2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma

none June 2025 September 2023 2008 United States presidential election 2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma Oklahoma presidential no 2004 United States presidential election in Oklahoma 2004 2012 United States presidential election in Oklahoma 2012 November 4, 2008 x200px John McCain official portrait 2009 (cropped).jpg John McCain Republican Party (United States) Arizona Sarah Palin 7 960,165 65.65% Obama portrait crop.jpg Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) Illinois Joe Biden 0 502,496 34.35% 350px County results 350px Congressional district results 350px Precinct results 1 400px 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 votes #D4C4DC Tie #000000 No votes President George W. Bush Republican Party (United States) Barack Obama Democratic Party (United States) The 2008 United States presidential election in Oklahoma took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose seven representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Oklahoma was won by Republican nominee John McCain with a 31.3% 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. A strongly conservative state located in the Bible Belt where evangelical Christianity plays a large role, Oklahoma has trended heavily Republican in recent years. Having voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election since 1968, Oklahoma once again showcased its status as a Republican stronghold in 2008 with Republican John McCain capturing 65.65% of the vote.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/individual/#mapPOK CNN Election Center 2008 - Oklahoma Results May 26, 2010 It was also the only state where McCain won every county and was even one of the 5 states along with Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, and West Virginia in which McCain outperformed Bush's margin of victory from 4 years earlier, albeit slightly. This was also only the second election since its statehood in which Oklahoma supported a different candidate than Virginia, with 1920 being the first. However, this has happened in all elections since, as Oklahoma has voted consistently Republican while Virginia has voted consistently Democratic. This was one of 5 states where McCain won over 60% of the vote, the others being Alabama, Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho. Primaries 2008 Oklahoma Republican presidential primary 2008 Oklahoma Democratic 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 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#Oklahoma Statewide opinion polling for the 2008 United States presidential election: Oklahoma McCain won every single pre-election poll, and each with a double-digit margin of victory. The final 3 polls averaged McCain leading 62% to 34%.http://uselectionatlas.org/POLLS/PRESIDENT/2008/pollsa.php?fips=40 Election 2008 Polls - Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections David Leip 14 January 2015 Fundraising John McCain raised a total of $2,050,335 in the state. Barack Obama raised $1,711,069.http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=OK&cand_id=P00000001 Presidential Campaign Finance 14 January 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20090324085947/http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=OK&cand_id=P00000001 24 March 2009 dead Advertising and visits Obama spent $613,515. McCain and his interest groups spent just $6,565.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 Oklahoma gave John McCain his strongest showing in Election 2008 with a rounded percentage of 66% (65.65%) going to him.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 Oklahoma was also the only state in the country where every single county voted for McCain. Although the results were similar to 2004 in which George W. Bush swept every county in the state with 65.57% of the vote, McCain's margin of victory was slightly better - 0.08% more - in 2008.http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/OK/P/00/ CNN Election Center 2004 - Oklahoma Results May 26, 2010 Oklahoma was one of five states where McCain outperformed George W. Bush, the other four being Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Oklahoma, despite the large concentration of Native Americans in the state, remains one of the most reliably Republican states