfamiliarity as a liberal African-American from Chicago. Macomb County, a populous blue-collar suburb of Detroit, was a large target.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Analysis
A major problem for the Obama campaign was the 2008 Michigan Democratic presidential primary. Obama removed his name from the ballot after state officials moved up the primary in violation of party rules. As a result, Hillary Rodham Clinton won the state with 55%. This led to the McCain campaign focusing heavily on winning Michigan in the general election. In May 2008, McCain was leading in a Rasmussen poll with 45% to 44%. After the September financial crisis, however, McCain's general campaign fell into trouble. Polls showed Michigan, a state especially affected by the economy, turning away from McCain. Voters blamed Republicans for the crisis. In early October, with polls showing him falling further behind Obama, McCain pulled out of the state, essentially ceding it to Obama. This was widely publicized, and more than likely contributed to Obama's landslide victory.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Analysis
On Election Day, Barack Obama won by a double-digit margin of 16%. The state was called for Obama almost as soon as the polls closed. In Wayne County, home to Detroit, Obama piled up a 3-1 margin. Democratic strongholds Washtenaw County (home to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan), Ingham County (home to Lansing and Michigan State) and Genesee County (home to Flint) gave Obama 65-70% of the vote. Macomb County, which McCain had focused so intensely on, voted Democratic by a comfortable margin of 9%.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Analysis
Oakland County, once a bastion of suburban conservatism, went for Obama by 15 points. Obama also carried Kent County (home to Grand Rapids and former President Gerald Ford) by a very narrow 0.5% margin of victory, or 1,573 votes, the first time that a Democrat had done so since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Republican support in the state collapsed; McCain was only able to win two counties with margins of more than 10,000 votes. This result signified continued evidence of Michigan's Democratic tilt, anchored by the heavily Democratic cities of Detroit, Lansing, Ann Arbor, and Flint.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Analysis
At the same time as Obama swept the state, Democrats made more gains in Michigan. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Carl Levin was reelected with 62.65% of the vote over Republican Jack Hoogendyk's 33.84%. Democrats also picked up two U.S. House seats in Michigan in the 7th District and the 9th District, with Mark Schauer and Gary Peters knocking off Tim Walberg and Joe Knollenberg, respectively. This gave Democrats the majority in Michigan's U.S. House delegation. In addition, Democrats picked up nine seats in the Michigan House of Representatives.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Delta County, Clare County, St. Clair County, Benzie County, Lenawee County, Cass County, Iosco County, Alpena County, Gladwin County, Mason County, Menominee County, Ogemaw County, Ontonagon County, Presque Isle County, Schoolcraft County, Gratiot County, Alger County, Arenac County, Jackson County, Berrien County, Clinton County, Iron County and Oceana County voted for the Democratic candidate. This is also the last election in which the Democratic candidate won the Upper Peninsula.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Results breakdown
Barack Obama won 46 Michigan counties compared to 37 for John McCain. The largest county with a very close winning margin was a 49.3% vs. 48.8% plurality for Obama in Kent County.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Results breakdown, By congressional district
Barack Obama carried 12 congressional districts in Michigan, including four districts held by Republicans.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Electors
Technically the voters of Michigan cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Michigan is allocated 17 electors because it has 15 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 17 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 17 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Michigan, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 17 were pledged to Obama and Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota
The 2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose ten representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota
Minnesota was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama by a 10.2% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. Barack Obama carried the state with 54.06% of the vote in 2008 over John McCain's 43.82%. Minnesota has not voted Republican since Richard Nixon in 1972. Nevertheless, Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Anoka County since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota
As of 2020, this election is the last time Minnesota voted to the right of Pennsylvania and neighboring Wisconsin, and was decided by a double digit margin too.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Campaign, Predictions
There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are the last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Campaign, Polling
In the aftermath of the GOP National Convention that was highlighted by a well delivered and received speech by vice presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin, a strong Obama lead tightened into a very narrow polling lead. However, when the September financial crisis irreparably damaged McCain's chances at victory, McCain remained competitive in Minnesota for some time after Obama had pulled away in other states such as Michigan and Wisconsin. At no time, however, did polls indicate that John McCain was ahead in the state, and Obama eventually did pull away from John McCain.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $2,423,705 in the state. Barack Obama raised $6,058,168.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups $3,006,784. McCain and his interest groups spent 4,467,107. The Republican ticket visited the state 9 times. Obama visited the state only once.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Analysis
