2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Campaign, Polling
Nevertheless, John McCain campaigned heavily in the state near Election Day and some polls showed Obama's lead narrowing down to single digits. McCain hoped that Pennsylvania might be the swing state that ensured him a narrow victory. However, the economic crisis weighed heavily on the minds of voters across the country and in Pennsylvania it was no different where many voters blamed the Republicans for the collapse, ultimately helping Obama who ended up carrying Pennsylvania by a strong margin of 10.32%.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent almost $42 million, while McCain spent almost $30 million. The Obama campaign visited the state 16 times. The McCain campaign visited here 31 times.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Analysis
McCain did win more counties than Obama, but the counties carried by Obama were by far the most populated of the state, including Philadelphia, Allegheny and Lehigh counties, home to the state's three largest cities: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Allentown respectively.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Analysis
Obama did extremely well throughout eastern Pennsylvania. He won more than 80% of voters in the city of Philadelphia, and two of its suburban counties gave him 3-to-2 margins (the other suburban counties also voted for Obama). Democratic margins from Philadelphia and its suburbs were more than enough to ensure Obama's victory even if he had lost all the rest of the state. North of Philadelphia, the heavily industrialized, pro-union counties characterized by cities such as Scranton (birthplace of Obama's running mate, Joe Biden), Wilkes-Barre and Allentown strongly backed Obama as well.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Analysis
African-American and Latino voters, as well as younger college-age voters, in Monroe County and even in very Republican Pike and Wayne counties gave Obama a much greater share of the vote than Kerry received in 2004. He also managed to win two traditionally Republican counties in the eastern part of the state, Dauphin (home to the state capital, Harrisburg) and Berks (home to Reading); the last Democrat to carry these counties was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. In addition, Obama remained competitive in the two most Republican counties in the eastern region: Lancaster (which gave George W. Bush his largest margin of victory in the entire state) and York. While John Kerry lost Lancaster by 32%, Obama lost the county by only 12%, a substantial improvement.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Analysis
John McCain, however, did best in Southwestern Pennsylvania (around Pittsburgh), a part of Appalachia and the central, rural "T". Central Pennsylvania is a Republican stronghold; John McCain won the vast majority of its counties, often by substantial margins. However, Southwestern Pennsylvania, until recently, was the most Democratic region of the state (except for Philadelphia). Historically, when a Democrat carries Pennsylvania, the entire lower-left corner of the state from Pittsburgh to Johnstown is coated blue.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Analysis
The heavily unionized, Appalachian counties in and around Pittsburgh strongly voted against Ronald Reagan in 1984; in that election the only other county in the state to vote Democratic was Philadelphia. In 2008, however, the Republicans won every single county in Southwestern Pennsylvania except for Allegheny County, home to Pittsburgh (which voted Democratic by 15%). It was one of the few regions in which Obama did worse than John Kerry. This largely mirrored Obama's struggles throughout Appalachia throughout the course of the Democratic primary, when voters in this region strongly backed Hillary Clinton.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Analysis
The 2008 election confirmed Pennsylvania's status as a Democratic-leaning state. As Kerry showed in 2004, under most circumstances a Democrat can lose everywhere else in the state and still run up enough of a margin in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to win. Pennsylvania would not vote for a Republican candidate until the 2016 Presidential election, when Donald Trump narrowly carried the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Analysis
During the same election at the state level, Democrats picked up two seats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives but Republicans picked up one seat in the Pennsylvania Senate. Democrats also picked up a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in Pennsylvania's 3rd Congressional District as Democrat Kathy Dahlkemper defeated 7-term incumbent Republican Phil English by a 2.48% margin of victory. Dahlkemper received 51.24% of the vote while English took in 48.76%.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Carbon County, Elk County, Cambria County, and Berks County voted for the Democratic candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Results, By congressional district
Although Barack Obama won Pennsylvania, John McCain carried 10 of the commonwealth's 19 congressional districts, including four districts held by Democrats. One district, PA-03, was extremely close, however, with McCain only winning by 17 votes. Obama won 9 districts, including two districts held by Republicans.


2008 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania, Electors
Technically the voters of Pennsylvania cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania, 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 Pennsylvania, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 20 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island
The 2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island
Rhode Island was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with a 27.8% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. The last time a Republican carried this state or any county in the state was in 1984, when Ronald Reagan won with about 52% of the vote, largely due to the support of Reagan Democrats.


2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island
As of 2020, this was the last time the town of West Greenwich voted for the Democratic candidate in a presidential election.


2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island, 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 Rhode Island, Campaign, Polling
Obama won every single pre-election poll, and each by a double-digit margin of victory. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading with 51% to 33%.


2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $343,965 in the state. Barack Obama raised $1,563,473.


2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $671,623. McCain spent nothing. The Democratic ticket visited the state once, while the Republican ticket didn't visit the state at all.


2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island, Analysis
Rhode Island had historically supported a Republican candidate until 1908, but has supported Democrats all but seven times in the 24 elections that have followed. In 1980, Rhode Island was one of only six states to vote against Ronald Reagan. Reagan did carry Rhode Island in his 49-state victory in 1984—only the third time since Eisenhower that a Republican won state. However, Reagan's 3.6% margin was his second-closest in the nation, ahead of only his 2.8% margin in neighboring Massachusetts.


2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island, Analysis
Despite George H. W. Bush aggressively contesting the state in 1988, Michael Dukakis won it by a fairly convincing 13 points, his best performance. The state has not been seriously contested since then, often giving Democratic presidential nominees their biggest margins. It was Bill Clinton's second-best state in 1996 (behind only Massachusetts) and Al Gore's best state in 2000. In 2004, Rhode Island gave John Kerry more than a 20% margin of victory (the third-highest of any state), with 59.4% of its vote. All but three of Rhode Island's 39 cities and towns voted for the Democratic candidate. The only exceptions were East Greenwich, West Greenwich and Scituate.


2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island, Analysis
This pattern continued in 2008. Rhode Island gave Barack Obama a 27.80% margin of victory with 62.86% of its vote. Every single county in Rhode Island, along with Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Hawaii, voted for the former U.S. Senator from Illinois in 2008. Obama also won every town in Rhode Island with the exception of Scituate along with both congressional districts. Independent Ralph Nader had one of his best performances here in 2008 obtaining over 1% of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island, Analysis
Having some of the highest taxes in the nation, Rhode Island is considered to be a liberal bastion. In addition, Rhode Island has abolished capital punishment, making it one of 15 states that have done so. Rhode Island abolished the death penalty very early, just after Michigan (the first state to abolish it), and carried out its last execution in the 1840s. At the time of the 2008 presidential election, Rhode Island was one of two states (along with Nevada) in which prostitution was legal (provided it took place indoors).


2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island, Analysis
During the same election, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Jack Reed was soundly reelected over Republican Bob Tingle in a landslide three-to-one margin and won every town in the state including Scituate. Reed received 73.07% of the vote while Tingle took in 26.47% (with write-ins obtaining the remaining 0.45%). At the state level, Democrats picked up nine seats in the Rhode Island House of Representatives to augment their supermajority in that chamber.


