2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota explained

Election Name:2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota
Country:Minnesota
Flag Year:1983
Flag Image:File:Flag of Minnesota (1983-2024).svg
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2004 United States presidential election in Minnesota
Previous Year:2004
Next Election:2012 United States presidential election in Minnesota
Next Year:2012
Turnout:78.11%[1]
Election Date:November 4, 2008
Image1:Obama portrait crop.jpg
Nominee1:Barack Obama
Party1:Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party
Home State1:Illinois
Running Mate1:Joe Biden
Electoral Vote1:10
Popular Vote1:1,573,354
Percentage1:54.06%
Nominee2:John McCain
Party2:Republican Party of Minnesota
Home State2:Arizona
Running Mate2:Sarah Palin
Electoral Vote2:0
Popular Vote2:1,275,409
Percentage2:43.82%
Map Size:350px
President
Before Election:George W. Bush
Before Party:Republican Party of Minnesota
After Election:Barack Obama
After Party:Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

The 2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota took place on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election. Voters chose ten representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

Minnesota was won by Democratic nominee Barack Obama by a 10.2% margin of victory. Prior to the election, all 17 news organizations considered this a state Obama would win, or otherwise considered as a safe blue state. Barack Obama carried the state with 54.06% of the vote in 2008 over John McCain's 43.82%. Obama became the first ever Democrat to win without carrying Lake of the Woods County, as well as the first to do so without carrying Clearwater County since Woodrow Wilson in 1912, the first to do so without carrying Anoka or Jackson Counties since Woodrow Wilson in 1916.

Obama was the first Democrat to carry Olmstead County since 1964. In 2008 78.1% of eligible Minnesotans voted – the highest percentage of any U.S. state – versus the national average of 61.2% As of 2020, this election was the last time Minnesota voted by a double-digit margin for a presidential candidate.

Caucuses

Campaign

Predictions

There were 16 news organizations who made state-by-state predictions of the election. Here are the last predictions before election day:

!Source!Ranking
D.C. Political Report[2]
Cook Political Report[3]
The Takeaway[4]
Electoral-vote.com[5]
The Washington PostWashington Post[6]
Politico[7]
RealClearPolitics[8]
FiveThirtyEight
CQ Politics[9]
The New York Times[10]
CNN[11]
NPR
MSNBC
Fox News[12]
Associated Press[13]
Rasmussen Reports[14]

Polling

In the aftermath of the GOP National Convention that was highlighted by a well delivered and received speech by vice presidential nominee Governor Sarah Palin, a strong Obama lead tightened into a very narrow polling lead. However, when the September financial crisis irreparably damaged McCain's chances at victory, McCain remained competitive in Minnesota for some time after Obama had pulled away in other states such as Michigan and Wisconsin. At no time, however, did polls indicate that John McCain was ahead in the state, and Obama eventually did pull away from John McCain.[15]

2008 Republican National Convention

The 2008 Republican National Convention took place at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, from September 1, through September 4, 2008. The first day of the Republican Party's convention fell on Labor Day, the last day of the popular Minnesota State Fair, though because of Hurricane Gustav, this day was mostly a call for action to help victims and formal, required activities; most of the politicking and partying did not start until Tuesday, the second scheduled day

Four cities made bids to the Republican National Committee (RNC) for proposals to host the 2008 Convention. Those cities were Cleveland, Ohio; Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota; New York City, New York; and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida. The RNC Selection Committee made its recommendation for Minneapolis-Saint Paul and on September 27, 2006, the RNC made its decision public that the 2008 Republican National Convention would be held in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. The RNC made their decision earlier than originally scheduled because the Democratic National Committee (DNC) also had Minneapolis-Saint Paul as a finalist among bidding cities. (After the RNC's selection, the DNC removed Minneapolis-Saint Paul from consideration which left the DNC with only two cities to choose from: New York City and Denver, Colorado.) This is the second time the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area held the Republican National Convention—the first was held in 1892.

