Tuesday, November 4, 2008
2008 presidential election results
Barack Obama (Democratic) and running mate Joseph Biden won with 365 electoral votes and 52.9% of the popular vote.
Tipping-point state: Iowa, D+9.5 (nation D+7.2). It delivered electoral vote number 270 for the winner. What is a tipping-point state?
| Candidate | Running mate | Party | Electoral votes | Popular vote | Share | States won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barack Obama Won | Joseph Biden | Democratic | 365 | 69,456,897 | 52.90% | 29 |
| John McCain | Sarah Palin | Republican | 173 | 59,934,814 | 45.70% | 22 |
| Total popular votes counted | 131,278,107 | |||||
Electoral College map
Full-screen mapMargin:<55–1010–2020+points. Grey: no popular vote / no data.
Nebraska uses a split system for allocating electoral votes. The state allocates one electoral vote to the winner of each of the state's three congressional districts, and the remaing two to the candidate who wins a plurality of the entire state's popular vote. Barack Obama won a plurality in the 2nd congressional district (Omaha), and therefore was awarded one of the state's five electoral votes. John McCain won a plurality in the 1st and 3rd districts, as well as the overall state vote and therefore was awarded four electoral votes. Maine is the only other state that uses a split system.
Results by state
Download CSV| State | Barack Obama | John McCain | Margin | EV | Total votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 38.7% | 60.3% 9 | 21.6 | 9 | 2,099,819 |
| Alaska | 37.9% | 59.4% 3 | 21.5 | 3 | 326,197 |
| Arizona | 45.1% | 53.6% 10 | 8.5 | 10 | 2,293,475 |
| Arkansas | 38.9% | 58.7% 6 | 19.9 | 6 | 1,086,617 |
| California | 61.0% 55 | 37.0% | 24.1 | 55 | 13,561,900 |
| Colorado | 53.7% 9 | 44.7% | 9.0 | 9 | 2,401,361 |
| Connecticut | 60.6% 7 | 38.2% | 22.4 | 7 | 1,646,792 |
| Delaware | 61.9% 3 | 36.9% | 25.0 | 3 | 412,412 |
| District of Columbia | 92.5% 3 | 6.5% | 85.9 | 3 | 265,853 |
| Florida | 51.0% 27 | 48.2% | 2.8 | 27 | 8,390,744 |
| Georgia | 47.0% | 52.2% 15 | 5.2 | 15 | 3,924,440 |
| Hawaii | 71.8% 4 | 26.6% | 45.3 | 4 | 453,568 |
| Idaho | 36.1% | 61.5% 4 | 25.4 | 4 | 655,032 |
| Illinois | 61.9% 21 | 36.8% | 25.1 | 21 | 5,523,051 |
| Indiana | 49.9% 11 | 48.9% | 1.0 | 11 | 2,751,054 |
| Iowa | 53.7% 7 | 44.2% | 9.5 | 7 | 1,543,662 |
| Kansas | 41.7% | 56.6% 6 | 15.0 | 6 | 1,235,872 |
| Kentucky | 41.2% | 57.4% 8 | 16.2 | 8 | 1,826,508 |
| Louisiana | 39.9% | 58.6% 9 | 18.6 | 9 | 1,960,761 |
| Maine | 57.7% 4 | 40.4% | 17.3 | 4 | 731,163 |
| Maryland | 61.9% 10 | 36.5% | 25.4 | 10 | 2,631,596 |
| Massachusetts | 61.8% 12 | 36.0% | 25.8 | 12 | 3,080,985 |
| Michigan | 57.4% 17 | 41.0% | 16.5 | 17 | 5,001,766 |
| Minnesota | 54.1% 10 | 43.8% | 10.2 | 10 | 2,910,369 |
| Mississippi | 43.0% | 56.2% 6 | 13.2 | 6 | 1,289,865 |
| Missouri | 49.3% | 49.4% 11 | 0.1 | 11 | 2,925,205 |
| Montana | 47.3% | 49.5% 3 | 2.3 | 3 | 490,109 |
| Nebraska | 41.6% 1 | 56.5% 4 | 14.9 | 5 | 801,281 |
| Nevada | 55.1% 5 | 42.7% | 12.5 | 5 | 967,848 |
| New Hampshire | 54.4% 4 | 44.7% | 9.7 | 4 | 707,611 |
| New Jersey | 57.3% 15 | 41.7% | 15.6 | 15 | 3,868,237 |
| New Mexico | 56.9% 5 | 41.8% | 15.1 | 5 | 830,158 |
| New York | 62.8% 31 | 36.1% | 26.7 | 31 | 7,591,233 |
