2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina

none June 2025 September 2023 2008 United States presidential election 2008 United States presidential election in South Carolina South Carolina presidential no 2004 United States presidential election in South Carolina 2004 2012 United States presidential election in South Carolina 2012 November 4, 2008 x200px John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg John McCain Republican Party (United States) Arizona Sarah Palin 8 1,034,896 53.87% Obama portrait crop.jpg Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) Illinois Joe Biden 0 862,449 44.90% 300px County results 300px Congressional district results 300px Precinct results McCain #f2b3be 40–50% #e27f90 50–60% #cc2f4a 60–70% #d40000 70–80% #aa0000 80–90% #800000 90–100% Obama #b9d7ff 40–50% #86b6f2 50–60% #4389e3 60–70% #1666cb 70–80% #0645b4 80–90% #002b84 90–100% President George W. Bush Republican Party (United States) Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) 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. South Carolina was won by Republican nominee John McCain by an 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. 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). Democratic primary South Carolina Democratic primary, 2008 South Carolina presidential no South Carolina Democratic primary, 2004 2004 South Carolina Democratic primary, 2016 2016 2008 01 26 Barack Obama.jpg Barack Obama 800080 Illinois 295,214 55.4% Hillary Rodham Clinton-cropped.jpg Hillary Clinton D4AA00 New York 141,217 26.5% John Edwards, official Senate photo portrait.jpg John Edwards FF7F2A North Carolina 93,576 17.6% SouthCarolinaPresidentialPrimaryResults2008.svg 204px Election results by county. Purple denotes counties won by Obama, gold denotes those won by Clinton, and orange denotes those won by Edwards. 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. 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. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#SC CNN Election Center 2008: Primary Results May 23, 2010 Candidates Remaining New York Senator Hillary Clinton Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel Illinois Senator Barack Obama Eliminated Delaware Senator Joe Biden Dropped out on January 4, 2008https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna22484066 Obama, Huckabee win Iowa Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd Dropped out on January 4, 2008 New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson Dropped out on January 10, 2008 http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/09/richardson.out/index.html New Mexico Gov. Richardson drops out of '08 Race CNN January 10, 2008 May 23, 2010 Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich Dropped out on January 25, 2008 https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/24/AR2008012403391.html Kucinich Drops Out The Washington Post January 25, 2008 May 23, 2010 New York Comedian Stephen Colbert Denied Ballot (13-3) on November 1, 2007 http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/01/south-carolina-democrats-say-no-to-colbert/ https://web.archive.org/web/20071102171803/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/01/south-carolina-democrats-say-no-to-colbert/ dead November 2, 2007 SC Democrats reject Colbert's candidacy CNN May 23, 2010 November 1, 2007 and dropped out November 5, 2007 http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/05/colbert-weeping-over-democratic-rejection/ https://archive.today/20120717114851/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/11/05/colbert-weeping-over-democratic-rejection/ dead July 17, 2012 Colbert on Democratic Rejection CNN May 23, 2010 November 5, 2007 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. Obtained from CNN as of January 26, 2008 http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/ CNN Map: Campaign money race- May 23, 2010 Candidate Money raised (US$) John Edwards $316,319 Barack Obama$257,118 Bill Richardson$196,850 Hillary Clinton$131,950 Joe Biden $55,350 Chris Dodd$22,750 Dennis Kucinich$3,750 Polling leading up to primary Statewide opinion polling for the January Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2008#South Carolina All monthly averages were retrieved from RealClearPolitics. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/sc/south_carolina_democratic_primary-234.html#polls RealClear Politics- Election 2008- South Carolina Candidate November December January Final 3 Polls Averages Hillary Clinton 40% 34% 27% 28% Barack Obama 27% 33% 41% 48% John Edwards 11% 15% 17% 23% cornflowerblue darkgray Denotes Leader during Poll Average 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. 