2008 United States presidential election in Wyoming

none June 2025 September 2023 2008 United States presidential election 2008 United States presidential election in Wyoming Wyoming presidential no 2004 United States presidential election in Wyoming 2004 2012 United States presidential election in Wyoming 2012 November 4, 2008 x200px John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg John McCain Republican Party (United States) Arizona Sarah Palin 3 164,958 64.78% Obama portrait crop.jpg Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) Illinois Joe Biden 0 82,868 32.54% 280px County results 280px Precinct results McCain #e27f90 50–60% #cc2f4a 60–70% #d40000 70–80% #aa0000 80–90% #800000 90–100% Obama #86b6f2 50–60% #4389e3 60–70% #1666CB 70–80% 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 Wyoming took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose three representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Wyoming was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 32.2% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Polling in the state gave a hefty and large lead to Republican John McCain over Democrat Barack Obama. Despite the landslide re-election victory of Democratic governor Dave Freudenthal two years prior, Wyoming remained a heavily Republican state at the presidential level, and neither of the major party candidates campaigned in the state. Despite McCain's landslide victory, Obama did do significantly better than John Kerry in 2004 and even won one more county than Kerry. This is the most recent election in which the Democratic candidate received more than 30% of the vote in Wyoming, and the last in which the Republican nominee received fewer than double the votes of the Democratic nominee. Obama's 82,868 vote total remains the most received by a Democratic presidential candidate in the state's history. Obama became the first Democrat since Grover Cleveland in 1892 to win the White House without carrying Sweetwater County. Caucuses 2008 Wyoming Democratic presidential caucuses 2008 Wyoming Republican presidential 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 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 2008 United States presidential election#Wyoming Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election: Wyoming McCain won every single pre-election poll, and each by a double-digit margin of victory. The final 3 polls average McCain leading with 58% to 35%.http://uselectionatlas.org/POLLS/PRESIDENT/2008/pollsa.php?fips=56 Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections Fundraising John McCain raised a total of $447,757 in the state. Barack Obama raised $723,033.http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=WY&cand_id=P00000001 Presidential Campaign Finance 2009-08-18 https://web.archive.org/web/20090324085919/http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=WY&cand_id=P00000001 2009-03-24 dead Advertising and visits Because Wyoming is a strong red state, not much advertising went into the state. Obama didn't spend anything while the Republican National Committee spent $2,518.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/ad.spending/ CNN Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com May 26, 2010 Neither campaign visited the state.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 Laramie, Wyoming polling station Located in the Inner Mountain West, Wyoming was home to then-incumbent Vice President Dick Cheney. It is one of the most reliably Republican states in the nation—and by some measures, the most Republican. Its demographics are a perfect fit for the Republican Party. It is the least populated state in the nation (even less than the District of Columbia), has no major metropolitan areas, and is heavily rural and White/Caucasian. Voters in the state tend to be very conservative on both social and fiscal issues. At the time of this election, however, it did still have a Democratic governor. No Democratic presidential nominee has won Wyoming since Lyndon B. Johnson in his landslide election in 1964—one of only eight times the state has voted Democrat in a presidential election. Republicans have several structural advantages in the state. Large chunks of Wyoming are located in out-of-state television markets—most notably Denver, Billings, Salt Lake City and Idaho Falls. This forces statewide candidates to advertise in areas where most of their audience can't vote for them. Additionally, 60 percent of the state's registered voters are Republicans while only 25 percent are Democrats—one of the largest discrepancies in the nation. The 2008 election was no different. The state was called for McCain as soon as the polls closed, and gave McCain his second largest margin of victory in 2008. McCain carried Laramie County, the most populous county that contains the state capital and largest city of Cheyenne, with 58.98 percent of the vote as well as every other county throughout the state often by more than two-to-one margins but two. Obama greatly improved upon Kerry's performance in Teton County, the most affluent county in Wyoming that includes the Jackson Hole prime ski resort and tourism attractions such as Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, carrying the county with 60.67% of the vote. Obama