2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire
The 2008 result made Barack Obama the first Democratic presidential nominee to sweep all ten of New Hampshire's counties since native son Franklin Pierce in 1852. Obama is currently the last presidential candidate of either party to win all ten counties in New Hampshire. Obama even won a majority of the vote in traditionally staunchly Republican Carroll County, the only county in all of New England to have voted for Republican Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election. Carroll County had not given a majority to a Democratic presidential nominee since 1884.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries
New Hampshire hosts the first primary in the nation. A state law that was passed in 1975 required that the date be set at least one week before any other similar contest. The Iowa caucuses are the only delegate-choosing event before the New Hampshire primary, but since Iowa hosts caucuses, not primaries, that is not seen as violating the law.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic
The purpose of the New Hampshire Democratic primary on January 8, 2008, was to determine the number of delegates from New Hampshire that would represent a certain candidate at the National Convention. In a primary, members of a political party—in this case, the Democratic Party—will select the candidates to a subsequent election. Since 1920, New Hampshire has always hosted the first primaries in the entire nation. The Democratic Party's primary occurred on the same day as the Republican primary.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic
Hillary Clinton was the winner of the popular vote in the primary, with Barack Obama trailing in second. Clinton's win was the first time a woman had ever won a major American party's presidential primary for the purposes of delegate selection. (Shirley Chisholm's prior win in New Jersey in 1972 was in a no-delegate-awarding, presidential preference ballot that the major candidates were not listed in and that the only other candidate who was listed had already withdrawn from; the actual delegate selection vote went to George McGovern.) However, Clinton and Obama received an equal number of delegates to the National Convention since the percentages of their votes were close.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic
After Obama became the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee on June 3, the New Hampshire Delegation to the 2008 Democratic National Convention unanimously cast its 30 formal votes for him, one of only three states to do so.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Voter eligibility
Any registered voter may participate in New Hampshire's primary. Voters must declare a party affiliation so that they could participate in only one primary every year, not both the Democratic and Republican primaries.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Delegate allocation
The voters will elect delegates to the district-level events; a candidate will only receive delegates to the national convention if he or she receives at least 15% of the district voters' votes. 30 delegates will be proportionally sent to the national convention.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Delegate allocation
Any votes cast for a candidate that did not meet the 15% threshold for votes will be discarded. 14 district delegates will be proportionally allocated to each viable presidential candidate based on the primary's results in each Congressional District. All of the district delegates are considered pledged delegates, which means that they must openly commit to a candidate before the vote and are subject to review by the candidate they represent. Both the First Congressional District and Second Congressional District are allocated 7 district delegates each. These delegates independently represent each Congressional District; they are not affected by the results of the entire state.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Delegate allocation
In addition, there are 8 more pledged delegates that are allocated based on the results of the statewide primary. 5 of them would be at-large delegates to the national convention. These at-large delegates are usually selected by district-level delegates. The other 3 pledged delegates will be Party Leaders and Elected Official (PLEO) delegates. PLEO delegates usually consist of members of the Democratic National Committee, Democratic members of Congress, Democratic Governors, and former Democratic Party leaders.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Delegate allocation
While the 14 district delegates and 8 statewide delegates are pledged to represent a candidate, 8 more National Convention delegates will be considered unpledged. 7 of them are additional PLEO delegates, which consist of 4 Democratic National Committee members, 2 members of Congress, and 1 Governor. An additional unpledged delegate will be considered the add-on delegate. The add-on delegate is selected by a committee of district-level delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Polling and predictions
5 days before the New Hampshire primary, candidates competed at caucuses in Iowa. Barack Obama hoped that he would win these primaries the same way he defeated Hillary Clinton at the Iowa caucuses. Since his victory, he had attracted several supporters, which increased his chances at winning this primary. Likewise, Clinton was struggling to overcome setbacks after she came in third place at the caucuses in Iowa. A series of pre-primary polls showed that Obama enjoyed a significant lead. Clinton was coming second, and John Edwards third. Average polling during the period of January 5 to January 7, 2008, by Real Clear Politics indicated Obama's support at 38.3%, Clinton at 30.0%, Edwards at 18.3%, and Richardson at 5.7%. These results indicated an 8.3% lead for Obama.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Polling and predictions
A USA Today/Gallup poll indicated that Barack Obama enjoyed a 13-point lead over Hillary Clinton three weeks after they were tied in the pre-primary polls at New Hampshire. The USA Today/Gallup poll was held on January 4, 2008. The conductors of this poll surveyed 778 New Hampshire residents who most-likely were going to attend the Democratic primaries. The survey was conducted after news from the Iowa caucuses had been reported. In the following table, the candidates' support on January 4 is compared with the results of the USA Today/Gallup poll from mid-December 2007 in New Hampshire.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Polling and predictions
No other candidate had higher than 3% support in New Hampshire. Each figure has a margin of error of ±4%. Obama's 13-point lead was outside that margin.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Polling and predictions
A US Census in 2006 reported that the population of New Hampshire was 1,314,895. 356,897 did not declare a party affiliation. These independent voters make up 44% of the New Hampshire electorate and could have voted in either the Democratic primary or the Republican Party's primary, but couldn't have voted in both. Democratic voters made up a smaller proportion. 216,005 people have registered as a Democrat. These statistics are important because in 2004, the New Hampshire independents leaned towards the Democratic side in favor of then-candidate John Kerry.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Polling and predictions
Since then, New Hampshire has become more Democratic, replacing their Republican governor and state legislature with a government led by Democratic politicians. However, the people of New Hampshire are divided into several smaller regions, so the entire state as a whole wouldn't have been expected to act in a uniform manner.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, New Hampshire campaign office hostage-taking
On November 30, 2007, a man identified as 47-year-old Leeland Eisenberg, armed with road flares strapped to his chest which he claimed were a bomb, entered a Clinton presidential campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire. He took hostage the 5 people in it, and asked for Clinton, believing she could assist him in gaining psychiatric help. 2 hostages were released early on, a woman and her infant. Other hostages were released sporadically. The standoff ended with Eisenberg's surrender about 5 hours after the incident began.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, New Hampshire campaign office hostage-taking
At the time of the event, Clinton was in the Washington D.C. area, scheduled to speak at a Democratic National Committee meeting in Vienna, Virginia; she canceled her appearances at public events for the remainder of the day. That evening she flew to Rochester in order to meet with and comfort the hostages, praise the law enforcement officials who handled the situation, and vow not to change her campaign style due to the incident.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Results
