2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, Analysis
Like most of the Mountain West, Colorado had been traditionally Republican beginning with the Eisenhower landslide of 1952, in which Eisenhower overperformed throughout the region. Between 1952 and 2004, inclusive, Democrats prevailed in Colorado only in 1964 and 1992--the former, a national Democratic landslide; the latter, a three-way contest in which independent candidate Ross Perot had disproportionate strength in the West. In addition, Republicans had mostly held control of the state legislature and most statewide offices since the 1960s.


2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, Analysis
Although Democrats had bases of support in Adams and Pueblo Counties and in the south of the state, and generally carried Denver (albeit often by narrow margins), this was generally no match for Republican dominance of the Denver suburbs, El Paso County (Colorado Springs), Larimer County (Fort Collins), and, until Dukakis flipped it in 1988, Boulder County, as well as of most of the rural areas of the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, Analysis
Recently, however, there had been a growing population of Hispanic Americans, young professionals, and an influx of people from other states - all of whom tend to vote Democratic. These demographic changes caused the state's political ideology to shift. While Republicans still enjoyed an advantage in voter registration statewide, Democrats had been closing the gap. There had also been an increasing number of unaffiliated, independent-minded voters. Since 2004, Democrats had won the governorship, both Senate seats, three House seats, and control of both chambers in the state legislature.


2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, Analysis
At the presidential level, Colorado voted for Bush by 8.36% in 2000, making it the second-closest of the states carried by Dole in 1996 (behind only Virginia). Moreover, his 50.75% vote share was his lowest in any of the states carried by Dole in 1996, with Ralph Nader posting a relatively strong showing in the state in 2000.


2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, Analysis
Colorado was not seriously contested in 2004, but Kerry cut Bush's margin down to 4.67% in the state, as Kerry flipped a number of ski-resort counties, scored the best showings in Denver and Boulder County of any presidential nominee in decades, and narrowed Bush's margins in the Denver-area suburban counties of Jefferson and Arapahoe, as well as in Larimer.


2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, Analysis
Bush's relatively narrow margin in the state in 2004, along with the demographic changes of the prior four years, led Colorado to become a crucial swing state in 2008. Both Barack Obama and John McCain campaigned extensively in the state. Several factors in the campaign favored the Democrat. Barack Obama did very well in the caucus, defeating opponent Hillary Clinton with almost 67% of the vote. On the other hand, John McCain badly lost the state to opponent Mitt Romney, who gained 60% of the vote. Moreover, the 2008 Democratic National Convention was held in Denver. The publicity generated from the event provided a strong boost to Obama. According to Real Clear Politics polling averages, Obama and McCain were neck-to-neck through the summer and early September. However, as the 2008 financial crisis hit, Obama's numbers in Colorado jumped to over 50%.


2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, Analysis
During the campaign, several media organizations reported on voting machine problems. There was also reporting on the controversial practice of "purging" voter registration lists.


2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, Analysis
On election day, Obama won by a comfortable margin, greater than his national average. Obama improved on John Kerry's performance throughout the state. He won landslides in the Democratic strongholds of Denver and Boulder; in both areas, Obama took more than 70% of the vote. He also further built upon Kerry's strength in a number of rich counties dominated by ski resorts along the Front Range; and continued to dominate the traditionally Democratic areas of Pueblo County, Adams County, and the thinly populated, Latino counties of southern Colorado.


2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, Analysis
McCain did best in the rural, conservative areas next to Kansas and Utah, where he won landslide margins. In Rio Blanco County, Mesa County, Yuma County, Washington County, Lincoln County, Bent County, Crowley County, and tiny Dolores County, Phillips County, Cheyenne County, and Kiowa County, he managed a slightly greater vote share than Bush in 2000. Voters in more populated El Paso County, home to conservative Colorado Springs, gave McCain a 19% margin, which, while a comfortable win, was far less than Bush's 35% margin in 2004.


2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, Analysis
McCain also won two other relatively populated counties, Douglas County and Weld County, both outer suburbs of the Denver area--although, again, by substantially reduced margins compared to Bush in 2004. However, the largest suburban counties of the area, traditionally Republican Jefferson and Arapahoe Counties, flipped from Bush to Obama in 2008, as did Broomfield County, which cast its first presidential vote for Bush in 2004. Obama also flipped Larimer County. All together, this was more than enough to overcome Republican advantages elsewhere in the state, as Obama won it by a nearly nine-point margin.


2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, Analysis
Elsewhere in the state, Democrats also did well. Democratic Mark Udall defeated Republican Bob Schaffer for an open U.S. Senate seats; his vacated House seat was also won by Democrat Jared Polis. In addition, Democrat Betsy Markey defeated incumbent Republican Marilyn Musgrave, by 12 points for Colorado's 4th Congressional District seat. At the state level, Democrats picked up one seat in the Colorado Senate, but lost two seats in the Colorado House of Representatives. Obama's 65.8% victory in Summit County was the highest percentage win by a Democratic presidential nominee in the county since Woodrow Wilson won the county with 70.3% of the vote back in 1916.


2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, Results breakdown, By congressional district
While Barack Obama won the state’s popular vote and 9 electoral votes, John McCain carried four of the state’s seven congressional districts, including both seats held by Republicans and two seats held by Democrats.


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


2008 United States presidential election in Colorado, 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 Colorado, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 9 were pledged to Obama and Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Connecticut
The 2008 United States presidential election in Connecticut 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 Connecticut
Connecticut was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 22.4% margin of victory. Connecticut was 1 of the 6 states that had every county—including traditionally Republican Litchfield County—go for Obama, the others being Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Connecticut has not voted for a Republican presidential nominee since 1988 when the state was carried by George H.W. Bush over Michael Dukakis.


2008 United States presidential election in Connecticut
As of 2020, this was the most recent presidential election in which the Democratic nominee carried the towns of Barkhamsted, Colebrook, New Hartford, Plymouth, Preston, Scotland, Thompson, Torrington, Warren, and Winchester.


2008 United States presidential election in Connecticut, 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 Connecticut, Campaign, Polling
Barack Obama won every single poll taken in the state, and every one of them by a double-digit margin of victory.


2008 United States presidential election in Connecticut, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $3,966,985. Barack Obama raised $9,727,617.


2008 United States presidential election in Connecticut, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $730,335 while McCain spent nothing on the state. Neither campaign visited the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Connecticut, Analysis
Connecticut is a part of New England, an area of the country that has in recent decades become a Democratic stronghold. The state went Republican in most of the elections from 1948 to 1988, the exceptions being the three in the 1960s. However, following Bill Clinton's narrow victory in the state in 1992, it has not been seriously contested by Republicans since. McCain ceded the state to Obama early on, despite the endorsement of the state's incumbent Senator Joe Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-Independent who still caucused with the Democrats but backed McCain for president in 2008.


2008 United States presidential election in Connecticut, Analysis
In 2006, Democrats knocked off two incumbent Republicans and picked up two U.S. House seats in CT-02 and CT-05 (Joe Courtney and Chris Murphy, respectively). Although then-Governor M. Jodi Rell and Lieutenant Governor Michael Fedele were both moderate Republicans, all other statewide offices were held by Democrats. Democrats also enjoyed a supermajority status in both chambers of the Connecticut state legislature.


