2008 United States presidential election in New York

none June 2025 September 2023 2008 United States presidential election 2008 United States presidential election in New York New York Flag of New York (1909–2020).svg presidential no 2004 United States presidential election in New York 2004 2012 United States presidential election in New York 2012 November 4, 2008 63.51% ( 1.07 pp) x200px Obama portrait crop.jpg Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) Working Families Illinois Joe Biden 31 4,804,945 62.88% John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg John McCain Republican Party (United States) font-weight:normal;background:transparent;text-align:left; Parties Conservative Independence Arizona Sarah Palin 0 2,752,771 36.03% 400px County results 400px Congressional district results 400px Municipality results Obama #B9D7FF 40–50% #86B6F2 50–60% #4389E3 60–70% #1666CB 70–80% #0645B4 80–90% #002B84 90–100% McCain #F2B3BE 40–50% #E27F90 50–60% #CC2F4A 60–70% #D40000 70–80% Tie #D4C4DC President George W. Bush Republican Party (United States) Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) The 2008 United States presidential election in New York took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 31 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Barack Obama won the state of New York with a decisive 26.9% margin of victory. Obama took 62.88% of the vote to McCain's 36.03%. At the time this was the highest Democratic vote share in New York State since 1964, although Obama would outperform his 2008 showing in New York just four years later in 2012. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. Located in the Northeast, a region of the country that is trending heavily towards the Democrats, elections in New York are dominated by the presence of the heavily populated, heavily diverse, liberal bastion of New York City where Democrats tend to be heavily favored to win. 2024 11 As of the 2024 presidential election, this is the last election in which Chautauqua County voted for the Democratic candidate. Primaries 2008 New York Democratic presidential primary 2008 New York Republican presidential primary 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 DCook 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 DThe 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 DElectoral-vote.comElectoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily https://electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Maps/Dec31.html 2021-08-23 electoral-vote.comSolid DWashington PostBased on Takeaway.Solid DPoliticoPOLITICO's 2008 Swing State Map - POLITICO.com https://www.politico.com/convention/swingstate.html 2016-09-22 www.politico.comSolid DRealClearPolitics 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 DFiveThirtyEightSolid DCQ 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 DThe 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 DCNN2008-10-31 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 DNPRSolid DMSNBCSolid DFox NewsApril 27, 2010 Winning The Electoral College Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/winning-the-electoral-college/Likely DAssociated 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 DRasmussen 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 D Polling Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election#New York Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election: New York Obama won all but one pre-election poll. Since September 15, Obama won each poll with a double-digit margin of victory and each with at least 55% of the vote. He won the final Marist poll with a 36-point spread. The final 3 polls averaged Obama leading 63% to 31%.Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections Fundraising McCain raised a total of $12,582,856 in the state. Barack Obama raised $58,161,743.http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=NY&cand_id=P00000001 Presidential Campaign Finance 2009-08-18 https://web.archive.org/web/20090324085828/http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=NY&cand_id=P00000001 2009-03-24 dead Advertising and visits Obama and his interest groups spent $1,148,016. McCain and his interest groups spent just $7,310.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/ad.spending/ CNN Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com May 26, 2010 The Republican visited the state 11 times and the Democratic ticket visited the state 4 times.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/candidate.visits/ CNN Map: Campaign Candidate Visits - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com May 26, 2010 Analysis thumb|right|Voting taking place in a New York City polling station New York was once reckoned as a powerful swing state with a slight Democratic lean. However, the last time the state went Republican was for Ronald Reagan in 1984. Michael Dukakis narrowly won it against George H. W. Bush in 1988, but the state has not been seriously contested since then. It is now considered an uncontested blue state, and was heavily favored to vote for Obama by a significant margin. Elections in New York are dominated by the presence of New York City, a Democratic stronghold for more than a century and a half. It is made up mostly of white liberals as well as ethnic and religious minorities—all voting blocs that strongly vote Democratic. Obama won Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx by margins of 5-to-1 or more and carried Queens by a 3-to-1 margin. The only borough McCain carried was Staten Island, traditionally the most conservative area of the city. Obama's combined million-vote margin in the Five Boroughs would have been enough by itself to carry the state. However, Obama also dominated heavily Democratic Western New York, including Buffalo and Rochester, and the Capital District (Albany, Schenectady and Troy), as well as the increasingly Democratic Long Island and Syracuse areas. Even when New York was considered a swing state, a Republican had to carry Long Island and do reasonably well in either Western New York, the Capital District or Syracuse to make up for the massive Democratic margins in New York City. Obama also won a number of traditionally Republican-leaning counties in Upstate New York and became the first Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson to win an outright majority of votes in the Upstate (although Democratic candidates had been consistently winning pluralities of the vote since 1992). Barack Obama dominated in fiercely Democratic New York City, taking 2,074,159 votes to John McCain's 524,787, giving Obama a 79.29%–20.06% landslide victory citywide. Excluding the votes of New York City, Obama still would have carried New York State, but by a smaller margin. Obama would have received 2,730,786 votes to McCain's 2,227,984, giving Obama a 55.06%–44.93% victory. thumb|left|Voters lined-up outside a polling station in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan At the same time, Democrats in New York picked up three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008. In the 13th district, which consists of Staten Island and part of Brooklyn, Democrats picked up an open seat that was vacated by former Republican Vito Fossella who resigned after he was arrested for getting a DUI. Democrat Michael McMahon solidly defeated Republican Robert Staniere by a two-to-one margin, 60.79–33.26%. His victory made the city's