Hillary Clinton led Barack Obama by 20 points in pre-primary polls in New Hampshire prior to the Iowa caucuses, but had fallen behind Obama by 13 points in the week prior to the New Hampshire primary. However, she rebounded to get more votes than Obama in the New Hampshire primary, winning by 3%. According to exit polls, female voters and elderly voters helped her win this particular race. In the Iowa caucuses, Obama received 35% of the female vote, while Clinton only received 30%. In New Hampshire, however, 45% supported Clinton, compared to 36% for Obama. Also during the primary, older voters outnumbered younger voters; 67% of Democratic voters were over the age of 40, and most of them supported Clinton.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Results
A turnout of nearly 288,000 people was even higher than expected, and was greater than the number of New Hampshire residents who voted for Al Gore in 2000.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Democratic, Results
Bill Richardson withdrew from the race after placing 4th in both the New Hampshire primary with less than 5% of the vote and the Iowa caucuses with less than 2% of the vote. He made this decision as he returned to his home state, New Mexico, on January 9, 2008, to meet with his top advisors.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Republican
The New Hampshire Republican primary also took place on January 8, 2008, with 12 national delegates being allocated proportionally to the popular vote. Arizona Senator John McCain won 7 of the delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Republican
Independent voters made up 44% of the New Hampshire electorate and could choose to vote in either this primary or the Democratic Party's contest held on the same day, but voters could not vote in both.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Republican, Polling
In the days leading up to the primary, John McCain appeared to gain a slight lead over Mitt Romney. Average support from polls were McCain, 31.8%; Romney, 28.2%; Huckabee, 12.2%; Giuliani, 9.3%; Paul, 8.2%; Thompson, 2.2%.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Republican, Results
The official return was certified by the New Hampshire Secretary of State on 9 January. According to New Hampshire law, delegates are allocated proportionally with a minimum 10% threshold required to receive delegates. The balance of delegates that are not assigned are then allocated to the winner.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Primaries, Republican, Results
* Candidate had already dropped out of the race prior to primary.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Recount
Most New Hampshire voters cast their votes on Diebold optical-scan systems, which read paper ballots. Some activists claimed to find evidence suggesting fraud, largely because results did not match pre-election polling for Obama and Clinton, and because of different levels of support between precincts where ballots were counted by hand and those where they were counted by machine. Most observers have concluded that discrepancies were the result of the fact that ballots are more likely to be hand-counted in small towns and machine-counted in cities and larger towns, explaining differences in candidate support.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Recount
On January 10, 2008, presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich paid for a recount in the Democratic primary. Republican candidate Albert Howard also requested a recount in the Republican primary. Kucinich noted the difference between pre-primary polls which showed that Obama would win, and Clinton's win in the actual election. New Hampshire had not conducted a statewide recount in a presidential primary since the 1980 primary.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Recount
The recount began on January 16, 2008, after New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner received $27,000 from Kucinich. The results in both parties changed little: Republican results changed only by 1 vote for Romney, while Democrats changed less than 1%, much of which was due to vote miscounting was Ward 5 in Manchester, where votes for the top candidates dropped after the recount. Clinton's total went from 683 to 619, Obama's went from 404 to 365, and other candidates saw similar drops. Excluding the results of Ward 5 the error rate was less than 1%. The official explanation for the discrepancies in Ward 5 was that a poll worker added the vice presidential and presidential totals before reporting.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Recount
The recount was halted on January 23, 2008. The Deputy Secretary of State, David Scanlan, estimated that the Republican recount cost $57,600 and the Democratic recount, with more votes cast, cost $67,600.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, General election campaign
Throughout the second half of the 20th century, New Hampshire was one of the most reliably Republican states in the Northeast. From 1948 to 1988, it only supported a Democrat once, in Lyndon Johnson's 44-state landslide of 1964. However, since 1992 it has become a swing state that leans slightly Democratic in presidential elections. The last Republican to carry the state was George W. Bush, who won by a narrow margin in 2000. New Hampshire was the only switchover state that Kerry won in 2004 and Bush lost. Moreover, the New Hampshire Republican Party is considerably more moderate and libertarian-leaning especially on social issues, making the behavior of the state difficult to predict.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, General election campaign
Republicans had remained fairly competitive at the state level until November 2006 when Democratic Governor John Lynch was reelected to a second term with 74% of the vote. At the same time, two unknown Democrats knocked off the state's two incumbent Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and Democrats swept to control of both chambers of the state legislature for the first time since 1874. This led pundits to joke that the national Democratic wave of 2006 came ashore in Nashua. Continuing on that trend, New Hampshire looked very favorable to the Democrats heading into 2008.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, General election campaign
Republican presidential nominee John McCain had early hopes for winning the state. New Hampshire strongly supported McCain in the 2000 and 2008 Republican primaries, attracted by his status as an independent maverick; New Hampshire voters have historically been friendly to independent-minded Republicans. After he clinched the GOP nomination in March 2008, McCain began to move more to the right to appease the base of his party, and his selection of the socially conservative Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin to be the vice presidential nominee alienated several independents and libertarian-leaning Republicans in New Hampshire.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, General election campaign
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama campaigned extensively throughout the state in 2008 to try and unite the party in the general election after the historic and divisive 2008 Democratic primary. Despite the polls that had Obama leading by double digits, New Hampshire voters gave a surprise comeback win to Hillary Rodham Clinton in the January 2008 New Hampshire Democratic Primary thanks in large part to an enormous number of women who turned out to support Clinton after her emotional moment at a campaign stop in Portsmouth a few days earlier. Obama acknowledged this phenomenon throughout the campaign when he advised his supporters not to get so cocky and arrogant when they saw the polls that had him leading.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, General election campaign
Early polling during the general campaign showed Obama with a very narrow lead. By early October, Obama had gained a double-digit lead in the state and never looked back. Obama successfully carried New Hampshire with 54.13% of the total statewide vote while McCain received 44.52%.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, General election campaign
At the same time, popular incumbent Democratic Governor Lynch was reelected to a third term in a landslide over Republican Joe Keeney and Libertarian Susan Newell. Lynch received 70.12% while Keeney took in 27.70% and Newell with 2.18%. Former Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen ousted incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Sununu by a 6.34% margin of victory, giving the Democrats an additional seat in the U.S. Senate. However, Republicans also picked up 14 seats in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, General election 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 New Hampshire, General election campaign, Polling
Pre -election polling showed a tight race early on. But since September 22, Obama swept the rest of the polls taken in the state. Since October 1, Obama never polled below 50%.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, General election campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $867,279 in the state. Barack Obama raised $2,470,579.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, General election campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $10,931,32. McCain and his interest groups spent $6,478,902. Each campaign visited the state 6 times.


