2008 United States presidential election in Utah

none June 2025 September 2023 2008 United States presidential election 2008 United States presidential election in Utah Utah 1922 presidential no 2004 United States presidential election in Utah 2004 2012 United States presidential election in Utah 2012 November 4, 2008 File:John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg 200x200px John McCain Republican Party (United States) Arizona Sarah Palin 5 596,030 62.58% File:Obama portrait crop.jpg Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) Illinois Joe Biden 0 327,670 34.41% 250px County results 250px Congressional district results McCain #e27f90 50–60% #cc2f4a 60–70% #d40000 70–80% #aa0000 80–90% Obama #b9d7ff 40–50% #86b6f2 50–60% President George W. Bush Republican Party (United States) Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) The 2008 United States presidential election in Utah took place on November 4, 2008. It was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose five representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Utah was won by Republican nominee John McCain by a 28% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all leading news organizations considered this a state McCain would win, or otherwise considered as a safe red state. Highlighting its status as a GOP bastion, Utah gave McCain one of his largest victories over Democrat Barack Obama, a near two-to-one margin. Obama did nevertheless manage to carry three counties, and significantly improved upon John Kerry's performance in 2004. Primaries 2008 Utah Democratic presidential primary 2008 Utah Republican presidential primary 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 RThe Washington 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#Utah Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election: Utah McCain won every pre-election poll conducted in this state, each with a double-digit margin and with at least 55% of the vote. The final three-poll average showed McCain leading 59% to 31%.http://uselectionatlas.org/POLLS/PRESIDENT/2008/pollsa.php?fips=49 Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 19 December 2022 Fundraising John McCain raised a total of $1,165,621 in the state. Barack Obama raised $2,121,563.http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=UT&cand_id=P00000001 Presidential Campaign Finance 2009-12-25 https://web.archive.org/web/20090324085817/http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=UT&cand_id=P00000001 2009-03-24 dead Advertising and visits Obama spent $297,645. McCain spent just $250.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/map/ad.spending/ CNN Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com 2010-05-26 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 2010-05-26 Analysis Utah is a heavily Republican state that has not voted for a Democratic presidential nominee since Lyndon B. Johnson's landslide in 1964, and even then the state voted considerably to the right of the nation. Johnson is also the last Democrat to manage even 40 percent of Utah's popular vote. The majority of the state's population is Mormon and highly conservative, especially on social issues. Utah gave George W. Bush his largest margin of victory in 2004 over John Kerry, as Bush received over 71 percent to Kerry's 26 percent and carried every county in the state.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/UT/P/00/ CNN Election Center 2004 - Utah Results 2008-11-13 With 62.15 percent of the popular vote, Utah proved to be McCain's third strongest state in the 2008 election after Oklahoma and neighboring Wyoming.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 Although McCain easily won Utah in 2008, Obama did very well for a Democrat in this Republican stronghold. Obama was able to reduce McCain's margin of victory by narrowly winning Salt Lake County, the state's most populous county that contains the state capital of Salt Lake City, by a mere 296 votes–the first time a Democrat had carried that county since 1964. Obama also carried Summit and Grand counties, both of which have significantly lower Mormon populations than the rest of the state.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/individual/#mapPUT CNN Election Center 2008 - Utah Results 2008-11-13http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4838702 ksl.com - Final Tally: Obama Wins Salt Lake County 2008-11-19http://elections.utah.gov/CANVASS%202008.xls elections.utah.gov-Official Canvass of Utah Vote 2008-11-28 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090611035008/http://elections.utah.gov/CANVASS%202008.xls June 11, 2009 Nonetheless, Obama became the first Democrat to win the White House without carrying Carbon County since Woodrow Wilson in 1912. This election was the Democratic presidential nominee's best showing in Utah since 1968.http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?year=1968&fips=49&f=0&off=0&elect=0 1968 General Election Results - Utah 2008-11-19 In substantially Native American and non-Mormon – but historically heavily Republican – San Juan