2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky

none June 2025 September 2023 2008 United States presidential election 2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky Kentucky presidential no 2004 United States presidential election in Kentucky 2004 2012 United States presidential election in Kentucky 2012 November 4, 2008 x200px John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg John McCain Republican Party (United States) Arizona Sarah Palin 8 1,048,462 57.37% Obama portrait crop.jpg Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) Illinois Joe Biden 0 751,985 41.15% 380px County results 380px Congressional district results 380px 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% Tie/No Data #D4C4DC #808080 President George W. Bush Republican Party (United States) Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) 64.04%Voter Turnout Report for the 11/04/08 General Election https://elect.ky.gov/SiteCollectionDocuments/Election%20Statistics/turnout/2006-2010/08gen.pdf Commonwealth of Kentucky - State Board of Elections The 2008 United States presidential election in Kentucky took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters in Kentucky chose eight representatives to the Electoral College, or electors, who voted for president and vice president. Kentucky was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 16.22% margin of victory with 57.40% of the vote. Prior to the election, all seventeen news organizations considered it a state McCain would win, or otherwise a red state. Hillary Clinton had led McCain in hypothetical polls of the state during the Democratic primaries, but once Barack Obama secured the Democratic nomination Kentucky was reclassified as safe for the GOP. Obama did, however, improve on John Kerry's performance by two points. This was the first time since 1960 that Kentucky did not vote for the winning candidate in a presidential election. This was the first time ever that Floyd County or Knott County voted for the Republican candidate, and the first time since 1908 that Breathitt County voted for the Republican candidate. Obama became the first Democrat ever to win the presidency without carrying numerous historically Democratic counties in the state, primarily in the Eastern Coalfield, Bluegrass, and Jackson Purchase regions. As of 2024, this remains the last time that a Democratic presidential nominee has won over 40% of the vote in Kentucky, and the last election in which Rowan County, Hancock County, Menifee County, Wolfe County, or Henderson County voted for the Democratic candidate. Primaries 2008 Kentucky Democratic presidential primary 2008 Kentucky Republican presidential primary Campaign Predictions Sixteen news organizations made state-by-state predictions of the election. Their last predictions before election day were: +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#Kentucky Statewide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2008: Kentucky McCain won every pre-election poll against Obama, almost all of them by a double-digit margin and with at least 49% of the vote. The final three polls averaged McCain leading 56% to 41%.https://uselectionatlas.org/POLLS/PRESIDENT/2008/pollsa.php?fips=21 Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections uselectionatlas.org Fundraising John McCain raised a total of $1,220,017. Barack Obama raised $2,394,198.http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=KY&cand_id=P00000001 Presidential Campaign Finance 2009-08-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20090324085952/http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=KY&cand_id=P00000001 2009-03-24 dead Advertising and visits Obama spent $183,738, while a conservative interest group spent just $212.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/ad.spending/ CNN Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com May 26, 2010 Each ticket visited the state once.