Minnesota has the longest streak as a blue state, having last voted for a Republican presidential nominee in 1972. However, the Democrats' margins of victory in 2000 and 2004 were relatively narrow. With this in mind, Republicans targeted the state for the 2008 election, holding the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Although the state swung more Democratic in 2008 and Barack Obama performed better here than John Kerry did in 2004, the swing was smaller than the national average.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Analysis
During the same election, a contentious U.S. Senate battle took place between incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken. The close election resulted in two court appeals, both of which eventually declared Franken the winner. At the state level, Democrats picked up two seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives and one seat in the Minnesota Senate.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Analysis
On Election Day, Obama won Minnesota by a comfortable margin, piling up 2-1 margins in Hennepin County (Minneapolis) and Ramsey County (St. Paul). Obama also ran evenly in the Minneapolis suburbs and rural Minnesota. However, McCain mostly held the same counties Bush won in the Republican base of central Minnesota. While Obama still won the state with ease, GOP efforts and the Republican National Convention led to a better Republican performance than seen in neighboring states in the Upper Midwest, and prevented the collapse of Republican support that occurred in neighboring Michigan and Wisconsin.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Stevens County, Watonwan County, Pope County, Grant County, Yellow Medicine County, Lincoln County, Pennington County, Murray County, Pine County, Big Stone County, Marshall County, Polk County, Red Lake County, and Aitkin County voted for the Democratic candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Results, By congressional district
Barack Obama carried five of the state’s eight congressional districts in Minnesota, including one seat held by a Republican. John McCain carried three congressional districts, including one seat held by a Democrat.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Electors
Technically the voters of Minnesota heir ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Minnesota is allocated 10 electors because it has 8 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 10 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 10 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Electors
Following an apparent mishap in the previous election, whereby an elector pledged to Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry instead cast their vote for running-mate John Edwards and thus became a faithless elector, Minnesota amended its statutes and became one of the few states whereby electors are legally required to vote for the candidate they are pledged to. This was the first election where the new laws were effective.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 10 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi
The 2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 6 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi
Mississippi was won by Republican nominee John McCain with a 13.2% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise a red state. Although the state has the largest African American percentage in the country, Mississippi remains a safe red state at the presidential level, having voted Republican every election year since 1980. While there was comparably high African American turnout compared to previous elections in Mississippi and Obama performed significantly better than Kerry in 2004, it was not enough to overcome the state's strong Republican leanings.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi
As of 2020, this is the last time Mississippi has voted to the right of West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, or Montana.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Campaign, Predictions
There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Campaign, Polling
McCain won every single pre-election poll, each with at least 50% of the vote with the exception of the one of them. The final 3 polls average gave the Republican a lead of 51% to 39%.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $1,386,749 in the state. Barack Obama raised $768,981.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $238,401. McCain and his interest groups spent $139,999. The McCain ticket visited three times. Obama's ticket visited the state once.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Analysis
Mississippi is one of the most racially polarized states in presidential elections. African Americans uniformly vote Democratic while Whites vote Republican nearly as uniformly. In 2004, 14% of Caucasians voted for John Kerry and 10% of African Americans voted for Bush, according to exit polling.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Analysis
White Democrats began splitting their tickets in national elections as early as the 1940s when the national party became more friendly to the Civil Rights Movement, culminating when Barry Goldwater carried the state with a staggering 87 percent of the vote in 1964. The Republican trend accelerated in the late 1970s with the rise of the religious right, which appealed to its status as a Bible Belt state. The last Democratic presidential nominee to win Mississippi was Jimmy Carter in 1976, even then, he only won it by 1.9 points. Due to its status as a safe red state, little campaigning took place in Mississippi by either of the two major party candidates. Indeed, the state was last seriously contested in 1980.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Analysis
