2008 United States presidential election in Colorado

none June 2025 September 2023 2008 United States presidential election 2008 United States presidential election in Colorado Colorado presidential no 2004 United States presidential election in Colorado 2004 2012 United States presidential election in Colorado 2012 November 4, 2008 x200px Obama portrait crop.jpg Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) Illinois Joe Biden 9 1,288,633 53.66% John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg John McCain Republican Party (United States) Arizona Sarah Palin 0 1,073,629 44.71% 280px County results 280px Congressional district results 280px Precinct 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% #AA0000 80–90% #800000 90–100% Tie/No Data #D4C4DC #808080 President George W. Bush Republican Party (United States) Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) The 2008 United States presidential election in Colorado took place on November 4, 2008, as a part of the 2008 United States presidential election throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose nine representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Colorado was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama by a margin of victory of 8.95%. Obama took 53.66% of the vote to McCain's 44.71%. The state was heavily targeted by both campaigns, although, prior to the election, all 17 news organizations actually considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. While George W. Bush narrowly carried the state in 2004, Colorado ultimately flipped to Obama. This was the first time since 1992 in which the state was won by a Democrat in a presidential election, as well as the first of currently five consecutive times since 1944 in which it voted differently than Montana, another Rocky Mountain state. Key to Obama's victory was Democratic dominance in the Denver area, sweeping not just the city but also the heavily populated suburban counties around Denver, particularly Adams, Arapahoe, and Jefferson counties, as well as winning Larimer County, home to Fort Collins. Obama also took over 70% of the vote in Boulder County, home to Boulder. McCain's most populated county wins were in El Paso County, where Colorado Springs is located, and Weld County, home to Greeley. Colorado served as the tipping-point state for Obama's overall victory in the presidential election - that is, the first state to give a candidate their 270th electoral vote when all states are arranged by their margins of victory. Caucuses 2008 Colorado Democratic caucuses 2008 Colorado Republican caucuses 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 D flipCook Political Report2015-05-05 Presidential http://cookpolitical.com/presidential 2021-08-23 https://web.archive.org/web/20150505003043/http://cookpolitical.com/presidential 2015-05-05Lean D flipThe 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/ 2009-04-22Lean D flipElectoral-vote.comElectoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily https://electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Maps/Dec31.html 2021-08-23 electoral-vote.comLean D flipWashington PostBased on TakeawayLean D flipPoliticoPOLITICO's 2008 Swing State Map - POLITICO.com https://www.politico.com/convention/swingstate.html 2016-09-22 www.politico.comLean D flipRealClearPolitics 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 MapLean D flipFiveThirtyEightSolid D flipCQ 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 PoliticsLean D flipThe 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, 2010Lean D flipCNN2008-10-31 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/ deadLean D flipNPRLean D flipMSNBCLean D flipFox NewsApril 27, 2010 Winning The Electoral College Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/winning-the-electoral-college/Likely D flipAssociated 