2008 United States presidential election in Rhode Island, Results breakdown, By congressional district
Barack Obama carried both of Rhode Island's 2 congressional districts.


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


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina
South Carolina was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 8.97% margin. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise a red state. Despite the significant proportion of African Americans in the state, South Carolina still remains, like most other states throughout the South, a GOP stronghold at the state and federal levels. McCain kept South Carolina in the GOP column in 2008, clinching 53.87% of the vote. This is the first time a presidential candidate received more than 1,000,000 votes in the state. However, McCain's 9% margin was significantly less than Bush's 17% margin in 2004.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries
For both parties in 2008, South Carolina's was the first primary in a Southern state and the first primary in a state in which African Americans make up a sizable percentage of the electorate. For Democrats, it was also the last primary before 22 states hosted their primaries or caucuses on February 5, 2008 (Super Tuesday).


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary
The 2008 South Carolina Democratic presidential primary took place on January 26, 2008. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois won the primary's popular vote by a 28.9% margin.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary
South Carolina's 45 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention were awarded proportionally based on the results of the primary. The state also sent nine superdelegates.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Campaign Finances
On the day of the South Carolina primary, Senator John Edwards led in fund raising from the state of South Carolina, followed by Barack Obama and Bill Richardson.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Polling leading up to primary
Despite maintaining a major early lead in the polls, Senator Clinton rapidly fell after the Iowa Caucuses, as Barack Obama skyrocketed and John Edwards began to receive a gradual increase in the polling.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Polling leading up to primary
However, in the last three polls taken before the South Carolina Primary, Barack Obama took a commanding lead over both Edwards and Clinton. Also, Former Senator John Edwards had come into the margin of error with Senator Clinton for second place in the South Carolina Primary.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
Throughout the South Carolina campaign, most pundits had predicted Barack Obama the winner, primarily because of the state's large African-American population. For this reason, Obama was shown to be significantly ahead of his two rivals, John Edwards, who carried the state in 2004, and Hillary Clinton, whose husband was popular in the African-American community. In early polls taken in the weeks leading up to the primary, Clinton had a double-digit lead over both Edwards and Obama (see poll averages above).


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
During a majority of the final campaigning, the attacks between the Clinton campaign and the Obama campaign highly intensified by the candidates as well as the media coverage. Barack Obama began to attack former President Bill Clinton for his comments which were taken as racist. These comments are considered by analyst and historians alike as the turning point of the South Carolina primary and ultimately the cause of Clinton's loss of support from the black community.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
Despite the increasing tensions between the Clinton and Obama camps, Obama continued to widely lead in the polls (despite a surge by Edwards). Into the final days of the campaign in South Carolina, it became apparent that Obama would win by a rather wide margin. The final tally had Obama winning by 28.9% over his closest rival, Hillary Clinton.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
In the early months of the campaign, Clinton enjoyed a steep lead over Senator Obama, and a 30-point lead over former Senator John Edwards. However, after Obama's win in Iowa, Clinton's campaign in South Carolina began to fall apart by the Obama political machine rolling into South Carolina with force.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
For Clinton, despite winning the popular vote in Nevada, the fact that she had lost Nevada's National Delegates, receiving 12 compared to Obama's 13 still lingered in the media. This, combined with the fact of Bill Clinton's continuing negative publicity from "injecting race into the campaign" as several people called Bill Clinton's actions in his wife's campaign.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
Between battling media scrutiny on Bill Clinton, constant attacks between the Obama and Clinton campaigns, and a surging John Edwards which threatened a Clinton second-place finish, poll number began to plunge, with a poll taken by Reuters-Cspan-Zogby showing Clinton in the margin of error for second place with Edwards, with Edwards at 21% and Clinton at 25%. This was also combined with the fact of Edwards's constant barrage of attacks claiming Clinton (and Obama's) big city politics were "too good for the people of South Carolina".


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
However, despite the attacks from opponents that Bill Clinton's attacks largely alienated African-Americans, Clinton was able to keep a 35% support amongst that key constituency, while losing the white vote to Edwards, In the end, Clinton's African-American support was able to place her in a clear second-place finish, finishing 9 points ahead of John Edwards despite losing to Obama by 29 points.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
After the terrible results for the Edwards Campaign during the Nevada caucuses, in which Edwards finished in third with 4% of the state delegation and received no national delegates, South Carolina began to look as a state where he needed a strong finish, after finishing in third in the last 3 primaries which took place, and trailing in the number of total national delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
South Carolina was the state in which Edwards was born and raised. In 2004, Edwards won the South Carolina Primary, with 45% of the vote to John Kerry's 30% and Al Sharpton's 10%. While entering South Carolina, it became apparent that he needed a first-place finish, which seemed impossible, or a second-place finish, which seemed more within grasp.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
Before the CNN South Carolina Debate in Myrtle Beach on Monday, January 21, 2008, John Edwards was placing a distant third in a poll taken before the debates on January 19, in which he placed third with 15% compared to Hillary Clinton's second place with 27%. However, after the South Carolina debates, the tone of the campaign severely shifted.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
During the South Carolina Democratic Debate in Myrtle Beach, Edwards sought to distinguish himself from Senators Obama and Clinton, and criticized them for their attacks and "big city" politics. As soon as he began to question how the attacks helped, he was widely cheered by the audience for in what many people thought was what distinguished Edwards from negative campaigning. Saying "This kind of squabbling, how many children are going to get healthcare? How many people are going to get an education from this? How many kids are going to be able to go to college because of this?


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
We have got to understand and I respect both of my fellow candidates, but we have got to understand that this is not about us personally, it is about what we are trying to do for this country and what we believe in", Edwards began to get applause from several members of the audience.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
After the debate, John Edwards began to see a major influx of money and in turn, poll numbers began to rise rapidly in Edwards's favor. Along with the debate performance, Bill Clinton's remarks began to alienate black supporters from Clinton, and white supporters from Obama. As a result, Edwards won amongst white voters ages 30 to 50, while receiving the same amount of support from white 60+ year olds as Hillary Clinton according to CNN Exit Polls


