2008 Indiana gubernatorial election explained

Election Name:2008 Indiana gubernatorial election
Country:Indiana
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2004 Indiana gubernatorial election
Previous Year:2004
Next Election:2012 Indiana gubernatorial election
Next Year:2012
Election Date:November 4, 2008
Image1:Image:Mitch Daniels.jpg
Nominee1:Mitch Daniels
Party1:Republican Party (United States)
Running Mate1:Becky Skillman
Popular Vote1:1,563,885
Percentage1:57.8%
Nominee2:Jill Long Thompson
Party2:Democratic Party (United States)
Running Mate2:Dennie Oxley
Popular Vote2:1,082,463
Percentage2:40.1%
Map Size:250px
Governor
Before Election:Mitch Daniels
Before Party:Republican Party (United States)
After Election:Mitch Daniels
After Party:Republican Party (United States)

The 2008 Indiana gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican nominee Mitch Daniels was challenged by Democratic nominee Jill Long Thompson and Libertarian nominee Andy Horning. Daniels easily won reelection, defeating Long Thompson by over 17 points. Despite Daniels' landslide victory, Barack Obama narrowly carried Indiana in the concurrent presidential election; the only Democratic candidate to do so since 1964. As of 2024, this is the last election Marion County (containing the state's largest city, Indianapolis) would vote Republican for governor and a statewide race.

Primaries

May 6, 2008 – Democratic and Republican primary elections.

October 6, 2008 – Deadline for voter registration for the General election.

Democratic

On the Democratic side, Indianapolis businessman Jim Schellinger and former U.S. Representative Jill Long Thompson announced their candidacies. Indiana Senate Minority Leader Richard Young also ran early, but dropped out of the race well before the primary. Schellinger raised over $1 million in campaign funds, with support of key Democratic officials such as former Indiana House Speaker John R. Gregg, former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson and U.S. Representative Julia Carson.[1] Long Thompson's support came from Democrats such as popular former U.S. Representative Andrew Jacobs, Jr. and former Indiana First Lady Maggie Kernan.[2]

The contest was very close. The difference between the two was 13,769 votes out of over 1.1 million cast, a difference of 1.1%. Both Long Thompson and Schellinger won various counties from many different political geographies of the state. Schellinger narrowly beat Long Thompson in heavily populated Marion County, home of Indianapolis. Long Thompson trounced Schellinger in Allen County, home of Fort Wayne, the second most populous city in the state. Many attribute her very narrow statewide victory to her strong performance in Allen County. Schellinger also did well in Evansville and the Indianapolis suburbs. Long Thompson and Schellinger basically split the rural vote. It was one of the closest statewide primaries in state history, and also had the highest turnout of any Indiana non-presidential primary. Schellinger called Long Thompson around 5 a.m. the day after the election to concede. He pledged her his full support.

On June 16, Long Thompson announced that her running mate and the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor would be longtime State Representative Dennie Oxley.[3]

Republican

On June 16, 2007, incumbent Governor Mitch Daniels announced he was running for reelection with his Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman. He was unopposed in the Republican primary.

Libertarian

Andy Horning, an engineer, Libertarian Party activist and frequent candidate, ran unopposed for his party's nomination. He appeared on the November ballot with Lisa Kelly as running mate.

General election

Debates

Three debates organized by the Indiana Debate Commission were held:[4]

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
The Cook Political Report[6] October 16, 2008
Rothenberg Political Report[7] November 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball[8] November 3, 2008
Real Clear Politics[9] November 4, 2008

Polling

Polling had largely shown Daniels with a slight lead over both Long Thompson and Schellinger. Long Thompson later slipped further behind Daniels in most polls. In the last polls before the election, conducted by Public Policy Polling (November 2, 2008), Daniels led Long Thompson 60% to 37%.