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 D flipRasmussen 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.comLean D flip Polling Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election#Colorado Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election: Colorado Pre-election polling taken in Colorado prior to the election mostly showed Obama with a slight lead. He led every poll after September 25. The average of the last three polls showed Obama leading McCain 52% to 45%.https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/co/colorado_mccain_vs_obama-546.html#polls 2008 - Colorado: McCain vs. Obama | RealClearPolitics Fundraising John McCain raised a total of $3,491,086. Barack Obama raised almost $11 million.http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=CO&cand_id=P00000001 Presidential Campaign Finance 2009-08-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20090324085930/http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=CO&cand_id=P00000001 2009-03-24 dead Advertising and visits Obama and his interest groups spent $10,410,669. McCain and his interest groups spent $9,818,077.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/ad.spending/ CNN Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com 2010-05-26 McCain/Palin visited the state 13 times. Obama/Biden visited the state 8 times.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/candidate.visits/ CNN Map: Campaign Candidate Visits - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com 2010-05-26 Analysis Politics of Colorado Changing demographics and a growing Hispanic population made the state more favorable to the Democrats, although Republicans still had a hold on the state due to the party's conservative stances on social issues like abortion, gay rights, and gun control. Like most of the Mountain West, Colorado had been traditionally Republican beginning with the Eisenhower landslide of 1952, in which Eisenhower overperformed throughout the region. Between 1952 and 2004, inclusive, Democrats prevailed in Colorado only in 1964 and 1992—the former, a national Democratic landslide; the latter, a three-way contest in which independent candidate Ross Perot had disproportionate strength in the West. In addition, Republicans had mostly held control of the state legislature and most statewide offices since the 1960s. Although Democrats had bases of support in Adams and Pueblo Counties and in the south of the state, and generally carried Denver (albeit often by narrow margins), this was generally no match for Republican dominance of the Denver suburbs, El Paso County (Colorado Springs), Larimer County (Fort Collins), and, until Dukakis flipped it in 1988, Boulder County, as well as of most of the rural areas of the state. Recently, however, there had been a growing population of Hispanic Americans,Schaller, Thomas. Past Dixie. Simon & Schuster, 2006. 184. young professionals, and an influx of people from other states - all of whom tend to vote Democratic. These demographic changes caused the state's political ideology to shift.Schaller, Thomas. Whistling Past Dixie. Simon & Schuster, 2006. While Republicans still enjoyed an advantage in voter registration statewide, Democrats had been closing the gap. There had also been an increasing number of unaffiliated, independent-minded voters.2008-06-07 Obama, McCain look west http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/07/obama-mccain-look-west/ 2008-06-07 Rocky Mountain News Since 2004, Democrats had won the governorship, both Senate seats, three House seats, and control of both chambers in the state legislature. At the presidential level, Colorado voted for Bush by 8.36% in 2000, making it the second-closest of the states carried by Dole in 1996 (behind only Virginia). Moreover, his 50.75% vote share was his lowest in any of the states carried by Dole in 1996, with