2008 United States presidential election in Connecticut, Analysis
In 2008, Democrat Jim Himes defeated incumbent Republican Christopher Shays, who was at the time the only Republican member of the U.S. House from New England, for the U.S. House seat in Connecticut's 4th congressional district. This was largely because Obama carried the district with a staggering 60% of the vote--one of his best performances in a Republican-held district. Shays' defeat meant that for the first time in almost 150 years, there were no Republican Representatives from New England. In no other part of the country is a major political party completely shut out. At the state level, Democrats picked up 6 seats in the Connecticut House of Representatives and 1 seat in the Connecticut Senate.


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


2008 United States presidential election in Connecticut, Electors
Technically the voters of Connecticut cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Connecticut 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 sevenelectoral 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 Connecticut, 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 Connecticut, 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 Delaware
The 2008 United States presidential election in Delaware 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 Delaware
Delaware was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 25.0% margin of victory, the best-ever result for a Democratic presidential candidate in Delaware as of 2020. Obama's large margin of victory was aided by his running mate, Joe Biden, a longtime U.S. senator from the state and the first Delawarean to appear on a national presidential ticket. During the campaign, Delaware was considered a safe blue state, and in the end only one county of Delaware's three counties, Sussex County, went for McCain, by a margin of approximately 7,000 votes or 8.58%.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Democratic primary
The Democratic Primary was held on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, and had a total of 15 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Delaware's subdivisions was awarded those subdivisions' delegates, totaling 10. Another 5 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 15 delegates represented Delaware at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. 8 other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Democratic primary, Analysis
Barack Obama's win in the Delaware Democratic Primary can be traced to a number of factors. According to the exit polls, 64% of voters in the Delaware Democratic Primary were Caucasian and they favored Clinton by a margin of 56-40 compared to the 28% of African American voters who backed Obama by a margin of 86-9. Obama won all age groups except senior citizens ages 65 and over who strongly backed Clinton by a margin of 56-38.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Democratic primary, Analysis
Obama also won middle class and more affluent voters making over $30,000 while Clinton won lower middle class and less affluent voters making less than $30,000. Obama also won higher-educated voters (college graduates 60-35; postgraduate studies 66-32) while high school graduates backed Clinton 51-44; both candidates evenly split voters who had some college and/or an associate degree 47-47. Registered Democrats favored Obama 54-42 while Independents also backed him by a margin of 50-44; he also won all ideological groups. Regarding religion, Obama won all major denominations except Roman Catholics who backed Clinton with a 60-35 margin – Obama won Protestants 51-47, other Christians 71-24, and atheists/agnostics 60-35.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Democratic primary, Analysis
Obama performed best in New Castle County, the most populous and urban part of the state which contains Wilmington as well as several African Americans, which he won by a 56.49-39.69 margin of victory. He also narrowly won neighboring Kent County to the south, which contains the state capital of Dover, with 51.76% of the vote. Clinton won Sussex County in Southern Delaware, the more rural and conservative part of the state, with 52.73% of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Republican primary
The Republican primary was held on February 5 (Super Tuesday). A total of 18 delegates were selected. The Delaware Republican Party rallied behind John McCain, and was the declared winner of the primary election after successfully taking all 3 Delaware counties. McCain was followed by Mitt Romney in second and then by Mike Huckabee in third.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Republican primary, Candidates
Candidates Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter, Fred Thompson, and Tom Tancredo had dropped out of the presidential race before the Delaware primary.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Republican primary, Analysis
McCain was the expected favorite in the 2008 primary among the Republican candidates; his campaign was led by Delaware's only House representative, Rep. Michael N. Castle.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Republican primary, Analysis
In Delaware, 27,412 of the 102, 455 registered Republicans voted in the election, resulting in a 26.76% turn-out rate.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, 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 Delaware, Campaign, Polling
Obama won every single pre-election poll taken in the state, and each one by a double-digit margin of victory. He won the last poll by a 30-point margin.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $340,736. Barack Obama raised $1,010,740.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Campaign, Advertising and visits
No advertising was spent by either campaign. Delaware native Joe Biden campaigned here 6 times.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Analysis
Delaware was once a noted bellwether state. It supported the winner in every presidential election from 1892 to 1996 except for 1916, 1932 and 1948. However, it broke this trend in 2000, when Al Gore carried it by 13 points. It supported John Kerry by a slightly narrower margin in 2004, and is now reckoned as part of the solid bloc of blue states in the Northeast. The last Republican to win Delaware was George H. W. Bush in 1988. Obama was already favored to win Delaware going into the election. However, what little chance McCain had of winning the state ended when Biden joined the Democratic ticket.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Analysis
In recent years, any discussion of statewide elections in Delaware has begun and ended with New Castle County, home to the state's largest city, Wilmington. Part of the Northeast megalopolis and the Philadelphia metropolitan area, New Castle contains 55% of Delaware's population and elects a substantial majority of the Delaware General Assembly. New Castle has turned almost solidly Democratic in recent years, mirroring the trend in the rest of the Northeast.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Analysis
The state's other two counties, Kent (home to the state capital, Dover) and Sussex, are more rural and more Republican, but combined have less than half of New Castle's population. In 1992, 2000 and 2004, the Republican candidate carried Kent and Sussex, but lost New Castle by double digits—enough of a margin to swing the entire state to the Democrats. The 2008 election was no different. Obama carried New Castle by over 104,000 votes, which would have been more than enough to carry the state. He also carried Kent by 10%. Sussex was the only county to support McCain; it has only gone Democratic in a presidential election twice since 1948.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, Analysis
With Biden on the ticket, Democrats had a very good year down ballot as well. The Democrats continued their 15-year run in the Governor's Mansion as State Treasurer Jack Markell was elected with 67.52% of the vote over Republican Bill Lee. Incumbent Ruth Ann Minner was barred from a third term. Democrats picked up two seats in the Delaware Senate and seven seats in the Delaware House of Representatives. The latter victory gave the Democrats control of the state house for the first time since 1987, and gave the Democrats complete control of state government for the first time since the 1970s.


