2008 Presidential Election
November 4, 2008 · The Post-Cold-War Era · 538 electoral votes, 270 to win
Obama's coalition of the young, minorities and the college-educated delivered the first Black presidency and the biggest Democratic win since 1964, amid financial collapse. Turnout hit its highest mark in forty years.
Elected
Barack Obama
Democratic
Electoral vote
365 of 538
Popular vote
52.9%
69,498,516 votes
Turnout
61.6%
VEP 61.6% · VAP 58.3%
The result
| EV share | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barack Obama | Democratic | Joe Biden | 365 | 69,498,516 | 52.90% | 32 | |
| John McCain | Republican | Sarah Palin | 173 | 59,948,323 | 45.70% | 24 | |
| Ralph Nader | Independent | Matt Gonzalez | — | 739,034 | 0.56% | — | |
| Bob Barr | Libertarian | Wayne Allyn Root | — | 523,715 | 0.40% | — | |
| Chuck Baldwin | Constitution | Darrell Castle | — | 199,750 | 0.15% | — | |
| Cynthia McKinney | Green | Rosa Clemente | — | 161,797 | 0.12% | — |
131,071,135 votes recorded for the candidates listed.
Results by state
| Alabama | John McCain | 60.3% | 9 | Barack Obama · 38.7% |
| Alaska | John McCain | 59.4% | 3 | Barack Obama · 37.9% |
| Arizona | John McCain | 53.6% | 10 | Barack Obama · 45.1% |
| Arkansas | John McCain | 58.7% | 6 | Barack Obama · 38.9% |
| California | Barack Obama | 61.0% | 55 | John McCain · 37.0% |
| Colorado | Barack Obama | 53.7% | 9 | John McCain · 44.7% |
| Connecticut | Barack Obama | 60.6% | 7 | John McCain · 38.2% |
| Delaware | Barack Obama | 61.9% | 3 | John McCain · 37.0% |
| District of Columbia | Barack Obama | 92.5% | 3 | John McCain · 6.5% |
| Florida | Barack Obama | 51.0% | 27 | John McCain · 48.2% |
| Georgia | John McCain | 52.2% | 15 | Barack Obama · 47.0% |
| Hawaii | Barack Obama | 71.8% | 4 | John McCain · 26.6% |
| Idaho | John McCain | 61.5% | 4 | Barack Obama · 36.1% |
| Illinois | Barack Obama | 61.9% | 21 | John McCain · 36.8% |
| Indiana | Barack Obama | 50.0% | 11 | John McCain · 48.9% |
| Iowa | Barack Obama | 53.9% | 7 | John McCain · 44.4% |
| Kansas | John McCain | 56.6% | 6 | Barack Obama · 41.6% |
| Kentucky | John McCain | 57.4% | 8 | Barack Obama · 41.2% |
| Louisiana | John McCain | 58.6% | 9 | Barack Obama · 39.9% |
| Maine | Barack Obama | 57.7% | 2 | John McCain · 40.4% |
| Maine's 1st | Barack Obama | 60.5% | 1 | John McCain · 37.7% |
| Maine's 2nd | Barack Obama | 54.6% | 1 | John McCain · 43.4% |
| Maryland | Barack Obama | 61.9% | 10 | John McCain · 36.5% |
| Massachusetts | Barack Obama | 61.8% | 12 | John McCain · 36.0% |
| Michigan | Barack Obama | 57.4% | 17 | John McCain · 41.0% |
| Minnesota | Barack Obama | 54.1% | 10 | John McCain · 43.8% |
| Mississippi | John McCain | 56.2% | 6 | Barack Obama · 43.0% |
| Missouri | John McCain | 49.4% | 11 | Barack Obama · 49.3% |
| Montana | John McCain | 49.5% | 3 | Barack Obama · 47.3% |
| Nebraska | John McCain | 56.5% | 2 | Barack Obama · 41.6% |
| Nebraska's 1st | John McCain | 54.1% | 1 | Barack Obama · 44.3% |
| Nebraska's 2nd | Barack Obama | 50.0% | 1 | John McCain · 48.8% |
| Nebraska's 3rd | John McCain | 68.6% | 1 | Barack Obama · 29.6% |
| Nevada | Barack Obama | 55.1% | 5 | John McCain · 42.6% |
| New Hampshire | Barack Obama | 54.1% | 4 | John McCain · 44.5% |
| New Jersey | Barack Obama | 57.3% | 15 | John McCain · 41.7% |
| New Mexico | Barack Obama | 56.9% | 5 | John McCain · 41.8% |
| New York | Barack Obama | 62.9% | 31 | John McCain · 36.0% |
| North Carolina | Barack Obama | 49.7% | 15 | John McCain · 49.4% |
| North Dakota | John McCain | 53.3% | 3 | Barack Obama · 44.6% |
| Ohio | Barack Obama | 51.5% | 20 | John McCain · 46.9% |
| Oklahoma | John McCain | 65.7% | 7 | Barack Obama · 34.4% |
| Oregon | Barack Obama | 56.8% | 7 | John McCain · 40.4% |
| Pennsylvania | Barack Obama | 54.5% | 21 | John McCain · 44.2% |
| Rhode Island | Barack Obama | 62.9% | 4 | John McCain · 35.1% |
| South Carolina | John McCain | 53.9% | 8 | Barack Obama · 44.9% |
| South Dakota | John McCain | 53.2% | 3 | Barack Obama · 44.8% |
| Tennessee | John McCain | 56.9% | 11 | Barack Obama · 41.8% |
| Texas | John McCain | 55.5% | 34 | Barack Obama · 43.7% |
| Utah | John McCain | 62.6% | 5 | Barack Obama · 34.4% |
| Vermont | Barack Obama | 67.5% | 3 | John McCain · 30.4% |
| Virginia | Barack Obama | 52.6% | 13 | John McCain · 46.3% |
| Washington | Barack Obama | 57.6% | 11 | John McCain · 40.5% |
| West Virginia | John McCain | 55.7% | 5 | Barack Obama · 42.6% |
| Wisconsin | Barack Obama | 56.2% | 10 | John McCain · 42.3% |
| Wyoming | John McCain | 64.8% | 3 | Barack Obama · 32.5% |
The Congress it seated
111th Congress
2009–2011
Unified government
Senate
56–40
Democratic vs Republican · 2 others
House
257–178
Democratic vs Republican