2008 United States presidential election in New Hampshire, Electors
Technically the voters of New Hampshire cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. New Hampshire 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 all 4 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 New Hampshire, 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 New Hampshire, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 4 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey
The 2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 15 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey
New Jersey was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 15.53% 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. No fundraising money was spent by either campaign, as the state has trended towards the Democratic Party in recent years. A highly affluent and predominantly urban state with an ethnically diverse population, New Jersey has become a reliably blue state, and this was evident again when Democrat Barack Obama comfortably won the state's 15 electoral votes with 57.14% of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey
New Jersey weighed in for this election as 8.3% more Democratic than the national average.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey, Democratic primary
The Democratic primary took place February 5, 2008, also known as Super Tuesday. Hillary Clinton won this primary.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey, Republican primary
The Republican primary took place on February 5, 2008, with 52 national delegates who were allocated on a winner takes all basis.


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


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey, Republican primary, 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 New Jersey, Polling
Pre -election polling was tight early on. However, since October 12, Obama won each poll with a double-digit margin of victory and with at least 52%. McCain didn't reach over 42% in that stretch. The final 3 polls found Obama leading with 55% to 39%.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $4,761,251 in the state. Barack Obama raised $13,624,081.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey, Advertising and visits
Neither candidate spent anything here. The Republican ticket visited the state twice. Obama visited the state once.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey, Analysis
New Jersey was once one of the most reliably Republican states in the Northeast. From 1948 to 1988, it voted Republican in all but two elections: John F. Kennedy in his narrow victory over Richard Nixon in 1960, and Lyndon Johnson's 44-state landslide of 1964. However, the brand of Republicanism practiced in New Jersey has historically been a moderate one. As the national party tilted more to the right, the state's voters became more friendly to Democrats. The state narrowly went for Bill Clinton in 1992 and has voted Democratic in every election since then. In all but one election since 1996, the Democrats have carried it by double digits. While Republicans remain competitive at the state and local level, at the presidential level New Jersey is now reckoned as part of the solid bloc of blue states in the Northeast.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey, Analysis
Democrats have several structural advantages in New Jersey during presidential elections. The northeastern portion, including Newark, Jersey City, Elizabeth and Paterson, contains more than half the state's population and is heavily Democratic. The southwestern portion, including Camden, Cherry Hill, and Atlantic City is also heavily Democratic. These regions have a total of over 2,000,000 voters between them, making it extremely difficult for a Republican to carry the state. For instance, in 2004 George W. Bush held John Kerry to only a 7-point margin of victory, but was completely shut out in the northeast and southwest. Additionally, the state is split almost down the middle between the largest and fourth-largest markets in the country, New York City and Philadelphia. As a result, statewide races often feature some of the most expensive advertising budgets in the country.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey, Analysis
Unlike in 2004, New Jersey was called for Obama almost as soon as the polls closed. Obama dominated the urban areas of the state, winning Essex County by over 50%, Hudson County by 47%, Camden and Mercer counties by 35%. Obama also won Somerset County, which had voted Republican in every election from 1968 to 2004. Most of the southern portion of the state voted Democratic.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey, Analysis
McCain won most of Northwestern New Jersey, winning in Republican strongholds like Morris County and Sussex County (which McCain won by 21%). McCain also won most of the Jersey Shore counties.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey, Analysis
At the same time, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg was reelected over Republican Dick Zimmer by a 14.08% margin of victory. Lautenberg received 56.03% of the total vote while Zimmer took in 41.95%. Democrats also picked up a vacant U.S. House seat in New Jersey's 3rd congressional district that was previously held by a Republican; Democrat John Adler defeated Republican Chris Myers by a 3.30% margin of victory. Adler received 51.65% of the vote while Myers took in 48.35%.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey, Results, By congressional district
Barack Obama carried 10 of New Jersey's 13 congressional districts, including two that were simultaneously won by Republicans.


2008 United States presidential election in New Jersey, Electors
Technically the voters of NJ cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. NJ is allocated 15 electors because it has 13 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 15 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 15 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 New Jersey, 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 New Jersey, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 15 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico
The 2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico took place on November 4, 2008. Voters chose five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico
New Mexico was won by the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, by a 15.13% margin of victory; Obama took 56.91% of the vote while his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain of Arizona, took 41.78%. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered it as a safe blue state.


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico
Due to the extremely narrow margins of victory in the previous two presidential elections (less than 1% in 2004 and less than 0.1% in 2000), it started out as a swing state, but hypothetical general election match-up polls taken in the state continued to show a big lead for Obama. Obama's leads in the polls in New Mexico increased so much that McCain did not campaign nearly as much there as he did elsewhere, despite it neighboring his home state of Arizona. A large Hispanic and Native American as well as a trending Democratic population put Obama over the top.


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


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico, Campaign, Polling
Obama won a majority of the pre-election polls taken in the state, including sweeping all of them taken after September 14. The final three polls averaged the Democrat leading 55% to 43%.


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $1,016,376 in the state. Barack Obama raised $3,987,438.


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $4,535,378. McCain and his interest groups spent $3,606,796. The Democrat ticket visited the state five times to the Republicans' eight times.


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico, Analysis
The key voting bloc in this state is Hispanics, which make up a plurality of the state's total population with 45%. George W. Bush received over 40% of the Hispanic vote nationally in 2004. This support was enough for Bush to nip John Kerry by approximately 6,000 votes in New Mexico in 2004. In the previous two elections, New Mexico had been a very close swing state. Al Gore won the state by 300 votes in 2000, which was even narrower than the controversial results in Florida.


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico, Analysis
However, after the 2004 presidential election, support for Republicans in the Hispanic community collapsed. During the 2008 election, New Mexico was regarded as an Obama-leaning state although John McCain was from neighboring Arizona and held similar views on illegal immigration to those of Bush. Ultimately, McCain obtained 30% of the Hispanic vote.


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico, Analysis
Native Americans also represent a key voting demographic in New Mexico. Obama won the Native American vote, 78–21%, and carried most of the counties within the confines of the Navajo Nation.


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico, Analysis
The Republican base in New Mexico consists of the more rural southeastern part of the state which, while thinly populated, votes heavily Republican. Democrats are strongest in the state capital, Santa Fe, and its close-in suburbs. The city of Albuquerque and the southwestern part of the state both lean Democratic, but not as overwhelmingly as does Santa Fe. On a larger context, Southern New Mexico is typically more Republican while Northern New Mexico is traditionally more Democratic, while Albuquerque and other areas in the center tend to swing both ways.


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico, Analysis
In 2008, Obama carried the state by a 15-point margin, largely by dominating the Albuquerque area. He won Bernalillo County, home to Albuquerque itself, by 21 points; Kerry had won it by four points in 2004. While McCain dominated the southeastern part of the state, it was not nearly enough to overcome Obama's edge in the Albuquerque area.


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico, Analysis
During the same election, former Democratic U.S. Representative Tom Udall, who had represented New Mexico's 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, defeated former Republican U.S. Representative Steve Pearce, who had represented New Mexico's 2nd congressional district, for an open U.S. Senate seat that was vacated by Republican Pete Domenici once it was discovered that he had brain cancer. Former Republican U.S. Representative Heather Wilson, who represented New Mexico's 1st Congressional District, vacated her seat to challenge Pearce in the GOP senatorial primary only to lose the nomination to him.


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico, Analysis
As a result, all three of New Mexico's U.S. House seats were up for grabs, and Democrats captured all three of them. At the state level, Democrats increased their majorities in both houses of the New Mexico Legislature, picking up three seats in both the New Mexico House of Representatives and New Mexico Senate.


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


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico, Results breakdown, By congressional district
Barack Obama carried two of the state's three congressional districts, while John McCain just narrowly carried the other congressional district that simultaneously elected a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives.


2008 United States presidential election in New Mexico, Electors
Officially the voters of New Mexico cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. New Mexico is allocated five electors because it has three congressional districts and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of five 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 five 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 New Mexico, Electors
The electors of each state and of 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 meet in their respective capitols.


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


2008 United States presidential election in New York
The 2008 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 31 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in New York
New York was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 26.9% margin of victory. Obama took 62.88% of the vote to McCain's 36.03%. At the time this was the highest Democratic vote share in New York State since 1964, although Obama would outperform his 2008 showing in New York just four years later in 2012. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. Located in the Northeast, a region of the country that is trending heavily towards the Democrats, elections in the Empire State are dominated by the presence of the heavily populated, heavily diverse, liberal bastion of New York City where Democrats are always favored to win.


2008 United States presidential election in New York
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Chautauqua County voted for the Democratic candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in New York, 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 New York, Campaign, Polling
Obama won all but one pre-election poll. Since September 15, Obama won each poll with a double-digit margin of victory and each with at least 55% of the vote. He won the final Marist poll with a 36-point spread. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 63% to 31%.