2008 United States presidential election in Delaware, 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 Delaware, Electors
Technically the voters of Delaware cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Delaware is allocated 3 electors because it has one congressional district and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of three 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 three 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 Delaware, 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 Delaware, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 3 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Florida
The 2008 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 27 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida
Florida was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama by a 2.8% margin of victory, making it the first time since 1996 the state was won by a Democrat. Prior to the election, most news organizations considered this state a toss-up, or swing state, as it was heavily targeted by both campaigns. Despite the fact that polls showed John McCain in the lead throughout much of 2008, Obama took the momentum in the two months before Election Day. Obama ended up winning the state with 51 percent of the vote, including wins in four counties that George W. Bush won in 2004.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Primary elections
State-run primaries were held for the Democratic and Republican parties on January 29. The Green Party held its own primary on February 1.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Primary elections, Democratic primary
*As awarded by the May 31, 2008, meeting of the Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC). * *Subsequently, some Edwards delegates switched to Obama.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Primary elections, Republican primary
* Candidate dropped out of the race prior to primary.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Primary elections, Green primary
As part of the 2008 Green Party presidential primaries, the Green Party held a mail-in primary in Florida on February 1.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Campaign
Republican George W. Bush of Texas carried Florida by a convincing margin of 5% in 2004 against Democrat John Kerry, a much greater margin than in 2000 when Bush controversially won the state's 25 electoral votes against Democrat Al Gore of Tennessee by 537 votes.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Campaign
Early polls showed Barack Obama faring poorly in Florida. During the primary season, Barack Obama did not campaign there and argued against seating its delegates for the Democratic convention, unfavorable media attention. Moreover, Florida's demographics did not favor him. A haven for retirees, Florida lacked many of the younger voters who passionately supported the Democratic nominee. Thus, in early 2008, opinion polling showed Republican John McCain leading most polls, sometimes by double digits.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Campaign
Near the end of September, however, when the financial crisis of 2007–2008 became a more potent election issue, Obama proceeded to take the lead in most of the polls. Florida was especially hard hit by the economic shock. It was a hotspot of new home building and suffered tremendously from the subprime lending collapse. In addition, the state was full of retirees depending on 401ks; these were badly hurt by the stock market's fall.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Campaign, Predictions
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 Florida, Campaign, Polling
The 3 poll averages showed McCain leading throughout most of the presidential election season, until the last month of October. The final 3 polls had Obama leading 49% to 48% with undecided voters to decide the election.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $36,990,591 in the state. McCain and his interest groups spent $17,133,501. The Democratic ticket visited the state 12 times to the Republicans' 11 times.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Analysis
Obama won the state and its 27 electoral votes on Election Day by a margin of about 2.82%. Obama held a consistent lead for most of the night as returns came in, but the networks avoided calling the state for Obama until the conservative northwestern portion, most of which is in the Central Time Zone, began reporting its returns.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Analysis
According to exit polling, Obama's win in the state can be attributed to winning 96% of the African-American vote, 57% of Latino voters, and 52% among Independents.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Analysis
Big wins in the Orlando and Tampa Bay areas, where George W. Bush won in 2004, contributed to Obama's victory. In the former, Obama carried Orange County (which includes Orlando) by 19 points - the best margin for a Democratic candidate in 64 years. Before Al Gore and John Kerry narrowly won it, Orange County hadn't supported a Democratic presidential nominee since Franklin D. Roosevelt's last run for president in 1944. Obama also carried Osceola County near Orlando by a 20-point margin (Bush won it in 2004 52%-47%). His strong performance in Central Florida more than likely helped the Democrats win two U.S. House seats in that region.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Analysis
In the Tampa Bay region, Obama carried Hillsborough County, home to Tampa, by a 7-point margin. Obama also won Pinellas County, home to St. Petersburg, by a 53%-45% margin. Bush had narrowly carried the county by about 0.1% in 2004.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Analysis
Like most Democratic candidates, Obama dominated South Florida, winning Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties by comfortable margins. The vote from Miami-Dade came in very late in the evening, stopping the major networks from calling the state for Obama earlier in the evening. However, Obama maintained a lead of at least 125,000 votes from the moment polls closed in the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Analysis
On the other hand, John McCain kept the state relatively close, losing by far less than his national average. In northern Florida, a Republican stronghold, McCain won the majority of counties by double-digit landslides. Along the panhandle, McCain routinely took over 70% of the vote. Obama won only a handful of counties - most home to major colleges. Moreover, McCain improved on George Bush's performance in large parts of northern Florida - something he achieved in very few other areas of the country. Obama's sole accomplishment involved Duval County (Jacksonville), where he narrowed George Bush's 61,580-vote victory to a far smaller 7,919 margin. In 2008, Duval County had only supported a Democrat for president once since 1952, when Jimmy Carter carried it in 1976.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Analysis
In addition, McCain was able to do well along the I-4 corridor in central Florida. This heavily populated, "swingy" region often determines which candidate wins in Florida's statewide elections. In 2008, the Republican candidate won most counties, including heavily populated areas such as Brevard County. However, McCain's poor showing in Orlando severely hurt his position in central Florida.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Analysis
Democrats also picked up two seats from Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrat Alan Grayson defeated incumbent Republican Ric Keller for Florida's 8th Congressional District seat while Democrat Suzanne Kosmas ousted incumbent Republican Tom Feeney for Florida's 24th Congressional District seat. Republicans, however, were successful at winning back Republican Mark Foley's old congressional seat in Florida's 16th Congressional District seat when Tom Rooney defeated Democratic incumbent Tim Mahoney by a comfortable margin. At the state level, Democrats picked up two seats in the Florida House of Representatives as well.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Flagler County and Volusia County voted for the Democratic candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Results breakdown, By congressional district
Despite the fact that Barack Obama won the popular vote and the state's 27 electoral votes, John McCain carried 15 congressional districts in Florida, including one district occupied by a Democrat. Obama carried 10 congressional districts, including three districts occupied by Republicans.


2008 United States presidential election in Florida, Electors
Technically the voters of Florida cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Florida is allocated 27 electors because it has 25 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 27 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 27 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 Florida, 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 Florida, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 27 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden


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


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia
Georgia was won by Republican nominee John McCain with a 5.2% margin of victory. Prior to the election, 15 of 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise a red state. It is situated in the Deep South, entrenched in the Bible Belt (the city of Atlanta being an exception), and had been a much more reliable Republican stronghold. Until 2020, the Peach State had not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Bill Clinton narrowly won it in 1992.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia
Continuing on that trend, McCain was able to keep Georgia in the GOP column in 2008 despite the large African American turnout that kept the margin of victory within single digits. With its 15 electoral votes, Georgia was the second-largest prize for McCain in 2008, behind only Texas. This was also the last time Georgia voted more strongly Republican than Missouri, Montana, or Indiana.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, Campaign
An ambitious Barack Obama targeted Georgia as potential state he could flip from red to blue, albeit as a relatively long-shot target. Democrats hoped libertarian candidate Bob Barr – whose home state was Georgia – might take away votes for John McCain and play the role of a spoiler. In the early months, Obama bought ads and even appeared in person to campaign in the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, Campaign
However, polling consistently showed McCain with a double-digit lead. Over the summer, Obama's campaign stumbled, and the Illinois senator even fell behind McCain for a short while in September. In light of these difficulties, the Democratic campaign started shifting resources to North Carolina, which they regarded as more competitive. Obama stopped advertising in the state and moved away staff, although he retained a large volunteer force. As the campaign neared the end, Obama jumped to a national lead, helped by the September financial crisis, but remained behind in Georgia polling.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, 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 Georgia, Campaign, Polling
McCain won almost every pre-election poll. The final 3 poll average gave the Republican the lead with 50% to 47%.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent over $4,105,888. McCain and his interest groups spent just $49,507. Both McCain and Obama visited Atlanta once.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, Analysis
In terms of the margin, McCain won a quite narrow victory, capturing 52.23% of the popular vote to Democrat Barack Obama's 47.02% popular vote. This margin was significantly lower than that in 2004 when George W. Bush carried this state by a 17% margin, winning 58% of the popular vote to John Kerry's 41%. Obama won huge victories in the two most populous counties, DeKalb County and Fulton County which contains the state capital and largest city of Atlanta, which contributed to his popular vote percentage. He also made significant inroads in Atlanta's normally heavily Republican suburbs.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, Analysis
For instance, Obama lost Cobb County by nine points compared to Kerry's 25-point loss. Obama lost Gwinnett County by 11 points compared to a 33-point loss for Kerry. Aside from native son Jimmy Carter sweeping every county in the state in 1976, a Democrat hadn't won either county since 1960, and would not do so until Hillary Clinton in 2016. However, McCain piled up the votes in the more rural northern and southeastern parts of the state (well over 70% in some cases) which gave him the edge and ultimate win. These two areas were among the first regions of Georgia to turn Republican; the old-line Southern Democrats in these areas began splitting their tickets as early as the 1950s, and some areas of north Georgia are among the few ancestrally Republican areas of the South.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, Analysis
The large African American turnout was widely attributed to the narrow margin by which McCain carried the state. However, Obama was unable to improve his percentage amongst white voters. According to exit polls, 77% of white voters supported the Republican candidate - the same as in 2004. This effectively eliminated Obama's chances of winning the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, Analysis
Of the several independent and third-party candidates who ran for president in 2008, two of them were from Georgia (those being former Republican Representative Bob Barr (L) (who placed third overall in the popular vote in Georgia) and former Democratic Representative Cynthia McKinney (G)).