County results

Daniels won 79 of Indiana's counties compared to 13 for Long Thompson.[10]

CountyDanielsVotesLong ThompsonVotesOthersVotesTotal
Adams61.3% 8,291 36.5% 4,938 2.2% 29413,523
Allen61.0% 89,938 37.3% 55,027 1.7% 2,449147,414
Bartholomew70.6% 21,547 27.7% 8,447 1.7% 53330,527
Benton62.8% 2,398 34.3% 1,308 2.9%1093,815
Blackford57.2% 3,098 41.0% 2,221 1.8% 975,416
Boone80.5% 21,352 17.5% 4,633 2.0% 54026,525
Brown61.3% 4,967 35.6% 2,880 3.1% 2508,097
Carroll63.8% 5,586 33.4% 2,925 2.8% 2418,752
Cass56.3% 8,831 40.9% 6,418 2.8% 43315,682
Clark60.7% 28,622 37.9% 17,821 1.4% 68247,125
Clay52.7% 5,986 44.6% 5,055 2.7% 31211,353
Clinton67.7% 8,322 29.8% 3,658 2.5% 30612,286
Crawford38.9%1,86959.7%2,869 1.4%68 4,806
Daviess58.5% 6,043 38.5% 3,978 3.0% 31010,331
Dearborn67.3% 14,536 30.3% 6,540 2.4% 51921,595
Decatur72.8% 7,486 24.6% 2,534 2.6% 27010,290
DeKalb57.1% 9,562 40.4% 6,752 2.5% 42416,738
Delaware56.5% 27,876 41.7% 20,588 1.8% 89549,359
Dubois54.3% 9,946 43.3% 7,938 2.4% 44518,329
Elkhart57.8% 40,983 39.7% 28,114 2.5% 1,74070,837
Fayette58.2% 5,373 39.8% 3,670 2.0% 1809,223
Floyd62.3% 22,471 36.1% 13,020 1.6% 57636,067
Fountain58.5% 4,350 37.9% 2,816 3.6% 2697,435
Franklin61.6% 6,443 35.2% 3,674 3.2% 33710,454
Fulton58.7% 5,309 38.6% 3,493 2.7% 2479,049
Gibson60.1% 9,087 38.1% 5,757 1.8% 27015,114
Grant61.8% 16,006 36.4% 9,431 1.8% 46225,899
Greene50.1% 6,756 46.5% 6,261 3.4% 46413,481
Hamilton83.3% 106,574 15.2% 19,442 1.5% 1,863127,879
Hancock77.1% 26,395 20.6% 7,053 2.0% 80034,248
Harrison56.9% 10,277 41.2% 7,447 1.9% 34218,066
Hendricks77.1% 49,490 20.9% 13,381 2.0% 1,30164,172
Henry57.1% 12,142 40.1% 8,519 2.8% 58921,250
Howard61.6% 23,852 36.5% 14,143 1.9% 75538,750
Huntington65.7% 10,555 32.0% 5,139 2.3% 37716,071
Jackson56.0% 9,729 41.5% 7,218 2.5% 43317,380
Jasper54.1% 6,737 43.5% 5,419 2.4% 29612,452
Jay57.0% 4,763 40.8% 3,404 2.2% 1808,347
Jefferson51.1% 6,671 47.0% 6,127 1.9% 24213,040
Jennings51.1% 6,016 45.7% 5,373 3.2% 38111,770
Johnson77.4% 44,743 20.4% 11,813 2.2% 1,27957,835
Knox46.0%7,11952.8%8,165 1.2%376 15,464
Kosciusko67.5% 19,901 30.0% 8,825 2.5% 75129,477
LaGrange57.3% 5,441 39.3% 3,727 3.4% 3229,490
Lake34.6%66,14564.0%122,111 1.4%2,748 191,004
LaPorte33.9%15,49563.4%28,922 2.7%1,241 45,658
Lawrence57.5% 10,504 39.8% 7,281 2.7% 49518,280
Madison59.7% 34,028 38.3% 21,776 2.0% 1,12056,924
Marion55.5% 209,955 42.5% 160,318 2.0% 7,377377,650
Marshall56.8% 10,314 41.0% 7,447 2.2% 39418,155
Martin55.4% 2,714 41.5% 2,030 3.1% 1534,897
Miami58.1% 7,816 38.4% 5,174 3.5% 46913,459
Monroe47.3%28,48249.8%30,026 2.9%1,764 60,272
Montgomery74.2% 11,304 23.7% 3,605 2.1% 31715,226
70.0% 19,818 26.8% 7,570 3.2% 90828,296
Newton49.9% 2,999 47.0% 2,822 3.1% 1866,007
Noble56.0% 9,408 41.3% 6,951 2.7% 45316,812
Ohio55.4% 1,590 41.8% 1,197 2.8% 802,867
Orange50.6% 4,046 47.0% 3,760 2.4% 1927,998
Owen57.9% 4,717 37.8% 3,074 4.3% 3478,138
Parke50.6% 3,553 46.1% 3,240 3.3% 2357,028
Perry37.7%3,16961.1%5,133 1.2%98 8,400
Pike48.1%2,85049.3%2,924 2.6%157 5,931
Porter43.1%31,38854.4%39,519 2.5%1,802 72,709
Posey62.7% 7,983 36.0% 4,592 1.3% 16412,739
Pulaski53.6% 3,096 43.7% 2,524 2.7% 1535,773
Putnam65.6% 9,443 32.0% 4,597 2.4% 34614,386
Randolph59.5% 6,268 37.8% 3,987 2.7% 28010,535
Ripley60.8% 7,347 35.9% 4,342 3.3% 40212,091
Rush66.6% 5,071 30.3% 2,311 3.1% 2377,619
Saint Joseph47.8%56,17650.5%59,259 1.7%1,978 117,413
Scott49.5% 4,414 48.5% 4,330 2.0% 1808,924
Shelby67.2% 11,774 30.0% 5,259 2.8% 48917,522
Spencer54.8% 5,527 43.9% 4,418 1.3% 13410,079
Starke47.0%4,33951.3%4,726 1.7%161 9,226
Steuben55.9% 7,896 41.3% 5,822 2.8% 40214,120
Sullivan40.5%3,46355.9%4,779 3.6%311 8,553
Switzerland47.6%1,73048.9%1,776 3.5%126 3,632
Tippecanoe61.9% 41,740 35.6% 23,980 2.5% 1,71067,430
Tipton67.0% 5,244 30.4% 2,376 2.6% 2047,824
Union53.1% 1,756 42.7% 1,412 4.2% 1383,306
Vanderburgh62.3% 48,033 36.4% 28,090 1.3% 99477,117
Vermillion38.7%2,76958.2%4,164 3.1%223 7,156
Vigo50.6% 21,941 47.1% 20,448 2.3% 1,01143,400
Wabash64.4% 8,578 33.3% 4,434 2.3% 30813,320
Warren51.7% 2,057 45.3% 1,804 3.0% 1193,980
Warrick65.1% 18,498 33.5% 9,531 1.4% 38628,415
Washington54.4% 6,141 43.4% 4,894 2.2% 24911,284
Wayne52.4% 14,832 43.2% 12,203 4.2% 1,19828,233
Wells65.4% 8,418 32.3% 4,153 2.3% 29212,863
White61.2% 6,620 35.6% 3,845 3.2% 34310,808
Whitley60.4% 8,997 37.4% 5,566 2.2% 32014,883