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Final Campaigning
However, Edwards was not able to get much support from non-whites, and according to Exit Polls, received only 2% of the non-white support, while receiving 40% of the white support.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Democratic primary, Results
Barack Obama won the primary, taking 44 of the 46 counties; Edwards won in his native Oconee County, while Clinton won in Horry County, which contains Myrtle Beach.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Republican primary
The South Carolina Republican primary, 2008 was held on January 19, with 24 delegates at stake. The Republican National Committee took half of South Carolina's 47 delegates away from them because the state committee moved its Republican primary before February 5. It was held on the same day as the Nevada Republican caucuses, 2008.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Republican primary
The primary has become one of several key early state nominating contests in the process of choosing the nominee of the Republican party for the November 2008 election for President of the United States. It has historically been more important for the Republican Party than for the Democratic Party; from its inception in 1980 through the election of 2000, the winner of the Republican presidential primary has gone on to win the nomination. As of 2008, the primary has cemented its place as the "First in the South" primary for both parties.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Republican primary
This states 24 delegates would be awarded on a  "Winner-Takes-All" basis. 12 Delegates for the Statewide winner and 12 delegates awarded on a District-winner basis awarding 2 delegates for each of the states then 6 Congressional districts.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Republican primary, Polling
As of January 19, RealClearPolitics reported that the average support from polls placed McCain in the lead with 26.9%, followed by Huckabee with 25.9%, Romney with 14.7%, Thompson with 14.6%, Paul with 4.4%, and Giuliani with 3.4%.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Republican primary, Results
Huckabee was for weeks leading in the state but lost by a 14,743 vote margin. He did manage to win Congressional districts 3, 4 and 5 in the North of the state earning him a total of 6 delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Republican primary, Results
John McCain won the statewide primary earning him 12 Delegates as well as Congressional Districts 1, 2 and 6. earning him an additional 6 delegates for a total of 18.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Primaries, Republican primary, Results
* Candidate withdrew his bid for the nomination prior to the reporting of the primary. On January 22, 2008, after a poor showing Fred Thompson dropped out of the race. Duncan Hunter did so too.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, 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 South Carolina, Campaign, Polling
McCain won every single pre-election poll. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading with 53% to 43%.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $2,574,332 in the state. Barack Obama raised $2,227,877.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $967,640. McCain and his interest groups spent $587,645. Neither campaign visited the state.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Analysis
South Carolina, historically part of the Solid South, has become a Republican stronghold in the past few presidential elections. Since Barry Goldwater carried the state in 1964, the only Democratic presidential nominee to win it was Jimmy Carter of neighboring Georgia in 1976. Since then, the Palmetto State has been a safe bet for the Republicans. This trend continued in 2008, even though South Carolina has one of the highest African-American populations in the country. Neither Obama nor McCain seriously contested the state, as it was viewed by both campaigns as a safe GOP/McCain/red state.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Analysis
On Election Day, McCain captured South Carolina with 53.87% of the vote. McCain dominated the populous northwest, while Obama did best in the cities of Columbia and Charleston, as well as the rural, heavily African American areas. In comparison to the past two elections where the margin was much larger, Obama's relative closeness can be attributed to the large turnout of African American voters in the state who cast their votes 96% for Obama.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Analysis
McCain's margin of victory in South Carolina was much less than that of George W. Bush who carried the Palmetto State in 2004 with 57.98% of the vote to John Kerry's 40.90%, a 17.08% margin of victory compared to McCain's 8.97% in 2008, resulting in an 8.11% swing to the Democrats in 2008.


2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina, Analysis
During the same election, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham was reelected over Democrat Bob Conley. Graham received 57.52% of the vote while Conley took in 42.25%. At the state level, however, Democrats picked up two seats in the South Carolina House of Representatives. As of 2021, this is the last election in which the margin of victory in South Carolina was within single digits. It also marked the first and only time since 1964 that South Carolina and North Carolina did not vote for the same candidate.


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


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


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


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


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota
The 2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 3 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota
South Dakota was won by Republican nominee John McCain by an 8.4 point margin of victory. Prior to the election, 16 of 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise considered as a red state. Like the other states located in the Great Plains region, South Dakota is a predominantly rural and sparsely populated state with conservative voting tendencies which favors the Republicans, who dominate elections at the state and federal level. South Dakota stayed in the GOP column in 2008 as Republican John McCain carried the state with 53.16% of the popular vote.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota
Obama still managed to significantly improve upon Kerry's performance from 4 years earlier. This is the last time a Democrat won more than 40% of the vote in South Dakota, the last time the victory margin was within single digits, and the last time the state voted to the left of Texas.


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


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota, Campaign, Polling
McCain won 2 pre-election poll, and never polled less than 47%. The highest Obama ever polled was 50%. The final 1 poll showed obama leading 50% to 42%.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $287,533 in the state. Barack Obama raised $337,053.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $639,435. McCain and his interest groups spent just $1,531. Obama didn't visit the state, as McCain visited the state once, in Sturgis, South Dakota.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota, Analysis
South Dakota, a predominantly Republican state, has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Lyndon B. Johnson won the state in the landslide election of 1964. A sparsely populated state with a rural and conservative lifestyle of many of the state's inhabitants, since then, the state has been won handily by the Republicans.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota, Analysis
McCain was able to keep South Dakota in the GOP column in 2008, taking in 53.16% of the total statewide vote over Obama who received 44.75%, an 8.41-percent margin of victory. This margin of victory was considerably smaller compared to 2004 when George W. Bush carried South Dakota with 59.91% of the vote over John Kerry who received 38.44%, a 21.47% margin of victory, resulting in a 13.06% swing to the Democrats in 2008.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota, Analysis
While McCain did well throughout the state, his main strength was in Western South Dakota, where he often won by landslide margins. He was able to carry Pennington County, South Dakota, which contains the state's second largest city of Rapid City. In contrast, Obama ran best in Eastern South Dakota, losing most counties by fairly close margins. He also did well among Native Americans; in Western South Dakota, the only counties Obama won were majority Native American.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota, Analysis
Obama was able to substantially improve upon John Kerry's showing in South Dakota in 2004 by a number of factors. First, it helped that South Dakota received media attention during the course of the 2008 Democratic Primary, being the last state to vote in the historic and contentious primary that gave Hillary Rodham Clinton an 11-point victory over Obama; it was Clinton's last victory in the primary. In the general election, Obama was able to cut the margin significantly by narrowly carrying Minnehaha County, which contains the state's largest city of Sioux Falls.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota, Analysis
He was also able to win Brown County, which contains Aberdeen, as well as Brookings County which contains Brookings, home of South Dakota State University. He did much better than Kerry in Eastern South Dakota, which is where most of the people live, but McCain's margins throughout the state were too large to overcome.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota, Analysis
During the same election, incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Johnson was soundly reelected over Republican State Senator Jim Dykstra by a two-to-one margin, receiving 62.49% of the vote to Dykstra's 37.51%. At the state level, Democrats made gains in the South Dakota Legislature, picking up four seats in the South Dakota House of Representatives.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Brown County, Lake County, Miner County, Minnehaha County, Moody County, and Brookings County voted for a Democratic presidential candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota, Results, By congressional district
South Dakota has only one congressional district because of its small population compared to other states. This district, called the At-Large district because it covers the entire state, is equivalent to the statewide election results.


2008 United States presidential election in South Dakota, Electors
Technically the voters of South Dakota cast their ballots for electors, representatives to the Electoral College. The state is allocated three electors because it has one congressional district and 2 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 the candidate's running mate. In the state's First Past the Post (plurality voting) system, the winner of a plurality 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 South Dakota, Electors
The electors of each state and the District of Columbia met on December 15, 2008, to cast their votes for president and vice president. The Electoral College itself never meets as one body. Instead the electors from each state and the District of Columbia met in their respective capitals.


