2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee

none June 2025 September 2023 2008 United States presidential election 2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee Tennessee presidential no 2004 United States presidential election in Tennessee 2004 2012 United States presidential election in Tennessee 2012 November 4, 2008 File:John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg 200x200px John McCain Republican Party (United States) Arizona Sarah Palin 11 1,479,178 56.85% File:Obama portrait crop.jpg Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) Illinois Joe Biden 0 1,087,437 41.79% 350px County results 350px Congressional district results 350px 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) 66.34% November 4, 2008 Tennessee Voter Turnout in 2008 Tennessee Secretary of State https://sos.tn.gov/elections/statistics February 28, 2023 0.02 pp The 2008 United States presidential election in Tennessee was held on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors, to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Republican John McCain defeated Democrat Barack Obama in the state by 15 percentage points. Prior to the election, 17 news organizations had correctly predicted that McCain would easily carry the state, and virtually all polling indicated the same. Most news organizations called Tennessee for McCain immediately after the polls closed. McCain slightly improved upon George W. Bush's performance in 2004, despite the nation as a whole trending significantly Democratic in 2008. This was the first time since 1960 that Tennessee did not back the overall winning candidate in a presidential election. Furthermore, this was the first time it voted differently from swing state Ohio since 1944, and the first time it voted Republican while that state voted Democratic. McCain became the first Republican to ever carry historically-Democratic Stewart County. 2020 11 As of 2024, this remains the last time that Houston County and Jackson County have voted for a Democratic presidential nominee or that the party has received more than 40% of the vote. It was one of five states to swing Republican from 2004, along with West Virginia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Primary elections Democratic primary 2008 Tennessee Democratic presidential primary 2008 Tennessee Democratic presidential primary Tennessee presidential no 2004 2012 Tennessee Democratic presidential primary 2012 2008 02 05 125px Hillary Clinton D4AA00 New York 336,245 53.82% 40 125px Barack Obama 800080 Illinois 254,874 40.48% 28 300px 300px Results by county Clinton: #fce0b4 40–50% #f1c98b 50–60% #e6b263 60–70% #d99a39 70–80% #af7b2c 80–90% Obama: #e1bbe1 40–50% #cf94cf 50–60% #bd6fbd 60–70% 58 Democratic National Convention delegates 2008 Tennessee Democratic presidential primaryThe 2008 Tennessee Democratic presidential primary took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008. Hillary Clinton won with 53.8% of the vote and was awarded 40 delegates. Barack Obama placed second, getting 40.5% of the vote and was awarded 28 delegates. Key: Withdrewprior to contest 2008 Tennessee Democratic presidential primaryhttp://tn.gov/sos/election/results/2008-02/DemPresidentCounty.pdf Democratic Primary Presidential Preference Tennessee Department of State PDF 2008-02-05 2008-05-19CandidateVotesPercentageNational delegates Hillary Clinton 336,245 53.82% 40 Barack Obama 254,874 40.48% 28 John Edwards 27,820 4.45% 0 Joe Biden 1,531 0.25% 0 Bill Richardson 1,178 0.19% 0 Dennis Kucinich 971 0.16% 0 Christopher Dodd 526 0.08% 0 Mike Gravel 461 0.07% 0 Uncommitted 3,158 0.51% 0 Totals624,764100.00%68 Republican primary 2008 Tennessee Republican presidential primary 2008 Tennessee Republican presidential primary Tennessee