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/candidate.visits/ CNN Map: Campaign Candidate Visits - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com May 26, 2010 Analysis August 2024 Since 1964, Kentucky has only gone Democratic three times--Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, both of whom were White Southerners, whereas Obama was an African American "big-city liberal" from Chicago. (Similar socio-cultural dynamics existed in other Southern and Appalachian states with a large ancestral Democratic base, such as Tennessee, West Virginia, and Arkansas.) In the 2008 primary, exit polls conducted found that 30 percent of Clinton supporters opted not to vote for Obama in the general election, 40% would vote McCain and the rest would support Obama in the general election. Several counties in the southeastern part of the state swung Republican and went to McCain as solidly Democratic Floyd and Knott counties voted Republican for the first time ever, and Breathitt County voted Republican for the first time since 1908. Obama decided to not spend campaign funds on Kentucky and instead went to more viable battleground states like North Carolina and Indiana instead. McCain won Kentucky by a margin of 16.22 points on election day and performed slightly worse than George Bush in 2004. Obama improved upon Kerry's performance in big cities and urban areas while McCain improved upon Bush in rural areas. Kentucky was the first state called for either candidate. At the same time, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, who also served as Senate Minority Leader at the time, was just narrowly reelected with 52.97% of the vote to Democrat Bruce Lunsford's 47.03%. Republicans also held onto an open seat vacated by Ron Lewis in Kentucky's 2nd Congressional District. At the state level, however, Democrats picked up two seats in the Kentucky House of Representatives. Results United States presidential election in Kentucky, 2008PartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 1,048,462 57.40%8 Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 751,985 41.17% 0 Independent Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 15,378 0.84% 0 Libertarian Bob Barr Wayne Allyn Root 5,989 0.33% 0 Constitution Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle 4,694 0.26% 0 Totals 1,826,508 100.00% 8 Voter turnout (Voting age population) 57.5% By county CountyJohn McCainRepublicanBarack ObamaDemocraticVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal#%#%#%#%Adair5,51275.53%1,66822.86%1181.61%3,84452.67%7,298Allen5,25871.15%2,02427.39%1081.46%3,23443.76%7,390Anderson6,88565.25%3,46232.81%2051.94%3,42332.44%10,552Ballard2,53762.49%1,42735.15%962.36%1,11027.34%4,060Barren11,13366.24%5,43432.33%2401.43%5,69933.91%16,807Bath2,23449.17%2,21048.65%992.18%240.52%4,543Bell6,68169.61%2,78228.99%1351.41%3,89940.62%9,598Boone33,81266.59%16,29232.09%6701.32%17,52034.50%50,774Bourbon4,82057.86%3,38540.64%1251.50%1,43517.22%8,330Boyd11,43055.30%8,88642.99%3541.71%2,54412.31%20,670Boyle7,70160.95%4,76937.74%1651.30%2,93223.21%12,635Bracken2,06660.78%1,24136.51%922.71%82524.27%3,399Breathitt2,67153.10%2,20543.84%1543.06%4669.26%5,030Breckinridge5,28161.97%3,11036.49%1311.54%2,17125.48%8,522Bullitt20,10265.42%10,17733.12%4471.45%9,92532.30%30,726Butler3,69669.64%1,55529.30%561.06%2,14140.34%5,307Caldwell3,86662.36%2,21235.68%1211.95%1,65426.68%6,199Calloway8,99158.37%6,16540.02%2481.61%2,82618.35%15,404Campbell24,04659.67%15,62238.77%6291.56%8,42420.90%40,297Carlisle1,69964.92%87933.59%391.49%82031.33%2,617Carroll2,03252.99%1,71644.75%872.27%3168.24%3,835Carter5,25253.52%4,31643.98%2452.50%9369.54%9,813Casey4,67978.55%1,21920.46%590.99%3,46058.09%5,957Christian13,69960.14%8,88038.98%1990.87%4,81921.16%22,778Clark9,66461.84%5,74936.79%2151.38%3,91525.05%15,628Clay5,71077.54%1,55221.08%1021.38%4,15856.46%7,364Clinton3,36680.68%76118.24%451.08%2,60562.44%4,172Crittenden2,60466.26%