Ralph Nader posting a relatively strong showing in the state in 2000. Colorado was not seriously contested in 2004, but Kerry cut Bush's margin down to 4.67% in the state, as Kerry flipped a number of ski-resort counties, scored the best showings in Denver and Boulder County of any presidential nominee in decades, and narrowed Bush's margins in the Denver-area suburban counties of Jefferson and Arapahoe, as well as in Larimer. Bush's relatively narrow margin in the state in 2004, along with the demographic changes of the prior four years, led Colorado to become a crucial swing state in 2008. Both Barack Obama and John McCain campaigned extensively in the state. Several factors in the campaign favored the Democrat. Barack Obama did very well in the caucus, defeating opponent Hillary Clinton with almost 67% of the vote. On the other hand, John McCain badly lost the state to opponent Mitt Romney, who gained 60% of the vote. Moreover, the 2008 Democratic National Convention was held in Denver. The publicity generated from the event provided a strong boost to Obama. According to Real Clear Politics polling averages, Obama and McCain were neck-to-neck through the summer and early September. However, as the 2008 financial crisis hit, Obama's numbers in Colorado jumped to over 50%.RealClearPolitics - Election 2008 - Colorado: McCain vs. Obama During the campaign, several media organizations reported on voting machine problems. There was also reporting on the controversial practice of "purging" voter registration lists.http://www.coloradoindependent.com/5802/palast-uses-dnc-to-tout-'steal-back-your-vote'-project-with-kennedy/ Palast uses DNC to tout 'Steal Back Your Vote' project Williams David 2008-10-24 2008-08-27 Colorado Independent https://web.archive.org/web/20081016094359/http://coloradoindependent.com/5802/palast-uses-dnc-to-tout-%e2%80%98steal-back-your-vote%e2%80%99-project-with-kennedy 2008-10-16 dead On election day, Obama won by a comfortable margin, greater than his national average. Obama improved on John Kerry's performance throughout the state. He won landslides in the Democratic strongholds of Denver and Boulder; in both areas, Obama took more than 70% of the vote. He also further built upon Kerry's strength in a number of rich counties dominated by ski resorts along the Front Range; and continued to dominate the traditionally Democratic areas of Pueblo County, Adams County, and the thinly populated, Latino counties of southern Colorado. McCain did best in the rural, conservative areas next to Kansas and Utah, where he won by landslide margins. In Rio Blanco County, Mesa County, Yuma County, Washington County, Lincoln County, Bent County, Crowley County, and tiny Dolores County, Phillips County, Cheyenne County, and Kiowa County, he managed a slightly greater vote share than Bush in 2000. Voters in more populated El Paso County, home to conservative Colorado Springs, gave McCain a 19% margin, which, while a comfortable win, was far less than Bush's 35% margin in 2004. McCain also won two other relatively populated counties, Douglas County and Weld County, both outer suburbs of the Denver area—although, again, by substantially reduced margins compared to Bush in 2004. However, the largest suburban counties of the area, traditionally Republican Jefferson, Larimer, and Arapahoe Counties voted Democratic for the first time since 1964. Broomfield County, which cast its first presidential vote for Bush in 2004, also flipped to Obama. Altogether, this was more than enough to overcome Republican advantages elsewhere in the state, as Obama won it by a nearly nine-point margin. Elsewhere in the state, Democrats also did well. Democrat Mark Udall defeated Republican Bob Schaffer for an open U.S. Senate seat; his vacated House seat was also won by Democrat Jared Polis. In addition, Democrat Betsy Markey defeated incumbent Republican