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


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee
The 2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee 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 Tennessee
Republican John McCain defeated Democrat Barack Obama in the state by 15 percentage points. Prior to the election, 17 news organizations had correctly predicted that McCain would easily carry the state, and virtually all polling indicated the same. Most news organizations called Tennessee for McCain immediately after the polls closed. McCain slightly improved upon George W. Bush's performance in 2004, despite the nation as a whole trending significantly Democratic in 2008. This was the first time since 1960 that Tennessee did not back the overall winning candidate in a presidential election. It was also the most recent presidential election in which the Democratic candidate received more than 40% of the vote, and the last time that Jackson and Houston counties voted for a Democratic nominee.


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, 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 Tennessee, Campaign, Polling
McCain won every single pre-election poll, and each by a double-digit margin of victory. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading 55% to 40%.


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $2,941,065 in the state. Barack Obama raised $3,481,341.


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $518,659. The Republican ticket spent just $3,526. Obama visited the state once, going to Nashville. McCain visited the state twice, visiting Nashville and Blountville.


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, Analysis
Despite narrowly voting for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 when native son Al Gore was on the ticket as Vice President, the state, along with neighboring Arkansas has steadily been trending Republican since then. George W. Bush narrowly carried the state in 2000 over Tennessee native Gore and easily won in 2004 over John Kerry.


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, Analysis
A handful of Tennessean counties--including those that hadn't voted Republican since landslide victors Reagan or Nixon were on the ballot, swung dramatically Republican. For example, Grundy County, in southeastern Tennessee, broke 56%-42% for John Kerry in 2004, but wound up being swept by McCain 55%-42% this year. The state was one of five states that swung even more Republican in 2008 with John McCain soundly defeating Barack Obama in the Volunteer State. 2008 marked the first time since 1960 whereby the state was carried by the losing presidential candidate. A possible factor to Tennessee ironically swinging rightward--despite the national Democratic trend--could be the state favoring Hillary Clinton, former First Lady of neighboring Arkansas, over Barack Obama in the Democratic primary, as was the case in Arkansas itself.


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, Analysis
McCain won both East Tennessee and Middle Tennessee by landslide margins. Historically, East Tennessee, which is a part of Appalachia, is one of the few ancestrally Republican areas of the South. Most of its residents strongly opposed secession during the Civil War. They identified with the GOP after the return of peace and have remained in the Republican fold through good times and bad ever since. Some of the region's counties are among the few in the country to have never supported a Democrat for president.


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, Analysis
However, Middle Tennessee has Democratic roots based on liberal economic policies, most famously Franklin D. Roosevelt's Tennessee Valley Authority. Middle Tennessee voted strongly for Bill Clinton of neighboring Arkansas, but Middle Tennessee native Al Gore narrowly lost the region in 2000—a loss that ultimately cost him Tennessee, and the election. In contrast, it was one of the few regions in the country which voted more Republican than in 2004. This is largely due to a growing social conservative trend in the region, particularly in the Nashville suburbs; some of the most politically active churches in the state are located there.


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, Analysis
On the other hand, Barack Obama did improve relatively well upon John Kerry's performances in the traditionally Democratic cities of Nashville and Memphis. In the former, support amongst progressive whites led to a 3-2 victory for Obama in Davidson County. In Memphis, heavy African American turnout ensured him the largest margin in the state in Shelby County, although far from enough to outweigh his losses everywhere else in the state. McCain, however, carried the third- and fourth- most populated cities of Chattanooga in Hamilton County as well as Knoxville in Knox County.


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, Analysis
During the same election, at the state level, Republicans picked up four seats in the Tennessee House of Representatives and three seats in the Tennessee Senate to obtain control of both chambers of the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction.


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Houston County and Jackson County voted for the Democratic candidate and the last until 2020 where the Democratic candidate won over a million votes.


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, Results breakdown, By congressional district
John McCain swept the state and carried seven of the state's nine congressional districts, including three districts held by Democrats. Barack Obama carried the state's two congressional districts anchored by the two largest cities of Memphis and Nashville.


2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee, Electors
Technically the voters of Tennessee cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Tennessee 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 Tennessee, 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 Tennessee, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 11 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Texas
The 2008 United States presidential election in Texas took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 34 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas
Texas was won by Republican nominee John McCain by an 11.8% margin of victory despite "failing to deliver written certification of their nominations" on time to appear on the ballot. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee and eventual President, made a similar error. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise a red state. Although the state is very diverse and has a huge Latino population, Latinos in Texas, despite being fairly Democratic, make up only 20% of the electorate. Polling throughout the state showed McCain consistently and substantially leading Obama.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas
On Election Day, McCain won the state, although his margin was significantly less than that of native son George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. This was the first election since 1996 in which the margin of victory was less than one million votes. Regardless, with its 34 electoral votes, Texas was the largest prize for McCain in 2008.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last time the Democratic candidate won Brewster County and the last in which Kenedy County voted for the winning candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas, 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 Texas, Campaign, Polling
McCain won every single pre-election poll. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading 52% to 41%.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $9,917,565. McCain and his interest groups spent $33,983. Both campaigns visited the state twice.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas, Analysis
Texas, split between the south and southwest regions, has become a consistently Republican state at all levels and is the home state of then President George W. Bush. Economically and racially diverse, Texas includes a huge swath of the Bible Belt where many voters, especially those in rural Texas, identify as born-again or evangelical Christians and therefore tend to vote Republican due to the party's opposition to abortion and gay marriage. Although once part of the Solid South, the last time Texas voted for a Democratic presidential nominee was Jimmy Carter in 1976.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas, Analysis
McCain did well throughout the state, winning the vast majority of counties by double digits. He took practically every county in Eastern Texas - large regions of which once voted Democratic. All the suburbs of the major cities voted Republican by large margins. He also dominated the Texas Panhandle (including Amarillo), the Permian Basin (including Midland and Odessa) and the South Plains (including Lubbock), three of the most conservative regions in the country. He won these three regions by margins of three-to-one—his largest margin of victory in the entire country.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas, Analysis
These areas had been among the first in Texas where the old-line conservative Democrats started splitting their tickets and voting Republican nationally; some counties in this region haven't supported a Democrat since Harry S. Truman in 1948. King County, a thinly populated county in the Panhandle, gave McCain 92.64% of the vote to Obama's 4.91%--McCain's biggest margin in any county in the nation.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas, Analysis
Despite the expected loss, Obama improved substantially upon John Kerry's performance in 2004, narrowing the margin of victory from 22.83% down to 11.77%. He was able to flip major urban counties such as Dallas, Bexar and Harris counties—home to the cities of Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston respectively. Dallas and Harris had been among the first areas of the state to turn Republican, largely due to an influx of Northern expatriates in the 1940s and 1950s. Neither county had supported a Democrat for president since 1964. Bexar had last gone Democratic in 1996.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas, Analysis
Liberal whites and Hispanic voters in Dallas combined with heavy turnout of African Americans in Houston, and Hispanic turnout in San Antonio helped give Obama the edge and carry these three counties. Obama also performed strongly in Travis County, which contains the state capital of Austin. Obama also carried El Paso County, which contains the city of El Paso, due in large part to heavy support by Hispanics. Obama also carried many of the Latino-majority counties in the Rio Grande Valley along the border with Mexico, which have strongly supported Democrats for decades. Although Obama lost the rural Tarrant county, he did well in the southern and eastern parts of Fort Worth and the eastern part of Arlington.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas, Analysis
During the same election, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn was reelected with 54.82% and defeated Democrat Rick Noriega who took in 42.84%. Libertarian Yvonne Adams Schick received the remaining 2.34%. Republicans also knocked off a Democratic incumbent from Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives. At the state level, however, Democrats picked up three seats in the Texas House of Representatives and one seat in the Texas Senate.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas, Results breakdown, By congressional district
John McCain carried 21 of the state's 32 congressional districts, including one district held by a Democrat.