In 2008, Barack Obama was able to improve on Kerry's performance by six percent, mainly due to the higher African American turnout. Obama's main support was in the western delta counties next to the Mississippi River. In contrast, McCain's margins came from the regions bordering the Gulf Coast, the northeast Appalachian area and the Jackson and Memphis suburbs. Voting became even more polarized: nine in ten Whites voted Republican, and nearly all African-Americans voted Democratic in Mississippi, according to exit polls. As expected, McCain carried the Magnolia State by a comfortable 13.18-point margin over Obama. McCain's margin of victory, however, was less than that of George W. Bush's 19.69-point margin of victory over John Kerry in 2004.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Analysis
Mississippi was also the only state to list the official candidates of the Reform Party on their ballot.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Analysis
At the same time, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Thad Cochran was reelected with 61.44% of the vote over Democrat Erik Fleming who received 38.56%. Appointed U.S. Senator Roger Wicker stood for election as well in 2008 against former Democratic Governor Ronnie Musgrove. The race was expected to be much closer, but the Republicans ran ads accusing Musgrove of supporting gay rights, not a popular position in this strongly socially conservative state. Wicker defeated Musgrove by almost 10 points, 54.96%-45.04%.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Results breakdown, By congressional district
John McCain carried three of the state’s four congressional districts, including two districts held by Democrats.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Electors
Technically the voters of Mississippi cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Mississippi is allocated 6 electors because it has 4 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 6 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 6 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 6 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri
The 2008 United States presidential election in Missouri was held on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election, which took place throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri
Missouri was won by Republican nominee John McCain by 3,903 votes, a 0.13% margin of victory. Prior to the election, most news organizations considered this state a toss-up, or a swing state. On election day, Missouri was the closest state in 2008, with some news organizations not calling the state until two weeks after the election. A high turnout of voters in the GOP strongholds of Greene County (Springfield) and St. Charles County, combined with Democrat Barack Obama's lackluster performance in the more rural parts of the state, gave the edge to McCain.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri
The state was so close that Obama could have legally called for a recount, but since he had already won the presidency, he saw no need to do so as the results would not have changed the election outcome. It was the first time since 1956, and only the second time since 1900, that Missouri did not vote for the winner of the presidency. Obama also became the first-ever Democrat to win the White House without winning Missouri. The same would also occur four years later, when Mitt Romney won the state over Obama, and again when Donald Trump carried the state over Joe Biden in 2020.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri
Combined with the state's swing to the right in 2000 and 2004 and the further bleeding of Democratic support in white, rural areas, this would be the last time when Missouri was seriously contested and considered to be a swing/bellwether state. This is the first time since 1980 that Missouri voted to the right of North Carolina. The state continued moving deeper and safer into the Republican side four years later and onward, and as such, this is the most recent election when the Republican candidate won less than 50% of the state's popular vote. This was also the last time that Iron County, Jefferson County, Washington County, Ste. Genevieve County, and Buchanan County voted for the Democratic candidate. Nevertheless, Obama's 1,441,911 votes is the most received by a Democratic presidential candidate in the state's history.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Campaign
With the advent of the September financial crisis, Obama began to look viable. John McCain's lead diminished and then disappeared; for several weeks Obama even led Missouri polls. Obama started visiting Republican-leaning states, including Missouri. In one of the more memorable trips of the campaign, he drew crowds of 75,000 at Kansas City and 100,000 at St. Louis. However, John McCain's campaign managed to close the gap and most polls showed a dead tie on and before Election Day.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Campaign
Although seven of Missouri's eight neighboring states offered the option of early voting, the option was not available in Missouri. Election results must go through a certification process before they are official; local election officials had until November 18 to verify their results and process the provisional ballots cast throughout Missouri.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Campaign, Predictions
There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Campaign, Polling
Throughout the general election, McCain consistently won the state's pre-election polls, even reaching above 50% in some of them. In the fall campaign, polls were back and forth with both. In the last few weeks when Obama was having the momentum, the final 5 polls taken in the state were all a tie.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $2,904,162 in the state. Barack Obama raised $4,999,812.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $11,323,706. McCain and his interest groups spent $9,428,559.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Campaign, Advertising and visits
The Democratic ticket visited the state 13 times throughout the general election. The Republican ticket visited here 14 times.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
For the better part of a century, Missouri was considered to be the nation's prime bellwether state. From 1904 to 2004, Missouri voted for the winner in every presidential election except 1956, when the state narrowly voted for Democrat Adlai Stevenson of neighboring Illinois over incumbent Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In recent years, however, it has trended Republican. Although Bill Clinton of neighboring Arkansas won the state with ease during both of his elections in 1992 and 1996, Al Gore and John Kerry considered the Show-Me State a lost cause and did not campaign much there.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