Fundraising

John McCain raised a total of $2,423,705 in the state. Barack Obama raised $6,058,168.[16]

Advertising and visits

Obama and his interest groups $3,006,784. McCain and his interest groups spent 4,467,107.[17] The Republican ticket visited the state 9 times. Obama visited the state only once.[18]

Analysis

Minnesota has the longest streak as a blue state, having last voted for a Republican presidential nominee in 1972. However, the Democrats' margins of victory in 2000 and 2004 were relatively narrow. With this in mind, Republicans targeted the state for the 2008 election, holding the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Although the state swung more Democratic in 2008 and Barack Obama performed better here than John Kerry did in 2004, the swing was smaller than the national average.

During the same election, a contentious U.S. Senate battle took place between incumbent Republican U.S. Senator Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken. The close election resulted in two court appeals, both of which eventually declared Franken the winner. At the state level, Democrats picked up two seats in the Minnesota House of Representatives and one seat in the Minnesota Senate.

On Election Day, Obama won Minnesota by a comfortable margin, piling up 2-1 margins in Hennepin County (Minneapolis) and Ramsey County (St. Paul). Obama also ran evenly in the Minneapolis suburbs and rural Minnesota. However, McCain mostly held the same counties Bush won in the Republican base of central Minnesota.[19] While Obama still won the state with ease, GOP efforts and the Republican National Convention led to a better Republican performance than seen in neighboring states in the Upper Midwest, and prevented the collapse of Republican support that occurred in neighboring Michigan and Wisconsin.

, this is the last election in which Stevens County, Watonwan County, Pope County, Grant County, Yellow Medicine County, Lincoln County, Pennington County, Murray County, Pine County, Big Stone County, Marshall County, Polk County, Red Lake County, and Aitkin County voted for the Democratic candidate.

Results

2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota[20]
PartyCandidateRunning mateVotesPercentageElectoral votes
Democratic (DFL)Barack ObamaJoe Biden1,573,35454.06%10
RepublicanJohn McCainSarah Palin1,275,40943.82%0
IndependentRalph NaderMatt Gonzalez30,1521.04%0
IndependentWrite-in candidates9,4960.33%0
LibertarianBob BarrWayne Allyn Root9,1740.32%0
ConstitutionChuck BaldwinDarrell Castle6,7870.23%0
GreenCynthia McKinneyRosa Clemente5,1740.18%0
Socialist WorkersRóger CaleroAlyson Kennedy7900.03%0
IndependentAlan Keyes (write-in)Brian Rohrbough220.00%0
Socialist Party USABrian Moore (write-in)Stewart Alexander70.00%0
IndependentJoe Schriner (write-in)Dale Way30.00%0
IndependentCurtis Montgomery (write-in)Janice Montgomery10.00%0
Totals2,910,369100.00%10
Voter turnout (Voting age population)74.7%