2008 United States presidential election in New York, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $12,582,856 in the state. Barack Obama raised $58,161,743.


2008 United States presidential election in New York, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $1,148,016. McCain and his interest groups spent just $7,310. The Republican visited the state 11 times and the Democratic ticket visited the state 4 times.


2008 United States presidential election in New York, Analysis
New York was once reckoned as a powerful swing state with a slight Democratic lean. However, the last time the state went Republican was for Ronald Reagan in 1984. Michael Dukakis narrowly won it against George H. W. Bush in 1988, but the state has not been seriously contested since then. It is now considered an uncontested blue state, and was heavily favored to vote for Obama by a significant margin.


2008 United States presidential election in New York, Analysis
Elections in the Empire State are dominated by the presence of New York City, a Democratic stronghold for more than a century and a half. It is made up mostly of white liberals as well as ethnic and religious minorities—all voting blocs that strongly vote Democratic. Obama won Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx by margins of 5-to-1 or more and carried Queens by a 3-to-1 margin. The only borough McCain carried was Staten Island, traditionally the most conservative area of the city. Obama's combined million-vote margin in the Five Boroughs would have been enough by itself to carry the state.


2008 United States presidential election in New York, Analysis
However, Obama also dominated heavily Democratic Western New York, including Buffalo and Rochester, and the Capital District (Albany, Schenectady and Troy), as well as the increasingly Democratic Long Island and Syracuse areas. Even when New York was considered a swing state, a Republican had to carry Long Island and do reasonably well in either Western New York, the Capital District or Syracuse to make up for the massive Democratic margins in New York City. Obama also won a number of traditionally Republican-leaning counties in Upstate New York and became the first Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson to win an outright majority of votes in the Upstate (although Democratic candidates had been consistently winning pluralities of the vote since 1992).


2008 United States presidential election in New York, Analysis
At the same time, Democrats in New York picked up three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008. In the 13th district, which consists of Staten Island and part of Brooklyn, Democrats picked up an open seat that was vacated by former Republican Vito Fossella who resigned after he was arrested for getting a DUI. Democrat Michael McMahon solidly defeated Republican Robert Staniere by a two-to-one margin, 60.79-33.26%. His victory made the city's delegation entirely Democratic for the first time in over 70 years.


2008 United States presidential election in New York, Analysis
In the 25th district, centered around Syracuse, Democrat Dan Maffei handily defeated Republican Dale Sweetland 55% to 42% for the open seat vacated by Republican Jim Walsh. In New York's 29th congressional district, which includes Canandaigua, Democrat Eric Massa narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Randy Kuhl by 1.7 points. This reduced the Republicans to only three of the state's 29 seats in the House—the fewest the GOP has ever won in an election.


2008 United States presidential election in New York, Analysis
At the state level, Democrats picked up a seat in the New York State Assembly and two seats in the New York State Senate which gave Democrats control of the Senate and ultimately both chambers of the New York Legislature for the first time since 1965. This gave the Democrats complete control of New York's state government for the first time since 1936.


2008 United States presidential election in New York, Results breakdown, Geographic Breakdown
Barack Obama dominated in fiercely Democratic New York City, taking 2,074,159 votes to John McCain's 524,787, giving Obama a 79.29% - 20.06% landslide victory citywide.


2008 United States presidential election in New York, Results breakdown, Geographic Breakdown
Excluding the votes of New York City, Obama still would have carried New York State, but by a smaller margin. Obama would have received 2,730,786 votes to McCain's 2,227,984, giving Obama a 55.06% - 44.93% victory.


2008 United States presidential election in New York, Results breakdown, By congressional district
Barack Obama swept 25 of the state's 29 congressional districts in New York, including two districts held by Republicans. John McCain carried four districts, including one district that simultaneously elected a Democrat to the U.S. House.


2008 United States presidential election in New York, Electors
Technically the voters of New York cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. New York is allocated 31 electors because it had 29 congressional districts under the 2000 Census and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 31 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 31 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 New York, 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 New York, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 31 electors were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina
The 2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina was part of the national event on November 4, 2008, throughout all 50 states and D.C.. In North Carolina, voters chose 15 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina
North Carolina was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 0.32% margin of victory. Prior to the election, most news organizations considered the state as a toss-up or a swing state. Throughout the general election, the state was heavily targeted by both campaigns. A high turnout by African American voters, bolstered by overwhelming support from younger voters were the major factors that helped deliver North Carolina's 15 electoral votes to Obama, making him the first Democratic presidential nominee to carry the state since 1976, when Jimmy Carter prevailed.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina
Bill Clinton came within 20,000 votes of winning the state in 1992. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time the Democratic nominee carried North Carolina, which would vote Republican by narrow margins in the next three elections while still being considered a swing state. This is also the last time Jackson County, Hyde County, and Caswell County would vote Democratic; and the last time Nash County voted for the losing candidate nationwide.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Campaign, Predictions
A total of 16 news organizations made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Campaign, Polling
Early on, McCain won almost every single pre-election poll. However, on September 23, Rasmussen Reports showed Obama leading in a poll for the first time. He won the poll 49% to 47%. After that, polls showed the state being a complete toss-up, as both McCain and Obama were winning many polls and no candidate was taking a consistent lead in the state.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Campaign, Polling
Commentators attributed the drastic turnaround in the state to the influence of voter unhappiness about the financial crisis and the effectiveness of heavy advertising and organizing to get out the vote by the Obama campaign in the fall election. The final 3 polls found a tie with both candidate at 49%, which was accurate compared to the results.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $2,888,922 in the state. Barack Obama raised $8,569,866.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $15,178,674. McCain and his interest groups spent $7,137,289. The Democratic ticket visited the state 12 times. The Republican ticket visited the state 8 times.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Analysis
The winner was not certain even several days after the election, as thousands of provisional and absentee ballots were still being counted. However, when it became evident that McCain would need to win an improbable majority of these votes to overcome Obama's election night lead, the major news networks finally called the state's 15 electoral votes for Obama. North Carolina was the second-closest state in 2008; only in Missouri was the race closer.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Analysis
Situated in the South, which has become a Republican stronghold in recent elections, North Carolina was an anomaly by 2008. While very Democratic at the local and state level, the last Democratic presidential nominee to win the Tar Heel State up to that point was Jimmy Carter in 1976; not even the Southern moderate populist Bill Clinton of Arkansas carried it in either of his elections (though he came very close in 1992), and in 2004, Democratic nominee John Kerry lost North Carolina by a 12-point margin despite his running mate John Edwards being a sitting Senator from the state.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Analysis
Obama decided early on to campaign aggressively in the state. It paid off quickly; most polls from spring onward showed the race within single digits of difference between the candidates. He also dramatically outspent McCain in the state and had an extensive grassroots campaign of organizing to get out the vote. This was also one of the closest statewide contests of 2008, as Obama captured North Carolina just by 0.32% of the vote - a margin of only 14,177 votes out of 4.2 million statewide. Only in Missouri was the race closer, where McCain nipped Obama by less than 4,000 votes, a margin of 0.14%.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Analysis
Republicans have traditionally done well in the western part of North Carolina that is a part of Appalachia, while Democrats are stronger in the urbanized east. When a Democrat wins in North Carolina, almost everything from Charlotte eastward is usually coated blue. Even when Democrats lose, they often still retain a number of counties in the industrial southeast (alongside Fayetteville), the African-American northeast, the fast-growing I-85 Corridor in the Piedmont, and sometimes the western Appalachian region next to Tennessee. For example, a map of Bill Clinton's narrow 1992 loss in North Carolina shows him narrowly winning all these regions.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Analysis
Obama did not take the traditional Democratic path to victory. Instead, his main margins came from the cities, where he did particularly well throughout the country. While Obama won only 33 of North Carolina's 100 counties, these counties contained more than half of the state's population.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Analysis
Obama's victory margin came largely by running up huge majorities in the I-85 Corridor, a developing megalopolis which is home to more than two-thirds of the state's population and casts almost 70% of the state's vote. The state's five largest counties--Mecklenburg (home to Charlotte) Wake (home to Raleigh), Guilford (home to Greensboro), Forsyth (home to Winston-Salem) and Durham (home to Durham)--are all located in this area, and Obama swept them all by 11 percentage points or more. In 1992, Bill Clinton had been able to win only Durham County by this margin; he narrowly lost Forsyth and Mecklenburg (the latter was where Obama had his biggest margin in the state). Ultimately, Obama's combined margin of 350,000 votes in these counties was too much for McCain to overcome.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Analysis
McCain did well in the Charlotte suburbs, Appalachian foothills and mountain country; he carried all but four counties west of Winston-Salem. Aside from the I-85 Corridor, Obama's results were mediocre in the traditional Democratic base. He lost badly in Appalachia, mirroring the difficulties he had throughout this region. Obama won only three counties in this region, one of which was Buncombe County, home to Asheville, the largest city in the region and a destination for retirees from the North. In the Fayetteville area, he did as well as Al Gore (who had lost North Carolina by double digits).