Marilyn Musgrave, by 12 points for Colorado's 4th Congressional District seat. At the state level, Democrats picked up one seat in the Colorado Senate, but lost two seats in the Colorado House of Representatives. Obama's 65.8% victory in Summit County was the highest percentage win by a Democratic presidential nominee in the county since Woodrow Wilson won the county with 70.3% of the vote back in 1916. Results 2008 United States presidential election in Coloradohttp://www.thegreenpapers.com/G08/CO.phtml Colorado 2008 General Election The Green Papers 2008-10-12PartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 1,288,633 53.66% 9 Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 1,073,629 44.71% 0 Independent Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 13,352 0.56% 0 Libertarian Bob Barr Wayne Allyn Root 10,898 0.45% 0 Constitution Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle 6,233 0.26% 0 America's Independent Alan Keyes Brian Rohrbough 3,051 0.13% 0 Green Cynthia McKinney Rosa Clemente 2,822 0.12% 0 New American Independent Frank McEnulty David Mangan 829 0.03% 0 Boston Tea Charles Jay Dan Sallis Jr. 598 0.02% 0 HeartQuake '08 Jonathan Allen Jeffrey Stath 348 0.01% 0 Objectivist Tom Stevens Alden Link 336 0.01% 0 Socialist Brian Moore Stewart Alexander 226 0.01% 0 Socialism and Liberation Gloria La Riva Eugene Puryear 158 0.01% 0 Socialist Workers James Harris Alyson Kennedy 154 0.01% 0 Pacifist Bradford Lyttle Abraham Bassford 110 <0.01% 0 Prohibition Gene Amondson Leroy Pletten 85 <0.01% 0 Totals 2,401,462 100.00% 9 Voter turnout 65.0% By county County Barack ObamaDemocratic John McCainRepublican Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # % Adams 93,445 58.22% 63,976 39.86% 3,080 1.92% 29,469 18.36% 160,501 Alamosa 3,521 56.01% 2,635 41.92% 130 2.07% 886 14.09% 6,286 Arapahoe 148,224 55.69% 113,868 42.78% 4,064 1.53% 34,356 12.91% 266,156 Archuleta 2,836 42.81% 3,638 54.91% 151 2.28% -802 -12.10% 6,625 Baca 536 24.64% 1,572 72.28% 67 3.08% -1,036 -47.64% 2,175 Bent 799 41.61% 1,077 56.09% 44 2.29% -278 -14.48% 1,920 Boulder 124,159 72.29% 44,904 26.14% 2,700 1.57% 79,255 46.15% 171,763 Broomfield 16,168 54.89% 12,757 43.31% 528 1.79% 3,411 11.58% 29,453 Chaffee 4,862 49.01% 4,873 49.12% 186 2.28% -11 -0.11% 9,921 Cheyenne 198 17.82% 890 80.11% 23 2.07% -692 -62.29% 1,111 Clear Creek 3,332 57.78% 2,300 39.88% 135 2.34% 1,032 17.90% 5,767 Conejos 2,154 55.60% 1,653 42.67% 67 1.73% 501 12.93% 3,874 Costilla 1,245 73.36% 415 24.45% 37 2.28% 830 48.91% 1,697 Crowley 552 35.43% 976 62.64% 30 1.93% -424 -27.21% 1,558 Custer 912 34.69% 1,672 63.60% 45 1.71% -760 -28.91% 2,629 Delta 5,084 32.94% 10,067 65.23% 283 1.83% -4,983 -32.29% 15,434 Denver 204,882 75.45% 62,567 23.04% 4,084 1.50% 142,315 52.41% 271,533 Dolores 369 30.32% 818 67.21% 30 2.47% -449 -36.89% 1,217 Douglas 61,960 40.81% 88,108 58.03% 1,751 1.15% -26,148 -17.22% 151,819 Eagle 13,191 60.91% 8,181 37.77% 286 1.32% 5,010 23.14% 21,658 El Paso 108,899 39.86% 160,318 58.69% 3,958 1.45% -51,419 -18.83% 273,175 Elbert 3,819 28.92% 9,108 68.97% 279 2.11% -5,289 -40.05% 13,206 Fremont 6,844 34.36% 12,668 63.60% 407 2.04% -5,824 -29.24% 19,919 Garfield 11,357 49.20% 11,359 49.21% 366 1.59% -2 -0.01% 23,082 Gilpin 1,990 59.07% 1,283 38.08% 96 2.85% 707 20.99% 3,369 Grand 4,037 48.59% 4,128 49.68% 144 1.73% -91 -1.09% 8,309 Gunnison 5,557 62.64% 3,131 35.29% 183 2.06% 2,426 27.35% 8,871 Hinsdale 240 40.07% 344 57.43% 15 2.50% -104 -17.36% 599 Huerfano 1,989 54.60% 1,580 43.37% 74 2.03% 409 11.23% 3,643 Jackson 277 30.31% 624 68.27% 13 1.42% -347 -37.96% 914 Jefferson 158,158 53.60% 131,628 44.61% 5,282 1.79% 26,530 8.99% 295,068 Kiowa 178 20.89% 650 76.29% 24 2.82% -472 -55.40% 852 Kit Carson 912 26.50% 2,455 71.32% 75 2.18% -1,543 -44.82% 3,442 La Plata 16,057 57.39% 11,503 41.11% 419 1.50% 4,554 16.28% 27,979 Lake 1,859 61.93% 1,078 35.91% 