delegation entirely Democratic for the first time in over 70 years. In the 25th district, centered around Syracuse, Democrat Dan Maffei handily defeated Republican Dale Sweetland 55% to 42% for the open seat vacated by Republican Jim Walsh. In New York's 29th congressional district, which includes Canandaigua, Democrat Eric Massa narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Randy Kuhl by 1.7 points. This reduced the Republicans to only three of the state's 29 seats in the House—the fewest the GOP has ever won in an election. At the state level, Democrats picked up a seat in the New York State Assembly and two seats in the New York State Senate which gave Democrats control of the Senate and ultimately both chambers of the New York Legislature for the first time since 1966. This gave the Democrats complete control of New York's state government for the first time since 1935. Results 2008 United States presidential election in New YorkPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Barack Obama 4,645,332 60.80% Working Families Barack Obama 159,613 2.09% Total Barack Obama Joe Biden 4,804,945 62.88%31 Republican John McCain 2,418,323 31.65% Conservative John McCain 170,475 2.23% Independence John McCain 163,973 2.15% Total John McCain Sarah Palin 2,752,771 36.03% 0 Populist Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 41,249 0.54% 0 Libertarian Bob Barr Wayne Allyn Root 19,596 0.26% 0 Green Cynthia McKinney Rosa Clemente 12,801 0.17% 0 Socialist Workers James Harris Alyson Kennedy 3,615 0.05% 0 Write-ins Write-ins 3,272 0.04% 0 Socialism and Liberation Gloria La Riva Eugene Puryear 1,639 0.02% 0 Constitution (write-in) Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle 646 0.01% 0 Independent (write-in) Ron Paul 341 >0.01% 0 America's Independent (write-in) Alan Keyes Brian Rohrbough 35 >0.01% 0 Socialist Equality (write-in) Jerry White Bill Van Auken 18 >0.01% 0 Socialist (write-in) Brian Moore Stewart Alexander 10 >0.01% 0 Independent (write-in) Lanakila Washington 3 >0.01% 0 Heartquake '08 (write-in) Jonathan E. Allen 1 >0.01% 0 Independent (write-in) Michael Skok 1 >0.01% 0 Totals 7,640,943 100.00% 31 Voter turnout (voting age population) 52.1% New York City results 2008 presidential election in New York CityManhattanThe BronxBrooklynQueens Staten IslandTotal Democratic-Working FamiliesBarack Obama572,370338,261603,525480,69279,3112,074,15979.29%85.70%88.71%79.43%75.09%47.61% Republican-Conservative-IndependenceJohn McCain89,94941,683151,872155,22186,062524,78720.06%13.47%10.93%19.99%24.25%51.66% PopulistRalph Nader2,1874751,7201,9335986,9130.26%0.33%0.12%0.23%0.30%0.36% GreenCynthia McKinney1,2884251,2921,0192104,2340.16%0.19%0.11%0.17%0.16%0.13% LibertarianBob Barr1,3782098767682173,4480.13%0.21%0.05%0.12%0.12%0.13% Socialist WorkersRóger Calero252124207252498840.03%0.04%0.03%0.03%0.04%0.03% Socialism and LiberationGloria La Riva110103153128245180.02%0.02%0.03%0.02%0.02%0.01% Others351422031241073710.02%0.05%0.01%0.03%0.02%0.06%TOTAL667,885381,322759,848640,137166,5782,615,770100.00% By county County Barack ObamaDemocratic John McCainRepublican Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Albany 93,937 63.79% 50,586 34.35% 2,743 1.86% 43,351 29.44% 147,266 Allegany 7,016 38.12% 11,013 59.83% 377 2.05% −3,997 −21.71% 18,406 Bronx 338,261 88.71% 41,683 10.93% 1,378 0.36% 296,578 77.78% 381,322 Broome 47,204 53.14% 40,077 45.11% 1,556 1.75% 7,127 8.03% 88,837 Cattaraugus 14,307 43.86% 17,770 54.48% 540 1.66% −3,463 −10.62% 32,617 Cayuga 18,128 53.28% 15,243 44.80% 651 1.92% 2,885 8.48% 34,022 Chautauqua 29,129 49.54% 28,579 48.60% 1,094 1.86% 550 0.94% 58,802 Chemung 18,888 48.81% 19,364 50.04% 443 1.15% −476 −1.23% 38,695 Chenango 10,100 48.45% 10,337 