presidential no 2004 Tennessee Republican presidential primary 2004 2012 Tennessee Republican presidential primary 2012 2008 02 05 File:Huckabee-SF-CC-024 (cropped).jpg Mike Huckabee 990000 Arkansas 25 190,904 34.37% File:John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg John McCain ce5c17 Arizona 19 176,091 31.84% File:AnnMarie Romneym (cropped).jpg Mitt Romney 85bb65 Massachusetts 8 130,632 23.62% 300px County winner 300px Vote share 1 300px #990000ff Huckabee#ce5c17ff McCain#85bb65ff Romney Huckabee #fad6e4 30 – 40% #eea3c1 40 – 50% #e66f9e 50 – 60% McCain #f9e1c6 30 – 40% #e8ba85 40 – 50% Romney #ddf0ca 30 – 40% Ron Paul fed105 File:Ron Paul, official Congressional photo portrait, 2007 (cropped).jpg 5.61% 31,026 Texas 0 52 Republican National Convention delegates 150x150pxThe 2008 Tennessee Republican presidential primary took place on Super Tuesday, February 5, 2008. Mike Huckabee narrowly defeated John McCain to win the largest share of Tennessee's delegates to the 2008 Republican National Convention. Both McCain and the third-place candidate Mitt Romney received delegates along with Huckabee. +2008 Tennessee Republican presidential primaryRepublican Primary Presidential Preference http://www.state.tn.us/sos/election/results/2008-02/RepPresidentCounty.pdfRESULTS: Tennessee http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#TN CNN 2008-02-05 2008-02-05 May 8, 2008 https://web.archive.org/web/20080508012111/http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#TN dead Candidate Votes Percentage Delegates Mike Huckabee 190,904 34.37% 25 John McCain 176,091 31.84% 19 Mitt Romney 130,632 23.62% 8 Ron Paul 31,026 5.61% 0 Fred Thompson* 16,263 2.94% 0 Rudy Giuliani* 5,159 0.93% 0 Alan Keyes 978 0.18% 0 Duncan Hunter* 738 0.13% 0 Tom Tancredo* 194 0.03% 0 Uncommitted 1,830 0.33% 0 Total 553,005 100.00% 52 * Candidate dropped out of the race before the primary Results 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#Tennessee Statewide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2008: Tennessee McCain won every single pre-election poll, and each by a double-digit margin of victory. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading 55% to 40%. https://web.archive.org/web/20081128172314/http://uselectionatlas.org/POLLS/PRESIDENT/2008/pollsa.php?fips=47 November 28, 2008 Fundraising John McCain raised a total of $2,941,065 in the state. Barack Obama raised $3,481,341.http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=TN&cand_id=P00000001 Presidential Campaign Finance August 18, 2009 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090118034420/http://fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=TN&cand_id=P00000001 January 18, 2009 Advertising and visits Obama spent $518,659. The Republican ticket spent just $3,526.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/ad.spending/ CNN Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com May 26, 2010 Obama visited the state once, going to Nashville. McCain visited the state twice, visiting Nashville and Blountville.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/candidate.visits/ CNN Map: Campaign Candidate Visits - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com May 26, 2010 Results 2008 United States presidential election in Tennesseehttp://www.thegreenpapers.com/G08/TN.phtml Official General Election Results 2008-12-12 The Green PapersNovember 4, 2008 Tennessee Voter Turnout in 2008 https://sharetngov.tnsosfiles.com/sos/election/data/turnout/2008-11.pdf February 28, 2023 Tennessee Secretary of State Republican Party (United States) John McCainSarah Palin 1,479,178 56.85% Democratic Party (United States) Barack ObamaJoe Biden 1,087,437 41.79% Independent politician Ralph NaderMatt Gonzalez 11,560 