65 2.17% 781 26.02% 3,002 Larimer 89,823 53.99% 73,642 44.26% 2,910 1.75% 16,181 9.73% 166,375 Las Animas 3,562 52.68% 3,086 45.64% 113 1.67% 476 7.04% 6,761 Lincoln 546 23.70% 1,717 74.52% 41 1.78% -1,171 -50.82% 2,304 Logan 2,846 31.70% 6,002 66.86% 129 1.44% -3,156 -35.16% 8,977 Mesa 24,008 34.48% 44,578 64.02% 1,045 1.50% -20,570 -29.54% 69,631 Mineral 270 43.34% 334 53.61% 19 3.05% -64 -10.27% 623 Moffat 1,582 26.95% 4,135 70.43% 154 2.62% -2,553 -43.48% 5,871 Montezuma 4,661 39.42% 6,961 58.87% 203 1.72% -2,300 -19.45% 11,825 Montrose 6,495 33.91% 12,199 63.69% 459 2.40% -5,704 -29.78% 19,153 Morgan 3,813 37.26% 6,272 61.29% 149 1.46% -2,459 -24.03% 10,234 Otero 3,547 43.98% 4,393 54.47% 125 1.55% -846 -10.49% 8,065 Ouray 1,636 53.46% 1,367 44.67% 57 1.86% 269 8.79% 3,060 Park 4,250 45.29% 4,896 52.18% 237 2.53% -646 -6.89% 9,383 Phillips 622 27.51% 1,613 71.34% 26 1.15% -991 -43.83% 2,261 Pitkin 7,349 73.74% 2,484 24.92% 133 1.33% 4,865 48.82% 9,966 Prowers 1,487 32.22% 3,043 65.94% 85 1.84% -1,556 -33.72% 4,615 Pueblo 41,097 56.74% 30,257 41.78% 1,073 1.48% 10,840 14.96% 72,427 Rio Blanco 655 20.81% 2,437 77.44% 55 1.75% -1,782 -56.63% 3,147 Rio Grande 2,448 44.97% 2,930 53.82% 66 1.21% -482 -8.85% 5,444 Routt 8,270 62.66% 4,725 35.80% 204 1.55% 3,545 26.86% 13,199 Saguache 1,730 62.91% 956 34.76% 64 2.33% 774 28.15% 2,750 San Juan 264 53.23% 218 43.95% 14 1.92% 46 9.28% 496 San Miguel 3,349 76.99% 933 21.45% 68 1.56% 2,416 55.54% 4,350 Sedgwick 468 34.64% 857 63.43% 26 1.92% -389 -28.79% 1,351 Summit 9,802 65.79% 4,883 32.77% 214 1.44% 4,919 33.02% 14,899 Teller 4,513 34.97% 8,146 63.12% 247 1.91% -3,633 -28.15% 12,906 Washington 529 21.05% 1,949 77.56% 35 1.39% -1,420 -56.51% 2,513 Weld 47,292 44.67% 56,526 53.39% 2,048 1.93% -9,234 -8.72% 105,866 Yuma 1,117 24.92% 3,286 73.30% 80 1.78% -2,169 -48.38% 4,483Total 1,288,63353.66%1,073,62944.71%39,2001.63%215,0048.95%2,401,462 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Alamosa (largest city: Alamosa) Arapahoe (largest city: Aurora) Broomfield Huerfano (largest city: Walsenburg) Jefferson (largest city: Lakewood) Larimer (largest city: Fort Collins) Ouray (largest city: Ouray) right 250px Swing by county Legend #00a1c8 Democratic — +>15% #00bdec Democratic — +12.5-15% #09ceff Democratic — +10-12.5% #77e3ff Democratic — +5-7.5% #aaeeff Democratic — +2.5-5% #d5f6ff Democratic — +0-2.5% 250px Trend relative to the state by county Legend #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% 250px County flips Legend Democratic #92c5de Hold #0671b0 Flip Republican #f48882 Hold By congressional district While Barack Obama won the state's popular vote and nine electoral votes, John McCain carried four of the state's seven congressional districts, including two seats held by Democrats. District McCain Obama RepresentativeColorado 1 1st 24.25% 74.20%Diana DeGetteColorado 2 2nd34.10%64.22%Mark Udall (110th Congress)Jared Polis (111th Congress)Colorado 3 3rd 50.44% 47.90%John SalazarColorado 4 4th49.54%48.66%Marilyn Musgrave (110th Congress)Betsy Markey (111th Congress)Colorado 5 5th 58.57% 39.89%Doug LambornColorado 6 6th52.48%46.17%Tom Tancredo (110th Congress)Mike Coffman (111th Congress)Colorado 7 7th 39.49% 58.56%Ed Perlmutter Electors List of 2008 United States presidential electors Technically the voters of Colorado cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Colorado is allocated 9 electors because it has 7 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 9 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and their running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 9 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 9 were pledged to Obama and Biden: Wellington Webb Terry Phillips Camilla Auger Pam Shaddock Jennifer Trujillo-Sanchez Don Strickland Ann Knollman Polly Baca Margaret Atencio References Colorado 2008 United States president