1,25431.91%721.83%1,35034.35%3,930Cumberland2,05673.51%69724.92%441.57%1,35948.59%2,797Daviess23,69254.31%19,28244.20%6481.49%4,41010.11%43,622Edmonson3,56267.59%1,65231.35%561.06%1,91036.24%5,270Elliott90235.86%1,53561.03%783.11%-633-25.17%2,515Estill3,68569.35%1,55529.26%741.39%2,13040.09%5,314Fayette59,88446.91%66,04251.74%1,7221.36%-6,158-4.83%127,648Fleming3,43258.85%2,27939.08%1212.07%1,15319.77%5,832Floyd7,74149.43%7,53048.09%3882.48%2111.34%15,659Franklin11,91149.47%11,76748.87%4011.67%1440.60%24,079Fulton1,53054.16%1,23843.82%572.02%29210.34%2,825Gallatin1,84057.63%1,27840.03%752.35%56217.60%3,193Garrard5,11870.98%2,01227.91%801.11%3,10643.07%7,210Grant5,51062.94%3,11235.55%1321.50%2,39827.39%8,754Graves10,05662.25%5,84336.17%2561.58%4,21326.08%16,155Grayson6,60566.70%3,15431.85%1441.45%3,45134.85%9,903Green3,78574.52%1,20423.71%901.77%2,58150.81%5,079Greenup8,84956.01%6,62141.91%3282.08%2,22814.10%15,798Hancock1,92846.53%2,13551.52%811.95%-207-4.99%4,144Hardin23,89659.75%15,65039.13%4441.11%8,24620.62%39,990Harlan7,16572.27%2,58626.08%1631.64%4,57946.19%9,914Harrison4,52059.55%2,91638.42%1542.03%1,60421.13%7,590Hart4,39764.49%2,29033.59%1311.92%2,10730.90%6,818Henderson9,52347.95%10,04950.60%2891.46%-526-2.65%19,861Henry4,08158.98%2,72539.38%1131.63%1,35619.60%6,919Hickman1,40662.49%81236.09%321.42%59426.40%2,250Hopkins11,91661.59%7,10436.72%3281.70%4,81224.87%19,348Jackson4,40784.36%74314.22%741.42%3,66470.14%5,224Jefferson153,95743.38%196,43555.34%4,5441.28%-42,478-11.96%354,936Jessamine13,71167.83%6,23630.85%2671.32%7,47536.98%20,214Johnson5,94869.84%2,40728.26%1621.90%3,54141.58%8,517Kenton40,71459.69%26,48038.82%1,0191.49%14,23420.87%68,213Knott3,07052.75%2,61244.88%1382.37%4587.87%5,820Knox8,15071.56%3,07426.99%1651.61%5,07644.57%11,389LaRue4,15367.22%1,91330.96%1121.81%2,24036.26%6,178Laurel17,66078.49%4,61820.52%2220.99%13,04257.97%22,500Lawrence3,50362.01%2,03636.04%1101.95%1,46725.97%5,649Lee1,97871.33%75227.12%431.55%1,22644.21%2,773Leslie3,57481.28%76617.42%571.30%2,80863.86%4,397Letcher5,36765.17%2,62331.85%2452.98%2,74433.32%8,235Lewis3,21367.06%1,51031.52%681.42%1,70335.54%4,791Lincoln6,27368.55%2,75230.07%1261.38%3,52138.48%9,151Livingston2,89062.92%1,62235.31%811.77%1,26827.61%4,593Logan6,92563.59%3,81135.00%1541.41%3,11428.59%10,890Lyon2,22057.59%1,57740.91%581.50%64316.68%3,855McCracken19,04361.92%11,28536.69%4261.39%7,75825.23%30,754McCreary4,07875.42%1,25823.27%711.33%2,82052.15%5,407McLean2,38653.96%1,96344.39%731.65%4239.57%4,422Madison19,69460.53%12,39238.09%4511.38%7,30222.44%32,537Magoffin2,43452.33%2,10545.26%1122.41%3297.07%4,651Marion3,84250.45%3,59647.22%1772.32%2463.23%7,615Marshall9,51261.42%5,68336.70%2921.88%3,82924.72%15,487Martin2,82476.49%80821.89%601.62%2,01654.60%3,692Mason4,10257.60%2,89140.60%1281.80%1,31017.00%7,121Meade6,69159.71%4,34338.76%1721.53%2,34820.95%11,206Menifee1,15546.40%1,27651.27%582.33%-121-4.87%2,489Mercer6,78167.41%3,15931.40%1201.19%3,62236.01%10,060Metcalfe2,73465.11%1,35032.15%1152.74%1,38432.96%4,199Monroe3,53775.82%1,06722.87%611.31%2,47052.95%4,665Montgomery5,94757.56%4,23440.98%1501.45%1,71316.58%10,331Morgan2,39654.72%1,87942.91%1042.37%51711.81%4,379Muhlenberg6,44750.02%6,22148.27%2211.71%2261.75%12,889Nelson10,13955.87%7,65442.18%3531.95%2,48513.69%18,146Nicholas1,63455.02%1,27242.83%642.15%36212.19%2,970Ohio5,68757.22%4,05940.84%1921.94%3,84416.38%9,938Oldham18,99764.80%10,00034.11%3191.09%8,99730.69%29,316Owen2,96962.49%1,69435.66%881.85%1,27526.83%4,751Owsley1,27975.86%38122.60%261.54%89853.26%1,686Pendleton3,67663.36%2,02734.94%991.70%1,64928.42%5,802Perry6,76265.18%3,44433.20%1691.62%3,31831.98%10,375Pike12,65555.89%9,52542.07%4632.04%3,13013.82%22,643Powell2,83757.06%2,06541.53%701.41%77215.53%4,972Pulaski19,86277.09%5,59021.70%3141.21%14,27255.39%25,766Robertson53352.51%45144.43%313.05%828.08%1,015Rockcastle4,75775.82%1,41022.47%1071.71%3,34753.35%6,274Rowan3,90747.92%4,07449.96%1732.12%-167-2.04%8,154Russell5,