0.44% Libertarian Party (United States) Bob BarrWayne Allyn Root 8,547 0.33% Constitution Party (US) Chuck BaldwinDarrell Castle 8,191 0.31% Green Party of the United States Cynthia McKinneyRosa Clemente 2,499 0.10% Independent politician (write-in) 2,333 0.09% Socialist Party USA Brian MooreStewart Alexander 1,326 0.05% Boston Tea Party (political party) Charles JayThomas Knapp 1,011 0.04% 2,601,982 100.00% 2,618,238 66.34% Republican Party (US) By county CountyJohn McCainRepublicanBarack ObamaDemocraticVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal#%#%#%#%Anderson19,67562.32%11,39636.10%4991.58%8,27926.22%31,570Bedford10,21765.89%5,02732.42%2631.69%5,19033.47%15,507Benton3,69657.05%2,64540.82%1382.13%1,05116.23%6,479Bledsoe3,16666.18%1,51731.71%1012.11%1,64934.47%4,784Blount35,57168.88%15,25329.53%8211.59%20,31839.35%51,645Bradley28,33374.19%9,35724.50%5011.31%18,97649.69%38,191Campbell8,53567.59%3,86730.62%2261.79%4,66836.97%12,628Cannon3,32260.88%2,01136.85%1242.27%1,31124.03%5,457Carroll7,45564.01%3,98034.17%2111.82%3,47529.84%11,646Carter15,85272.82%5,58725.66%3301.52%10,26547.16%21,769Cheatham10,70265.14%5,49833.47%2281.39%5,20431.67%16,428Chester4,58771.02%1,79727.82%751.16%2,79043.20%6,459Claiborne7,17568.86%3,07829.54%1671.60%4,09739.32%10,420Clay1,67655.98%1,24841.68%702.34%42814.30%2,994Cocke8,94571.67%3,34026.76%1961.57%5,60544.91%12,481Coffee13,25063.73%7,13234.30%4081.97%6,11829.43%20,790Crockett3,99466.16%1,96732.58%761.26%2,02733.58%6,037Cumberland17,43667.81%7,88930.68%3871.51%9,54737.13%25,712Davidson102,91538.80%158,42359.73%3,8851.47%-55,508-20.93%265,223Decatur3,10165.11%1,56632.88%962.01%1,53532.23%4,763DeKalb4,08557.82%2,83240.08%1482.10%1,25317.74%7,065Dickson11,67759.82%7,50638.45%3361.73%4,17121.37%19,519Dyer9,85968.23%4,41130.53%1801.24%5,44837.70%14,450Fayette12,17363.22%6,89235.80%1890.98%5,28127.42%19,254Fentress4,78971.06%1,83127.17%1191.77%2,95843.89%6,739Franklin10,53960.46%6,61337.94%2801.60%3,92622.52%17,432Gibson13,51663.60%7,40634.85%3311.55%6,11028.75%21,253Giles6,90259.05%4,61439.47%1731.48%2,28819.58%11,689Grainger5,29770.60%2,06627.54%1401.86%3,23143.06%7,503Greene17,15169.52%7,11028.82%4091.66%10,04140.70%24,670Grundy2,56355.33%1,97142.55%982.12%59212.78%4,632Hamblen15,50868.41%6,80730.03%3541.56%8,70138.38%22,669Hamilton81,70255.19%64,24643.40%2,0861.41%17,45611.79%148,034Hancock1,58870.86%60426.95%492.19%98443.91%2,241Hardeman5,22546.50%5,91952.67%930.83%-694-6.17%11,237Hardin7,07770.52%2,79427.84%1641.64%4,28342.68%10,035Hawkins14,75670.13%5,93028.18%3541.69%8,82641.95%21,040Haywood3,16538.97%4,89360.25%630.78%-1,728-21.28%8,121Henderson7,66970.79%3,02127.88%1441.33%4,64842.91%10,834Henry8,18260.41%5,15338.04%2101.55%3,02922.37%13,545Hickman4,78456.30%3,56341.93%1511.77%1,22114.37%8,498Houston1,60847.94%1,67850.03%682.03%-70-2.09%3,354Humphreys3,81850.37%3,60047.49%1622.14%2182.88%7,580Jackson2,18548.54%2,22449.41%922.05%-39-0.87%4,501Jefferson13,09270.65%5,17827.94%2621.41%7,91442.71%18,532Johnson4,62170.11%1,83727.87%1332.02%2,78442.24%6,591Knox113,01560.73%70,21537.73%2,8561.53%42,80023.00%186,086Lake1,17552.50%1,02445.76%391.74%1516.74%2,238Lauderdale4,93352.83%4,32246.28%830.89%6116.55%9,338Lawrence10,56665.96%5,16132.22%2931.82%5,40533.74%16,020Lewis2,95161.05%1,80437.32%791.63%1,14723.73%4,834Lincoln9,23170.30%3,69528.14%2041.56%5,53642.16%13,130Loudon15,81571.29%6,05827.31%3111.40%9,75743.98%22,184Macon5,14569.90%2,06027.99%1552.11%3,08541.91%7,360Madison23,29053.12%20,20946.09%3470.79%3,0817.03%43,846Marion6,74658.98%4,50639.40%1851.62%2,24019.58%11,437Marshall6,75559.84%4,32038.27%2141.89%2,43521.57%11,289Maury20,28860.08%13,05838.67%4211.25%7,23021.41%33,767McMinn12,98969.13%5,54129.49%2591.38%7,44839.64%18,789McNairy7,13568.46%3,13130.04%1561.50%4,00438.42%10,422Meigs2,79766