2008 United States presidential election in Texas, Electors
Technically the voters of Texas cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Texas is allocated 34 electors because it has 32 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 34 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 34 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 Texas, 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 Texas, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 34 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


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


2008 United States presidential election in Utah
Utah was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 28.02% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Highlighting its status as a GOP bastion, the Beehive State gave McCain one of his largest victories over Democrat Barack Obama, a near two-to-one margin. Obama did, however, manage to carry three counties, and he greatly improved on John Kerry's performance in 2004.


2008 United States presidential election in Utah, 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 Utah, Campaign, Polling
McCain won every pre-election poll conducted in this state, each with a double-digit margin and with at least 55% of the vote. The final three-poll average showed McCain leading 59% to 31%.


2008 United States presidential election in Utah, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $1,165,621 in the state. Barack Obama raised $2,121,563.


2008 United States presidential election in Utah, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama spent $297,645. McCain spent just $250. Neither campaign visited the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Utah, Analysis
Utah is a heavily Republican state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide in 1964, and even then the margin of victory was small. Johnson is also the last Democrat to manage even 40 percent of Utah's popular vote. The majority of the state's population is Mormon and highly conservative, especially on social issues. Utah gave George W. Bush his largest margin of victory in 2004 over John Kerry, as Bush received over 71 percent to Kerry's 26 percent and carried every county in the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Utah, Analysis
With 62.15 percent of the popular vote, Utah proved to be McCain's third strongest state in the 2008 election after Oklahoma and neighboring Wyoming.


2008 United States presidential election in Utah, Analysis
Although McCain easily won Utah in 2008, Obama did very well for a Democrat in this Republican stronghold. Obama was able to reduce McCain's margin of victory by narrowly winning Salt Lake County, the state's most populous county that contains the state capital of Salt Lake City, by a mere 296 votes–the first time a Democrat had carried that county since 1964. Obama also carried Summit and Grand counties, both of which have significantly lower Mormon populations than the rest of the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Utah, Analysis
Election 2008 proved to be remarkable as it was a Democratic presidential nominee's best showing in the Beehive State since 1968. In substantially Native American and non-Mormon – but historically heavily Republican – San Juan County, Obama’s performance was the best by a Democratic presidential candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940.


2008 United States presidential election in Utah, Analysis
During the same election, popular incumbent Republican Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. was reelected to a second term in a massive landslide victory, taking in 77.74 percent of the vote over Democrat Bob Springmeyer's 19.65 percent and Libertarian Dell Schanze's 2.62 percent. At the state level, however, Democrats did manage to pick up two seats in the Utah House of Representatives.


2008 United States presidential election in Utah, Results, By congressional district
John McCain swept all three of the state's congressional districts.


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


2008 United States presidential election in Utah, 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 Utah, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 5 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Vermont
The 2008 United States presidential election in Vermont took place on November 4, 2008, concurrent with the federal election in all 50 states and D.C., which 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 Vermont
Vermont was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama with 67.46%, to Republican John McCain's 30.45%, a Democratic victory margin of 37.01%.


2008 United States presidential election in Vermont
Obama carried every county by more than 60% of the vote with the exception of Essex County, which he won with 56%. He also broke 70% in 3 counties.


2008 United States presidential election in Vermont
A very liberal Northeastern state, Vermont was the second most Democratic state in the nation, weighing in as a whopping 30% more Democratic than the national average in the 2008 election.


2008 United States presidential election in Vermont
Obama's landslide win in Vermont outperformed Lyndon Johnson's 1964 Democratic landslide in the state, making the results of 2008 the strongest Democratic victory in Vermont's history.


2008 United States presidential election in Vermont, 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 Vermont, Campaign, Polling
Obama won every single pre-election poll, and each with a double-digit margin of victory. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 59% to 35%.


2008 United States presidential election in Vermont, Campaign, Fundraising
Obama raised a total of $2,071,271 in the state. McCain raised $206,395.


2008 United States presidential election in Vermont, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Neither campaign spent any money on advertising in Vermont. Neither campaign visited the state.


2008 United States presidential election in Vermont, Analysis
Vermont was once the quintessential Yankee Republican state. It identified with the newly formed GOP in 1856 and remained in the Republican fold for over 130 years. From 1856 to 1988, it only voted for a Democrat once, in Lyndon Johnson's 44-state landslide of 1964. Vermont and Maine were the only states that Franklin D. Roosevelt didn't carry in any of his four elections.


2008 United States presidential election in Vermont, Analysis
However, the brand of Republicanism practiced in the Green Mountain State has historically been a moderate one. Coupled with an influx of more liberal newcomers from out of state, this made Vermont considerably friendlier to Democrats as the national GOP moved further to the right. After narrowly supporting George H. W. Bush in 1988, Vermont gave Bill Clinton a 16-point margin in 1992. Republicans have not seriously contested the state since then, and Vermont is now reckoned as part of a bloc of solidly blue states spanning most of the Northeast.


2008 United States presidential election in Vermont, Analysis
The 2008 race kept this tradition going. Obama won with 67% of the vote to McCain's 30%. The state was called for Obama almost as soon as the polls closed, and was the first state called for Obama.


2008 United States presidential election in Vermont, Analysis
Vermont was Obama's second-best state and his best in the contiguous 48 states; only topped by the staggering 71% he received in Hawaii, the state where he was born. The Obama-Biden ticket won every county in the state, including several north eastern counties which had a history of voting Republican. Obama also performed better than John Kerry in every county. As a measure of how Republican Vermont once was, George W. Bush was at the time the only Republican to win the White House without carrying Vermont.