County, Obama's performance was the best by a Democratic presidential candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940. During the same election, popular incumbent Republican Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. was reelected to a second term in a massive landslide victory, taking in 77.74 percent of the vote over Democrat Bob Springmeyer's 19.65 percent and Libertarian Dell Schanze's 2.62 percent. At the state level, however, Democrats did manage to pick up two seats in the Utah House of Representatives. Results 2008 United States presidential election in UtahPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 596,030 62.58% 5 Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 327,670 34.41% 0 Constitution Chuck Baldwin Darrell Castle 12,012 1.26% 0 Peace and Freedom Ralph Nader Matt Gonzalez 8,416 0.88% 0 Libertarian Bob Barr Wayne Allyn Root 6,966 0.73% 0 Green Cynthia McKinney Rosa Clemente 982 0.10% 0 Others Others 293 0.03% 0 Totals 952,370 100.00% 5 Voter turnout (Voting age population) 55.5% By county CountyJohn McCainRepublicanBarack ObamaDemocraticCharles BaldwinOur Campaigns; UT US Presidential Election November 04 2008ConstitutionRalph NaderPeace and FreedomBob BarrLibertarianVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal votes cast # % # % # % # % # % # % # %Beaver1,90275.54%54221.53%301.19%210.83%120.48%110.44%1,36054.01%2,518Box Elder15,22879.24%3,31117.23%2211.15%1470.76%1270.66%1830.95%11,91762.01%19,217Cache29,12769.48%10,29424.56%1,1532.75%3150.75%3720.89%6611.58%18,83344.92%41,922Carbon4,09152.30%3,46844.34%620.79%901.15%480.61%630.81%6237.96%7,822Daggett29766.89%13129.50%20.45%81.80%10.23%51.13%16637.39%444Davis77,34169.74%30,47727.48%1,1751.06%9560.86%8110.73%1420.13%46,86442.26%110,902Duchesne4,68981.24%91115.78%661.14%270.47%370.64%420.73%3,77865.46%5,772Emery3,35875.02%97321.74%430.96%390.87%260.58%370.83%2,38553.28%4,476Garfield1,71078.37%40518.56%160.73%110.50%110.50%291.32%1,30559.81%2,182Grand1,87145.65%2,06750.43%280.68%561.37%300.73%471.05%-196-4.78%4,099Iron12,51875.06%3,25819.53%3522.11%1380.83%1630.98%2491.50%9,26055.53%16,678Juab2,68373.19%74120.21%1293.52%300.82%280.76%551.50%1,94252.98%3,666Kane2,21269.65%85626.95%270.85%310.98%240.76%260.82%1,35642.70%3,176Millard3,65377.08%75815.99%2645.57%270.57%340.72%30.06%2,89561.09%4,739Morgan3,31179.06%68916.45%1022.44%280.67%290.69%290.69%2,62262.61%4,188Piute63579.28%14117.60%131.62%70.87%20.25%30.37%49461.68%801Rich83182.36%15415.26%90.89%50.50%50.50%50.50%67767.10%1,009Salt Lake176,69248.09%176,98848.17%3,2290.88%3,7681.03%2,5560.70%4,2111.15%-296-0.08%367,444San Juan2,63851.42%2,40646.90%450.88%250.49%140.27%20.04%2324.52%5,130Sanpete6,66475.06%1,63118.37%3243.65%870.98%540.61%1181.33%5,03356.69%8,878Sevier6,39479.35%1,35916.87%1311.63%520.65%530.66%690.85%5,03562.48%8,058Summit6,95641.11%9,53256.34%750.44%1260.74%1040.61%1270.75%-2,576-15.23%16,920Tooele10,99862.98%5,83033.38%2061.18%1510.86%1370.78%1410.81%5,16829.60%17,463Uintah8,44182.84%1,46214.35%1571.54%450.44%370.36%470.46%6,97968.49%10,189Utah122,22477.71%29,56718.80%2,8771.83%1,1190.71%1,3110.83%1810.12%92,65758.91%157,279Wasatch5,43062.96%2,89233.53%810.94%861.00%300.35%1061.23%2,53829.43%8,625Washington37,31174.57%10,82621.64%6281.26%3120.62%4130.83%5451.09%26,48552.93%50,035Wayne94070.04%33524.96%100.75%120.89%120.89%332.46%60545.08%1,342Weber45,88561.99%25,66634.67%5570.75%6970.94%4850.66%7320.99%20,21927.32%74,022Totals596,03062.15%327,67034.17%12,0121.25%8,4160.88%6,9660.73%7,9020.82%268,36027.98%958,996 right 300px 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% 300px 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% #ff0000 Republican — +12.5–15% 300px County flips Legend Democratic #0671b0 Flip Republican #f48882 Hold Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Grand (largest municipality: Moab) Salt Lake (largest city: Salt Lake City) Summit (largest city: Park City) By congressional district McCain won all three of the state's congressional districts, including one held by a Democrat. District McCain Obama RepresentativeUtah 1 1st 63.62% 33.42%Rob BishopUtah 2 2nd 57.72% 39.55%Jim MathesonUtah 3 3rd67.35%29.25%Chris Cannon (110th Congress)Jason Chaffetz (111th Congress) Electors List of 2008 United States presidential electors Technically the voters of Utah cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Utah is allocated 5 electors because it has 3 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 5 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and their running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 5 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 5 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:http://elections.utah.gov/electors.htm Untitled Document November 8, 2008 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20081108095403/http://elections.utah.gov/electors.htm November 8, 2008 Scott Simpson Richard Snelgrove Stan Lockhart Enid Greene-Mickelesen Mark Shurtleff See also United States presidential elections in Utah Presidency of Barack Obama References Utah 2008 Category:2008 Utah elections