2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi

none June 2025 September 2023 2008 United States presidential election 2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi Mississippi presidential no 2004 United States presidential election in Mississippi 2004 2012 United States presidential election in Mississippi 2012 November 4, 2008 x200px John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg John McCain Republican Party (United States) Arizona Sarah Palin 6 724,597 56.18% Obama portrait crop.jpg Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) Illinois Joe Biden 0 554,662 43.00% 190px County results 190px Congressional district results 190px Precinct results 1 McCain #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) 2001 The 2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose 6 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Mississippi was won by Republican nominee John McCain with a 13.17% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise a red state. Although the state has the largest African American percentage in the country, Mississippi remains a safe red state at the presidential level, having voted Republican every election year since 1980. While there was comparably high African American turnout compared to previous elections in Mississippi and Obama performed significantly better than Kerry in 2004, it was not enough to overcome the state's strong Republican leanings. To date, this is the last time Warren County backed the national losing candidate. Primaries Mississippi Democratic primary, 2008 Mississippi Republican primary, 2008 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 https://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#Mississippi Statewide opinion polling for the United States presidential election, 2008: Mississippi McCain won every single pre-election poll, each with at least 50% of the vote with the exception of the one of them. The final 3 polls average gave the Republican a lead of 51% to 39%.Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections Fundraising John McCain raised a total of $1,386,749 in the state. Barack Obama raised $768,981.http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=MS&cand_id=P00000001 Presidential Campaign Finance 2009-08-19 https://web.archive.org/web/20090324085741/http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=MS&cand_id=P00000001 2009-03-24 dead Advertising and visits Obama spent $238,401. McCain and his interest groups spent $139,999.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/ad.spending/ CNN Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com 2010-05-26 The McCain ticket visited three times. Obama's 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 2010-05-26 Analysis Mississippi is one of the most racially polarized states in presidential elections. African Americans uniformly vote Democratic, while Whites vote Republican nearly as uniformly. In 2004, 14% of Caucasians voted for John Kerry, and 10% of African Americans voted for Bush, according to exit polling.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/MS/P/00/epolls.0.html CNN Election 2004 2009-04-06 CNN White Democrats began splitting their tickets in national elections as early as the 1940s when the national party became more friendly to the Civil Rights Movement, culminating when Barry Goldwater carried the state with a staggering 87 percent of the vote in 1964. The Republican trend accelerated in the late 1970s with the rise of the religious right, which appealed to its status as a Bible Belt state. The last Democratic presidential nominee to win Mississippi was Jimmy Carter in 1976, even then, he only won it by 1.9 points. Due to its status as a safe red state, little campaigning took place in Mississippi by either of the two major party candidates. Indeed, the state was last seriously contested in 1980. In 2008, Barack Obama was able to improve on Kerry's performance by six percent, mainly due to the higher African American turnout. Obama's main support was in the western delta counties next to the Mississippi River. In contrast, McCain's margins came from the regions bordering the Gulf Coast, the northeast Appalachian area, and the Jackson and Memphis suburbs. Voting became even more polarized: nine in ten Whites voted Republican, and nearly all African-Americans