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


2008 United States presidential election in Vermont, 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 Vermont, Electors
The following were elected at large as members of the Electoral College from the state. All three were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia
The 2008 United States presidential election in Virginia took place on November 4, 2008, which was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 13 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia
Virginia was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama by a 6.3% margin of victory. Prior to the election, 16 of 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise a blue state, despite the fact that Virginia was initially a formerly red swing state that both campaigns targeted heavily in 2008. The financial meltdown, changing demographics, and population increases in voter-rich Northern Virginia helped make the state more competitive for Obama. It was the first time Virginia voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Lyndon B. Johnson's victory in 1964. However, it marked a powerful shift in the political climate in Virginia, as the state would go on to vote for the Democratic presidential nominee in every election thereafter.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia
This also marked the first presidential election since 1924 in which Virginia voted for the Democratic presidential candidate whilst neighboring West Virginia voted for the Republican presidential candidate, and in every election since, both states have voted for those respective parties. As of 2020, this is also the last time Virginia voted more Republican than the nation as a whole.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Campaign
Virginia was one of the first Southern states to break away from its traditional Democratic roots. It voted for Dwight Eisenhower by a convincing margin in 1952, and voted for every Republican nominee since then save for Johnson's massive landslide in 1964.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Campaign
However, the Democrats have made strong gains in the past years with winning two gubernatorial races in a row, regaining control of the Virginia Senate, and electing Democrat Jim Webb to the U.S. Senate in the Democratic wave of the 2006 midterms over incumbent Republican George Allen. Democrats have been able to make such gains in Virginia due in large part to the ever-expanding Northern Virginia, particularly the suburbs surrounding Washington, D.C. Historically, this area had been strongly Republican. However, in recent years it has been dominated by white liberals who tend to vote Democratic. It was, ultimately, this rapid demographic change that provided a huge new influx of Democratic voters to Virginia.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Campaign
Both presidential campaigns and the mainstream media treated Virginia as a swing state for most of the campaign. Obama campaigned extensively in Virginia and counted on the booming northern parts of the state for a Democratic victory. Victory for McCain would have been extremely difficult without Virginia; he would have had to win every swing state as well as at least one Democratic-leaning state.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, 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 Virginia, Campaign, Polling
After McCain clinched the Republican Party nomination in early March, he took a wide lead in polls against Obama, averaging almost 50%. But through the summer, polling was nearly dead even, with McCain only slightly leading Obama. After the Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, Obama took a wide lead in the polls. In October, Obama won every single poll taken but one, and reached over 50% in most of them. The final three polls averaged Obama leading 51% to 46%.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Campaign, Spending and visits
Obama spent over $26 million to McCain spending just $14 million. The Obama-Biden ticket visited the state 19 times compared to just 10 times for McCain-Palin.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Analysis
On Election Day, early returns showed McCain ahead. This was due in large part to the fact that many of the rural areas began to report first. However, Obama swamped McCain by scoring a near-sweep in Northern Virginia, which reported its returns last.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Analysis
Obama did extremely well throughout the most populous regions of the state. Northern Virginia overwhelmingly supported Obama. Fairfax County and Arlington counties, traditionally the most Democratic counties in the region, gave Obama over 60% of the vote. Moreover, Loudoun and Prince William counties, normally the more conservative counties in the region, voted Democratic for the first time since LBJ's 1964 landslide.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Analysis
The two other major metropolitan areas in the eastern part of the state, Richmond and Hampton Roads, are somewhat less Democratic than Northern Virginia. In both areas, Obama improved significantly on John Kerry's performance. While Obama easily won Richmond itself (which is 57% African American), he also made significant inroads into Richmond's traditionally heavily Republican suburbs. He carried Henrico County with 57% of the vote; that county last supported a Democrat with Harry S. Truman in 1948. In Chesterfield County, Obama did almost 20 points better than Kerry. Both counties have historically been strongly Republican, although Henrico is something of a swing county at state-level elections.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Analysis
Obama also did very well in Hampton Roads. The four Democratic-leaning cities along the harbor - Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, and Portsmouth - gave him margins exceeding 60%. Obama also split the Republican-leaning cities of Chesapeake and Virginia Beach; he barely won the former and barely lost the latter. Obama's strong performance in the area likely contributed to Democrat Glenn Nye unseating two-term Republican incumbent Thelma Drake in the 2nd Congressional District, a heavy military district which includes all of Virginia Beach and large portions of Norfolk and Hampton.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Analysis
Obama also significantly outperformed Kerry in Western Virginia, an area where the national Democratic Party has historically not done well. Danville and Roanoke, usually the most Democratic cities in this region, gave him moderate support. He also had a major breakthrough in the Shenandoah Valley, historically one of the most Republican areas of the state. He won Harrisonburg, the largest city in the region, with a resounding 57% of the vote. He also won the second-largest city in the area, Staunton, albeit more narrowly. The Shenandoah Valley had been among the first regions of the state to turn Republican. The old Byrd Democrats in this region started splitting their tickets as early as the 1930s, and some counties in this region haven't supported a Democrat since Franklin D. Roosevelt. Several rural counties in Eastern Virginia with high African-American populations voted for Obama as well.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Analysis
In contrast to Obama, McCain did well throughout rural Virginia. He won the vast majority of its counties. In the part of Virginia protruding out west, Obama ran roughly even with Kerry, even though he comfortably won the election and Kerry lost. This area, save for one county and a few small towns, uniformly supported McCain. In addition, a number of unionized, Appalachian counties located next to Kentucky voted Republican; they had cast strong ballots for Bill Clinton. This was not surprising as this part of Virginia is a part of Appalachia, a region in which Obama consistently struggled during the course of the Democratic primary.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Analysis
The Republican base in Virginia consists of the state's traditional Republican heartland in the Blue Ridge Mountains, social conservatives in the Shenandoah Valley and suburbanites in the east. McCain closely matched George W. Bush's numbers among the first group and only did slightly worse than Bush amongst the second group. However, in 2008, suburbanites in Northern Virginia and in the Richmond/Hampton Roads areas abandoned the Republican Party in droves, and it was simply impossible for McCain to win the state without their support.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Analysis
During the same election, former Democratic Governor Mark Warner solidly defeated former Governor (and his predecessor) Republican Jim Gilmore by a two-to-one margin for the open U.S. Senate seat vacated by incumbent Republican John Warner (no relation to Mark Warner). Warner received 65.03% of the vote while Gilmore took in 33.73%. Warner won all but five counties in the state. Democrats also picked up three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. At the state level, Democrats picked up one seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Analysis
Despite Obama's victory, Virginia's margin was 0.97% more Republican than the national average, though it would be the last time Virginia voted more Republican than the nation. As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which King and Queen County voted for the Democratic candidate.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Results breakdown, By congressional district
Barack Obama carried 6 of the state's 11 congressional districts, including four districts held by Republicans at the time of the election. John McCain carried five districts, one of which was held by Democrats on election day.