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, Analysis
During the same election, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss was held below 50% of the popular vote in a contentious U.S. Senate race against Democrat Jim Martin and Libertarian Allen Buckley. Abiding by Georgia law, this led to a runoff election in December between Chambliss and Martin. Chambliss brought in 2008 vice presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska to campaign for him and rally the base of the GOP. Former President Bill Clinton campaigned on behalf of Martin. Turnout was lower than in the general election and African Americans didn't turn out as largely as they did in November for Obama, all factors that led up to Chambliss's victory. The incumbent was reelected with 57.44% of the vote while Martin received 42.56%.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, Analysis
During the 2008 U.S. house elections, incumbent Democratic Representatives Jim Marshall (GA-8) and John Barrow (GA-12), each of whom was narrowly re-elected by 1% or less in 2006 despite the pro-Democratic political environment that year, were both re-elected by unexpectedly wide margins despite efforts by Republicans to win both of the districts.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, Analysis
At the state level, during the same election, Republicans picked up four seats in the Georgia House of Representatives. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Chattahoochee County voted Democratic.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, Results breakdown, By congressional district
John McCain carried eight congressional districts in Georgia, including all 7 held by Republicans and 1 district held by a Democrat.


2008 United States presidential election in Georgia, Electors
Technically the voters of Georgia cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Georgia 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 Georgia, 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 Georgia, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 15 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Guam
The 2008 United States presidential election in Guam was held on November 4, 2008, as part of the 2008 General Election in which all 50 states plus The District of Columbia participated.


2008 United States presidential election in Guam
Despite the fact that Guam lacks representation in the Electoral College, the island territory has conducted a straw poll for the office of President since 1980, when it picked Ronald Reagan over then-incumbent President Jimmy Carter.


2008 United States presidential election in Guam
Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama won the vote with over 60% of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Guam, Primary elections, Republican caucuses
John McCain won the majority of the vote in the March 8th caucus with


2008 United States presidential election in Guam, Primary elections, Democratic caucuses
The Democratic Party caucus took place on May 5. Barack Obama received 100% of the caucus vote against no opponents.


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


2008 United States presidential election in Hawaii
Hawaii, the state where Barack Obama was born, gave him 71.9% of the vote with a 45.3% margin of victory in 2008. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. Hawaii has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1988. Obama's margin of victory in this state is only surpassed by that of the District of Columbia and is the only actual state that gave either candidate more than 70% of the vote. Turnout here was much higher than previous elections.


2008 United States presidential election in Hawaii, 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 Hawaii, Campaign, Polling
Just 3 pre-election polls were ever taken in the state, averaging Obama at 64% to McCain at 30%.


2008 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $113,838 while a conservative interest group spent $31. Obama visited the state once.


2008 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Analysis
One of the most reliably blue states in the nation, Hawaii has only voted for two Republican candidates since statehood, both in national Republican landslides--Richard Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in 1984. A large concentration of Asian Americans makes the state very favorable to the Democrats. Although moderate Republicans occasionally win at the state level—for instance, then-Governor Linda Lingle and Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona were both Republicans—Hawaii has long been reckoned as a Democratic stronghold.


2008 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Analysis
It came as something of a surprise in 2004 when John Kerry only carried Hawaii with 54 percent of the vote. However, the state reverted to form in dramatic fashion in 2008, with Barack Obama (who was born in Hawaii) winning the state in a landslide over Republican John McCain. Obama outperformed Kerry by 36.3%, making Hawaii Obama's largest overperformance of Kerry in the 2008 Election.


2008 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Analysis
During the same election, Democrats picked up one seat in the Hawaii House of Representatives and two seats in the Hawaii Senate, giving them a super-majority in the Hawaii state legislature with 45 out of 51 seats in the Hawaii House and 23 out of 25 seats in the Hawaii Senate.


2008 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Results breakdown, By congressional district
Barack Obama swept both of Hawaii’s two congressional districts easily.


2008 United States presidential election in Hawaii, Electors
Technically the voters of Hawaii cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Hawaii 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 Hawaii, 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 Hawaii, 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 Idaho
The 2008 United States presidential election in Idaho took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose four representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Idaho
Idaho was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 25.3% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 major news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or a red state. Polling in the state gave a sizable lead to McCain over Democrat Barack Obama, with most polling predicting a McCain win of at least 30 percentage points. Despite his landslide defeat in the state, Obama over-performed his polls and greatly improved on Kerry's performance four years earlier. Idaho has not gone Democratic since Lyndon B. Johnson narrowly won it in 1964.


2008 United States presidential election in Idaho, 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 Idaho, Campaign, Polling
McCain won every pre-election poll with a double-digit margin and with at least 52 percent of the vote. The final three poll average gave the Republican 66 percent to Obama's 29 percent.


2008 United States presidential election in Idaho, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $268. McCain spent $434. Neither campaign visited the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Idaho, Analysis
With a substantial Mormon population, Idaho is one of the most reliably GOP bastions in the country. Although Barack Obama became the first Democratic presidential candidate since Michael Dukakis in 1988 to eclipse 35 percent of the vote in solidly red state Idaho, the state was still won handily by John McCain by a margin of approximately 25.34 percent.


2008 United States presidential election in Idaho, Analysis
McCain carried 41 of the state's 44 counties, with Obama winning Blaine County, home to Sun Valley and several other prime ski resorts; Latah County, home to the college town of Moscow, and Teton County, a highly affluent suburb of Teton County, Wyoming, and the last until Joe Biden won it in 2020 United States presidential election in Idaho. Obama was the first Democrat to carry Teton County since Harry S. Truman in 1948. While Obama did not carry Ada County, he did carry the state capital and city of Boise. McCain's victory in Idaho, however, was less than that of George W. Bush who carried the state with 68.38 percent of the vote in 2004, a 12.78-point swing to the Democrats in Idaho.


2008 United States presidential election in Idaho, Analysis
With 61.21 percent of the popular vote, Idaho proved to be McCain's fourth strongest state in 2008 election after Oklahoma, Wyoming and Utah.


2008 United States presidential election in Idaho, Analysis
During the same election, Republicans held onto the open U.S. Senate seat vacated by Republican Larry Craig who reluctantly retired after it was revealed that he had solicited a man for sex in the men's restroom at an airport in Minneapolis. Former Lieutenant Governor Jim Risch, a Republican, was elected with 57.65% of the vote over Democrat Larry LaRocco who received 34.11%. A pro-life independent candidate received 5.35 point while Libertarian Kent Marmon received 1.54% and Rex Rammell, a far right-wing candidate who also ran as an Independent, received 1.34%.


2008 United States presidential election in Idaho, Analysis
At the state level, Republicans expanded their supermajority status in the Idaho state legislature as they picked up one seat in the Idaho House of Representatives.