voted Democratic in Mississippi, according to exit polls. As expected, McCain carried Mississippi by a comfortable 13.17-point margin over Obama. McCain's margin of victory, however, was less than that of George W. Bush's 19.69-point margin of victory over John Kerry in 2004. Oktibbeha County voted Democratic for the first time since 1956. Mississippi was also the only state to list the official candidates of the Reform Party on its ballot.http://reformpa.web.aplus.net/news.htm Reform Party of the United States of America reformpa.web.aplus.net 6 June 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20080801090600/http://reformpa.web.aplus.net/news.htm 1 August 2008 dead At the same time, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Thad Cochran was reelected with 61.44% of the vote over Democrat Erik Fleming who received 38.56%. Appointed U.S. Senator Roger Wicker stood for election as well in 2008 against former Democratic Governor Ronnie Musgrove. The race was expected to be much closer, but the Republicans ran ads accusing Musgrove of supporting gay rights, not a popular position in this strongly socially conservative state. Wicker defeated Musgrove by almost 10 points, 54.96%-45.04%. Results 2008 United States presidential election in Mississippi Republican Party (United States) John McCainSarah Palin 724,597 56.18% −3.27% Democratic Party (United States) Barack ObamaJoe Biden 554,662 43.00% +3.24% Independent politician Ralph NaderMatt Gonzalez 4,011 0.31% N/A Constitution Party (United States) Chuck BaldwinDarrell Castle 2,551 0.20% +0.05% Libertarian Party (United States) Bob BarrWayne Allyn Root 2,529 0.20% +0.04% Green Party (United States) Cynthia McKinneyRosa Clemente 1,034 0.08% −0.01% Reform Party of the United States of America Ted WeillFrank McEnulty 481 0.04% −0.24% 1,289,865 100.00% N/A By county Countyhttps://www.sos.state.ms.us/elections/2008/08%20Certification%20Results/Cert/President%20&%20VP.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20250823010047/https://www.sos.state.ms.us/elections/2008/08%20Certification%20Results/Cert/President%20&%20VP.pdf August 23, 2025 live President & VP Hosemann Delbert Delbert Hosemann December 3, 2008 Secretary of State of Mississippi March 13, 2026John McCainRepublicanBarack ObamaDemocraticVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal#%#%#%#%Adams6,56641.83%9,02157.47%1090.69%-2,455-15.64%15,696Alcorn10,80571.17%4,13027.20%2471.63%6,67543.97%15,182Amite4,24555.49%3,34843.76%570.75%89711.73%7,650Attala5,27357.42%3,84941.91%610.66%1,42415.51%9,183Benton2,32950.22%2,22748.02%821.77%1022.20%4,638Bolivar4,89131.80%10,33467.19%1561.01%-5,443-35.39%15,381Calhoun4,46763.51%2,52235.85%450.64%1,94527.65%7,034Carroll3,90265.41%2,03734.15%260.44%1,86531.27%5,965Chickasaw4,39548.52%4,58850.65%750.83%-193-2.13%9,058Choctaw2,62463.57%1,45935.34%451.09%1,16528.22%4,128Claiborne74813.72%4,68285.86%230.42%-3,934-72.14%5,453Clarke5,22962.27%3,12137.17%470.56%2,10825.10%8,397Clay4,46640.26%6,55859.12%680.61%-2,092-18.86%11,092Coahoma2,91727.60%7,59771.89%540.51%-4,680-44.28%10,568Copiah6,70146.21%7,71053.17%910.63%-1,009-6.96%14,502Covington5,52358.38%3,85240.71%860.91%1,67117.66%9,461DeSoto44,22268.75%19,62730.51%4740.74%24,59538.24%64,323Forrest15,29656.27%11,62242.75%2660.98%3,67413.52%27,184Franklin2,90962.09%1,73336.99%430.92%1,17625.10%4,685George7,70082.49%1,53216.41%1031.10%6,16866.07%9,335Greene4,36175.33%1,36623.60%621.07%2,99551.74%5,789Grenada6,23455.07%5,02944.42%580.51%1,20510.64%11,321Hancock13,02076.34%3,76822.09%2681.57%9,25254.24%17,056Harrison38,75762.55%22,67336.59%5270.85%16,08425.96%61,957Hinds32,94930.26%75,40169.24%5520.51%-42,452-38.98%108,902Holmes1,71417.96%7,76581.37%640.67%-6,051-63.41%9,543Humphreys1,46228.52%3,63470.89%300.59%-2,172-42.37%5,126Issaquena36438.32%57960.95%70.74%-215-22.63%950Itawamba7,66377.01%2,08420.94%2042.05%5,57956.06%9,951Jackson35,99366.29%17,78132.75%5220.96%18,21233.54%54,296Jasper4,13544.90%5,02554.56%500.54%-890-9.66%9,210Jefferson55112.30%3,88386.71%440.98%-3,332-74.41%4,478Jefferson