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. Final Campaigning Obama Campaign Barack Obama 2008 presidential primary campaign thumb|left| 150px| Presidential candidate Barack Obama addresses supporters the night before South Carolina's primary 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). 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.Leibovich Mark 2008-04-25 Black Leader in the House Sharply Criticizes Bill Clinton https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/us/politics/25clinton.html 2024-06-03 The New York Times en-US 0362-4331 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. Clinton Campaign Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign 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. 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. 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". 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. Edwards Campaign John Edwards 2008 presidential campaign 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. 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. 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%.http://www.pollster.com/08-SC-Dem-Pres-Primary.php Pollster.com dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080511192032/http://www.pollster.com/08-SC-Dem-Pres-Primary.php May 11, 2008 However, after the South Carolina debates, the tone of the campaign severely shifted. 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? 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.http://www.johnedwards.com/media/video/sc-debate-what-matters/ John Edwards for President- South Carolina dead https://web.archive.org/web/20100505171812/http://johnedwards.com/media/video/sc-debate-what-matters/ May 5, 2010 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 http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/epolls/#SCDEM CNN Election Center 2008: Primary Exit Poll May 23, 2010 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. Results Results of the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries 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.http://www.scdp.org/primary_results SC Dem. Party Election Results dead https://web.archive.org/web/20100403215438/http://www.scdp.org/primary_results/ April 3, 2010 Key: Withdrewprior to contest South Carolina Democratic presidential primary, 2008http://www.state.sc.us/cgi-bin/scsec/scsec-demprisw-012608.pl South Carolina Unofficial Results 2008-01-27 South Carolina Secretary of StateCandidateResultsThe Green papersEstimated national delegateshttps://demconwatch.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-happens-to-edwards-delegates.html What happens to Edwards' delegates? Democratic Convention Watch 14 May 2008 2008-06-04 VotesPercentageNational delegates Barack Obama 295,214 55.44% 25 33 Hillary Clinton 141,217 26.52% 12 12 John Edwards 93,576 17.57% 8 0 Bill Richardson 727 0.14% 0 0 Joe Biden 694 0.13% 0 0 Dennis Kucinich 552 0.1% 0 0 Christopher Dodd 247 0.05% 0 0 Mike Gravel 241 0.05% 0 0 Totals532,468100.00%4545 Republican primary South Carolina Republican primary, 2008 South Carolina presidential no South Carolina Republican primary, 2000 2000 South Carolina Republican primary, 2012 2012 2008 01 19 John McCain official photo portrait.JPG John McCain Republican Party (United States) Arizona 147,733 33.15% Mike Huckabee, speaking to a gathering at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.jpg Mike Huckabee Republican Party (United States) Arkansas 132,990 29.84% Fred Thompson-cropped.jpg Fred Thompson Republican Party (United States) Tennessee 69,681 15.63% SCgopprimary-county.PNG 204px Election results by county. Red denotes counties won by McCain, and Pink denotes those won by Huckabee. The South Carolina Republican primary, 2008 was held on January 19, with 24 delegates at stake.http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/primaries/republicanprimaries/index.html The Primary Season: 2008 Republican Calendar 2008-01-19 The New York Times 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.http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8003420 S.C. primary down and dirty 2008-01-20 Denver Post Karen E. Crummy 2008-01-18 It was held on the same day as the Nevada Republican caucuses, 2008. 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.https://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0802/p01s02-uspo.html?page=1 GOP bellwether South Carolina shows a tangled race: Pg 1 Christian Science Monitor 2 August 2007 2008-01-20 As of 2008, the primary has cemented its place as the "First in the South" primary for both parties.http://cameron.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/01/19/first-in-the-south/ First in the South 2008-01-20 Fox News dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080122154043/http://cameron.