49.59% 410 1.96% −237 −1.14% 20,847 Clinton 20,216 60.64% 12,579 37.73% 542 1.63% 7,637 22.91% 33,337 Columbia 17,556 55.85% 13,337 42.43% 540 1.72% 4,219 13.42% 31,433 Cortland 11,861 54.11% 9,678 44.15% 381 1.74% 2,183 9.96% 21,920 Delaware 9,462 46.41% 10,524 51.62% 403 1.97% −1,062 −5.21% 20,389 Dutchess 71,060 53.71% 59,628 45.07% 1,614 1.22% 11,432 8.64% 132,302 Erie 256,299 57.99% 178,815 40.46% 6,871 1.55% 77,484 17.53% 441,985 Essex 10,390 55.88% 7,913 42.55% 292 1.57% 2,477 13.33% 18,595 Franklin 10,571 60.34% 6,676 38.11% 273 1.55% 3,895 22.23% 17,520 Fulton 9,695 44.42% 11,709 53.65% 420 1.93% −2,014 −9.23% 21,824 Genesee 10,762 40.02% 15,705 58.40% 423 1.58% −4,943 −18.38% 26,890 Greene 9,850 44.10% 12,059 53.99% 426 1.91% −2,209 −9.89% 22,335 Hamilton 1,225 35.91% 2,141 62.77% 45 1.32% −916 −26.86% 3,411 Herkimer 12,094 44.49% 14,619 53.78% 471 1.73% −2,525 −9.29% 27,184 Jefferson 18,166 46.72% 20,220 52.00% 500 1.28% −2,054 −5.28% 38,886 Kings 603,525 79.43% 151,872 19.99% 4,451 0.58% 451,653 59.44% 759,848 Lewis 4,986 44.77% 5,969 53.59% 183 1.64% −983 −8.82% 11,138 Livingston 13,655 45.29% 16,030 53.17% 484 1.54% −2,375 −7.88% 30,149 Madison 14,692 49.30% 14,434 48.43% 676 2.27% 258 0.87% 29,802 Monroe 207,371 58.18% 144,262 40.47% 4,781 1.35% 63,109 17.71% 356,424 Montgomery 9,080 45.01% 10,711 53.09% 384 1.90% −1,631 −8.08% 20,175 Nassau 342,185 53.84% 288,776 45.43% 4,657 0.73% 53,409 8.41% 635,618 New York 572,370 85.70% 89,949 13.47% 5,566 0.83% 482,421 72.23% 667,885 Niagara 47,303 49.65% 46,348 48.65% 1,621 1.70% 955 1.00% 95,272 Oneida 43,506 46.10% 49,256 52.20% 1,603 1.70% −5,750 −6.10% 94,365 Onondaga 129,317 59.25% 84,972 38.94% 3,950 1.81% 44,345 20.31% 218,239 Ontario 25,103 49.20% 25,171 49.34% 746 1.46% −68 −0.14% 51,020 Orange 78,326 51.54% 72,042 47.40% 1,614 1.06% 6,284 4.14% 151,982 Orleans 6,614 39.88% 9,708 58.54% 262 1.58% −3,094 −18.66% 16,584 Oswego 24,777 50.21% 23,571 47.76% 1,001 2.03% 1,206 2.45% 49,349 Otsego 13,570 51.95% 12,026 46.04% 525 2.01% 1,544 5.91% 26,121 Putnam 21,613 45.75% 25,145 53.22% 486 1.03% −3,532 −7.47% 47,244 Queens 480,692 75.09% 155,221 24.25% 4,224 0.76% 325,471 50.84% 640,137 Rensselaer 39,753 53.73% 32,840 44.39% 1,393 1.88% 6,913 9.34% 73,986 Richmond 79,311 47.61% 86,062 51.66% 1,205 0.73% −6,751 −4.05% 166,578 Rockland 69,543 52.61% 61,752 46.71% 898 0.68% 7,791 5.90% 132,193 Saratoga 56,645 50.85% 52,855 47.45% 1,887 1.70% 3,790 3.40% 111,387 Schenectady 38,611 55.28% 29,758 42.61% 1,473 2.11% 8,853 12.67% 69,842 Schoharie 6,009 41.72% 8,071 56.04% 322 2.24% −2,062 −14.32% 14,402 Schuyler 3,933 45.73% 4,542 52.81% 125 1.46% −609 −7.08% 8,600 Seneca 7,422 50.35% 7,038 47.74% 281 1.91% 384 2.61% 14,741 St. Lawrence 23,706 57.36% 16,956 41.03% 664 1.61% 6,750 16.33% 41,326 Steuben 17,148 40.92% 24,203 57.75% 560 1.33% −7,055 −16.83% 41,911 Suffolk 346,549 52.53% 307,021 46.53% 6,209 0.94% 39,528 6.00% 659,779 Sullivan 16,850 54.04% 13,900 44.58% 433 1.38% 2,950 9.46% 31,183 Tioga 10,172 43.98% 12,536 54.20% 423 1.82% −2,364 −10.22% 23,131 Tompkins 29,826 70.09% 11,927 28.03% 799 1.88% 17,899 42.06% 42,552 Ulster 54,320 60.93% 33,300 37.35% 1,529 1.72% 21,020 23.58% 89,149 Warren 16,281 50.49% 15,429 47.85% 535 1.66% 852 2.64% 32,245 Washington 12,741 49.52% 12,533 48.71% 456 1.77% 208 0.81% 25,730 Wayne 18,184 44.30% 22,239 54.18% 622 1.52% −4,055 −9.88% 41,045 Westchester 261,810 63.39% 147,824 35.79% 3,410 0.82% 113,986 27.60% 413,044 Wyoming 6,379 36.11% 10,998 62.25% 290 1.64% −4,619 −26.14% 17,667 Yates 4,890 47.57% 5,269 51.25% 121 1.18% −379 −3.68% 10,280Totals4,804,94562.88%2,752,77136.03%83,2321.09%2,052,17426.85%7,640,948 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic right 300px Swing by