Davis2,87138.96%4,45460.43%450.61%-1,583-21.48%7,370Jones20,15768.86%8,84630.22%2700.92%11,31138.64%29,273Kemper1,93537.05%3,25662.34%320.61%-1,321-25.29%5,223Lafayette10,27855.68%7,99743.32%1851.00%2,28112.36%18,460Lamar18,49777.36%5,15921.58%2541.06%13,33855.78%23,910Lauderdale19,58259.14%13,33240.26%2000.60%6,25018.87%33,114Lawrence4,36962.33%2,58736.91%530.76%1,78225.42%7,009Leake5,14855.01%4,15144.35%600.64%99710.65%9,359Lee22,69464.91%12,02134.39%2450.70%10,67330.53%34,960Leflore4,10531.38%8,91468.14%620.47%-4,809-36.76%13,081Lincoln10,78165.73%5,50533.56%1160.71%5,27632.17%16,402Lowndes13,99450.95%13,20948.09%2620.95%7852.86%27,465Madison27,20357.55%19,83141.95%2350.50%7,37215.60%47,269Marion8,51365.43%4,42233.99%750.58%4,09131.45%13,010Marshall6,68340.56%9,68558.78%1100.67%-3,002-18.22%16,478Monroe10,18458.21%7,16940.98%1430.82%3,01517.23%17,496Montgomery3,07153.76%2,60945.68%320.56%4628.09%5,712Neshoba8,20972.00%3,11427.31%790.69%5,09544.69%11,402Newton6,57966.76%3,21832.65%580.59%3,36134.10%9,855Noxubee1,52523.14%5,03076.34%340.52%-3,505-53.19%6,589Oktibbeha9,32049.60%9,32649.63%1460.78%-6-0.03%18,792Panola7,62046.42%8,69052.94%1060.65%-1,070-6.52%16,416Pearl River17,88179.67%4,32019.25%2421.08%13,56160.42%22,443Perry4,06771.80%1,53327.07%641.13%2,53444.74%5,664Pike8,65147.91%9,27651.38%1280.71%-625-3.46%18,055Pontotoc9,72775.59%2,98223.17%1591.24%6,74552.42%12,868Prentiss7,70370.39%3,02027.60%2212.02%4,68342.79%10,944Quitman1,33432.01%2,80367.25%310.74%-1,469-35.24%4,168Rankin48,14076.29%14,37222.78%5910.94%33,76853.51%63,103Scott6,58456.41%5,02543.06%620.53%1,55913.36%11,671Sharkey87331.23%1,90768.23%150.54%-1,034-36.99%2,795Simpson7,64160.59%4,81738.20%1521.21%2,82422.39%12,610Smith6,26575.44%1,96823.70%720.87%4,29751.74%8,305Stone5,14971.06%1,99627.55%1011.39%3,15343.51%7,246Sunflower3,24528.99%7,83870.03%1100.98%-4,593-41.03%11,193Tallahatchie2,78640.13%4,10559.12%520.75%-1,319-19.00%6,943Tate7,67860.09%5,00339.15%970.76%2,67520.93%12,778Tippah6,93771.33%2,62326.97%1651.70%4,31444.36%9,725Tishomingo6,24974.22%1,96223.30%2082.47%4,28750.92%8,419Tunica1,01723.48%3,27975.69%360.83%-2,262-52.22%4,332Union9,07274.39%2,98524.48%1381.13%6,08749.91%12,195Walthall4,25354.67%3,45644.42%710.91%79710.24%7,780Warren11,15251.24%10,48948.19%1230.57%6633.05%21,764Washington6,34732.41%13,14867.14%880.45%-6,801-34.73%19,583Wayne6,07060.57%3,89038.81%620.62%2,18021.75%10,022Webster4,07274.62%1,34924.72%360.66%2,72349.90%5,457Wilkinson1,56030.36%3,53468.77%450.88%-1,974-38.41%5,139Winston5,49753.78%4,65345.52%710.69%8448.26%10,221Yalobusha3,62853.15%3,15146.16%470.69%4776.99%6,826Yazoo5,29046.09%6,11653.29%710.62%-826-7.20%11,477Totals724,59756.18%554,66243.00%10,6060.82%169,93513.17%1,289,865 Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Benton (largest municipality: Ashland) Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Chickasaw (largest municipality: Okolona) Copiah (largest municipality: Hazlehurst) Oktibbeha (largest municipality: Starkville) Panola (largest municipality: Sardis) Pike (largest municipality: Magnolia) Yazoo (largest municipality: Yazoo City) right 170px 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% 170px Trend relative to the state 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% 170px County flips Legend Democratic #92C5DE Hold #0671b0 Flip Republican #F48882 Hold #ca0120 Flip By congressional district John McCain carried three of the state's four congressional districts, including two districts held by Democrats. District McCain Obama RepresentativeMississippi 1 1st 61.28% 37.74%Travis ChildersMississippi 2 2nd 33.57% 65.86%Bennie ThompsonMississippi 3 3rd61.08%38.17%Chip Pickering (110th Congress)Gregg Harper (111th Congress)Mississippi 4 4th 67.27% 31.76%Gene Taylor Electors List of 2008 United States presidential electors Technically the voters of Mississippi cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Mississippi is allocated 6 electors because it has 4 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 6 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and their running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 6 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 6 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:Presidential Electors http://www.sos.state.ms.us/elections/2008/PDF/PRESIDENTIAL%20ELECTORS2.pdf Mississippi Secretary of State https://web.archive.org/web/20201120151218/http://www.sos.state.ms.us/elections/2008/PDF/PRESIDENTIAL%20ELECTORS2.pdf 2020-11-20 dead Jim Barksdale Barry Bridgforth Fred Carl Bobby Chain Charles Doty Victor Mavar References Mississippi Category:2008 Mississippi elections 2008