2008 United States presidential election in Virginia, Electors
Technically the voters of Virginia cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Virginia is allocated 13 electors because it has 11 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 13 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 13 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 Virginia, 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 Virginia, Electors
The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 13 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state)
The 2008 United States presidential election in Washington 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 Washington (state)
The State of Washington was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama by a 17.1% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. No Republican presidential nominee had won the State of Washington since Ronald Reagan won the state in 1984. Continuing on that trend, Washington stayed in the Democratic column as Obama carried the state with over 57% of the vote.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Democratic primary
The Democratic caucuses were a series of events held by the Washington State Democratic Party to determine the delegates that the Party sent to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Delegates were selected in a four-tier process that began with precinct caucuses, was further refined in legislative district caucuses and/or county conventions, concluded for some delegates in the congressional district caucuses, and finally concluded for the remaining delegates at the state convention.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Democratic primary
Washington also held a Democratic primary on February 19, 2008, but the Washington State Democratic Party did not use the results of the primary to determine its delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Democratic primary, Delegate breakdown
The Washington State Democratic Party sent a total of 97 delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Of those delegates, 78 were pledged and 19 were unpledged. The 78 pledged delegates were allocated (pledged) to vote for a particular candidate at the National Convention according to the results of Washington's four-step caucus process. The 19 unpledged delegates were popularly called "superdelegates" because their vote represented their personal decisions, whereas the regular delegates' votes represented the collective decision of many voters. The superdelegates were free to vote for any candidate at the National Convention and were selected by the Washington State Democratic Party's officials and the pledged delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Democratic primary, Delegate breakdown
The 78 pledged delegates were further divided into 51 district delegates and 27 statewide delegates. The 51 district delegates were divided among Washington's 9 Congressional Districts and were allocated to the presidential candidates based on the caucus results in each District. The 27 statewide delegates were divided into 17 at-large delegates and 10 Party Leaders and Elected Officials (abbreviated PLEOs). They were allocated to the presidential candidates at the State Convention based on the preference of the 51 district delegates on June 13–15.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Democratic primary, Delegate breakdown
Of the 19 unpledged delegates, 17 were selected in advance and 2 were selected at the State Convention. The delegates selected in advance were 7 Democratic National Committee members, the 2 Democratic U.S. Senators from Washington, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, the 6 Democratic U.S. Representatives from Washington, and the Democratic Governor of Washington, Christine Gregoire.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Democratic primary, Delegate selection process, Precinct caucuses
The precinct caucuses took place on February 9, 2008. Washington's two senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, endorsed Senator Hillary Clinton earlier in the nomination season. The week before the caucuses, Washington's governor, Christine Gregoire, endorsed Senator Barack Obama.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Democratic primary, Delegate selection process, Precinct caucuses
The caucuses were open to all voters who would be 18 years old by November 4, 2008. To vote, participants completed a form with their contact information and candidate preference. The form also asked voters to sign an oath stating: "I declare that I consider myself to be a DEMOCRAT and I will not participate in the nomination process of any other political party for the 2008 Presidential election." In some caucus groups, members split into smaller groups according to the candidate they supported.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Democratic primary, Delegate selection process, Precinct caucuses
Voters supporting non-viable candidates had the option of moving into viable groups, and voters in viable groups could change their preference. Unlike other state Democratic Party caucuses, Washington does not require a 15% threshold for allocation of delegates at the precinct level. Rules state that any fractional delegates remaining are awarded to the candidate with the most votes that do not have delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Democratic primary, Delegate selection process, Legislative District caucuses and County conventions
The second tier of the delegate selection process involved choosing 2,000 Legislative District delegates (and 1,000 alternates) to send to the Congressional District conventions on May 17 and the State Convention on June 13–15. There are 49 Legislative Districts in Washington State. Each district was allocated a certain number of delegates. Delegates were elected at either Legislative District caucuses or County conventions. Each of Washington's 39 counties has a local Democratic Party organization that determined the event at which delegate selection would take place. Most counties chose to select delegates at Legislative District caucuses on April 5. The remaining counties selected delegates at sub-caucuses during their County Conventions, most of which were held on either April 12 or April 19. The breakdown of events by date is listed below.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Democratic primary, Delegate selection process, Congressional district caucuses
Fifty-one delegates were chosen at the nine congressional district caucuses. Each district was allotted a different number of delegates:


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Democratic primary, Delegate selection process, State convention
Twenty-nine delegates were chosen at the state convention, twenty-seven of which were pledged to vote for a particular candidate. Seventeen of these pledged delegates were "at-large" delegates that did not represent a specific Washington congressional district, and ten were party leaders and elected officials (PLEOs).


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Democratic primary, Results, Primary
The Washington State Democratic Party did not use the results of the primary to determine its delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Republican caucuses and primary
The Republican caucuses were held on Saturday February 9 and the primary on February 19, 2008, to compete 40 total delegates, of which 18 tied to the caucuses, 19 tied to the primary, and 3 unpledged RNC member delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Republican caucuses and primary, Candidates
All following candidates appeared on the ballot for voters in Washington:


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Republican caucuses and primary, Caucuses
Voting in Washington's caucuses closed at 9:00 pm EST February 9.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Republican caucuses and primary, Caucuses
The Washington Republican Party declared John McCain the winner on the night of the election, after 87% of the votes were counted. Mike Huckabee disputed the results and accused the state party of calling the election prematurely. He demanded a statewide caucus recount. However, by Tuesday, February 12, the Washington Republicans again declared McCain the winner after 96% of the votes were tallied, and never counted the rest of the votes.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Republican caucuses and primary, Money raised
The following table shows the amount of money each Republican Party candidate raised in the state of Washington.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Campaign, Predictions
Since February 28, Obama won every pre-election poll. Since September 22, he won each poll with a double-digit margin of victory. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 54% to 40%.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Campaign, Fundraising
McCain raised a total of $2,697,999 in the state. Obama raised $16,518,208.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $312,869. McCain and his interest groups spent just $2,264. The Democratic ticket visited the state once, while the Republican ticket did not visit at all.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Analysis
Washington once leaned Republican, like most of the Pacific Northwest. From 1952 to 1984, it only went Democratic twice—in 1964 and 1968. However, it has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in every presidential election since 1988. Neither candidate seriously contested the state as it was viewed as a safe blue state. Like Oregon, the state is divided politically by the urban/rural divide and geographically by the Cascade Mountains. The two are related in that nearly all of the major cities lie west of the Cascades.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Analysis
Most of the state's population resides in Western Washington along the Pacific Coast and in highly urbanized areas like Seattle. The Seattle area, home to almost two-thirds of the state's population, is overwhelmingly Democratic. The rest of Western Washington leans Democratic as well, though the lean is not as pronounced as in the greater Seattle area. In contrast, Eastern Washington is very rural, and in many ways more similar to Idaho than Seattle. Republicans have had an edge here for many years, in part to its strong tinge of social conservatism. As a result, while Republicans typically win more counties, the overwhelming Democratic trend in the more-heavily populated western portion is enough to swing the whole state to the Democrats.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Analysis
On Election Day, Obama won the state by 17.18%. He swept the more urban counties along the Western Seaboard, which compose the Democratic base. More than two-thirds of the state's population lives in this area; this makes it very difficult for a Republican to win the state because of this region's liberal tilt. Obama would have been assured a victory in any event due to his performance in the Seattle area.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Analysis
He carried King County, home to Seattle itself and its close suburbs and just over a third of the state's population, with 69.97 percent of the vote—almost three-fifths of his statewide majority. Obama also swept the two other big counties in Western Washington, Pierce (home to Tacoma) and Snohomish (home to Everett) by decisive margins. His combined majority in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties would have been more than enough to carry the state. McCain only won one county in the western part of the state, Lewis County, traditionally the most socially conservative county west of the Cascades.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Analysis
On the other hand, McCain did extremely well in Eastern Washington. Neither Al Gore or John Kerry was able to take a single county in Eastern Washington; in 2008, Obama only won one small county, Whitman County, home to Washington State University in Pullman. Nevertheless, as with Oregon, McCain's margins in the eastern part of the state were far outweighed by Obama's landslides in the more populated coastal regions and cities in the western part of the state. Obama did, however, improve substantially in Eastern Washington, especially in the region's largest county, Spokane County, home to the city of Spokane.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Analysis
During the same election, incumbent Democratic Governor Christine Gregoire was reelected to a second term with 53.24% of the vote over Republican Dino Rossi who took 46.76% in a rematch of their controversial race from four years earlier. At the state level, Democrats picked up one seat in the Washington House of Representatives while Republicans picked up a seat in the Washington Senate.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Analysis
As of the 2020 presidential election, this is the last election in which Skamania County, Klickitat County, and Wahkiakum County voted for the Democratic candidate. This is also the last time the Democrat carried more counties than the Republican.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Results, By congressional district
Barack Obama carried seven of the state's nine congressional districts, including one district held by a Republican.