By county

CountyBarack Obama
DFL		John McCain
Republican		Various candidates
Other parties		MarginTotal votes cast
%%%%
Aitkin4,59548.83%4,58948.77%2262.40%60.06%9,410
Anoka86,97647.73%91,35750.13%3,8912.14%-4,381-2.40%182,224
Becker7,68745.31%8,85152.17%4272.52%-1,164-6.86%16,965
Beltrami12,01954.05%9,76243.90%4552.05%2,25710.15%22,236
Benton8,45443.71%10,33853.46%5472.83%-1,884-9.75%19,339
Big Stone1,55251.91%1,36245.55%762.54%1906.36%2,990
Blue Earth19,32555.10%14,78242.15%9632.75%4,54312.95%35,070
Brown5,80942.65%7,45654.74%3552.61%-1,647-12.09%13,620
Carlton11,50162.34%6,54935.50%3992.16%4,95226.84%18,449
Carver20,65441.57%28,15656.67%8731.76%-7,502-15.10%49,683
Cass7,27644.62%8,66053.11%3712.27%-1,384-8.49%16,307
Chippewa3,28051.60%2,90745.74%1692.66%3735.86%6,356
Chisago12,78343.62%15,78953.88%7332.50%-3,006-10.26%29,305
Clay16,66656.96%11,97840.94%6152.10%4,68816.02%29,259
Clearwater1,87744.05%2,29153.77%932.18%-414-9.72%4,261
Cook2,01960.30%1,24037.04%892.66%77923.26%3,348
Cottonwood2,75945.71%3,15752.30%1201.99%-398-6.59%6,036
Crow Wing15,85945.10%18,56752.80%7392.10%-2,708-7.70%35,165
Dakota116,77851.79%104,36446.29%4,3301.92%12,4145.50%225,472
Dodge4,46343.70%5,46853.54%2822.76%-1,005-9.84%10,213
Douglas9,25644.25%11,24153.74%4212.01%-1,985-9.49%20,918
Faribault3,73645.83%4,19651.47%2202.70%-460-5.64%8,152
Fillmore5,92152.71%4,99344.45%3202.84%9288.26%11,234
Freeborn9,91557.38%6,95540.25%4102.37%2,96017.13%17,280
Goodhue12,42048.15%12,77549.53%6002.32%-355-1.38%25,795
Grant1,85051.32%1,64645.66%1093.02%2045.66%3,605
Hennepin420,95863.42%231,05434.81%11,7681.77%189,90428.61%663,780
Houston5,90654.27%4,74343.58%2342.15%1,16310.69%10,883
Hubbard4,87241.86%6,55856.35%2081.79%-1,686-14.49%11,638
Isanti8,24841.13%11,32456.47%4812.40%-3,076-15.34%20,053
Itasca13,46055.18%10,30942.26%6262.56%3,15112.92%24,395
Jackson2,61846.56%2,85850.83%1472.61%-240-4.27%5,623
Kanabec3,74344.04%4,47952.70%2773.26%-736-8.66%8,499
Kandiyohi10,12546.24%11,31951.70%4512.06%-1,194-5.46%21,895
Kittson1,49258.10%1,01639.56%602.34%47618.54%2,568
Koochiching3,64953.65%2,96243.55%1912.80%68710.10%6,802
Lac qui Parle2,16051.53%1,91245.61%1202.86%2485.92%4,192
Lake4,17459.89%2,63637.82%1592.29%1,53822.07%6,969
Lake of the Woods97141.98%1,27855.25%642.77%-307-13.27%2,313
Le Sueur6,99446.60%7,63650.88%3792.52%-642-4.28%15,009
Lincoln1,51748.53%1,49147.70%1183.77%260.83%3,126
Lyon6,11048.08%6,31549.69%2832.23%-205-1.61%12,708
McLeod7,50539.44%10,99357.77%5312.79%-3,488-18.33%19,029
Mahnomen1,43661.29%84335.98%642.73%59325.31%2,343
Marshall2,31148.77%2,28548.22%1433.01%260.55%4,739
Martin4,41341.04%6,05356.29%2882.67%-1,640-15.25%10,754
Meeker5,38042.89%6,73753.70%4283.41%-1,357-10.81%12,545
Mille Lacs6,07244.83%7,04952.05%4233.12%-977-7.22%13,544
Morrison6,54739.10%9,73558.14%4612.76%-3,188-19.04%16,743
Mower11,60560.48%7,07536.87%5072.65%4,53023.61%19,187
Murray2,34548.72%2,32048.20%1483.08%250.52%4,813
Nicollet9,88754.19%7,96843.67%3902.14%1,91910.52%18,245
Nobles4,24448.16%4,36849.56%2012.28%-124-1.40%8,813
Norman2,12962.00%1,20435.06%1012.94%92526.94%3,434
Olmsted38,71150.62%36,20247.34%1,5572.04%2,5093.28%76,470