in the country. Although Democrats still had a majority of registered voters (as well as the governorship) at the time, the state's Democrats are very conservative by national standards. Oklahoma is part of the Bible Belt, and voters in the state have a strong penchant for being values voters; that is, they are strongly and deeply conservative on social issues such as abortion and gay rights. McCain's selection of the socially conservative Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska proved to be an excellent fit for Oklahoma. Obama was at a disadvantage beforehand in Oklahoma during the primary season when voters in Oklahoma backed Hillary Rodham Clinton with 54.76% of the vote compared to Obama's 31.19% and a significant amount (10.24%) going to John Edwards. Clinton won every county in the Oklahoma Democratic Primary except for Oklahoma County, home of Oklahoma City which Obama just narrowly carried. Most of Oklahoma's Democratic establishment were early endorsers of Hillary Clinton as well. Another setback for Obama was that U.S. Representative Dan Boren, the only Democrat from Oklahoma's five-member delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives, refused to endorse Obama. Another key to McCain's victory was the highly populated counties of Tulsa County, which he won with over 62%, and Oklahoma County, which he won with over 58%. He also dominated the heavily Republican Oklahoma Panhandle by an almost four-to-one margin. Despite the Republican landslide, Obama did improve upon John Kerry's performance in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. However, this was more than canceled out by his extremely weak showing in Southeast Oklahoma, historically the most Democratic region in the state. This socially conservative but fiscally liberal area, known as "Little Dixie," still votes Democratic at the local level and state levels. It also warmly supported Bill Clinton of neighboring Arkansas in 1992 and 1996; Clinton's populism struck a chord among the region's voters. Democratic nominees from John Kerry on, on the other hand, have proven spectacularly bad fits for the region and the state as a whole. Obama lost many counties in Southeast Oklahoma by more than two-to-one margins. Also, Oklahoma was the only state in the country that didn't have a third-party candidate on the ballot, mostly because the state has the toughest ballot access laws in the country. Obama became the first Democrat to win without winning a single county in Oklahoma. During the same election, incumbent Republican U.S. Senator James Inhofe was solidly reelected over Democratic State Senator Andrew Rice. Inhofe received 56.68% while Rice took in 39.18% and Independent Stephen P. Wallace received the remaining 4.14%. At the state level, Republicans made gains in the Oklahoma Legislature, picking up four seats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and two seats in the Oklahoma Senate which gave the GOP control of the state legislature for the first time since statehood. Results 2008 United States presidential election in OklahomaPartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes Republican John McCain Sarah Palin 960,165 65.65%7 Democratic Barack Obama Joe Biden 502,496 34.35% 0 Totals 1,462,661 100.00% 7 Voter turnout (Voting age population) 54.8% By county CountyJohn McCainRepublicanBarack ObamaDemocraticMarginTotal#%#%#%Adair4,63869.33%2,05230.67%2,58638.66%6,690Alfalfa2,02383.11%41116.89%1,61266.22%2,434Atoka3,51171.93%1,37028.07%2,14143.86%4,881Beaver2,19989.25%26510.75%1,93478.50%2,464Beckham5,77278.03%1,62521.97%4,14756.06%7,397Blaine3,10175.41%1,01124.59%2,09050.82%4,112Bryan9,30767.77%4,42632.23%4,88135.54%13,733Caddo6,41365.33%3,40434.67%3,00930.66%9,817Canadian36,42876.12%11,42623.88%25,00252.24%47,854Carter13,24170.27%5,60329.73%7,63840.54%18,844Cherokee9,18656.08%7,19443.92%1,99212.16%16,380Choctaw3,73066.73%1,86033.27%1,87033.46%5,590Cimarron1,11988.04%15211.96%96776.08%1,271Cleveland64,74962.00%39,68138.00%25,10824.00%104,430Coal1,67273.59%60026.41%1,07247.18%2,272Comanche20,12758.77%14,12041.23%6,00717.54%34,247Cotton1,79372.21%69027.79%1,10344.42%2,483Craig3,85865.05%2,07334.95%1,78530.10%5,931Creek20,18770.82%8,31829.18%11,86941.64%28,505Custer7,84274.67%2,66025.33%5,18249.34%10,502Delaware10,27766.90%5,08533.10%5,19233.80%15,362Dewey1,85784.29%34615.71%1,51168.58%2,203