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Minnesota · 2008 presidential election

Minnesota presidential election results 2008

Barack Obama carried Minnesota by 10.24 points (297,945 votes), winning 10 electoral votes.

Electoral votes
10
Votes counted
2,910,369
MN result
D+10.2
Compared with the nation
3.0 pts more Democratic
Swing since 2004
6.8 pts to D

Statewide result

CandidatePartyVotesShareBarElectoral votes
Barack ObamaDemocratic1,573,35454.10%10
John McCainRepublican1,275,40943.80%—
Total votes2,910,369

Sources: 2008

County resultsMIT Election Lab

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MIT Election Data and Science Lab, County Presidential Election Returns 2000-2016 (compiled from official state election records)
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Lac qui Parle County: Barack Obama +5.9Lyon County: John McCain +1.6McLeod County: John McCain +18.3Meeker County: John McCain +10.8Nicollet County: Barack Obama +10.5Pennington County: Barack Obama +2.1Pope County: Barack Obama +3.8Redwood County: John McCain +13.6Steele County: John McCain +5.4Todd County: John McCain +11.1Waseca County: John McCain +8.2Benton County: John McCain +9.7Carver County: John McCain +15.1Clearwater County: John McCain +9.7Dodge County: John McCain +9.8Grant County: Barack Obama +5.7Hubbard County: John McCain +14.5Kandiyohi County: John McCain +5.5Lincoln County: Barack Obama +0.8Marshall County: Barack Obama +0.5Martin County: John McCain +15.3Mille Lacs County: John McCain +7.2Morrison County: John McCain +19.0Mower County: Barack Obama +23.6Nobles County: John McCain +1.4Olmsted County: Barack Obama +3.3Otter Tail County: John McCain +12.9Pine County: Barack Obama +1.5Pipestone County: John McCain +13.1Polk County: Barack Obama +4.6Renville County: John McCain +0.6Rock County: John McCain +14.0Sherburne County: John McCain +18.2Stearns County: John McCain +7.0Stevens County: Barack Obama +1.3Wabasha County: John McCain +2.4Washington County: Barack Obama +4.3Wright County: John McCain +17.4Lake of the Woods County: John McCain +13.3St. Louis County: Barack Obama +32.5Aitkin County: Barack Obama +0.1Anoka County: John McCain +2.4Big Stone County: Barack Obama +6.4Carlton County: Barack Obama +26.8Chisago County: John McCain +10.3Crow Wing County: John McCain +7.7Dakota County: Barack Obama +5.5Douglas County: John McCain +9.5Faribault County: John McCain +5.6Fillmore County: Barack Obama +8.3Hennepin County: Barack Obama +28.6Isanti County: John McCain +15.3Jackson County: John McCain +4.3Kanabec County: John McCain +8.7Kittson County: Barack Obama +18.5Koochiching County: Barack Obama +10.1Le Sueur County: John McCain +4.3Mahnomen County: Barack Obama +25.3Murray County: Barack Obama +0.5Norman County: Barack Obama +26.9Red Lake County: Barack Obama +6.3Rice County: Barack Obama +11.5Sibley County: John McCain +19.3Wadena County: John McCain +17.4Winona County: Barack Obama +19.1Becker County: John McCain +6.9Blue Earth County: Barack Obama +13.0Chippewa County: Barack Obama +5.9Cottonwood County: John McCain +6.6Freeborn County: Barack Obama +17.1Itasca County: Barack Obama +12.9Lake County: Barack Obama +22.1Ramsey County: Barack Obama +33.9Roseau County: John McCain +17.4Swift County: Barack Obama +13.8Traverse County: Barack Obama +5.4Watonwan County: Barack Obama +0.7Wilkin County: John McCain +6.9Yellow Medicine County: Barack Obama +4.3Beltrami County: Barack Obama +10.2Brown County: John McCain +12.1Cass County: John McCain +8.5Clay County: Barack Obama +16.0Cook County: Barack Obama +23.3Goodhue County: John McCain +1.4Houston County: Barack Obama +10.7Scott County: John McCain +11.2
Each county coloured by its winner and shaded by margin. Tap one for its history.
County Barack ObamaJohn McCainOthers TotalMargin
Aitkin 4,5954,589226 9,410 0.1
Anoka 86,97691,3573,891 182,224 2.4
Becker 7,6878,851427 16,965 6.9
Beltrami 12,0199,762455 22,236 10.2
Benton 8,45410,338547 19,339 9.7
Big Stone 1,5521,36276 2,990 6.4
Blue Earth 19,32514,782963 35,070 13.0