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Analysis
Obama did not rely on the traditional Democratic base but rather a new coalition of city voters to win North Carolina. If he had not taken the five largest counties, Obama would have lost the state by a considerable margin; instead, he pulled off the narrowest victory by creating a unique coalition of voters. He particularly attracted highly affluent and educated migrants from the Northeast, who traditionally tend to vote Democratic; as well as African Americans, Hispanics (an increasing population in the state), and college students, voting blocs who had overwhelmingly supported him during the course of the 2008 Democratic presidential primary.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Analysis
During the same election, Democrats picked up a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in North Carolina's 8th congressional district, where incumbent Republican Robin Hayes was ousted by Democrat Larry Kissell, a high school social studies teacher who almost toppled Hayes in 2006. Kissell received 55.38% of the vote while Hayes took in 44.62%, a 10.76-percent difference. Democrats held onto the Governor's Mansion; term-limited incumbent Democratic Governor Mike Easley was ineligible to seek a third term but Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue defeated Republican Pat McCrory, the incumbent mayor of Charlotte. Perdue received 50.23% of the vote while McCrory took 46.90%, with the remaining 2.86% going to Libertarian Michael Munger.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Analysis
In a highly targeted U.S. Senate race, Democratic State Senator Kay Hagan defeated incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole by a wider-than-anticipated margin - by 8.47 points. Hagan received 52.65% while Dole took 44.18%. The race received widespread attention after the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) ran its notorious "Godless" ad that accused Hagan, a Sunday school teacher, of accepting money from atheists and accused her of being an atheist. The adverse reaction resulting from the ad was considered a major factor contributing to Dole's defeat. At the state level, Democrats increased their gains in the North Carolina General Assembly, picking up five seats in the North Carolina House of Representatives and one seat in the North Carolina Senate.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Analysis
According to exit polls, more than 95% of African American voters cast ballots for Obama. This played a critical role in North Carolina, as 95% of the state's registered African-American voters turned out, with Obama carrying an unprecedented 100% of African-American women, as well as younger African Americans aged 18 to 29, according to exit polling. Comparatively, the overall turnout of voters statewide was 69%.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Results breakdown, By congressional district
Despite Barack Obama winning North Carolina, John McCain carried seven of the state's 13 congressional districts, including two districts represented by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives.


2008 United States presidential election in North Carolina, Electors
Technically the voters of North Carolina cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. North Carolina is allocated 15 electors because it has 13 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 15 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 15 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 North Carolina, 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 North Carolina, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 15 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota
The 2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota 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 North Dakota
North Dakota was won by Republican nominee John McCain by an 8.7% margin of victory. Prior to the election, most news organizations considered this a state McCain would narrowly win, or otherwise considered to be a red state. In the final weeks of the race, some news organizations considered the race a toss-up. The state has not been won by a Democratic presidential nominee since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Polls showed McCain and Democrat Barack Obama running unusually close in a state that gave George W. Bush a 27.4% margin of victory over John Kerry in 2004. In the end, McCain kept North Dakota in the GOP column but by a much smaller margin than Bush's landslide in 2004.


2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota
This is the last time a Democratic presidential candidate won at least 40% of the vote in North Dakota, and the last time North Dakota voted to the left of Alaska, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.


2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota, 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 North Dakota, Campaign, Polling
Pre -election polls showed a complete toss up. The final 3 polls averaged gave Obama leading 45% to 44%, leaving a lot of undecided voters.


2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $184,405 in the state. Barack Obama raised $191,551.


2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $448,361. McCain and his interest groups spent $71,972. Obama visited the state once, in Fargo, North Dakota, while the Republican ticket didn't visit the state once.


2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota, Analysis
North Dakota has been considered a reliably red state for the past 40 years, having voted for the Republican presidential nominee of every election since 1968. In 2008, however, polls taken before September surprisingly showed the two candidates running neck-to-neck. While the polls varied throughout the campaign, McCain's selection of the socially conservative Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska as his vice presidential running mate played well in North Dakota, a state that has the lowest percentage of nonreligious citizens in the country. After Palin joined the ticket in late August, McCain then took a double digit lead in the state until October, when polling once again showed a close race between the two candidates in the Peace Garden State.


2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota, Analysis
On Election Day 2008, however, McCain captured North Dakota by a fairly safe margin of approximately 8.65 points, despite the latest polling showing him just one point ahead of Obama. Still, the statewide result was significantly closer than in 2004 when Bush carried the state by a much larger margin of more than 27%. McCain did well throughout the western and central parts of the state, while Obama won the two majority Native American counties of Rolette (which has not voted Republican since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952) in the north and Sioux in the south by more than three-to-one.


2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota, Analysis
More significantly, Obama carried several normally Republican counties in the east including the most populous counties of Cass County (which contains the state's largest city of Fargo) and Grand Forks County (which includes the college town of Grand Forks). In these two largest counties in the state, Obama was the first Democratic victor since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, while in rock-ribbed Republican McIntosh County, Obama’s 37.79 percent constitutes the best performance by a Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936.


2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota, Analysis
At the same time, popular incumbent Republican Governor John Hoeven was reelected to a second term in a landslide three-to-one victory over Democrat Tim Mathern and Independent DuWayne Hendrickson. Hoeven received 74.44% of the vote while Mathern took in 23.53% and Hendrickson with the remaining 2.03%. Democrats, however, made gains at the state level, picking up three seats in the North Dakota House of Representatives and six seats in the North Dakota Senate.


2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Cass County, Grand Forks County, Mountrail County, Towner County, Traill County, Nelson County, and Eddy County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate. This is also the last time in which Cass County gave a majority to a candidate of any party.