2008 United States presidential election in Idaho, Electors
Technically the voters of Idaho cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Idaho is allocated four electors because it has two congressional districts and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of four electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins a plurality of votes in the state is awarded all four 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 Idaho, 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 Idaho, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All four were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois
The 2008 United States presidential election in Illinois took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 21 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois
Barack Obama won the race in his home state with a 25.1% margin of victory. Prior to the election, every major news organization considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. One of the most reliably blue states in the nation, Illinois has not voted for a Republican presidential nominee since 1988, when George H. W. Bush narrowly carried the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois
In 2008, continuing that trend, it appeared that a generic Democratic presidential nominee could have easily won Illinois; it was no surprise that Barack Obama, who represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate, won Illinois in 2008 over Republican John McCain in a landslide victory, clinching near 62 percent of the total vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time a Democrat won the following counties: Boone, Bureau, Cass, Calhoun, Coles, Gallatin, Grundy, Kankakee, LaSalle, Macon, Macoupin, Madison, Mason, McDonough, McHenry, Montgomery, Pulaski, Sangamon, Schuyler, Stephenson, and Vermillion.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois
Obama was the first candidate of either party to win the state with more than 60% of the vote since Warren G. Harding in 1920, and he remains the most recent to do so. Moreover, this was the worst performance for a Republican nominee in Illinois since 1992, when George H. W. Bush earned just 34.34% of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois
This was the best performance for a Democrat in over 170 years, since Andrew Jackson's 1832 re-election. Obama's performance comes in as the 3rd best Democratic performance in the state overall, behind only the aforementioned 1832 as well as 1828.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois
Illinois was one of only three states where Obama outperformed Franklin Delano Roosevelt in all four of his runs, as well as Lyndon Johnson in his 1964 landslide. The others were rapidly Democratic-trending Vermont and Delaware, the home state of Joe Biden, Obama's running mate.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Election information
The primaries and general elections coincided with those for congress and those for state offices.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Election information, Turnout
For the state-run primaries (Democratic, Republican, and Green), turnout was 40.26%, with 2,940,708 votes cast. For the general election, turnout was 70.90%, with 5,522,371 votes cast.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Primaries
State-run primaries were held for both major parties, as well as the Green Party, on February 5.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Primaries, Democratic
The 2008 Illinois Democratic presidential primary took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008, with 153 delegates at stake. The winner in each of Illinois's 19 congressional districts was awarded all of that district's delegates, totaling 100. Another 53 delegates were awarded to the statewide winner, Barack Obama. The 153 delegates represented Illinois at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado. Thirty-two other unpledged delegates, known as superdelegates, also attended the convention and cast their votes as well.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Primaries, Democratic, Polls
Polls indicated that then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama was leading then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton by double digits in the days before the contest in his home state of Illinois.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Primaries, Democratic, Results
Chicago Public Radio reported on March 13, 2008, that the delegate counts were recalculated and Obama won 106 delegates to 47 forClinton.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Primaries, Democratic, Results
During the state by state roll-call at the Democratic National Convention, the Illinois delegation declined to cast their votes.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Primaries, Democratic, Analysis
It was no surprise that Barack Obama cruised to a landslide victory in Illinois, the state he had represented in the U.S. Senate since 2005. He enjoyed massive support in his state among all demographics. According to exit polls, 57% of voters in the Illinois Democratic Primary were white and they opted for Obama 57–41; 24% of voters were African American and they, too, backed Obama 93–5; and 17 percent of voters in the primary were Hispanic/Latino and they narrowly backed Obama 50–49. Obama won all age groups but tied Clinton among senior citizens aged 65 and over.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Primaries, Democratic, Analysis
He won all voters in the state of all educational attainment levels as well as income/socioeconomic classes. He won all ideological groups and voters from both parties as well as self-identified Independents. Regarding religion, Obama won every major denomination except Roman Catholics, who narrowly backed Clinton 50-48%. Obama won Protestants by a margin of 58–38, other Christians 79–19, other religions 82–17, and atheists/agnostics 78–21.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Primaries, Democratic, Analysis
Obama performed extremely well statewide and racked up massive victories in his home city of Chicago as well as its suburbs and the metropolitan area. He also won Northern Illinois as well as the collar counties by substantial victories. Clinton's best performance was in Southern Illinois among the more rural and conservative counties that are majority white, although Obama still won the region as a whole.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Primaries, Republican
The 2008 Illinois Republican presidential primary was held on February 5, 2008 in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Republican Party's state primaries ahead of the 2008 presidential election. Illinois was one of 24 States holding a primary or caucus on Super Tuesday. Delegates from each of Illinois' 19 congressional districts are selected by direct election. In addition, the primary ballot also contains a preference poll that lists the presidential candidates.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Primaries, Green
The 2008 Illinois Green Party presidential primary was held on February 5, 2008 in the U.S. state of Illinois as one of the Green Party's state primaries ahead of the 2008 presidential election.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Primaries, Green
By virtue of Green Party candidate Rich Whitney's performance in the 2006 Illinois gubernatorial election, the party had earned the right to have a state-run primary in 2008.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, 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 Illinois, Campaign, Polling
Obama won every single pre-election poll, and each by a double-digit margin and with at least 52% (with the exception of an ARG poll). The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 60% to 35%.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $23,319. McCain and interest groups spent $52,865. The Democratic ticket visited the state 13 times. McCain's ticket visited the state twice.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Analysis
For most of the second half of the 20th century, Illinois was reckoned as a Republican-leaning swing state. It voted Republican in every election from 1952 to 1988, save for 1960 and 1964. However, George H. W. Bush just barely won the state in 1988, and it swung heavily to Bill Clinton and the Democrats in 1992. Since then, Democrats have won the state by fairly comfortable margins, and it is now reckoned as the most solidly Democratic state in the Midwest.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Analysis
The blue trend in the Land of Lincoln in presidential elections can be largely attributed to Cook County, home to Chicago, which makes up about 41.2% of the state's total population. While Chicago has been a Democratic stronghold for decades, the suburban areas of Cook County have historically tilted Republican. The brand of Republicanism in the suburbs, however, has historically been a moderate one, and these areas swung Democratic as the national party moved more to the right. Democrats also do very well in the Illinois portions of the Quad Cities and St. Louis areas. Additionally, the historically Republican collar counties near Chicago – DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kane, and Will – have become friendlier to Democrats at the national level.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Analysis
Barack Obama, the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois at the time of the election, carried the state handily, defeating John McCain of Arizona by a margin of 1.38 million votes. Obama carried his home county, Cook County, with roughly 76% of the vote, the highest percentage of any presidential candidate since its incorporation in 1831. He also swept all five collar counties, becoming the first Democratic candidate since Franklin Pierce in 1852 to so, with DuPage, Kendall, Lake and Will giving him double-digit margins. Notably, DuPage and McHenry had not supported a Democrat for president since that election.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Analysis
Obama also did very well in several rural counties that historically voted Republican. He became the first Democrat to win Carroll County since that county was created in 1839, in the process breaking the last remaining Republican streak stretching from initial GOP candidate John C. Frémont in 1856, and the first Democrat to win Boone County since James K. Polk in 1844. McCain did, however, win several of the more rural counties in Southern Illinois. It was not nearly enough, however, to put a serious dent in Obama's 25-point margin in the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Analysis
During the same election, senior U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, a Democrat, was reelected to the U.S. Senate with 67.84% of the vote over Republican Dr. Steve Sauerberg who received 28.53%. At the state level, Democrats picked up three seats in the Illinois House of Representatives.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last presidential election that a Democrat won all of Chicago's collar counties. This is also the most recent presidential election in which subtracting the votes from Cook County would not change the election outcome.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Results, By congressional district
Barack Obama won sixteen of the state's nineteen congressional districts, including all districts held by Democrats and four districts held by Republicans.