| North Carolina | 49.7% 15 | 49.4% | 0.3 | 15 | 4,310,789 |
| North Dakota | 44.6% | 53.3% 3 | 8.6 | 3 | 316,621 |
| Ohio | 51.5% 20 | 46.9% | 4.5 | 20 | 5,698,260 |
| Oklahoma | 34.4% | 65.6% 7 | 31.3 | 7 | 1,462,661 |
| Oregon | 56.7% 7 | 40.4% | 16.4 | 7 | 1,827,864 |
| Pennsylvania | 54.3% 21 | 44.0% | 10.3 | 21 | 6,034,745 |
| Rhode Island | 63.1% 4 | 35.2% | 27.9 | 4 | 469,767 |
| South Carolina | 44.9% | 53.9% 8 | 9.0 | 8 | 1,920,969 |
| South Dakota | 44.7% | 53.2% 3 | 8.4 | 3 | 381,975 |
| Tennessee | 41.8% | 56.9% 11 | 15.1 | 11 | 2,599,749 |
| Texas | 43.7% | 55.5% 34 | 11.8 | 34 | 8,077,795 |
| Utah | 34.4% | 62.6% 5 | 28.2 | 5 | 952,370 |
| Vermont | 67.5% 3 | 30.4% | 37.0 | 3 | 325,046 |
| Virginia | 52.6% 13 | 46.3% | 6.3 | 13 | 3,723,260 |
| Washington | 57.7% 11 | 40.5% | 17.2 | 11 | 3,036,878 |
| West Virginia | 42.6% | 55.7% 5 | 13.1 | 5 | 713,362 |
| Wisconsin | 56.2% 10 | 42.3% | 13.9 | 10 | 2,983,417 |
| Wyoming | 32.4% | 64.4% 3 | 32.1 | 3 | 256,035 |
Shares are of the votes counted for president; bold numbers are electoral votes won. Margin is the winner’s lead over the runner-up in points.
Closest states in 2008
- Missouri John McCain by 3,903 votes (0.13 pts)
- North Carolina Barack Obama by 14,177 votes (0.33 pts)
- Indiana Barack Obama by 28,391 votes (1.03 pts)
- Montana John McCain by 11,096 votes (2.26 pts)
- Florida Barack Obama by 236,450 votes (2.82 pts)
- Ohio Barack Obama by 258,897 votes (4.54 pts)
- Georgia John McCain by 204,607 votes (5.21 pts)
- Virginia Barack Obama by 234,527 votes (6.30 pts)
Flipped since 2004
- Colorado: Republican → Democratic (9 EV)
- Florida: Republican → Democratic (27 EV)
- Indiana: Republican → Democratic (11 EV)
- Iowa: Republican → Democratic (7 EV)
- Nevada: Republican → Democratic (5 EV)
- New Mexico: Republican → Democratic (5 EV)
- North Carolina: Republican → Democratic (15 EV)
- Ohio: Republican → Democratic (20 EV)
- Virginia: Republican → Democratic (13 EV)
County and town results from each state’s certified document are on the state pages for 2008.
Source: 2008
Questions and answers
Who won the 2008 presidential election?
Barack Obama (Democratic) won the 2008 election with 365 electoral votes, with Joseph Biden as vice president.
How many electoral votes did each candidate win in 2008?
Barack Obama 365; John McCain 173 (out of 538).
Who won the popular vote in 2008?
Barack Obama received the most popular votes: 69,456,897 (52.9%) of 131,278,107 counted.
What was the closest state in 2008?
Missouri, which John McCain won by 3,903 votes (0.13 points).
Which states flipped in 2008?
Compared with 2004, 9 states changed party: Colorado (to Democratic), Florida (to Democratic), Indiana (to Democratic), Iowa (to Democratic), Nevada (to Democratic), New Mexico (to Democratic), North Carolina (to Democratic), Ohio (to Democratic) and Virginia (to Democratic).
What was the tipping-point state in 2008?
Iowa. Ranking the states by the winner's margin, it delivered electoral vote number 270; it voted Democratic by 9.5 points, against Democratic by 7.2 points nationally.
Official results As published by The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara) and the state documents it links. How we use this data