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


2008 United States presidential election in North Dakota, Electors
Technically the voters of North Dakota cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. North Dakota is allocated 3 electors because it has 1 congressional districts 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 North Dakota, 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 North Dakota, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 3 pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio
The 2008 United States presidential election in Ohio took place on November 4, 2008, which was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 20 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio
Ohio was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 4.6% margin of victory. Prior to the election, most news organizations considered this state as a major swing state and bellwether. Both major party candidates visited the Buckeye State numerous times and campaigned throughout the state extensively trying to sway moderates and independent voters to their side. The polls in Ohio were fairly even throughout the campaign but Obama had a slight lead as Election Day drew closer. In the end, Obama flipped Ohio into the Democratic column. Obama's 2,940,044 votes is the most received by a Democratic presidential candidate in the state's history. Despite this fact, Obama became the first Democrat ever to win the White House without carrying Pike County.


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio, 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 Ohio, Campaign, Polling
During most of the summer and September, McCain led many state polls and many by 50% of over. Rasmussen had McCain leading with as high as 51% in September. But many voters in the state changed their minds as Obama later gained a steady lead in most polls taken starting in the beginning of October (around the time of the 2008 financial crisis).


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio, Campaign, Advertising and visits
A major swing state, Obama spent over $28 million to McCain's $24 million. The Republican ticket visited the state 28 times to the Obama ticket's 22 times.


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio, Analysis
Going into Election 2008, both McCain and Obama knew that Ohio was a crucial state. Earlier in the primary season, Ohio had given a major comeback victory to Hillary Clinton. Both candidates campaigned heavily throughout the state in hopes for winning its 20 electoral votes. As no Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio, it was seen in particular as a "must-win" state for McCain. George W. Bush's narrow wins in 2000 (by 3.50% against Al Gore) and 2004 (2.11% against John Kerry) proved critical in Bush's narrow wins nationally.


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio, Analysis
On Election Day 2008, Obama won the Buckeye State's 20 electoral votes by a margin of 4.59%. Obama's win in heavily populated areas such as Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), Franklin County (Columbus), Lucas County (Toledo), Montgomery County (Dayton), Summit County (Akron), Stark County (Canton), Mahoning County (Youngstown) and the traditionally Republican Hamilton County (Cincinnati) greatly contributed to his victory in the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio, Analysis
McCain did best in the Republican base in the center and western regions, composed of relatively rural areas combined with Cincinnati and Columbus' heavily Republican suburbs. In addition, McCain won all but four counties in the Appalachian southeast, mirroring the troubles Obama had throughout this region. On the other hand, Obama did best in the Democratic base—Cleveland (where he won almost 70% of the vote), Youngstown and the heavily unionized counties next to Pennsylvania. However, he was unable to significantly improve upon John Kerry's performance in these areas. More surprisingly, the cities of Cincinnati and Columbus gave him strong support.


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio, Analysis
Cincinnati, the only major city that didn't vote for Franklin D. Roosevelt, voted Democratic for the first time since 1964. Columbus, a city shifting to the Democrats, also voted for Obama by a three-to-two margin. In addition, Obama won several northern counties along the shore of Lake Erie that John Kerry had lost in 2004.


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio, Analysis
As polls closed and results were coming in on Election Night, Republican strategist and adviser Karl Rove joined Brit Hume on Fox News offering analysis. Rove was discussing the impact an Ohio loss would have on McCain's chances of winning the election. "If he loses Ohio," Rove stated of McCain, "he goes from 286, which the Republicans carried in 2004, down to 266, and that puts him below the 270 threshold needed to win the White House.


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio, Analysis
So he'd not only need to sweep the rest of these states which were won by the Republicans in 2004, he'd also need to pick up something as well." In an untimely moment, Hume broke in. "Guess what Karl," Hume interrupted, "I've just received word that the state of Ohio has gone for Barack Obama."


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Lake County, Monroe County, Belmont County, Tuscarawas County, and Jefferson County voted for a Democratic Presidential candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio, Results, Results by county
Projections based on published official or unofficial county election board results, where available; otherwise, on the unofficial state board of elections results.


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio, Results, By congressional district
Although Barack Obama won the state of Ohio, John McCain carried ten of the state’s eighteen congressional districts, including two districts held by Democratic incumbents and one district that simultaneously elected a Democrat. Obama carried 8 districts, including one district held by a Republican incumbent.


2008 United States presidential election in Ohio, Electors
Technically the voters of Ohio cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Ohio is allocated 20 electors because it has 18 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 20 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 20 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 Ohio, 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 Ohio, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 20 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


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


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma
Oklahoma was won by Republican nominee John McCain with a 31.3% 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. A strongly conservative state located in the Bible Belt where evangelical Christianity plays a large role, Oklahoma has swung and trended more to the Republicans in recent years than any other state.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma
Having voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election since 1968, Oklahoma once again showcased its status as a Republican stronghold in 2008 with Republican John McCain capturing 65.65% of the vote. It was also the only state where McCain won every county and was even one of the 5 states along with Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, and West Virginia in which McCain outperformed Bush's margin of victory from 4 years earlier, albeit slightly.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, 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 Oklahoma, Campaign, Polling
McCain won every single pre-election poll, and each with a double-digit margin of victory. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading 62% to 34%.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $2,050,335 in the state. Barack Obama raised $1,711,069.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $613,515. McCain and his interest groups spent just $6,565. Neither campaign visited the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, Analysis
Oklahoma gave John McCain his strongest showing in Election 2008 with a rounded percentage of 66% (65.65%) going to him. The Sooner State was also the only state in the country where every single county voted for McCain. Although the results were similar to 2004 in which George W. Bush swept every county in the state with 65.57% of the vote, McCain's margin of victory was slightly better - 0.08% more - in 2008. Oklahoma was one of five states where McCain outperformed George W. Bush, the other four being Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and West Virginia.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, Analysis
Oklahoma, despite the large concentration of Native Americans in the state, remains one of the most reliably Republican states in the country. Although Democrats still had a majority of registered voters at the time, the state's Democrats are very conservative by national standards. Oklahoma is part of the Bible Belt, and voters in the state have a strong penchant for being values voters; that is, they are strongly and deeply conservative on social issues such as abortion and gay rights.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, Analysis
McCain's selection of the socially conservative Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska proved to be an excellent fit for the Sooner State. Obama was at a disadvantage beforehand in Oklahoma during the primary season when voters in the Sooner State backed Hillary Rodham Clinton with 54.76% of the vote compared to Obama's 31.19% and a significant amount (10.24%) going to John Edwards. Clinton won every county in the Oklahoma Democratic Primary except for Oklahoma County, home of Oklahoma City which Obama just narrowly carried. Most of Oklahoma's Democratic establishment were early endorsers of Hillary Clinton as well. Another setback for Obama was that U.S. Representative Dan Boren, the only Democrat from Oklahoma's five-member delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives, refused to endorse Obama.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, Analysis
Another key to McCain's victory was the highly populated counties of Tulsa County, which he won with over 62%, and Oklahoma County, which he won with over 58%. He also dominated the heavily Republican Oklahoma Panhandle by an almost four-to-one margin. Despite the Republican landslide, Obama did improve upon John Kerry's performance in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. However, this was more than canceled out by his extremely weak showing in Southeast Oklahoma, historically the most Democratic region in the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, Analysis
This socially conservative but fiscally liberal area, known as "Little Dixie," still votes Democratic at the local level and state levels. It also warmly supported Bill Clinton of neighboring Arkansas in 1992 and 1996; Clinton's populism struck a chord among the region's voters. Democratic nominees from John Kerry on, on the other hand, have proven spectacularly bad fits for the region and the state as a whole. Obama lost many counties in Southeast Oklahoma by more than two-to-one margins.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, Analysis
Also, Oklahoma was the only state in the country that didn't have a third-party candidate on the ballot, mostly because the state has the toughest ballot access laws in the country.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, Analysis
During the same election, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator James Inhofe was solidly reelected over Democratic State Senator Andrew Rice. Inhofe received 56.68% while Rice took in 39.18% and Independent Stephen P. Wallace received the remaining 4.14%. At the state level, Republicans made gains in the Oklahoma Legislature, picking up four seats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and two seats in the Oklahoma Senate which gave the GOP control of the state legislature for the first time since statehood.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, Results breakdown, By congressional district
John McCain carried every congressional district in Oklahoma, including the one district held by a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives rather strongly.