Ellis1,62785.23%28214.77%1,34570.46%1,909Garfield17,06775.48%5,54524.52%11,52250.96%22,612Garvin7,71071.80%3,02828.20%4,68243.60%10,738Grady15,19573.35%5,52026.65%9,67546.70%20,715Grant1,83678.13%51421.87%1,32256.26%2,350Greer1,54873.23%56626.77%98246.46%2,114Harmon75769.45%33330.55%42438.90%1,090Harper1,34285.86%22114.14%1,12171.72%1,563Haskell3,20768.51%1,47431.49%1,73337.02%4,681Hughes3,13464.71%1,70935.29%1,42529.42%4,843Jackson6,71974.80%2,26425.20%4,45549.60%8,983Jefferson1,65267.24%80532.76%84734.48%2,457Johnston2,70868.44%1,24931.56%1,45936.88%3,957Kay13,23070.78%5,46329.22%7,76741.56%18,693Kingfisher5,37284.19%1,00915.81%4,36368.38%6,381Kiowa2,53767.42%1,22632.58%1,31134.84%3,763Latimer2,86068.54%1,31331.46%1,54737.08%4,173LeFlore11,60569.32%5,13630.68%6,46938.64%16,741Lincoln10,47074.92%3,50425.08%6,96649.84%13,974Logan12,55668.71%5,71731.29%6,83937.42%18,273Love2,58967.32%1,25732.68%1,33234.64%3,846Major2,95685.16%51514.84%2,44170.32%3,471Marshall3,73069.42%1,64330.58%2,08738.84%5,373Mayes10,23464.03%5,74935.97%4,48528.06%15,983McClain11,19375.92%3,55124.08%7,64251.84%14,744McCurtain7,74573.49%2,79426.51%4,95146.98%10,539McIntosh4,90359.63%3,32040.37%1,58319.26%8,223Murray3,74670.18%1,59229.82%2,15440.36%5,338Muskogee15,28957.51%11,29442.49%3,99515.02%26,583Noble3,88176.78%1,17423.22%2,70753.56%5,055Nowata3,03168.24%1,41131.76%1,62036.48%4,442Okfuskee2,64364.10%1,48035.90%1,16328.20%4,123Oklahoma163,17258.41%116,18241.59%46,99016.82%279,354Okmulgee8,72758.50%6,19141.50%2,53617.00%14,918Osage12,16061.86%7,49838.14%4,66223.72%19,658Ottawa6,90561.80%4,26838.20%2,63723.60%11,173Pawnee4,53368.72%2,06331.28%2,47037.44%6,596Payne18,43563.49%10,60136.51%7,83426.98%29,036Pittsburg11,75268.29%5,45731.71%6,29536.58%17,209Pontotoc9,75068.36%4,51231.64%5,23836.72%14,262Pottawatomie17,75369.18%7,91030.82%9,84338.36%25,663Pushmataha3,20871.72%1,26528.28%1,94343.44%4,473Roger Mills1,50283.96%28716.04%1,21567.92%1,789Rogers27,74372.03%10,77227.97%16,97144.06%38,515Seminole5,60065.29%2,97734.71%2,62330.58%8,577Sequoyah9,46668.00%4,45432.00%5,01236.00%13,920Stephens14,39476.03%4,53823.97%9,85652.06%18,932Texas5,33685.25%92314.75%4,41370.50%6,259Tillman2,19567.81%1,04232.19%1,15335.62%3,237Tulsa158,36362.23%96,13337.77%62,23024.46%254,496Wagoner21,44170.88%8,81029.12%12,63141.76%30,251Washington16,45772.29%6,30827.71%10,14944.58%22,765Washita3,72477.97%1,05222.03%2,67255.94%4,776Woods3,04377.71%87322.29%2,17055.42%3,916Woodward6,40482.59%1,35017.41%5,05465.18%7,754Totals960,16565.65%502,49634.35%457,66931.30%1,462,661 right 300px Swing by county Legend #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 Trend by county Legend #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% By congressional district McCain carried all five congressional districts in Oklahoma, including one held by a Democrat. District McCain Obama RepresentativeOklahoma 1 1st 64.21% 35.79%John SullivanOklahoma 2 2nd 65.59% 34.41%Dan BorenOklahoma 3 3rd 72.82% 27.18%Frank LucasOklahoma 4 4th 66.37% 33.63%Tom ColeOklahoma 5 5th 59.32% 40.68%Mary Fallin Electors List of 2008 United States presidential electors Technically the voters of Oklahoma cast their ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Oklahoma is allocated 7 electors because it has 5 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 7 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and their running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 7 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 7 were pledged to John McCain and Sarah Palin:https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/2008-certificates/index.html#ok U. S. Electoral College 2008 Election - Certificates 14 January 2015 Virginia Chrisco Gail Stice Pete Katzdorn Robert Cleveland Mary Phyllis Gorman Bunny Chambers Diane Murphy Gunther The slate for the Democrats, which was not elected, consisted of Sally Freeman Frasier, Gene A. Wallace, Anita R. Norman, Tim Mauldin, Robert Lemon, David Walters, Walter W. Jenny Jr.Presidential Electors General Election - November 4, 2008 https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/elections/election-results/2008-election-results/2008-general-election-results/08electr.pdf Oklahoma State Election Board See also United States presidential elections in Oklahoma Presidency of Barack Obama References Oklahoma United States presidential 2008