Despite being from neighboring Illinois, Obama too initially put the state as a secondary concern in relation to other swing states such as Ohio and Virginia where he thought he had a better chance. As his lead diminished in the summer months, he and McCain moved the campaign to more Democratic-friendly states, as McCain maintained a comfortable polling lead in Missouri. Similar hypothetical general match-up polls taken between McCain and Hillary Clinton, however, showed Clinton always leading in Missouri.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
A record 2.9 million Missourians, or 69% of eligible voters, cast their ballots in the general election, about 200,000 more than the previous record in the 2004 elections. On Election Day, McCain clung to a tiny lead, with absentee and provisional ballots yet to be counted. By November 19, McCain led Obama by 1,445,813–1,441,910 votes, or approximately 0.14% of the total popular vote in Missouri. CNN called the state for McCain that day. The 2008 election was only the second time in 104 years that it had not voted for the winner of the general election. Missouri was, however, the closest state of the 2008 election.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
The Democratic base of Missouri rests in its two largest cities in the west and east – Kansas City and St. Louis, respectively. Obama did extremely well here, winning 83.55% of the vote in St. Louis City and 78.4% in Kansas City. Obama was already a familiar face to St. Louis-area voters, since the St. Louis metro area spills into Illinois. McCain narrowly won the areas in Jackson County outside Kansas City with 49.9% to Obama's 48.8%, but Obama carried the county with 62.14% of the vote due to his strong performance in Kansas City.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
These two counties, combined with highly affluent and suburban St. Louis County (where he also won 59.50% of the vote), gave him a 300,000 margin over McCain. Obama was also able to carry Boone County, home to the large college town of Columbia (Missouri's fifth-largest city and home of the state's flagship University of Missouri campus), and Jefferson County, which consists of the southern St. Louis suburbs such as Arnold and Festus. George W. Bush narrowly won Jefferson County in 2004 over John Kerry.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
However, Obama was unable to substantially improve on Kerry's performance in rural Missouri, which is largely responsible for Missouri's Republican tilt. During the 2008 Missouri Democratic Primary, every rural county in Missouri (with the exception of Nodaway County, home of Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville in Northwestern Missouri), strongly backed Hillary Clinton, often by more than two-to-one margins. Many, if not all, of these counties that Clinton won in the Missouri Primary ended up voting for McCain in the general election. A number of these counties are ancestrally Democratic.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
However, these counties are very similar in character to Yellow Dog Democrat areas in neighboring Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma. The Democrats in these areas are nowhere near as liberal as their counterparts in St. Louis and Kansas City, and much like their counterparts in neighboring Tennessee and Arkansas, had become increasingly willing to support Republicans at the national level.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
Obama lost by an almost two-to-one margin in Southwest Missouri, a Republican stronghold for the better part of a century. This region is entrenched in the Bible Belt and embedded with deep pockets of social conservatives that includes Springfield and Joplin. Even Bill Clinton could not win Southwest Missouri in 1992 despite the fact that he won the state by double digits. Rural Northern Missouri voted against Obama by a three-to-two margin; this region warmly supported Bill Clinton in both of his bids. Obama also lost much of rural Southeast Missouri.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
Unlike Northern and Southwest Missouri, Southeast Missouri, which strongly backed Bill Clinton both times, is more Democratic at the local and state levels. The region takes in the Lead Belt, the Bootheel and the Ozark Plateau and includes the largest city of Cape Girardeau, a booming college town but also a conservative, upper-middle class community that votes overwhelmingly Republican. Southeast Missouri is socially conservative but economically liberal, consistently electing Democrats at the local and state levels. While Obama ran even in the area southwest of St. Louis, he did worse than John Kerry in the Bootheel.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
Obama was, however, able to pick up two counties in Southeast Missouri: Washington County (by a margin of five votes) and Iron County. Both counties are predominantly rural and White but are some of the most impoverished counties in the state that are controlled by Democrats at the local and state levels. Both counties gave Hillary Clinton over 70% of the vote in the Missouri Primary as well.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
Obama was allowed to request a recount under state law since preliminary results showed a difference of less than 1% of the votes. The request would have had to be granted by the state. However, since Obama already won the election and Missouri would not have affected the outcome, he ultimately did not request one.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
As of 2020, this is the closest a Northern Democrat has come to winning Missouri since John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts did so in 1960, as the previous three Democratic presidential candidates to win the state were all from the South (Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas, Jimmy Carter of Georgia, and Bill Clinton of Arkansas).