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, Electors
Technically the voters of Oklahoma cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Oklahoma is allocated 7 electors because it has 5 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 7 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 7 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 Oklahoma, 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 Oklahoma, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 7 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma, Electors
The slate for the Democrats, which was not elected, consisted of Sally Freeman Frasier, Gene A. Wallace, Anita R. Norman, Tim Mauldin, Robert Lemon, David Walters, Walter W. Jenny Jr.


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


2008 United States presidential election in Oregon
Oregon was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 16.4% 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. Situated on the West Coast, which has become a reliably Democratic stronghold, Oregon is a relatively blue state. The last Republican presidential nominee to carry Oregon was Ronald Reagan in his 1984 landslide reelection.


2008 United States presidential election in Oregon
Although George W. Bush came close in both 2000 and 2004 (with Al Gore winning by 0.54 percentage points in 2000 and John Kerry by 4.16 percentage points in 2004), Republicans have not seriously contested the state since. This is also the first time that a presidential candidate won more than a million votes in Oregon.


2008 United States presidential election in Oregon, 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 Oregon, Campaign, Polling
Obama won every single pre-election poll. Since September 22, Obama won each by a double-digit margin of victory and at least 52% of the vote. The final 3 polls showed Obama leading 55% to 41%.


2008 United States presidential election in Oregon, Campaign, Fundraising
McCain raised a total of $1,258,426 in the state. Obama raised $6,660,622.


2008 United States presidential election in Oregon, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $1,194,908. McCain and his interest groups spent just $159,222. Neither campaign visited the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Oregon, Analysis
Voters in Oregon have a strong penchant for advancing the protection of civil liberties and individual freedoms, liberal values that have given Democrats a big edge in the state in recent years. The state once leaned Republican, like most of the Pacific Northwest. It only went Democratic once from 1948 to 1984—during Lyndon Johnson's 44-state landslide of 1964. However, the state has gone Democratic in every election since 1988, and along with California and Washington it is reckoned as forming a solid bloc of blue states along the Pacific Coast.


2008 United States presidential election in Oregon, Analysis
On Election Day, Obama carried the state by 16.35 points. Most rural counties favored McCain, though Obama performed much better in this region than John Kerry had in 2004. However, Obama's strong support in the more urban Willamette Valley, home to two-thirds of the state's population, would have allowed him to win the state decisively in any event. The state remains geographically and politically divided by the Cascade Mountains, with eastern Oregon and the southwest being more rural, less populated and therefore strongly Republican, while the Willamette Valley is more urbanized and therefore strongly Democratic.


2008 United States presidential election in Oregon, Analysis
These two areas compose the core of each party's votes: rural Oregon is strongly Republican and very similar culturally to Idaho, while the Willamette Valley—especially the cities of Portland and Eugene—heavily favors the Democrats. While Republicans typically win more counties due to running up large margins in the east and southwest, Democrats typically win the state because the Willamette Valley has more people. In 2008, Obama's overwhelming margins in Portland and Eugene, combined with strong support from Portland's suburbs (which function as swing counties), enabled him to win a landslide in a structurally liberal state. Although Obama broke no long Republican county streaks, he came within 0.49 percent of winning Polk County and 1.36 percent of winning Yamhill County, neither of which have voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1968.


2008 United States presidential election in Oregon, Analysis
During the same election, Democratic Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives Jeff Merkley defeated incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Gordon Smith by a narrow 3.35% margin. Merkley received 48.90 percent of the vote while Smith took in 45.55 percent, with the remaining 5.24 percent going to Dave Brownlow of the Constitution Party. At the state level, Democrats picked up five seats in the Oregon House of Representatives while Republicans picked up one seat in the Oregon Senate.


2008 United States presidential election in Oregon, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Jackson County and Wasco County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate and the last election that Oregon voted to the right of Michigan.


2008 United States presidential election in Oregon, Results, Results by congressional district
Barack Obama carried four of the state’s five congressional districts in Oregon, all held by Democrats.


2008 United States presidential election in Oregon, Electors
Technically the voters of Oregon cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Oregon is allocated 7 electors because it has 5 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 7 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 7 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 Oregon, 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 Oregon, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 7 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania
The 2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania was part of the 2008 United States presidential election, which took place on November 4, 2008, throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose 21 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama by a 10.32% 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. Although the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania had voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election since 1992, the margins of victory had become smaller over the past elections, as was highlighted in 2004 when John Kerry won the Keystone State by a slim margin of 2.50%.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania
Since George W. Bush came relatively close to winning the state in 2004 and because Barack Obama lost the Democratic primary to Hillary Rodham Clinton by nearly 10% in April 2008, many analysts believed that Republican John McCain had a decent shot at winning Pennsylvania in the general election. Nevertheless, Pennsylvania remained blue and gave Obama 54.47% of the vote to McCain's 44.15%, a margin of 10.32%. Normally a close state, 2008 marked the first time since 1972 that Pennsylvania was decided by a double-digit margin and was the strongest Democratic showing in the state since 1964.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania
However, Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Westmoreland County since Woodrow Wilson in 1916. As of 2021, this is the last presidential election where Pennsylvania was not the most conservative state in the Northeastern United States, since it is the last presidential election to date Pennsylvania voted to the left of New Hampshire.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary
The Democratic primary was held on April 22. Voters also chose the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's candidates for various state and local offices.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary
The Democratic primary was open to registered Democrats only. Polls opened at 7am and closed at 8pm. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were the only candidates on the ballot for President of the United States. The primary was considered to be a "must win" for Clinton, who defeated Obama, but by a smaller margin than hoped for.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary
Hillary Clinton won the primary by 9.28%, a wider margin than expected than recent polls suggested, but smaller than most January and February polls. Despite her victory, she gained only nine delegates on Obama. In particular superdelegates were not swinging in her direction after her win; the Clintons had been trying to secure the support of Congressman Jason Altmire but he remained uncommitted after she won his district by 31% during the primary.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Delegates
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party sent 187 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Of those delegates, 158 were pledged, and 29 were unpledged. All of the 158 pledged delegates were allocated (pledged) to vote for a particular candidate at the National Convention according to the results of the Pennsylvania Presidential Primary. The 29 unpledged delegates were popularly called "superdelegates" because their vote represented their personal decisions, whereas the regular delegates' votes represented the collective decision of many voters. The superdelegates were free to vote for any candidate at the National Convention and were selected by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's officials.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Delegates
The 158 pledged delegates were further divided into 103 district delegates and 55 statewide delegates. The 103 district delegates were divided among Pennsylvania's 19 Congressional Districts and were allocated to the presidential candidates based on the primary results in each district. The 55 statewide delegates were divided into 35 at-large delegates and 20 party leaders and elected officials (abbreviated PLEOs). They were allocated to the presidential candidates based on the preference of the delegates at the State Committee meeting on June 7.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Delegates
Of the 29 unpledged delegates, 26 were selected in advance and 3 were selected at the State Committee meeting. The delegates selected in advance were 13 Democratic National Committee members, the 11 Democratic U.S. Representatives from Pennsylvania, Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Jr., and Democratic Governor Ed Rendell.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Importance of Pennsylvania
The primary was the first time since 1976 that Pennsylvania played a major role in a presidential nomination.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Importance of Pennsylvania, Importance of Pennsylvania for Clinton
As the race continued to Pennsylvania, Indiana, and North Carolina, many observers had concluded that Clinton had little chance to overcome Obama's lead in pledged delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Importance of Pennsylvania, Importance of Pennsylvania for Clinton
Former President Bill Clinton highlighted the importance of the state for the Clinton campaign saying on March 11 at an event in Western Pennsylvania that "If she wins a big, big victory in Pennsylvania, I think it'll give her a real big boost going into the next primaries ... I think she's got to win a big victory in Pennsylvania. I think if she does, she can be nominated, but it's up to you."