.01%1,37232.38%681.61%1,42533.63%4,237Monroe11,48468.45%5,05330.12%2401.43%6,43138.33%16,777Montgomery30,17553.28%25,71645.40%7481.32%4,4597.88%56,639Moore2,01068.09%88129.84%612.07%1,12938.25%2,952Morgan4,71769.14%1,96928.86%1362.00%2,74840.28%6,822Obion8,87366.26%4,30832.17%2111.57%4,56534.09%13,392Overton4,49755.57%3,41942.25%1762.18%1,07813.32%8,092Perry1,59653.20%1,32944.30%752.50%2678.90%3,000Pickett1,78666.87%85431.97%311.16%93234.90%2,671Polk4,26765.64%2,12432.67%1101.69%2,14332.97%6,501Putnam17,10162.60%9,73935.65%4761.75%7,36226.95%27,316Rhea8,04272.41%2,90726.18%1571.41%5,13546.23%11,106Roane15,65867.27%7,22431.04%3941.69%8,43436.23%23,276Robertson17,90364.83%9,31833.74%3931.43%8,58531.09%27,614Rutherford59,89258.78%40,46039.71%1,5471.51%19,43219.07%101,899Scott4,93172.70%1,72025.36%1321.94%3,21147.34%6,783Sequatchie3,61066.40%1,71731.58%1102.02%1,89334.82%5,437Sevier24,92273.43%8,60425.35%4151.22%16,31848.08%33,941Shelby145,45835.96%256,29763.35%2,8000.69%-110,839-27.39%404,555Smith4,56358.95%2,99238.65%1862.40%1,57120.30%7,741Stewart2,95653.68%2,47044.85%811.47%4868.83%5,507Sullivan44,80870.02%18,35428.68%8351.30%26,45441.34%63,997Sumner44,94966.73%21,48731.90%9261.37%23,46234.83%67,362Tipton17,16567.80%7,93131.33%2200.87%9,23436.47%25,316Trousdale1,68852.11%1,47545.54%762.35%2136.57%3,239Unicoi5,01169.38%2,10729.17%1051.45%2,90440.21%7,223Union4,46769.81%1,82928.58%1031.61%2,63841.23%6,399Van Buren1,29458.66%84938.49%632.85%44520.17%2,206Warren8,56259.46%5,51538.30%3232.24%3,04721.16%14,400Washington32,34166.03%15,94132.54%7001.43%16,40033.49%48,982Wayne4,07673.75%1,35524.52%961.73%2,72149.23%5,527Weakley8,85564.68%4,59633.57%2391.75%4,25931.11%13,690White6,10363.26%3,37234.95%1721.79%2,73128.31%9,647Williamson64,85869.12%27,88629.72%1,0921.16%36,97239.40%93,836Wilson34,59567.62%15,88631.05%6781.33%18,70936.57%51,159Totals1,479,17856.85%1,087,43741.79%35,3671.36%391,74115.06%2,601,982 right 300px Swing by county Legend #09ceff Democratic — +10-12.5% #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 #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 Republican #f48882 Hold #ca0120 Flip Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Benton (largest municipality: Camden) Clay (largest municipality: Celina) Grundy (largest municipality: Altamont) Humphreys (largest municipality: Waverly) Lake (largest municipality: Tiptonville) Lauderdale (largest municipality: Ripley) Overton (largest municipality: Livingston) Perry (largest municipality: Linden) Smith (largest municipality: Carthage) Stewart (largest municipality: Dover) Trousdale (largest municipality: Hartsville) Van Buren (largest municipality: Spencer) By congressional district John McCain swept the state and carried seven of the state's nine congressional districts, including three districts held by Democrats. Barack Obama carried the state's two congressional districts anchored by the two largest cities of Memphis and Nashville. District McCain Obama RepresentativeTennessee 1 1st69.77%28.77%David Davis (110th Congress)Phil Roe (111th Congress)Tennessee 2 2nd 64.21% 34.28%John J. Duncan Jr.Tennessee 3 3rd 61.87% 36.86%Zach WampTennessee 4 4th 64.06% 34.25%Lincoln DavisTennessee 5 5th 42.94% 55.85%Jim CooperTennessee 6 6th 61.87% 36.59%Bart GordonTennessee 7 7th 64.76% 34.29%Marsha BlackburnTennessee 8 8th 56.01% 42.73%John S. TannerTennessee 9 9th 22.51% 76.92%Steve Cohen Electors List of 2008 United States presidential electors Technically the voters of Tennessee cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Tennessee is allocated 11 electors because it has 9 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 11 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 11 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 the state. All 