Brown 5,8097,456355 13,620 12.1
Carlton 11,5016,549399 18,449 26.8
Carver 20,65428,156873 49,683 15.1
Cass 7,2768,660371 16,307 8.5
Chippewa 3,2802,907169 6,356 5.9
Chisago 12,78315,789733 29,305 10.3
Clay 16,66611,978615 29,259 16.0
Clearwater 1,8772,29193 4,261 9.7
Cook 2,0191,24089 3,348 23.3
Cottonwood 2,7593,157120 6,036 6.6
Crow Wing 15,85918,567739 35,165 7.7
Dakota 116,778104,3644,330 225,472 5.5
Dodge 4,4635,468282 10,213 9.8
Douglas 9,25611,241421 20,918 9.5
Faribault 3,7364,196220 8,152 5.6
Fillmore 5,9214,993320 11,234 8.3
Freeborn 9,9156,955410 17,280 17.1
Goodhue 12,42012,775600 25,795 1.4
Grant 1,8501,646109 3,605 5.7
Hennepin 420,958231,05411,768 663,780 28.6
Houston 5,9064,743234 10,883 10.7
Hubbard 4,8726,558208 11,638 14.5
Isanti 8,24811,324481 20,053 15.3
Itasca 13,46010,309626 24,395 12.9
Jackson 2,6182,858147 5,623 4.3
Kanabec 3,7434,479277 8,499 8.7
Kandiyohi 10,12511,319451 21,895 5.5
Kittson 1,4921,01660 2,568 18.5
Koochiching 3,6492,962191 6,802 10.1
Lac Qui Parle 2,1601,912120 4,192 5.9
Lake 4,1742,636159 6,969 22.1
Lake of the Woods 9711,27864 2,313 13.3
Le Sueur 6,9947,636379 15,009 4.3
Lincoln 1,5171,491118 3,126 0.8
Lyon 6,1106,315283 12,708 1.6
Mahnomen 1,43684364 2,343 25.3
Marshall 2,3112,285143 4,739 0.5
Martin 4,4136,053288 10,754 15.3
McLeod 7,50510,993531 19,029 18.3
Meeker 5,3806,737428 12,545 10.8
Mille Lacs 6,0727,049423 13,544 7.2
Morrison 6,5479,735461 16,743 19.0
Mower 11,6057,075507 19,187 23.6
Murray 2,3452,320148 4,813 0.5
Nicollet 9,8877,968390 18,245 10.5
Nobles 4,2444,368201 8,813 1.4
Norman 2,1291,204101 3,434 26.9
Olmsted 38,71136,2021,557 76,470 3.3
Otter Tail 13,85618,077754 32,687 12.9
Pennington 3,3943,248180 6,822 2.1
Pine 7,0846,862437 14,383 1.5
Pipestone 2,0232,652126 4,801 13.1
Polk 7,8507,148336 15,334 4.6
Pope 3,3173,069150 6,536 3.8
Ramsey 182,97488,9425,470 277,386 33.9
Red Lake 1,12098388 2,191 6.3
Redwood 3,2504,308248 7,806 13.6
Renville 3,9043,956275 8,135 0.6
Rice 17,38113,723695 31,799 11.5
Rock 2,0792,775121 4,975 14.0
Roseau 3,0974,438165 7,700 17.4
Saint Louis 77,35138,7422,721 118,814 32.5
Scott 29,20836,7241,200 67,132 11.2
Sherburne 17,95726,140893 44,990 18.2
Sibley 2,9984,492239 7,729 19.3
Stearns 35,69041,1941,872 78,756 7.0
Steele 9,01610,068572 19,656 5.4
Stevens 2,7812,710143 5,634 1.3
Swift 2,9072,184153 5,244 13.8
Todd 5,2776,637343 12,257 11.1
Traverse 1,04393359 2,035 5.4
Wabasha 5,6465,935312 11,893 2.4
Wadena 2,8824,128159 7,169 17.4
Waseca 4,4015,211276 9,888 8.2
Washington 70,27764,3342,448 137,059 4.3
Watonwan 2,5622,526170 5,258 0.7
Wilkin 1,5501,78678 3,414 6.9
Winona 16,30810,975652 27,935 19.1
Wright 26,34337,7791,456 65,578 17.4
Yellow Medicine 2,8162,579174 5,569 4.3

Candidate votes as printed in the document. “Total” is the document’s total where it prints one, otherwise the sum of the candidate columns. Margin is the leading ticket’s lead in points over the second.

Notes on how this document was read
  • Secondary source: MIT Election Data and Science Lab, County Presidential Election Returns 2000-2016 (compiled from official state election records).

Method: Machine-readable dataset; county sums checked against the state totals in The American Presidency Project summary (within 0.5% for both main tickets).

Questions and answers

Who won Minnesota in 2008?

Barack Obama won Minnesota by 10.24 percentage points (297,945 votes).

How many electoral votes did Minnesota have in 2008?

Minnesota cast 10 electoral votes in 2008.

How many people voted for president in Minnesota in 2008?

2,910,369 votes were counted for president.

How many counties did each candidate win in Minnesota in 2008?

John McCain 45, Barack Obama 42 (out of 87 counties with results).

How did Minnesota change from 2004 to 2008?

The margin moved 6.8 points toward the Democratic ticket, from Democratic by 3.5 points to Democratic by 10.2 points.

Official results As published by The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara) and the state documents it links. How we use this data