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Importance of Pennsylvania, Importance of Pennsylvania for Clinton
This was a repetition of his tactic before March 4, warning supporters that his wife might not be able to continue if she did not win Ohio and Texas. Hillary Clinton emphasized that Pennsylvania was something of a home state for her, as her father came from Scranton, Pennsylvania, she and her brothers were christened there and had vacationed near there each summer, and her brothers still maintained the family cottage near there.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Importance of Pennsylvania, Importance of Pennsylvania to Obama
On March 18, 2008 Barack Obama chose Philadelphia as the site to deliver his much-anticipated "A More Perfect Union" speech dealing with the race and the controversy surrounding his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Campaign, Obama's "Road to Change" bus tour
Obama started a 6-day "Road to Change" bus tour across Pennsylvania, with stops in Pittsburgh, Johnstown, Altoona, State College, Harrisburg


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Campaign, Obama's "Road to Change" bus tour
On March 28, Obama started the bus tour with a rally in Pittsburgh's Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall. Obama was introduced and endorsed by Senator Bob Casey, Jr., who had indicated earlier that he would remain neutral in the democratic primary.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Campaign, Obama's "Road to Change" bus tour
Casey traveled to Florida over the Easter holiday, where he said rain forced him to stay inside and think about the election. Obama's ability to "transcend" the racial divide and his ability to engage younger voters proved decisive to his decision. According to sources, Casey's four daughters lobbied their dad to endorse Obama.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Campaign, Obama's "Road to Change" bus tour
On March 29, the Obama bus tour stopped at the Pleasant Valley Recreation Center in Altoona, where he famously bowled a 37. Both Obama and Senator Casey (who rolled a score of 71) lost to local homemaker Roxanne Hart, who rolled a score of 82. On April Fool's Day, Senator Clinton jokingly challenged Obama to a "bowl-off," with the winner taking all the delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Controversy
On April 11, 2008, Huffington Post blogger Mayhill Fowler, a self-admitted Barack Obama supporter, reported that during an April 6 "closed press" fundraising event in San Francisco, California, Obama recounted the obstacles facing his campaign in the Pennsylvania primary as it pertained to rural, white voters. Fowler wrote that during the speech, Obama said the following:


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Controversy
You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them ... And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Controversy
Fowler later posted a three-minute 30 second audio snippet confirming the accuracy of the remark. Senators Clinton and John McCain both issued statements condemning the remarks. Obama later defended his comments, but conceded: "I didn't say it as well as I should have." However, he also added: "I said something that everybody knows is true." Obama had addressed similar themes of guns, religion, and economics in 2004 during an interview with Charlie Rose.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Final week
On the last Friday before the primary, Senator Obama spoke on Independence Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to a crowd of more than 35,000, the largest audience yet drawn by either candidate during the campaign. The crowd was nearly twice what had been projected and spilled over into nearby streets. The next day, Obama conducted a whistle stop train tour from Philadelphia to Harrisburg, drawing a crowd of 6,000 at a stop in Wynnewood and 3,000 at a stop in Paoli. On Monday, Sen. Obama held the final events of his Pennsylvania campaign in Scranton, McKeesport and at the University of Pittsburgh's Petersen Events Center.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Final week
The Saturday before the primary, Senator Clinton spoke in 5 Pennsylvania cities, including West Chester and York, Pennsylvania. More than 300 people showed up at the West Chester firehouse to hear the New York Senator speak. At the Wilson high gymnasium in West Lawn, Pennsylvania, Clinton told several hundred more supporters: "The job of a leader is to bring people together to solve problems . . . to understand that sometimes we have to fight to get the political will and the votes to make that happen". On Monday, April 21, Senator Clinton along with husband Bill Clinton spoke to a crowd of 6,000 in Downtown Pittsburgh. Other events were held Monday in Scranton, Harrisburg, and Philadelphia. Both candidates refused to participate in the political custom of street money.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Polls
Public opinion polling from early January 2007 through mid-February 2008 consistently gave Hillary Clinton a double digit lead over Barack Obama. By the beginning of April, polls of Pennsylvanians showed Obama trailing Clinton by an average of 5 points. According to 2 polls taken one day before the primary, Hillary Clinton was leading Barack Obama by 49%–42% and 51%–41%. Other polls showed Clinton leading by an average of about 6%.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Democratic primary, Polls
Some superdelegates also announced their preferred candidates before the primary. As of April 30, 16 superdelegates had announced support for Senator Clinton and 5 had announced support for Senator Obama.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Republican primary
The Republican primary was also held on April 22 and voters also chose the Pennsylvania Republican Party's candidates for various state and local offices.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Republican primary
Polls opened at 7:00 am and closed at 8:00 pm. John McCain was the winner. He had already been declared the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee, having secured enough delegate votes in earlier primary contests to win the nomination at the 2008 Republican National Convention.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Republican primary
Unlike on the Democratic side, little campaigning took place as John McCain had already clinched the nomination. Outsider candidate Ron Paul made several stops in the state, including his birthplace of Pittsburgh.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Republican primary
Some media sources noted that Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee combined took in around 220,000 votes (about 27% of the vote), despite McCain's status as presumptive nominee and the statistical irrelevance of Pennsylvania, as a possible sign of continuing social conservative or libertarian unease with McCain's nomination and have speculated about whether these results could potentially affect McCain in the November general election. Although some strategists disputed this theory, pointing to low turnout among McCain supporters and arguing that primary results would not necessarily influence the November election.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, 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 Pennsylvania, Campaign, Polling
Both McCain and Obama led in various state polls taken from February until the end of April, when Obama took a steady, moderate lead in the state polling. Obama's lead was temporarily reduced to within margins of error and ties when Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska was announced as McCain's running mate in late August, but when the financial crisis of 2008 became a more potent election issue near the end of September, Obama then took a double-digit lead in the state polls, causing many analysts to no longer consider Pennsylvania a swing state in 2008.