11 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin: Sara Sellers Jim Haslam Wayne Cropp Lisa Wheeler Beth Campbell Albert McCall Shirley Curry Marilucile Counce Colin Richmond Winfield Dunn Chrystal Horn Analysis Despite narrowly voting for Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996 when former Tennessee Senator Al Gore was on the ticket as Vice President, the state, along with neighboring Arkansas has steadily been trending Republican since then. George W. Bush narrowly carried the state in 2000 over Gore and easily won in 2004 over John Kerry. A handful of Tennessean counties—including those that hadn't voted Republican since landslide victors Reagan or Nixon were on the ballot, swung dramatically Republican. For example, Grundy County, in southeastern Tennessee, broke 56%-42% for John Kerry in 2004, but wound up being swept by McCain 55%-42% this year. The state was one of five states that swung even more Republican in 2008 with John McCain soundly defeating Barack Obama in Tennessee. 2008 marked the first time since 1960 whereby the state was carried by the losing presidential candidate. A possible factor to Tennessee ironically swinging rightward—despite the national Democratic trend—could be the state favoring Hillary Clinton, former First Lady of neighboring Arkansas, over Barack Obama in the Democratic primary, as was the case in Arkansas itself. McCain won both East Tennessee and Middle Tennessee by landslide margins. Historically, East Tennessee, which is a part of Appalachia, is one of the few ancestrally Republican areas of the South. Most of its residents strongly opposed secession during the Civil War. They identified with the GOP after the return of peace and have remained in the Republican fold through good times and bad ever since. Some of the region's counties are among the few in the country to have never supported a Democrat for president. However, Middle Tennessee has Democratic roots based on liberal economic policies, most famously Franklin D. Roosevelt's Tennessee Valley Authority. Middle Tennessee voted strongly for Bill Clinton of neighboring Arkansas, but Middle Tennessee native Al Gore narrowly lost the region in 2000—a loss that ultimately cost him Tennessee, and the election. In contrast, it was one of the few regions in the country which voted more Republican than in 2004.Election Results 2008 http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html New York Times 2009-05-17 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20041103020223/http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/history/ch13.htm November 3, 2004 This is largely due to a growing social conservative trend in the region, particularly in the Nashville suburbs; some of the most politically active churches in the state are located there. On the other hand, Barack Obama did improve relatively well upon John Kerry's performances in the traditionally Democratic cities of Nashville and Memphis. In the former, support amongst progressive whites led to a 3–2 victory for Obama in Davidson County. In Memphis, heavy African American turnout ensured him the largest margin in the state in Shelby County, although far from enough to outweigh his losses everywhere else in the state. McCain carried Hamilton County and Knox County, home to Chattanooga and Knoxville, the two largest cities in East Tennessee. During the same election, at the state level, Republicans picked up four seats in the Tennessee House of Representatives and three seats in the Tennessee Senate to obtain control of both chambers of the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. See also Presidency of Barack Obama 2008 Tennessee elections 2008 United States elections References 30em Tennessee Category:2008 Tennessee elections 2008