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
This was the first presidential election that a Democrat won without winning the state of Missouri, a feat Obama would repeat in 2012, as well as his former running mate Joe Biden in 2020.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
During the same election, Democratic Attorney General Jay Nixon defeated U.S. Representative Kenny Hulshof in a landslide for the Governor's Mansion. Incumbent Republican Governor Matt Blunt did not seek a second term. Nixon performed extremely well in rural Missouri and clinched 58.40% of the total statewide vote compared to Hulshof's 39.49% to become Governor of Missouri. Republicans were, however, able to hold on to the U.S. House seat in Missouri's 9th Congressional District that was vacated by Hulshof in his unsuccessful gubernatorial bid.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Analysis
Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer narrowly defeated Democrat Judy Baker by less than 3 percentage points, in large part due to McCain winning it by 11 points. At the state level, Democrats picked up three seats in the Missouri House of Representatives but Republicans expanded their majority in the Missouri Senate, picking up three seats here. Furthermore, upon the 2008 election, Democrats control all statewide offices but one – Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder is a Republican. Democrats held on to the office of Attorney General that was vacated by Governor Jay Nixon; Democrat Chris Koster defeated Republican Mike Gibbons 52.83% to 47.17%. Democrats also picked up the office of State Treasurer that was vacated by Republican Sarah Steelman in her unsuccessful bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. Democrat Clint Zweifel defeated Republican Brad Lager 50.47% to 47.14%.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Results breakdown, By congressional district
John McCain carried six of the state's nine congressional districts, including one district held by a Democrat.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Electors
Technically the voters of Missouri cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Missouri is allocated 11 electors because it has 9 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 11 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 11 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Missouri, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 11 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Montana
The 2008 United States presidential election in Montana took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana
Montana was won by Republican nominee John McCain by 11,273 votes, a 2.38% margin of victory. Before the election, Montana was initially viewed as safe Republican, but was viewed as lean Republican or toss-up in the final weeks. Historically the state is a Republican stronghold, but polls during the 2008 election showed Democrat Barack Obama just narrowly trailing Republican John McCain. On election day, McCain narrowly carried Montana. It was the fourth-closest state in the nation, behind Missouri, North Carolina, and Indiana, Missouri being a former bellwether state, and the other three being traditionally Republican states. As of 2020, this is the last time Montana voted to the left of Arizona.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana
Despite the fact that Bill Clinton carried the state in 1992, Barack Obama's 47.11% of the vote was (and as of 2021 remains) the highest percent of the vote received by any Democrat since 1964 due to the presence of Ross Perot's strong third party candidacy in 1992 and 1996, the only other elections since 1964 when Montana was decided by under 5%.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Campaign, Predictions
There were 15 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Campaign, Polling
Although Republican George W. Bush of Texas carried the Treasure State by double digits in both 2000 and 2004, polls taken throughout July indicated a close race between Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrat Barack Obama of Illinois. When Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska was announced as McCain's running mate in late August, however, McCain took a double-digit lead in the state that lasted until the middle of October, when polling once again showed the two candidates within striking distance of each other in the state. When the actual 2008 presidential election took place, McCain carried the state by about 2.38%. The state's results were significantly closer than they were in the 2004 election when George W. Bush carried the state by a margin of 20 points.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $386,940 in the state. Barack Obama raised $1,089,874.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $1,732,467. McCain and his interest groups spent just $134,805. The Democratic ticket visited the state three times and McCain didn't visit the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Analysis
Montana, a Republican-leaning state, has voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election since 1968 except in 1992 when the state narrowly supported Democrat Bill Clinton to Republican George H. W. Bush.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Analysis
Obama did very well among the Democratic base of Montana, which consists of three sections. Students in Missoula County, which is home to the University of Montana, helped him win a three-to-two margin there. In the southwest, Obama won more than 65% of the vote in Deer Lodge County and Silver Bow County—Democratic strongholds which have voted Republican only twice since 1912. Finally, Native Americans gave Obama strong support; in the eastern part of the state, Obama only won counties in which Native Americans comprised at least 30% of the population.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Analysis
