2008 United States presidential election in Maine

none June 2025 September 2023 2008 United States presidential election 2008 United States presidential election in Maine Maine presidential no 2004 United States presidential election in Maine 2004 2012 United States presidential election in Maine 2012 November 4, 2008 File:Obama portrait crop.jpg 200x200px Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) Illinois Joe Biden 4 421,923 57.71% File:John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg John McCain Republican Party (United States) Arizona Sarah Palin 0 295,273 40.38% 350px County results 350px Congressional district results 350px Municipality results Obama #b9d7ff 40–50% #86b6f2 50–60% #4389e3 60–70% #1666CB 70–80% #0645B4 80–90% McCain #F2B3BE 40–50% #e27f90 50–60% #CC2F4A 60–70% #D40000 70–80% #AA0000 80–90% Tie #D4C4DC President George W. Bush Republican Party (United States) Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) The 2008 United States presidential election in Maine took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Maine once again displayed its status as a blue state, with Democrat Barack Obama taking the state with 57.71% of the vote and a difference of 126,650 votes. Maine is one of only two states, along with Nebraska, to not allocate its electoral votes via a winner-take-all system; rather, two electoral votes are allocated to the statewide winner and one for the winner in each individual congressional district. Maine at-large and its 1st district has voted Democratic since 1992, and the 2nd district did the same until Donald Trump won it in 2016, 2020, and 2024. It is also the only state in New England where a county voted for Republican John McCain, with Piscataquis County giving McCain 50.72% of the vote. Caucuses 2008 Maine Democratic presidential caucuses 2008 Maine 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 2022-10-23 usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20090101161206/http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/Predictions.html 2009-01-01Likely DCook 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 DThe 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 DElectoral-vote.comElectoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily https://electoral-vote.com/evp2008/Pres/Maps/Dec31.html 2021-08-23 electoral-vote.comSolid DWashington PostBased on TakeawaySolid DPoliticoPOLITICO's 2008 Swing State Map - POLITICO.com https://www.politico.com/convention/swingstate.html 2016-09-22 www.politico.com https://web.archive.org/web/20100102061720/http://www.politico.com/convention/swingstate.html January 2, 2010 deadSolid DRealClearPolitics 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 DFiveThirtyEightSolid DCQ 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 DThe 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 DCNN2008-10-31 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 DNPRSolid DMSNBCSolid DFox NewsApril 27, 2010 Winning The Electoral College Fox News http://www.foxnews.com/oreilly/winning-the-electoral-college/Likely DAssociated 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 DRasmussen 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 D Polling Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election#Maine Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election: Maine Obama won every single pre-election poll. The final three polls averaged Obama leading 55% to 39%.Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections Fundraising John McCain raised a total of $465,676 in the state, while Barack Obama raised $2,205,059.http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=ME&cand_id=P00000001 Presidential Campaign Finance 2009-08-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20090324090247/http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=ME&cand_id=P00000001 2009-03-24 dead Advertising and visits Obama spent $1,216,060, while McCain and the RNC spent $444,529.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/ad.spending/ CNN Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com May 26, 2010 The Obama ticket did not visit the state, but both McCain and Palin visited Maine 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 Maine is located in New England, an area that has become a Democratic Party stronghold. It was once a classic Yankee Republican state. It identified with the newly formed GOP in 1856 and stayed in the GOP fold for most of the next 132 years. The GOP carried the state in all but three elections (1912, 1964 and 1968) from 1856 to 1988. Additionally, Maine and Vermont were the only two states that voted against Franklin D. Roosevelt in all four of his campaigns. However, no Republican presidential nominee has carried Maine since George H. W. Bush in 1988, leading many analysts to reckon the state as part of the solid bloc of blue states in the Northeast. While George W. Bush held the state to single digits in 2000 and 2004, polls in 2008 never showed anything but a significant Obama lead. Ultimately, Obama won the state by a comfortable margin, taking 57.71% of the vote—the highest percentage by a Democrat in Maine since Lyndon B. Johnson carried it as part of his 44-state landslide in 1964, although Bill Clinton in 1996 won with a wider margin when third parties were a more impactful factor. As evidence of how Democratic Maine has become, George W. Bush at the time was only the second Republican ever to win the White House without carrying Maine, the first being Richard Nixon in 1968 when Maine Senator Edmund Muskie was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. At the same time, however, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins defeated former Democratic U.S. Representative Tom Allen and won reelection to a third term with 61.33% of the vote. Maine was the only state carried by Obama to elect a Republican to the U.S. Senate in 2008. The seat in Maine's 1st Congressional District that was vacated by Tom Allen in his unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate was retained by Democrat Chellie Pingree. At