county Legend #00a1c8 Democratic — +>15% #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% 300px Trend relative to the state by county Legend #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% #ff8080 Republican — +5–7.5% #ff5555 Republican — +7.5–10% 300px County flips Legend Democratic #92c5de Hold #0671b0 Flip Republican #f48882 Hold Dutchess (county seat: Poughkeepsie) Orange (county seat: Goshen) Rockland (county seat: New City) Saratoga (county seat: Ballston Spa) Cayuga (county seat: Auburn) Chautauqua (county seat: Mayville) Cortland (county seat: Cortland) Essex (county seat: Elizabethtown) Otsego (county seat: Cooperstown) Seneca (county seat: Waterloo) Sullivan (county seat: Monticello) Oswego (county seat: Waterloo) Washington (county seat: Hudson Falls) Madison (county seat: Wampsville) Warren (county seat: Queensbury) By congressional district Barack Obama won 25 of the state's 29 districts, including one held by a Republican. McCain carried 4 districts, including two that elected Democrats. District McCain Obama RepresentativeNew York 1 1st 47.62% 51.44%Tim BishopNew York 2 2nd 43.09% 56.13%Steve IsraelNew York 3 3rd 51.90% 47.27%Peter T. KingNew York 4 4th 41.35% 57.99%Carolyn McCarthyNew York 5 5th 36.06% 63.24%Gary AckermanNew York 6 6th 10.68% 89.03%Gregory W. MeeksNew York 7 7th 20.37% 79.12%Joseph CrowleyNew York 8 8th 25.45% 73.70%Jerrold NadlerNew York 9 9th 43.92% 55.32%Anthony D. WeinerNew York 10 10th 8.70% 91.03%Edolphus TownsNew York 11 11th 9.07% 90.49%Yvette D. ClarkNew York 12 12th 13.12% 86.17%Nydia VelasquezNew York 13 13th50.56%48.74%Vito Fossella (110th Congress)Michael McMahon (111th Congress)New York 14 14th 20.92% 78.19%Carolyn B. MaloneyNew York 15 15th 6.17% 93.21%Charlie RangelNew York 16 16th 5.04% 94.76%Jose SerranoNew York 17 17th 27.53% 71.92%Eliot L. EngelNew York 18 18th 37.57% 61.66%Nita LoweyNew York 19 19th 48.37% 50.65%John HallNew York 20 20th47.70%50.70%Kirsten Gillibrand (110th Congress)Scott Murphy (111th Congress)New York 21 21st 40.00% 58.14%Paul TonkoNew York 22 22nd 39.31% 59.23%Maurice HincheyNew York 23 23rd 46.59% 51.81%John M. McHughNew York 24 24th 47.97% 50.33%Mike ArcuriNew York 25 25th42.62%55.74%James T. Walsh (110th Congress)Dan Maffei (111th Congress)New York 26 26th52.15%46.43%Thomas M. Reynolds (110th Congress)Christopher Lee (111th Congress)New York 27 27th 44.03% 54.19%Brian HigginsNew York 28 28th 30.29% 68.47%Louise SlaughterNew York 29 29th50.46%48.24%Randy Kuhl (110th Congress)Eric Massa (111th Congress) Electors List of 2008 United States presidential electors Technically the voters of New York cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. New York is allocated 31 electors because it had 29 congressional districts under the 2000 census and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 31 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and their running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 31 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 31 electors were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:U. S. Electoral College 2008 Election - Certificates Velda Jeffrey June O'Neill Dennis Mehiel David Paterson Andrew Cuomo Thomas DiNapoli Sheldon Silver Malcolm Smith Maria Luna Robert Master Pamela Green-Perkins Helen D. Foster Jon Cooper Hakeem Jeffries Richard Fife Deborah Slott Terrence Yang George Arthur George Gresham Alan Van Capelle Inez Dickens Suzy Ballantyne Alan Lubin Bethaida Gonzalez Christine Quinn William Thompson Stuart Applebaum Maritza Davila Ivan Young Barbara J. Fiala Frank A. Bolz See also United States presidential elections in New York Presidency of Barack Obama References 2008 New York Category:2008 New York (state) elections