McCain's base was in the eastern part of the state, which is less unionized and more rural. It is home to more ranchers and less miners than elsewhere. Only five counties voted Democratic in the east. In Western Montana, McCain generally won wherever Obama's Democratic base was lacking. His biggest margins came from the region bordering the GOP bastion of Idaho.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Analysis
There was also a relatively high third-party vote, totaling around four percent. The Montana Constitution Party ran libertarian-leaning Republican U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas on their line (against his wishes), winning  2.17% of the vote in Montana, which was the highest statewide percentage total for any third-party candidate in the 2008 presidential election. A significant number of write-in candidates also ran in the state, with some beating third-party candidates.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Analysis
During the same election, incumbent Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer was reelected to a second term in a landslide over Republican Roy Brown and Libertarian Stan Jones. Winning by more than a two-to-one margin, Schweitzer received 65.21% of the vote while Brown took in 32.77% and Jones got 2.03%. Also during the same election, incumbent Democratic Senator Max Baucus was handily reelected to a sixth term over perennial candidate Bob Kelleher running as a Republican, no third-party candidate was in the race.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Analysis
Due to Kelleher's policies, such as adopting a parliamentary system in the United States, adopting a single-payer healthcare system, and nationalizing American oil and gas industries, he received no support from Montana GOP, and Baucus defeated Kelleher by nearly a 3-to-1 margin, taking in 72.92% over Kelleher's 27.08% and winning every single county in the state. At the state level, however, Republicans picked up three seats in the Montana Senate and gained control of the chamber. Democrats picked up the office of Secretary of State.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election where Montana was seriously contested, as well as the last one in which Lake County, Cascade County, Rosebud County, and Lewis and Clark County voted for the Democratic candidate. This is the last time the Big Sky Country would be decided by a single-digit margin, and the last time a candidate won the state with less than half of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Results breakdown, By congressional district
Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated, the At-Large District. This district covers the entire state, and thus is equivalent to the statewide election results.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Electors
Technically the voters of Montana cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Montana is allocated 3 electors because it has 1 congressional district and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 3 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 3 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Montana, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 3 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska
The 2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska took place on November 4, 2008, as part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 5 electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. However, Nebraska is one of the two states of the U.S. that, instead of giving all of its electors to the winner based on its statewide results, allocates just 2 electoral votes to the winner of the statewide popular vote. The other three electors vote based on their individual congressional district results.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska
Nebraska, statewide, was not a swing state in 2008. Located in the Great Plains of the United States, it is one of the most staunchly Republican states in the country. While some hypothetical general election match-up polls between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama showed the race to be seemingly close, they were largely regarded as outliers as more polls released showed McCain leading in double digits. McCain wound up carrying the popular vote in Nebraska by 14.93 points, taking in 56.53% of the total statewide vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska
However, Obama narrowly defeated McCain in Nebraska's 2nd congressional district, which contains Omaha and the surrounding areas. Due to Nebraska's system of allocating electoral votes to winners of Congressional Districts, Obama was able to win one electoral vote while John McCain received the state's other four electoral votes. On top of this, his 41.6% of the statewide popular vote is the highest a Democratic presidential candidate has won in the Cornhusker State since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Campaign statewide, Polling
McCain led in every single pre-election poll. Since May, he led in each poll by a double-digit margin of victory and each with at least 52% of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Campaign statewide, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $678,059 in the state, while Barack Obama raised $864,393.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Campaign statewide, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $55,807 while McCain and the Republican Trust PAC spent a total of just $1,225. Both Obama and McCain visited the state once. Obama held a downtown rally at Omaha and McCain traveled to both Omaha and Ashland. Palin also visited Omaha once.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Campaign in Omaha