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/01/19/first-in-the-south/ January 22, 2008 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.http://www.thegreenpapers.com/P08/SC-R.phtml/ The Green Papers 2008 Presidential Primaries, Caucuses, and Conventions - South Carolina Republican Presidential Nominating Process Primary: Saturday 19 January 2008 2011-08-15 Polling Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 Republican Party presidential primaries 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%.http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/sc/south_carolina_republican_primary-233.html South Carolina Republican Primary Polling 2008-01-19 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. right|thumb|Mike Huckabee giving his concession speech after the 2008 South Carolina Presidential Primary in Columbia, SC. John McCain won the statewide primary earning him 12 Delegateshttp://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#SC Election Center 2008: Primary Results for South Carolina 2008-01-22 CNN May 8, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20080508012111/http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#SC deadhttp://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/20/south-carolina-republican-primary-results/ South Carolina Republican Primary Results 2008-01-20 Fox News https://web.archive.org/web/20080123101555/http://youdecide08.foxnews.com/2008/01/20/south-carolina-republican-primary-results/ 2008-01-23 deadhttps://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna21229231 MSNBC: South Carolina Primary Results 2008-01-20 as well as Congressional Districts 1, 2 and 6. earning him an additional 6 delegates for a total of 18. +100% of precincts reportinghttp://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=2008&fips=45&f=1&off=0&elect=2 2008 Presidential Republican Primary Election Results - South Carolina 2008-01-20 Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 2009-03-22 Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates John McCain 147,733 33.15% 18 Mike Huckabee 132,990 29.84% 6 Fred Thompson 69,681 15.63% 0 Mitt Romney 68,177 15.3% 0 Ron Paul 16,155 3.62% 0 Rudy Giuliani 9,575 2.15% 0 Duncan Hunter* 1,051 0.24% 0 Tom Tancredo* 121 0.03% 0 Hugh Cort 88 0.02% 0 John H. Cox 83 0.02% 0 Cap Fendig 23 0.01% 0 Total 445,677 100% 24 * 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. Results of prior primaries 1980: Ronald Reagan won with 54%, defeating runner-up John Connally.https://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0802/p01s02-uspo.html?page=2 GOP bellwether South Carolina shows a tangled race: Pg 2 Christian Science Monitor 2 August 2007 2008-01-20 1984: Uncontested (Reagan was the incumbent president and was re-nominated). 1988: George H. W. Bush won with 49%, defeating runner-up Bob Dole. 1992: George H. W. Bush won with 68%, defeating runner-up Pat Buchanan. 1996: Bob Dole won with 45%, defeating runner-up Pat Buchanan. 2000: George W. Bush won with 53%, defeating runner-up John McCain. 2004: Uncontested (Bush was the incumbent president and was re-nominated). Campaign Predictions There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are their last predictions before election day: +SourceRankingD.C. Political Report2009-01-01 D.C.'s Political Report: The complete source for campaign summaries. http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/Predictions.html 2021-08-23 usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20090101161206/http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/Predictions.html 2009-01-01Likely RCook Political Report2015-05-05 Presidential http://cookpolitical.com/presidential 2021-08-23 https://web.archive.org/web/20150505003043/http://cookpolitical.com/presidential 2015-05-05Solid RThe Takeaway2009-04-22 Vote 2008 - The Takeaway - Track the Electoral College vote predictions http://vote2008.thetakeaway.org/2008/09/20/track-the-electoral-college-vote-predictions/ 2021-08-23 https://web.archive.org/web/20090422070127/http://vote2008.thetakeaway.org/2008/09/20/track-the-electoral-college-vote-predictions/ 2009-04-22Solid RElectoral-vote.comElectoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily https://electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Maps/Dec31.html 2021-08-23 electoral-vote.comSolid RWashington PostBased on TakeawaySolid RPoliticoPOLITICO's 2008 Swing State Map - POLITICO.com https://www.politico.com/convention/swingstate.html 2016-09-22 www.politico.comSolid RRealClearPolitics http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=5 