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Schellinger for Governor: Endorsements . 2008-04-26 . JimSchellinger.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20080407181432/http://www.jimschellinger.com/2007/07/endorsements_1.php . 2008-04-07 . dead .
  2. Web site: Hoosiers for Jill: News . 2008-04-26 . HoosiersforJill.com.
  3. Web site: Oxley Joins Long Thompson on Democratic Ticket . 2008-06-26 . 2008-06-16 . HoosiersforJill.com.
  4. Web site: Gubernatorial Debates . 2008-10-23 . 2008-10-01 . Indiana Debate Commission.
  5. News: Final Indiana Gubernatorial Debate Tuesday Night. 2008-10-14. Associated Press. 2008-10-23.
  6. Web site: 2008 Governor Race ratings. The Cook Political Report. en. March 4, 2021.
  7. Web site: 2008 Gubernatorial Ratings . Gubernatorial Ratings . The Rothenberg Political Report . May 25, 2021.
  8. Web site: THE LAST LAST WORD The Crystal Ball's Final Projections for the 2008 Election . Sabato's Crystal Ball . December 25, 2021 .
  9. Web site: November 4, 2008 . 2008 Indiana Governor Race. March 5, 2021 . RealClearPolitics.
  10. Web site: Indiana General Election November 4, 2008, by County . Indiana Secretary of State . 2008-11-04 . 2008-11-09.