Nebraska has two electoral votes that go to the winner of the popular vote in the state, while the other three are split based on whichever candidate wins the popular vote in each of Nebraska's three congressional districts, all of which have trended Republican in the past elections. However Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, based in the city of Omaha, is significantly less conservative.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Campaign in Omaha
The second CD of Nebraska was actually considered as a battleground area by some, leading the Obama campaign to open a single campaign office in Omaha with 15 staff members to cover the congressional district in September 2008. More than 900 people attended the opening of those offices. Democratic Mayor Mike Fahey of Omaha said that he would do whatever it takes to deliver the electoral vote tied to the 2nd Congressional District to Obama, and the Obama Campaign considered Nebraska's 2nd congressional district "in play". Former Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey and then senior U.S. Senator Ben Nelson campaigned in the city for Obama.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Analysis
Nebraska, part of the conservative Great Plains region, is one of the most Republican states in the nation. It has only gone Democratic in a presidential election seven times since statehood. Continuing on that trend, McCain won the Cornhusker State by nearly 15 points. Obama was only able to win four counties: Douglas County, which contains Omaha; Lancaster County, which contains the state capital of Lincoln and the University of Nebraska; Saline County; and Thurston County, which contains a Native American reservation and was the only county to be won by John Kerry in 2004.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Analysis
No Democratic presidential nominee since Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide 1964 victory has ever won more than four counties in Nebraska. In 2008, McCain won Nebraska's 1st Congressional District and Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District by fairly safe margins, along with the state as a whole, but Obama managed to carry Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District, based in Omaha, by a slim margin of 1,260 votes, resulting in one of Nebraska's five electoral votes being awarded to Obama. This was a particularly notable win, because with Nebraska's split electoral vote system Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win an electoral vote from Nebraska since 1964.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Analysis
Obama did particularly well in the state's two most populated counties, Douglas and Lancaster. While John Kerry had lost these counties by double digits, Obama was able to carve out small victories in a state he lost by a landslide.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Analysis
During the same election, Republicans held the open U.S. Senate seat vacated by Republican Chuck Hagel who retired. Former Republican Governor Mike Johanns easily defeated Democrat Scott Kleeb, a rancher, by 17.46 points. Johanns received 57.52% of the total vote while Kleeb took in 40.06%. At the state level, a candidate known to be a Republican picked up a seat in the nonpartisan and unicameral Nebraska Legislature in 2008.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Saline County voted Democratic.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Results, Congressional district
John McCain carried two of the state's three congressional districts, while Barack Obama carried one congressional district held by a Republican.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Electors
Technically the voters of Nebraska cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Nebraska is allocated 5 electors because it has 3 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 5 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded 2 electoral votes, and the other 3 are allocated via the individual results of the congressional districts. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Nebraska, Electors
The following were the 5 members of the Electoral College from the state. 4 of the electors were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin; 2 at large, 1 for each of the 1st and 3rd Congressional districts. 1 was pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada
The 2008 United States presidential election in Nevada was part of the 2008 United States presidential election, which took place on November 4, 2008, throughout all 50 states and D.C.. Voters chose five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada
Democrat Barack Obama defeated Republican John McCain by 12.5 percentage points. Both candidates heavily campaigned in the state. Obama almost always led in polls, however some argued that McCain, a nationally prominent Senator from neighboring Arizona, had a legitimate chance of pulling off an upset in Nevada. In that vein, most news organizations considered Obama to be the favorite in the state, while many still viewed it as a relative swing state. In the previous four presidential elections, the margin of victory in Nevada had always been below 5 percentage points.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada
George W. Bush carried the state twice in 2000 and 2004 while Bill Clinton won it in 1992 and in 1996. The 2008 election was the first since 1988 where the margin of victory was in the double digits, and the only time since 1964 that a margin of that scale was in favor of the Democrat.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Campaign, Predictions