77977.31%1,56920.99%1271.70%4,21056.32%7,475Scott11,78259.72%7,71239.09%2361.19%4,07020.63%19,730Shelby11,45161.76%6,87137.06%2181.18%4,58024.70%18,540Simpson4,43760.71%2,77537.97%971.32%1,66222.74%7,309Spencer5,37866.82%2,51931.30%1521.88%2,85935.52%8,049Taylor7,56869.69%3,16529.14%1271.17%4,40340.55%10,860Todd3,33667.52%1,54331.23%621.25%1,79336.29%4,941Trigg4,18964.18%2,24634.41%921.41%1,94329.77%6,527Trimble2,23958.74%1,48438.93%892.33%75519.81%3,812Union3,12051.71%2,80446.47%1101.82%3165.24%6,034Warren25,99358.88%17,66940.02%4831.10%8,32418.86%44,145Washington3,30562.65%1,89035.83%801.52%1,41526.82%5,275Wayne4,86867.65%2,20130.59%1271.76%2,66737.06%7,196Webster3,03754.82%2,39043.14%1132.04%64711.68%5,540Whitley10,01573.08%3,48425.42%2051.50%6,53147.66%13,704Wolfe1,40847.44%1,49350.30%672.26%-85-2.86%2,968Woodford7,13057.98%5,02740.88%1401.14%2,10317.10%12,297Totals1,048,46257.37%751,98541.15%27,1401.49%296,47716.22%1,827,587 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% #ffd5d5 Republican — +0-2.5% #ffaaaa Republican — +2.5-5% #ff8080 Republican — +5-7.5% #ff5555 Republican — +7.5-10% #ff2a2a Republican — +10-12.5% #ff0000 Republican — +12.5-15% #d40000 Republican — +>15% 300px Trend 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% #ffd5d5 Republican — +0-2.5% #ffaaaa Republican — +2.5-5% #ff8080 Republican — +5-7.5% #ff5555 Republican — +7.5-10% #ff2a2a Republican — +10-12.5% #ff0000 Republican — +12.5-15% #d40000 Republican — +>15% 300px County flips Legend Democratic #92c5de Hold #0671b0 Flip Republican #f48882 Hold #ca0120 Flip Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Fayette (largest municipality: Lexington) Hancock (largest municipality: Hawesville) Henderson (largest municipality: Henderson) Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Bath (largest municipality: Owingsville) Breathitt (largest municipality: Jackson) Carter (largest municipality: Grayson) Floyd (largest municipality: Prestonburg) Knott (largest municipality: Hindman) Magoffin (largest municipality: Salyersville) Pike (largest municipality: Pikeville) By congressional district McCain carried five of the state's six congressional districts, including one held by a Democrat.https://elect.ky.gov/SiteCollectionDocuments/Election%20Results/2000-2009/2008/General%20Election/STATEwide%20by%20congressional%20dist%20gen%2008.txt Kentucky state board of elections elect.ky.gov https://web.archive.org/web/20240302174248/https://elect.ky.gov/SiteCollectionDocuments/Election%20Results/2000-2009/2008/General%20Election/STATEwide%20by%20congressional%20dist%20gen%2008.txt 2024-03-02 District McCain Obama RepresentativeKentucky 1 1st 61.85% 36.60%Ed WhitfieldKentucky 2 2nd60.54%38.03%Ron Lewis (110th Congress)Brett Guthrie (111th Congress)Kentucky 3 3rd 43.36% 55.66%John YarmuthKentucky 4 4th 60.41% 37.96%Geoff DavisKentucky 5 5th 67.01% 31.24%Hal RogersKentucky 6 6th 55.41% 43.22%Ben Chandler Electors List of 2008 United States presidential electors Technically the voters of Kentucky cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Kentucky was allocated eight electors because it had six congressional districts and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of eight electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all eight 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 his or her 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 Kentucky. All eight were pledged to and voted for John McCain and Sarah Palin:http://www.newsandtribune.com/statenews/kentuckystatehouse_story_308163120.html Kentucky's electors » Archive » Evening News and Tribune November 25, 2021 September 3, 2012 https://archive.today/20120903181714/http://www.newsandtribune.com/statenews/kentuckystatehouse_story_308163120.html dead James Henry Snider Walter A. Baker Edna M. Fulkerson Amy B. Towles Nancy Mitchell Don Ball Robert Gable Elizabeth G. Thomas References Kentucky 2008 United States presidential