North Carolina · 2008 presidential election

North Carolina presidential election results 2008

Barack Obama carried North Carolina by 0.33 points (14,177 votes), winning 15 electoral votes.

Electoral votes: 15
Votes counted: 4,310,789
NC result: D+0.3
Compared with the nation: 6.9 pts more Republican
Swing since 2004: 12.8 pts to D

Statewide result

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share	Electoral votes
Barack Obama	Democratic	2,142,651	49.70%	15
John McCain	Republican	2,128,474	49.40%	—
Total votes		4,310,789

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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Each county coloured by its winner and shaded by margin. Tap one for its history.

County	Barack Obama	John McCain	Others	Total	Margin
Alamance	28,918	34,859	576	64,353	9.2
Alexander	5,167	11,790	297	17,254	38.4
Alleghany	2,021	3,124	118	5,263	21.0
Anson	6,456	4,207	70	10,733	21.0
Ashe	4,872	7,916	281	13,069	23.3
Avery	2,178	5,681	84	7,943	44.1
Beaufort	9,454	13,460	96	23,010	17.4
Bertie	6,365	3,376	22	9,763	30.6
Bladen	7,853	7,532	95	15,480	2.1
Brunswick	21,331	30,753	524	52,608	17.9
Buncombe	69,716	52,494	1,585	123,795	13.9
Burke	14,901	22,102	440	37,443	19.2
Cabarrus	31,546	45,924	524	77,994	18.4
Caldwell	12,081	22,526	548	35,155	29.7
Camden	1,597	3,140	84	4,821	32.0
Carteret	11,130	23,131	336	34,597	34.7
Caswell	5,545	5,208	109	10,862	3.1
Catawba	25,656	42,993	802	69,451	25.0
Chatham	17,862	14,668	350	32,880	9.7
Cherokee	3,785	8,643	158	12,586	38.6
Chowan	3,688	3,773	51	7,512	1.1
Clay	1,734	3,707	102	5,543	35.6
Cleveland	17,363	26,078	394	43,835	19.9
Columbus	11,076	12,994	212	24,282	7.9
Craven	19,352	24,901	345	44,598	12.4
Cumberland	74,693	52,151	731	127,575	17.7
Currituck	3,737	7,234	131	11,102	31.5
Dare	8,074	9,745	229	18,048	9.3
Davidson	22,433	45,419	729	68,581	33.5
Davie	6,178	13,981	209	20,368	38.3
Duplin	8,958	10,834	112	19,904	9.4
Durham	103,456	32,353	1,088	136,897	51.9
Edgecombe	17,403	8,445	82	25,930	34.5
Forsyth	91,085	73,674	1,374	166,133	10.5
Franklin	13,085	13,273	281	26,639	0.7
Gaston	31,384	52,507	511	84,402	25.0
Gates	2,830	2,547	43	5,420	5.2
Graham	1,265	2,824	82	4,171	37.4
Granville	13,074	11,447	204	24,725	6.6
Greene	3,796	4,272	35	8,103	5.9
Guilford	142,101	97,718	1,952	241,771	18.4
Halifax	16,047	8,961	83	25,091	28.2
Harnett	16,785	23,579	341	40,705	16.7
Haywood	12,730	14,910	427	28,067	7.8
Henderson	20,082	30,930	602	51,614	21.0
Hertford	7,513	3,089	48	10,650	41.5
Hoke	9,227	6,293	107	15,627	18.8
Hyde	1,241	1,212	16	2,469	1.2
Iredell	27,318	45,148	696	73,162	24.4
Jackson	8,766	7,854	246	16,866	5.4
Johnston	26,795	43,622	600	71,017	23.7
Jones	2,378	2,817	32	5,227	8.4
Lee	10,784	12,775	229	23,788	8.4
Lenoir	13,378	13,401	118	26,897	0.1
Lincoln	11,713	23,631	454	35,798	33.3
Macon	6,620	10,317	301	17,238	21.4
Madison	5,026	5,192	161	10,379	1.6
Martin	6,539	5,957	45	12,541	4.6
McDowell	6,571	11,534	281	18,386	27.0
Mecklenburg	253,958	153,848	3,011	410,817	24.4
Mitchell	2,238	5,499	109	7,846	41.6
Montgomery	4,926	6,155	129	11,210	11.0
Moore	17,624	27,314	390	45,328	21.4
Nash	23,099	23,728	291	47,118	1.3
New Hanover	49,145	50,544	976	100,665	1.4
Northampton	6,903	3,671	44	10,618	30.4
Onslow	19,499	30,278	426	50,203	21.5
Orange	53,806	20,266	838	74,910	44.8
Pamlico	2,838	3,823	51	6,712	14.7
Pasquotank	10,272	7,778	130	18,180	13.7
Pender	9,907	13,618	224	23,749	15.6
Perquimans	2,772	3,678	51	6,501	13.9
Person	8,446	10,030	156	18,632	8.5
Pitt	40,501	33,927	456	74,884	8.8
Polk	4,396	5,990	176	10,562	15.1
Randolph	16,414	40,998	735	58,147	42.3
Richmond	9,713	9,424	190	19,327	1.5
Robeson	23,058	17,433	343	40,834	13.8
Rockingham	17,255	23,899	458	41,612	16.0
Rowan	23,391	37,451	718	61,560	22.8
Rutherford	9,641	18,769	310	28,720	31.8
Sampson	11,836	14,038	164	26,038	8.5
Scotland	8,151	6,005	61	14,217	15.1
Stanly	8,878	19,329	299	28,506	36.7
Stokes	6,875	14,488	380	21,743	35.0
Surry	10,475	18,730	320	29,525	28.0
Swain	2,806	2,900	92	5,798	1.6
Transylvania	7,275	9,401	233	16,909	12.6
Tyrrell	933	960	17	1,910	1.4
Union	31,189	54,123	777	86,089	26.6
Vance	13,166	7,606	99	20,871	26.6
Wake	250,891	187,001	4,353	442,245	14.4
Warren	7,086	3,063	46	10,195	39.5
Washington	3,748	2,670	36	6,454	16.7
Watauga	14,558	13,344	470	28,372	4.3
Wayne	22,671	26,952	259	49,882	8.6
Wilkes	8,934	20,288	502	29,724	38.2
Wilson	19,652	17,375	164	37,191	6.1
Yadkin	4,527	12,409	211	17,147	46.0
Yancey	4,486	5,045	186	9,717	5.8

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).

North Carolina in every election · 2008 primaries · 2008 Senate race · All states in 2008 · Report an error

Questions and answers

Who won North Carolina in 2008?

Barack Obama won North Carolina by 0.33 percentage points (14,177 votes).

How many electoral votes did North Carolina have in 2008?

North Carolina cast 15 electoral votes in 2008.

How many people voted for president in North Carolina in 2008?

4,310,789 votes were counted for president.

How many counties did each candidate win in North Carolina in 2008?

John McCain 67, Barack Obama 33 (out of 100 counties with results).

How did North Carolina change from 2004 to 2008?

The margin moved 12.8 points toward the Democratic ticket, from Republican by 12.4 points to Democratic by 0.3 points.

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