2008 United States presidential election in Washington (state), Electors
Technically the voters of Washington cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Washington 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 Washington (state), 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 Washington (state), 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 West Virginia
The 2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 5 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia
West Virginia was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 13.1% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Despite its past voting record of heavily favoring Democratic presidential nominees, the state has lately been trending more Republican in presidential elections. As expected, McCain defeated Obama in the Mountain State.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Obama was also the first Democratic presidential nominee since Woodrow Wilson in 1916 to win the nationwide presidential election without carrying West Virginia, and in that election Wilson had managed to win a single electoral vote, making Obama the first Democrat to win without carrying any electoral votes from the state. Obama also became the first Democrat since 1928 to lose Logan County, a strongly unionized coal-dependent county that was the only county in West Virginia to George McGovern in his landslide 1972 loss.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia
Despite Barack Obama's loss in the state, he is the most recent Democrat as of 2021 to win any of its counties in a presidential election, namely Boone County, Braxton County, Jefferson County, Marion County, McDowell County, Monongalia County, and Webster County. This also marked the first presidential election since 1924 in which West Virginia voted for the Republican presidential candidate whilst neighboring Virginia voted for the Democratic presidential candidate. This is also the most recent presidential election in which the Democratic candidate received more than 40% of the vote in West Virginia. West Virginia was one of five states where Obama underperformed Kerry, the others being Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia
As of 2020, this is the last time West Virginia voted to the left of Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Kansas or Nebraska.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, 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 West Virginia, Campaign, Polling
McCain won 16 of 17 pre-election polls. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading 53% to 41%.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Campaign, Fundraising
John McCain raised a total of $291,184 in the state. Barack Obama raised $713,231.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Campaign, Advertising and visits
Obama and his interest groups spent $1,437,178. McCain and his interest groups spent $1,920,720. Each ticket visited the state once.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
More than any other state, West Virginia highlighted Obama's trouble in Appalachian America. It swung heavily to the Democrats during the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt and remained reliably Democratic for most of the next 68 years. During that time, it only voted Republican three times, all in national Republican landslides--1956, 1972 and 1984. It often voted for Democrats (such as Jimmy Carter and Michael Dukakis) who went on to big national defeats. This was largely due to its blue-collar, heavily unionized workers, especially coal miners, who favored Democratic economic policy.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
Starting in the days of Al Gore, however, the state's voters became more concerned with the national Democratic Party's perceived hostility toward the coal industry, which is a core part of the West Virginia economy. As a result, the state has been trending Republican in national elections.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
As the 2008 Financial Crisis progressed into September, on the national scale Obama led often by double-digits and was gaining ground in almost every region outside the Deep South, in fact the trend was reversed in West Virginia as many Clinton supporters during the Democratic Primary began to support John McCain over Obama.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
Advancing into the general election, McCain was largely expected to receive the state's five electoral votes. Since polling in the state prior to the election showed a nearly double-digit lead in favor of McCain, neither presidential nominee campaigned heavily in the state. Not surprisingly, though, every poll out of West Virginia showed McCain defeating Barack Obama in West Virginia, sometimes by double digits.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
On Election Day, McCain won West Virginia by 13.09 points while losing nationwide and Solidifying the states' Status as a "Safe Republican" or "Safe Red" State. McCain did well throughout the state, losing only a handful of counties. While his margins were best in the more conservative northern part of the state, he also improved significantly in Southern West Virginia. This coal-mining, union-heavy region was one of the most heavily Democratic places in the nation; Logan County, for example, cast 72% of its ballot for Bill Clinton. In 2008, however, John McCain won the county by double digits, becoming the first Republican to win it since Herbert Hoover in 1928.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
On the other hand, Barack Obama did make gains in the area between Maryland and Virginia, counties which are a part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. Obama also ran close in Central West Virginia (the counties around the capital Charleston).


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
Despite the recent Republican success nationally, Democrats still dominated at the state and local level. After Election 2008, Democrats held the governorship and every statewide office, two out of the state's three congressional districts in the U.S. House of Representatives, both U.S. Senate seats and supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
However, the Democratic Party's dominance of West Virginia has significantly waned in recent years; in the 2014 elections, the West Virginia Republican Party made major gains in West Virginia, capturing one of its two Senate seats, all of its congressional House seats for the first time since 1921, and gained control of both the West Virginia House of Delegates and the West Virginia Senate for the first time in 80 years.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Analysis
During the same election, popular incumbent Democratic Governor Joe Manchin III was soundly reelected to a second term with 69.79% of the vote over Republican Russ Weeks who took in 25.75% while Jesse Johnson of the Mountain Party received 4.46%. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller IV was also soundly reelected with 63.71% of the vote over Republican Jay Wolfe who took in 36.27%. At the state level, Democrats picked up three seats in the West Virginia Senate while Republicans picked up one seat in the West Virginia House of Delegates.


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, Results breakdown, By congressional District
John McCain swept all three of the state’s three congressional districts, including the two districts held by Democrats.


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


2008 United States presidential election in West Virginia, 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 West Virginia, Electors
All 5 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:


2008 United States presidential election in Wisconsin
The 2008 United States presidential election in Wisconsin took place on November 4, 2008, as part of the 2008 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. State voters chose 10 electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote pitting Democratic U.S. Senator from Illinois Barack Obama, and his running mate U.S. Senator from Delaware Joe Biden, against Republican challenger and U.S. Senator from Arizona John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.