2008 United States presidential election in Illinois, Electors
Technically the voters of Illinois cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Illinois is allocated 21 electors because it has 19 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 21 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 21 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 Illinois, 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 Illinois, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 21 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana
The 2008 United States presidential election in Indiana took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana
Indiana was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama by 28,391 votes, a 1.03% margin of victory. Prior to the election, major news organizations considered the state as leaning toward Republican nominee John McCain or as a toss-up. On election day, Obama narrowly carried Indiana, which marked the first time a Democratic presidential nominee won Indiana since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time that the Democratic nominee carried Indiana, as well as the last in which they carried Spencer County, Starke County, Vanderburgh County, Madison County, or Vermillion County, and the last time the state was decided by a single digit margin. Obama's 1,374,039 votes is the most received by a Democratic presidential candidate in the state's history. This is the last time the state voted to the left of Missouri, North Carolina, Georgia, and Arizona. It is also the only time since 1916 in which it didn't support the same party as Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, or South Dakota.


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


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Campaign, Polling
Pre -election polling was always tight, although McCain generally had a slight lead in 3 poll averages throughout the entire general election, including the final weeks of the election. Rasmussen Reports never had Obama winning a state poll. In the last opinion polling before the election, conducted by  (October 31-November 2, 2008), Barack Obama led John McCain 49% to 48%. The final 3 poll average gave McCain the lead 49% to 46%, with undecided voters deciding the election.


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $1,758,471 in the state. Barack Obama raised $3,400,475.


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama massively outspent McCain in this state. Obama and his interest groups spent $17,796,704. McCain and his interest groups spent $3,160,264. The Democratic ticket visited this state 8 times. The Republican ticket visited 5 times.


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Analysis
Historically, Indiana has been the most Republican state in the Great Lakes region. However, polling in September and October showed that Indiana was possibly turning into a swing state in 2008. George W. Bush easily captured Indiana's 11 electoral votes in 2004, defeating Democrat John Kerry by more than 20%. In contrast, most polls from the summer of 2008 onward showed only single-digit margins.


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Analysis
The race was as close as expected. Indiana's polls closed at 6 p.m. local time. The state has often been among the first to be called for the Republican candidate; in 2004, for instance, the state was called for Bush almost as soon as the polls in the Central Time Zone portion of the state closed. However, the race for the state was too close to call at 6pm, sending an early signal of potential upset to voters throughout the rest of the country.


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Analysis
Indiana still had not been decided when most media outlets declared Obama president-elect at 11 p.m. Eastern time. Indiana was finally called for Senator Obama at around 6 a.m. Eastern on November 5. Ultimately, Obama ended up carrying Indiana with 1,374,039 votes to John McCain's 1,345,648 votes, a difference of 28,391 votes (approximately 1.03% of the total votes cast). The Libertarian candidate polled 29,257 votes - more than the margin of Obama's win.


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Analysis
The result was widely seen as an upset considering Indiana's status as a traditionally Republican state, Obama won the contest with a mixture of excellent ground game and internet-powered outreach to potential voters. The efficient use of social media on a scale never seen before in presidential politics also played a role.


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Analysis
At the same time as Obama captured Indiana's 11 electoral votes, incumbent Republican Governor Mitch Daniels was reelected to a second term with 57.84% of the vote over Democrat Jill Long Thompson who received 40.04%. Libertarian Andy Horning received 2.12%. At the state level, Democrats picked up one seat in the Indiana House of Representatives.


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Results breakdown, By county
Obama won only 15 of Indiana's counties compared to 77 for McCain. However those 15 counties make up 44% of the state's population. Obama carried the state largely by trouncing McCain in Marion County, home to increasingly Democratic Indianapolis, by over 106,000 votes. Kerry narrowly won Marion County in 2004; prior to that it last supported a Democrat in 1964. Obama also won in Vigo County, home to Terre Haute and a noted bellwether; it had voted for the winner of every presidential election all but twice since 1892 (the streak ended in 2020). Not a single county voted more Republican in the 2008 election than in 2004. Although Obama lost Allen County, home to Indiana's second largest city, Fort Wayne, by four points, he won in Fort Wayne city proper by 6 points.


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Results breakdown, By county
Obama also dominated Gary and northwestern Indiana, traditionally the most Democratic region of the state. Many of the voters in this area already knew Obama, as this region makes up most of the Indiana side of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Chicago media market; Obama is from Chicago and has aired ads here for over a decade (dating to his tenure in the Illinois Senate).


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Results breakdown, By county
He also did very well in counties where colleges and universities are located, including St. Joseph (home to South Bend and Notre Dame), Vigo (home to Terre Haute and Indiana State University, Rose–Hulman Institute of Technology, and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College) Monroe (home to Bloomington and IU), Delaware (home to Muncie and Ball State), Tippecanoe (home to West Lafayette and Purdue), and Porter (home to Valparaiso and Valparaiso University).


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Results breakdown, By county
McCain dominated Indianapolis's traditionally heavily Republican suburbs, although Obama reduced the Republican margin from past presidential elections. McCain also did well in traditionally Democratic Southern Indiana. Obama only managed to win three counties in this region, one of which was Vanderburgh County, where the city of Evansville is located.


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, Results breakdown, By congressional district
Although Barack Obama narrowly won the state and its 11 electoral votes, John McCain carried six out of nine congressional districts in Indiana, including all four held by Republicans and two held by Democrats.


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


2008 United States presidential election in Indiana, 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 Indiana, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 11 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa
The 2008 United States presidential election in Iowa took place on November 4, 2008, as 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 Iowa
Iowa was won by the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, the state next door, by a 9.54% margin of victory. Obama took 53.93% of the vote while his Republican opponent, Senator John McCain of Arizona, took 44.39%. Prior to the election, all 16 organizations considered this a state Obama would win. In 2004, Republican George W. Bush very narrowly won Iowa in his reelection bid, although prior to that, the state had gone Democratic for four consecutive presidential elections.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa
A Midwestern state where agriculture plays a critical role in the daily lives of its citizens, Iowa is nevertheless an independent state. However, due to Obama's popularity from the Iowa caucuses, Bush's low approval rating, and the poor state of the economy, the state easily fell into the Democratic column later in the election cycle. Obama's 828,940 votes is the most received by a Democratic presidential candidate in the state's history. This was also the last time a majority of Iowa's counties went to the Democratic presidential candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses
The 2008 Iowa caucuses took place on January 3, 2008. They are an unofficial primary, with the delegates to the state convention selected proportionally via a straw poll. The Iowa caucuses mark the traditional formal start of the delegate selection process for the 2008 United States presidential election. It was the first election of the 2008 presidential election. Also referred to as "the First in the Nation Caucus," it was the first election of the primary season on both the Democratic and Republican sides.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses
Of the eight major Democratic presidential candidates, then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois received the most votes and was ultimately declared the winner of the Iowa Democratic Caucus of 2008, making him the first African American to win the caucus. Former U.S. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina came in second place and then-U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York finished third, though Clinton received more delegates than Edwards. Campaigning had begun as early as two years before the event.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, History
The Iowa Caucuses have historically been the first held in the United States. The caucus marked the traditional and formal start of the delegate selection process for the 2008 United States presidential election, and the process in which members of the Democratic Party gathered to make policy decisions.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, History
Iowa state law mandates that its caucus must be held at least eight days before any other meeting, caucus, or primary for the presidential nominating process. Therefore, the Iowa Caucuses have always been traditionally the leading state in the nominating process. Not only did controversy brew between the candidates, but the caucuses themselves drew a large amount of media attention. The decisions of the Iowans often affect the rest of the campaign season. Barack Obama's victory in Iowa helped establish him as one of the Democratic frontrunners of 2008 and was a first step toward his eventual nomination.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Process
The caucuses followed the regular procedures of the Democratic Party process. Any voter who was a registered Democrat and a resident of Iowa was eligible to participate in the event. Individuals could have chosen to register or change their party affiliation at the door. It was estimated that 60 percent of the caucusgoers would have attended the caucuses for the first time. All of the caucusgoers met in public buildings or schools in their respective precincts and divided themselves into groups; each group represented a candidate. The voting was done publicly (viva voce).