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080605003612/http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=5 2008-06-05 RealClearPolitics - Electoral MapSolid RFiveThirtyEightSolid RCQ PoliticsCQ Presidential Election Maps, 2008 http://innovation.cq.com/prezMap08/ dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090614004022/http://innovation.cq.com/prezMap08 June 14, 2009 December 20, 2009 CQ PoliticsSolid RThe New York TimesNagourney Adam Zeleny Jeff Carter Shan 2008-11-04 The Electoral Map: Key States The New York Times http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/whos-ahead/key-states/map.html?scp=1&sq=electoral%20college%20map&st=cse May 26, 2010Solid RCNN2008-10-31 October – 2008 – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs CNN http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/ May 26, 2010 2010-06-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20100619013250/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/ deadSafe RNPRSolid RMSNBCSolid RFox NewsApril 27, 2010 Winning The Electoral College Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/winning-the-electoral-college/Likely RAssociated Pressroadto270 http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/campaign_plus/roadto270/ 2016-09-22 hosted.ap.org December 8, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20081208002123/http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/campaign_plus/roadto270/ deadLikely RRasmussen ReportsElection 2008: Electoral College Update - Rasmussen Reports http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/election_2008_electoral_college_update 2016-09-22 www.rasmussenreports.comSafe R Polling Statewide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2008#South Carolina Statewide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2008: South Carolina McCain won every single pre-election poll. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading with 53% to 43%.http://uselectionatlas.org/POLLS/PRESIDENT/2008/pollsa.php?fips=45 Election 2008 Polls Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections Fundraising John McCain raised a total of $2,574,332 in the state. Barack Obama raised $2,227,877.http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName%3DSC%26cand_id%3DP00000001 Presidential Campaign Finance August 18, 2009 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090118034702/http://fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=SC&cand_id=P00000001 January 18, 2009 Advertising and visits Obama spent $967,640. McCain and his interest groups spent $587,645.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/ad.spending/ CNN Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com May 26, 2010 Neither campaign visited the state.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/candidate.visits/ CNN Map: Campaign Candidate Visits - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com May 26, 2010 Analysis South Carolina, historically part of the Solid South, has become a Republican stronghold. 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, South Carolina has reliably voted Republican. 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. 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.South Carolina Exit Polls McCain's margin of victory in South Carolina was much less than that of George W. Bush who carried South Carolina 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. 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 2024, this is the last election in which the margin of victory in South Carolina was within single digits. Results United States presidential election in South Carolina, 20082008 Nov 4 • General • President of the United States • State of South Carolina South Carolina https://electionhistory.scvotes.gov/contest/11109 2025-10-21 South Carolina Elections Database enPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 1,034,896 53.87% 8 Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 862,449 44.90% 0 Libertarian Bob Barr Wayne Allyn Root 7,283 0.38% 0 Constitution Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle 6,287 0.36% 0 Petition Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 5,053 0.26% 0 Green Cynthia McKinney Rosa Clemente 4,461 0.23% 0 Totals 1,920,969 100.00% 8 Voter turnout (Voting age population) 58.0% By county CountyJohn McCainRepublicanBarack ObamaDemocraticVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal#%#%#%#%Abbeville6,26456.94%4,59341.75%1441.31%1,67115.19%11,001Aiken42,84961.41%26,10137.41%8201.18%16,74824.00%69,770Allendale94723.53%3,02975.27%481.20%-2,082-51.74%4,024Anderson48,69065.99%24,13232.70%9651.31%24,55833.29%73,787Bamberg2,30933.89%4,42664.95%791.16%-2,117-31.06%6,814Barnwell4,76948.67%4,93150.33%981.00%-162-1.66%9,798Beaufort37,82154.92%30,39644.14%6530.94%7,42510.78%68,870Berkeley36,20555.89%27,75542.84%1441.27%8,45013.05%64,781Calhoun3,69547.75%3,97051.31%730.94%-275-3.56%7,738Charleston69,82245.21%82,69853.55%1,9141.24%-12,876-8.34%154,434Cherokee13,30564.07%7,21534.74%2461.19%6,09029.33%20,766Chester6,31845.19%7,47853.49%1851.32%-1,160-8.30%13,981Chesterfield8,32550.89%7,84247.94%1921.17%4832.95%16,359Clarendon6,75843.45%8,67355.77%1210.78%-1,915-12.32%15,552Colleton8,52549.22%8,61649.74%1801.04%-91-0.52%17,321Darlington14,54449.58%14,50549.45%2850.97%390.13%29,334Dillon5,87443.78%7,40855.21%1351.01%-1,534-11.43%13,417Dorchester29,92957.11%21,80641.61%6701.28%8,12315.50%52,405Edgefield6,33454.98%5,07544.05%1110.97%1,25910.93%11,520Fairfield3,91233.67%7,59165.33%1161.00%-3,679-31.66%11,619Florence29,86151.16%28,01247.99%5000.85%1,8493.17%58,373Georgetown15,79052.13%14,19946.88%3010.99%1,5915.25%30,290Greenville116,36361.03%70,88637.18%3,4081.79%45,47723.85%190,657Greenwood16,99557.29%12,34841.62%3241.09%4,64715.67%29,667Hampton3,43936.78%5,81662.20%951.02%-2,377-25.42%9,350Horry64,60961.65%38,87937.10%1,3101.25%25,73024.55%104,798Jasper3,36538.01%5,38960.87%1001.12%-2,024-22.86%8,854Kershaw16,46658.84%11,22640.11%2931.05%5,24018.73%27,985Lancaster16,44156.85%12,13941.97%3411.18%4,30214.88%28,921Laurens15,33458.34%10,57840.25%3701.41%4,75618.09%26,282Lee3,07433.58%5,96065.12%1191.30%-2,886-31.54%9,153Lexington74,96068.45%33,30330.41%1,2491.14%41,65738.04%109,512Marion5,41635.69%9,60863.32%1500.99%-4,192-27.63%15,174Marlboro3,99636.74%6,79462.47%860.79%-2,798-25.73%10,876McCormick2,43746.58%2,75552.66%400.76%-318-6.08%5,232Newberry9,61658.19%6,70840.60%2001.21%2,90817.59%16,524Oconee21,16467.98%9,48130.45%4871.57%11,68337.53%31,132Orangeburg12,11530.47%27,26368.58%3760.95%-15,148-38.11%39,754Pickens32,55272.13%11,69125.91%8851.96%20,86146.22%45,128Richland57,94135.11%105,65664.02%1,4400.87%-47,715-28.91%165,037Saluda5,19160.34%3,32338.63%891.03%1,86821.71%8,603Spartanburg65,04260.04%41,63238.43%1,6541.53%23,41021.61%108,328Sumter18,58141.89%25,43157.33%3460.78%-6,850-15.44%44,358Union7,44954.97%5,93543.80%1671.23%1,51411.17%13,551Williamsburg5,00430.43%11,27968.59%1600.98%-6,275-38.16%16,443York54,50058.17%37,91840.47%1,2781.36%16,58217.70%93,696Totals1,034,89653.87%862,44944.90%23,6241.23%172,4478.97%1,920,969 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Barnwell (largest town: Barnwell) Calhoun (largest town: St. Matthews) Charleston (largest town: Charleston) Chester (largest town: Chester) Colleton (largest town: Walterboro) right 230px Swing by county Legend #00bdec Democratic — +12.5-15% #09ceff Democratic — +10-12.5% #4bdbff Democratic — +7.5-10% #77e3ff Democratic — +5-7.5% #aaeeff Democratic — +2.5-5% #d5f6ff Democratic — +0-2.5% #ffd5d5 Republican — +0-2.5% #ffaaaa Republican — +2.5-5% 230px Trend relative to the state by county Legend #77e3ff Democratic — +5-7.5% #aaeeff Democratic — +2.5-5% #d5f6ff Democratic — +0-2.5% #ffd5d5 Republican — +0-2.5% #ffaaaa Republican — +2.5-5% #ff8080 Republican — +5-7.5% #ff5555 Republican — +7.5-10% #ff0000 Republican — +12.5-15% 230px County flips Legend Democratic #92c5de Hold #0671b0 Flip Republican #f48882 Hold By congressional district John McCain carried five of the state's six congressional districts, including one held by a Democrat. District McCain Obama Representative South Carolina 1 1st 56.50% 42.27% Henry E. Brown Jr. (R) South Carolina 2 2nd 53.87% 45.11% Joe Wilson (R) South Carolina 3 3rd 63.72% 33%Gresham Barrett (R) South Carolina 4 4th 60.43% 37.91% Bob Inglis (R) South Carolina 5 5th 53.04% 45.80% John Spratt (D) South Carolina 6 6th 34.89% 64.15% Jim Clyburn (D) Electors List of 2008 United States presidential 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 their 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.http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_ec.htm Electoral College 2008-11-01 California Secretary of State dead https://web.archive.org/web/20081030041546/http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_ec.htm October 30, 2008 An elector who votes for someone other than their candidate is known as a faithless elector. 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. The following were the members of the Electoral College from the state. All 8 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2008-certificates/index.html#sc U. S. Electoral College 2008 Election - Certificates 20 May 2019 Benny Kinlaw Betty Sheppard Poe Katon Dawson Patrick Bonner Haddon Rebecca Delleney Shelby Phillips Susan Aiken Wayland Moody See also South Carolina primary References External links US Election Atlas South Carolina Democratic Party 2008 SC Primary South Carolina United States President 2008