also won Albany County, due in large part to the presence of the University of Wyoming at Laramie and the tremendous excitement that his campaign fueled among younger voters and college students. The county would return to its Republican roots in 2012 and 2016, but flipped to Obama's former running mate Joe Biden in 2020, the only county to do so. With 64.78% of the popular vote, Wyoming would prove to be McCain's second strongest state in the 2008 election after Oklahoma.https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/stats.php?year=2008&f=0&off=0&elect=0 2008 Presidential Election Statistics Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 2018-03-05 During the same election, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Mike Enzi was reelected in a landslide victory over Democrat Chris Rothfuss, a professor of political science at the University of Wyoming. Enzi received 75.63% of the vote while Rothfuss took in 24.26%. For the state's other U.S. Senate seat's special election, incumbent Republican John Barrasso was also elected in a landslide with 73.35% of the vote over Democratic attorney Nick Carter of Gillette who received 26.53%. The state's sole seat in the United States House of Representatives was also up for grabs, with incumbent Republican U.S. Representative Barbara Cubin retiring. Former State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis, a Republican, defeated Democrat Gary Trauner and Libertarian W. David Herbert for the at-large seat. Lummis received 52.62% of the vote to Trauner's 42.81% and Herbert's 4.42%. Democrats did have success at the state level, however, as they picked up two seats in the Wyoming House of Representatives. Results 2008 United States presidential election in WyomingPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 164,958 64.78% 3 Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 82,868 32.54% 0 Independent Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 2,525 0.99% 0 Libertarian Bob Barr Wayne Allyn Root 1,594 0.63% 0 Write-ins Write-ins 1,521 0.60% 0 Constitution Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle 1,192 0.47% 0 Totals 254,658 100.00% 3 Voter turnout (Voting age population) 64.1% By county County John McCainRepublican Barack ObamaDemocratic Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast#%#%#%#% Albany 7,936 46.36% 8,644 50.50% 537 3.14% -708 -4.14% 17,117 Big Horn 4,045 76.18% 1,108 20.87% 157 2.96% 2,937 55.31% 5,310 Campbell 13,011 79.72% 2,990 18.32% 319 1.95% 10,021 61.40% 16,320 Carbon 4,331 63.19% 2,336 34.08% 187 2.73% 1,995 29.11% 6,854 Converse 4,922 76.30% 1,380 21.39% 149 2.31% 3,542 54.91% 6,451 Crook 2,967 80.56% 612 16.62% 104 2.82% 2,355 63.94% 3,683 Fremont 11,083 63.00% 6,016 34.20% 493 2.80% 5,067 28.80% 17,592 Goshen 3,942 66.68% 1,832 30.99% 138 2.33% 2,110 35.69% 5,912 Hot Springs 1,834 72.03% 619 24.31% 93 3.65% 1,215 47.72% 2,546 Johnson 3,334 76.57% 908 20.85% 112 2.57% 2,426 55.72% 4,354 Laramie 24,549 58.98% 16,072 38.61% 1,004 2.41% 8,477 20.37% 41,625 Lincoln 6,485 75.69% 1,823 21.28% 260 3.03% 4,662 54.41% 8,568 Natrona 21,906 65.85% 10,475 31.49% 886 2.66% 11,431 34.36% 33,267 Niobrara 1,017 78.65% 244 18.87% 32 2.47% 773 59.78% 1,293 Park 10,839 72.33% 3,757 25.07% 389 2.60% 7,082 47.26% 14,985 Platte 3,002 65.83% 1,407 30.86% 151 3.31% 1,595 34.97% 4,560 Sheridan 10,177 67.93% 4,458 29.76% 346 2.31% 5,719 38.17% 14,981 Sublette 3,316 76.12% 936 21.49% 104 2.39% 2,380 54.63% 4,356 Sweetwater 10,360 62.02% 5,762 34.50% 581 3.48% 4,598 27.52% 16,703 Teton 4,565 37.07% 7,472 60.67% 279 2.27% -2,907 -23.60% 12,316 Uinta 5,763 68.75% 2,317 27.64% 303 3.61% 3,446 41.11% 8,383 Washakie 2,956 72.29% 1,042 25.48% 91 2.23% 1,914 46.81% 4,089 Weston 2,618 77.16% 658 19.39% 117 3.45% 1,960 57.77% 3,393Total164,95864.78%82,86832.54%6,8322.68%82,09032.24%254,658 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Albany (largest municipality: Laramie) right 250px Swing by county Legend #00a1c8 Democratic — +>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% 250px Trend relative to the state by county Legend #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% #ff5555 Republican — +7.5-10% 250px County flips Legend Democratic #92c5de Hold #0671b0 Flip Republican #f48882 Hold By congressional district Due to the state's low population, only one congressional district is allocated. This district is called the at-large district, because it covers the entire state, and thus is equivalent to the statewide election results. District McCain Obama RepresentativeAt-large 64.78% 32.54%Cynthia Lummis Electors List of 2008 United States presidential electors Technically the voters of Wyoming cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Wyoming is allocated 3 electors because it has 1 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 3 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and their running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 3 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 3 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:http://soswy.state.wy.us/Elections/WyoPresElectorInfo.aspx Wyoming Secretary of State Rosa Goolsby Ron Micheli Susan Thomas See also United States presidential elections in Wyoming Presidency of Barack Obama References Wyoming President 2008