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Process
To be viable, each preference group/candidate must have had at least 15 percent of the caucusgoers' votes. If a candidate received less than 15 percent of the caucusgoers' votes, then the supporters of that non-viable candidate had 30 minutes to join a viable candidate's group, join another non-viable candidate's group to make the candidate viable, join an uncommitted group, or choose not to be counted as a voter.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Process
In Iowa, there were 1,784 precincts for the caucuses. Each viable preference group at each caucus elected a certain number of delegates proportional to the group's size that would represent the candidate at the county conventions. There are 99 counties in Iowa, and their Democratic conventions took place on March 15, 2008. At these conventions, a subset of delegates were chosen to attend the district, then state conventions. At the Iowa Democratic Party State Convention on June 14, 2008, a subset of delegates were chosen to attend the Democratic National Convention held August 25–28, 2008, in Denver, Colorado. As in the precinct caucuses, the pledged delegates to the national convention proportionally represented the candidates compared to the results of the state caucus.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Process
The delegate allocation to the Democratic National Convention was as follows: 29 district delegates proportionally represented a candidate's support at each congressional district. The First Congressional District receives six pledged delegates, the Second Congressional District receives seven, the Third Congressional District receives six, the Fourth Congressional District receives six, and the Fifth Congressional District receives four. All of these pledged delegates represent each congressional district independently; they are not affected by the results of the state convention.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Process
At the Iowa Democratic Party State Convention, on the other hand, 16 pledged delegates proportionally represented the candidates' support. Ten of these delegates were designated as at-large, meaning that they represent the entire state as a whole. The other six were referred to as Party Leaders and Elected Officials (PLEO). These may include members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, the Governor, and former party leaders. Not all of the PLEOs were pledged, but if they were, they would represent the state as a whole along with the at-large delegates. In total, the Democratic presidential candidates were allocated a total of 45 pledged delegates, depending on their support in each district and in the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Process
Twelve delegates that did not represent caucus results were sent to the Democratic National Convention; they are referred to as unpledged. Eleven of them are PLEOs, which include six members of the DNC, one U.S. Senator, three U.S. Representatives, and one Governor. Because these unpledged delegates' profiles are usually high-profile elected officials, they are referred to as superdelegates. The other unpledged delegate is an add-on delegate, who is selected at the Iowa Democratic Party State Convention.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Process
While this process lasts for a period of approximately five months, the results of the state caucus are usually predictable by the results of the precincts' caucuses combined. Therefore, the results of the precinct caucuses provide a good measurement of Iowa's delegation to the Democratic National Convention.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Polls
Before the caucuses, the Des Moines Register reported that during a poll of 800 likely Democratic caucus goers from December 27 to December 30, 2007, the candidates had the following results:


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Polls
The above results have a margin of sampling error of ±3.5 percentage points.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Polls
Barack Obama's results in the opinion polls rose from 28% in the Des Moines Register's poll in late November 2007. This was in part a result of a "dramatic influx of first-time caucusgoers, including a sizable bloc of political independents." Hillary Rodham Clinton remained at a constant 25%, while John Edwards was almost unchanged when his ratings increased to 24% from 23% in November. Approximately one-third of likely caucusgoers said that they could have been persuaded to choose a different candidate before the caucuses.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Polls
The December results of the Des Moines Register's poll also showed a widened gap between the three-way contest for the lead — Clinton, Edwards, and Obama — and the rest of the Democratic candidates. No other Democrat received more than 6 percent support of caucusgoers.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Polls
Thirty percent of the sample population from the Des Moines Register's poll said that a candidate's ability to bring about change in the United States was the most important to them; 27% said that a candidate who would be most successful in unifying the country would have taken priority in their votes. Most caucusgoers also said that Obama was strong in both of these areas. Having the experience and competence to lead was considered the most important aspect of a candidate by 18 percent of the sample population; Hillary Clinton was rated best on this trait. Only 6 percent of the sample population said that being best able to win the general election was the top priority; Clinton, again, was rated best on this trait.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Results
The Iowa Democratic Party does not release vote counts (it releases only the number of delegates to the state convention). Since Hillary Rodham Clinton had the highest delegate strength in Iowa's 5th congressional district (a district allocated four national convention delegates) and received the same amount of national delegates elsewhere, she was projected to receive one more national delegate than Edwards despite receiving fewer projected delegates to the state convention.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Results
The Democratic National Committee gives the 50 states 794 superdelegates. According to a January 4, 2008 poll conducted by the Associated Press, most of the superdelegates were undecided, but 160 had endorsed Clinton, compared to 59 for Obama and 32 for Edwards. Along with the delegates that the candidates secured from Iowa, the numbers were as follows: 175 for Clinton, 75 for Obama, and 46 for Edwards. (To win the Democratic nomination for president, 2,025 delegates are needed.) Thus, Clinton initially retained an overall delegate lead following the Iowa results.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Results
Dennis Kucinich and Barack Obama competed against each other in the Iowa Caucuses, but Kucinich asked that Iowans caucusing for him, should they fail to build a viable preference group on Caucus Night to realign to Barack Obama in the second round. Both had fought for the same priorities including ending the Iraq War, reforming Washington, D.C., and creating a better life for working families. In the 2004 Iowa Democratic Caucuses, Kucinich made a similar announcement in favor of John Edwards. At that caucus, Edwards's aides claimed that this request helped put him in second place. In the 2008 Iowa Caucus, however, Kucinich did not conduct much of a campaign in Iowa. He paid for no organizers nor offices in the state, and he was not invited to the Des Moines Register's debate in December 2007. Mike Gravel didn't conduct an active campaign in Iowa either.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Results
While the 2008 Iowa Caucuses saw a record turnout for both parties, the Democratic caucus drew more than 239,000 voters, almost double the Republican total. Entrance polling indicated that a significant portion of the turnout came from first-time caucus attendees, as well as attendees under the age of 30; two groups of voters that primarily lent their support to Barack Obama. Women, previously expected to largely back Hillary Clinton, split their vote between Clinton and Obama, the latter of whom actually received slightly more support. In the aftermath of the results from the Iowa Caucuses, Chris Dodd and Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Results
As a result of the Iowa Caucus, Barack Obama received a significant surge of support in the next competition, the New Hampshire Democratic Primary five days after. In New Hampshire pre-primary polls conducted from January 4 to January 6, 2008, Obama enjoyed a 13-point lead over Clinton.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Analysis
Barack Obama scored a major victory in the Iowa Democratic Caucuses due to a number of factors. According to exit polls, 93 percent of voters in the Iowa Democratic Caucus were Caucasian and 33% voted for Obama, 27 percent for Clinton, and 24 percent for Edwards; 4% of voters were African American and 72% voted for Obama, 16% for Clinton, and 8% for Edwards; 3% represented other races and they went 49% for Obama, 26% for Clinton, 10% for Richardson, and 5% for Edwards.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Analysis
Obama also won young voters ages 17–44 with 52% of the vote compared to 16% for both Clinton and Edwards. Edwards won middle-age voters ages 45–59 with 30% while Obama received 29% and Clinton took in 26% of their support. Clinton did best among elderly voters ages 60 and over with 40% of the vote while Edwards received 27% and Obama took in 19.5% of their support. Obama won self-identified Democrats by a margin of 32-31-23 (Obama-Clinton-Edwards), Independents backed Obama 41-23-17 (Obama-Edwards-Clinton), as well as self-identified Republicans who supported Obama 44-32-10 (Obama-Edwards-Clinton). Obama also won moderates and liberals but Edwards won conservatives. Socioeconomic class was not really a factor in how voters made their decisions, as Obama won all groups of family incomes.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Democratic caucuses, Analysis
Obama performed best in Eastern Iowa, which is considered to be the more liberal part of the state, and Central Iowa which is considered to be the more moderate part of the state. Clinton performed best in Western Iowa, which is considered to be the most conservative part of the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses
Prior to the 2008 caucuses, as in previous election cycles with a competitive presidential race, an unofficial Ames Straw Poll was held, on August 11, 2007. The official one, electing delegates to the state convention, was held on January 3, 2008, the same day as the Democratic contest. In the Ames Straw Poll, Mitt Romney finished first with 32% of the vote. In the January 2008 caucuses, Mike Huckabee finished first with 34% of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, Process
Unlike the Democratic caucus, the Republican Party does not use voting rounds or have minimum requirements for a percent of votes. The Republican version is done with a straw vote of those attending the caucus. This vote is sometimes done by a show of hands or by dividing themselves into groups according to candidate. However, officially it is done with voters receiving a blank piece of paper with no names on it, and the voter writing a name and placing it in a ballot box.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, Process
Following the straw poll, delegates are then elected from the remaining participants in the room, as most voters leave once their vote is cast. All delegates are officially considered unbound, but media outlets either apportion delegates proportionally or apportion them in terms of winner-take-all by counties. In precincts that elect only one delegate, the delegate is chosen by majority vote and the vote must be by paper ballot. The state party strongly urges that delegates reflect the results of the preference poll, but there is no obligation that they do so.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, The Ames Straw Poll
The 2007 Ames straw poll was held at Iowa State University (Ames)'s Hilton Coliseum on August 11, 2007. This was primarily a fundraising event for the state's Republican Party, and only Iowa residents who paid the $35 price for a ticket were eligible to vote. Tickets were available through the various presidential campaigns and the Iowa Republican Party's headquarters.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, The Ames Straw Poll
In general, the candidates bought large blocks of tickets and gave them out for free to whoever agreed to go and vote for that candidate. The candidates also rented buses to transport voters to Ames.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, The Ames Straw Poll
Mitt Romney finished first with 32% of the vote, followed by Mike Huckabee (18%), Sam Brownback (15%), Tom Tancredo (14%), and Ron Paul (10%). Six other candidates shared the remaining 14% of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
Before the caucuses, the Des Moines Register reported the following results from a poll of 800 likely Republican caucus goers from December 27 to December 30, 2007:


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
The above results have a margin of sampling error of ±3.5 percentage points.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
Mike Huckabee's results in the opinion polls rose from 29% in the Des Moines Register's poll in late November 2007. Mitt Romney rose two points from 24% in November to 26% in December. John McCain enjoyed the biggest increase from November, increasing six points from 7% to 13%, while Rudy Giuliani suffered the biggest drop from November, decreasing eight points from 13% to 5%. Giuliani's large drop was attributed to his strategy of skipping early states such as Iowa and New Hampshire in favor of larger, delegate-rich states such as Florida, California, and New York. No other candidate polled more than 10%.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, Pre-caucus polls
Huckabee's poll numbers in Iowa rose dramatically from October to December, in part due to his backing among evangelical voters, who accounted for almost one-half of those polled. Huckabee led Romney in that group 47%-20%. Huckabee also polled higher than Romney among the group who said it was more important to be a social conservative than a fiscal conservative, while Romney led Huckabee 29%-25% among the group who said that being fiscally conservative was most important. In addition, Romney also polled highest in the categories of experience and competence, the ability to bring about change, and electability.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, Results
As of 11:05 p.m. EDT, January 3, 2008, with , the results were:


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, Results
*Candidate had already dropped out of the race prior to caucus.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, Results
Only three candidates won majorities in the individual counties: Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, and Ron Paul. The Giuliani campaign followed an unusual strategy of focusing on larger states that vote later in the process, and had done little if any campaigning in Iowa. Tancredo had already withdrawn from the presidential race two weeks earlier and endorsed Romney, but his name remained in the official list of candidates of the Iowa Republican Party.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, Caucuses, Republican caucuses, Results
Some 120,000 Iowa Republicans attended the 2008 caucuses, a new record. About 87,000 attended in 2000; in 2004, George W. Bush ran unopposed.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Predictions
There were 16 organizations or websites that made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day:


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Polling
Obama won every pre-election poll but one taken in the state. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 54% to 39%.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $680,641 in the state. Barack Obama raised $2,250,696.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $15,334,065. McCain and his interest groups spent $5,817,988. The Republican ticket visited the state 9 times. The Democratic ticket visited the state 4 times.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Analysis
Despite its closeness in recent elections, Iowa was not in close contention in the 2008 election. During primary season, Barack Obama had campaigned extensively in the state and won a substantial victory that established him as the Democratic front-runner and ultimately propelled him to victory over Hillary Clinton. In contrast, John McCain did not campaign at all in Iowa and ended up placing fourth in the Iowa Republican Caucus. Moreover, McCain's stand against Congressional ethanol subsidies proved unpopular in a state that had a large corn crop; conversely, Obama supported these subsidies. Polls consistently gave Barack Obama a double-digit lead in the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Analysis
On Election Day, Obama won by a 9.54-point margin. The reliably Republican western part of the state turned out for McCain as expected. When a Republican wins Iowa, everything west of the state capital, Des Moines, is coated red. Indeed, John Kerry didn't win a single county in western Iowa in 2004, a major factor in Bush's narrow victory here. However, Obama significantly improved on Kerry's performance four years earlier. Pottawattamie County, home to Council Bluffs, went from an 18-point win for Bush to only a two-point win for McCain.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Analysis
Moreover, Obama did very well in traditionally Democratic Eastern Iowa. Obama was already a familiar face to many voters in eastern Iowa; the Quad Cities area spills into Obama's home state of Illinois. He also did very well in more swingy central Iowa, anchored by Des Moines. Every county in the state, except for Clarke County in Western Iowa, voted more Democratic than in 2004.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Analysis
At the same time, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tom Harkin was reelected with 62.66% of the vote over Republican Christopher Reed, a businessman, who received 37.26%. At the state level, Democrats expanded their leads in the Iowa state legislature, picking up four seats in the Iowa House of Representatives and two seats in the Iowa Senate.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Delaware County, Winnebago County, Crawford County, Emmet County, Iowa County, Carroll County, Kossuth County, Audubon County, Adams County, Palo Alto County, Franklin County, Hamilton County, Warren County, Hardin County, Benton County, and Greene County voted for the Democratic candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Results, By congressional district
Barack Obama carried four out of the state's five congressional districts, including one district held by a Republican.


2008 United States presidential election in Iowa, General election, Electors
Technically the voters of Iowa cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Iowa 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.