There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Campaign, Polling
In the beginning of the general election, it was a dead heat. McCain did win several polls. However, since September 30, Obama swept every other poll taken in the state and tied one poll. The final 3 polls averaged 50% to 44% in favor of Obama. On election day, Obama won the state with 55% and by a double-digit margin of victory, a much better performance than polls showed.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $1,980,771 in the state. Barack Obama raised $2,328,659.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $9,622,022. McCain and his interest groups spent $6,184,427. Each campaign visited the state 7 times.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Analysis
Nevada is historically somewhat of a bellwether state, having voted for the winner of every presidential election since 1912 except in 1976 and 2016. In 2008, McCain of neighboring Arizona was leading most polls taken March until the end of September (around the time of the 2008 financial crisis), when Obama of Illinois started taking the lead in almost every poll conducted from the beginning of October on, some in double digits. The subprime mortgage crisis hit Nevada hard, and McCain's statement that "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" apparently hurt him in a state devastated by the economic meltdown.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Analysis
Obama ultimately carried the Silver State by a 12.5-point margin, larger than most polls anticipated. This was due almost entirely to Obama winning the state's three largest jurisdictions: Clark County, home to Las Vegas; Washoe County, which contains Reno; and the independent city of Carson City, which combine for 88% of Nevada's total population. Hispanics also played a large role in Obama's landslide victory. According to exit polling, they composed 15% of voters in Nevada and broke for Obama by a three-to-one margin.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Analysis
With their support, Obama carried Washoe County by a comfortable 12-point margin and a somewhat narrower one-point margin in Carson City. These two areas hadn't gone Democratic since Lyndon B. Johnson won them in 1964. Obama also won Clark County by double digits, the first time a Democrat did so since 1964. McCain ran up huge margins in most of the more rural counties, which have been solidly Republican ever since Richard Nixon's 1968 win. However, it was not nearly enough to overcome his deficit in Clark, Washoe and Carson City. Indeed, Obama's 122,000-vote margin in Clark County would have been enough by itself to carry the state, and Nevada voted more Democratic than the nation as a whole for the first time since 1960 and second since 1944.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Analysis
At the same time, Democrats picked up a U.S. House seat in Nevada's 3rd Congressional District, which is based in Clark County and consists of most of the Las Vegas suburbs. Democratic State Senator Dina Titus defeated incumbent Republican Jon Porter by 5.14 points with several third parties receiving a small but significant proportion of the total statewide vote. At the state level, Democrats picked up one seat in the Nevada Assembly and picked up two seats in the Nevada Senate, giving the Democrats control of both chambers of the Nevada Legislature for the first time in decades.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that Carson City voted for the Democratic candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Results breakdown, By congressional district
Barack Obama carried two of the state's three congressional districts both held by Democrats while John McCain carried the one and only congressional district held by a Republican.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Electors
Technically the voters of Nevada cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Nevada is allocated 5 electors because it has 3 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 5 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 5 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Although electors are pledged to their candidate and running mate, they are not obligated to vote for them. An elector who votes for someone other than his or her candidate is known as a faithless elector.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitols.


2008 United States presidential election in Nevada, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 5 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
The 2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire took place on November 4, 2008, as part of the 2008 United States presidential election throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
Democratic nominee Barack Obama won New Hampshire with a margin of 9.61%. Obama took 54.13% to Republican John McCain's 44.52%. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. The state was originally thought to be a swing state in 2008 for a number of reasons. New Hampshire is considerably more fiscally conservative than its neighbors in New England and has a strong disdain for taxes, giving the Republicans an edge in the state.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
However, like the rest of New England, it is considerably more liberal on social issues like abortion and gay rights, which helps the Democrats. Also, McCain was very popular among Republicans based on the fact that he won both the 2000 and 2008 primaries here. In 2008, Obama lost the primary to Hillary Clinton. However, after the financial crisis, Obama pulled away in the pre-election polls.