the state level, Democrats made gains in the Maine Legislature, picking up six seats in the Maine House of Representatives and one seat in the Maine Senate. Results 2008 United States presidential election in MaineBureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, Elections and Voting, Results, 2008-09 Tabulations https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/results/2008-09/tabs-can-pr-cnty-11-08.html#and 2025-01-15 www.maine.gov https://web.archive.org/web/20241212115607/https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/results/2008-09/tabs-can-pr-cnty-11-08.html#and December 12, 2024 dead Democratic Party (United States) Barack Obama Joe Biden 421,923 57.71% +4.14% Republican Party (United States) John McCain Sarah Palin 295,273 40.38% -4.20% Independent Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez tan 10,636 1.46% +0.37% Green Party (United States) Cynthia McKinney Rosa A. Clemente 2,900 0.40% - Libertarian Party (United States) Bob Barr Wayne A. Root 251 0.03% -0.23% Constitution Party (United States) Chuck Baldwin Darrell L. Castle 177 0.02% -0.08% HeartQuake '08 Jonathan Allen Jeffrey Stath tan 3 0.00% N/A 731,163 100.00% N/A By county County Barack ObamaDemocratic John McCainRepublican Various candidatesOther parties Margin Total votes cast # % # % # % # %Androscoggin 31,017 56.55% 22,671 41.33% 1,162 2.12% 8,346 15.22% 54,850Aroostook 19,345 53.75% 15,898 44.17% 751 2.09% 3,447 9.58% 35,994Cumberland 105,218 64.10% 56,186 34.23% 2,747 1.67% 49,032 29.87% 164,151Franklin 10,113 58.87% 6,627 38.58% 438 2.55% 3,486 20.29% 17,178Hancock 18,895 58.74% 12,686 39.44% 584 1.82% 6,209 19.30% 32,165Kennebec 37,238 56.43% 27,482 41.65% 1,266 1.92% 9,756 14.78% 65,986Knox 13,728 59.74% 8,816 38.36% 436 1.90% 4,912 21.38% 22,980Lincoln 11,886 55.07% 9,287 43.03% 411 1.90% 2,599 12.04% 21,584Oxford 17,940 56.68% 12,863 40.64% 847 2.68% 5,077 16.04% 31,650Penobscot 41,614 51.72% 37,495 46.60% 1,358 1.69% 4,119 5.12% 80,467Piscataquis 4,430 46.96% 4,785 50.72% 219 2.32% -355 -3.76% 9,434Sagadahoc 12,152 57.05% 8,721 40.94% 428 2.01% 3,431 16.11% 21,301Somerset 13,335 51.77% 11,867 46.07% 556 2.16% 1,468 5.70% 25,758Waldo 11,967 54.77% 9,423 43.13% 460 2.10% 2,544 11.64% 21,850Washington 8,246 49.51% 8,077 48.50% 331 1.99% 169 1.01% 16,654York 64,799 59.36% 42,389 38.83% 1,973 1.81% 22,410 20.53% 109,161Total421,92357.71%295,27340.38%13,9671.91%126,65017.33%731,163 Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Washington (largest borough: Calais) right 300px Shift by county 300px Trend relative to the state by county Legend #d40000 Republican — >15% #ff0000 Republican — +12.5−15% #ff2a2a Republican — +10−12.5% #ff5555 Republican — +7.5−10% #ff8080 Republican — +5−7.5% #ffaaaa Republican — +2.5−5% #ffd5d5 Republican — +0−2.5% #d5f6ff Democratic — +0−2.5% #aaeeff Democratic — +2.5−5% #77e3ff Democratic — +5−7.5% #4bdbff Democratic — +7.5-10% #09ceff Democratic — +10−12.5% #00bdec Democratic — +12.5−15% #00a1c8 Democratic — >15% 300px County flips Legend Democratic #92c5de Hold #0671b0 Flip Republican #f48882 Hold By congressional district Barack Obama won both of Maine's congressional districts.Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions, Elections and Voting, Results, 2008-09 Tabulations https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/results/2008-09/tabs-can-pr-cnty-11-08.html#and 2025-01-15 www.maine.gov https://web.archive.org/web/20241212115607/https://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/results/2008-09/tabs-can-pr-cnty-11-08.html#and December 12, 2024 dead DistrictBarack ObamaJoe BidenDemocraticJohn McCainSarah PalinRepublicanRalph NaderMatt GonzalezIndependentCynthia McKinneyRosa A. ClementeGreenOther CandidatesMarginRepresentative# %# %# %# %# %#% Maine 1 1st 232,145 60.51% 144,604 37.69% 5,263 1.37% 1,362 0.36% 252 0.07% 87,541 22.82%Chellie Pingree Maine 2 2nd 189,778 54.61% 150,669 43.35% 5,373 1.55% 1,538 0.44% 179 0.05% 39,109 11.25% Mike Michaud Electors List of 2008 United States presidential electors Technically the voters of Maine cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Maine is allocated four electors because it has two congressional districts and two senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of four electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate their running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded just two of the electoral votes. The other two electoral votes are based upon the congressional district results. 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. Since Obama won both congressional districts, all four were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:Central Maine news, sports & weather & breaking news around Waterville | The Morning Sentinel, Waterville, MEJuly 2016 InternetArchiveBot yes Robert O'Brien of Portland; worked in a hardware store and had been active with the Democratic Party since 1984http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=219859&ac=April 2019 InternetArchiveBot yes Jill Duson of Portland; third-term city councilor and former mayorhttp://theleague.com/me/jill-duson Jill Duson — The League of Young Voters 2009-07-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20080905155409/http://theleague.com/me/jill-duson 2008-09-05 dead Samuel Shapiro of Waterville; party activist since 1953, former state treasurerhttp://maine.gov/treasurer/about_us/former_treasurers.html Maine Office of the State Treasurer: About Us: Former Treasurers 2009-07-05 2007-12-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20071205021858/http://www.maine.gov/treasurer/about_us/former_treasurers.html dead Tracie Reed of Portland; master's candidate in the University of Massachusetts Amherst's architecture program, political organizerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05116623485732697218 Blogger: User Profile: Tracie Reed 2009-07-05 https://web.archive.org/web/20080806053434/http://www.blogger.com/profile/05116623485732697218 2008-08-06 dead See also United States presidential elections in Maine References Maine President 2008