Otter Tail13,85642.39%18,07755.30%7542.31%-4,221-12.91%32,687
Pennington3,39449.75%3,24847.61%1802.64%1462.14%6,822
Pine7,08449.25%6,86247.71%4373.04%2221.54%14,383
Pipestone2,02342.14%2,65255.24%1262.62%-629-13.10%4,801
Polk7,85051.19%7,14846.62%3362.19%7024.57%15,334
Pope3,31750.75%3,06946.96%1502.29%2483.79%6,536
Ramsey182,97465.96%88,94232.06%5,4701.98%94,03233.90%277,386
Red Lake1,12051.12%98344.87%884.01%1376.25%2,191
Redwood3,25041.63%4,30855.19%2483.18%-1,058-13.56%7,806
Renville3,90447.99%3,95648.63%2753.38%-52-0.64%8,135
Rice17,38154.66%13,72343.16%6952.18%3,65811.50%31,799
Rock2,07941.79%2,77555.78%1212.43%-696-13.99%4,975
Roseau3,09740.22%4,43857.64%1652.14%-1,341-17.42%7,700
St. Louis77,35165.10%38,74232.61%2,7212.29%38,60932.49%118,814
Scott29,20843.51%36,72454.70%1,2001.79%-7,516-11.19%67,132
Sherburne17,95739.91%26,14058.10%8931.99%-8,183-18.19%44,990
Sibley2,99838.79%4,49258.12%2393.09%-1,494-19.33%7,729
Stearns35,69045.32%41,19452.31%1,8722.37%-5,504-6.99%78,756
Steele9,01645.87%10,06851.22%5722.91%-1,052-5.35%19,656
Stevens2,78149.36%2,71048.10%1432.54%711.26%5,634
Swift2,90755.43%2,18441.65%1532.92%72313.78%5,244
Todd5,27743.05%6,63754.15%3432.80%-1,360-11.10%12,257
Traverse1,04351.25%93345.85%592.90%1105.40%2,035
Wabasha5,64647.47%5,93549.90%3122.63%-289-2.43%11,893
Wadena2,88240.20%4,12857.58%1592.22%-1,246-17.38%7,169
Waseca4,40144.51%5,21152.70%2762.79%-810-8.19%9,888
Washington70,27751.27%64,33446.94%2,4481.79%5,9434.33%137,059
Watonwan2,56248.73%2,52648.04%1703.23%360.69%5,258
Wilkin1,55045.40%1,78652.31%782.29%-236-6.91%3,414
Winona16,30858.38%10,97539.29%6522.33%5,33319.09%27,935
Wright26,34340.17%37,77957.61%1,4562.22%-11,436-17.44%65,578
Yellow Medicine2,81650.57%2,57946.31%1743.12%2374.26%5,569
Totals1,573,35454.06%1,275,40943.82%61,6062.12%297,94510.24%2,910,369

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Barack Obama carried 5 of the 8 congressional districts, including one seat held by a Republican. John McCain carried three congressional districts, including one seat held by a Democrat.

DistrictMcCainObamaRepresentative
46.59%50.96%Tim Walz
49.76%48.32%John Kline
45.99%52.41%Jim Ramstad (110th Congress)
Erik Paulsen (111th Congress)
33.57%64.41%Betty McCollum
23.79%74.15%Keith Ellison
53.33%44.60%Michele Bachmann
50.10%47.39%Collin Peterson
44.50%53.10%Jim Oberstar

Electors

See main article: List of 2008 United States presidential electors.

Technically the voters of Minnesota heir ballots for electors: representatives to the Electoral College. Minnesota is allocated 10 electors because it has 8 congressional districts and 2 senators. All candidates who appear on the ballot or qualify to receive write-in votes must submit a list of 10 electors, who pledge to vote for their candidate and his or her running mate. Whoever wins the majority of votes in the state is awarded all 10 electoral votes. Their chosen electors then vote for president and vice president. Following an apparent mishap in the previous election, whereby an elector pledged to Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry instead cast their vote for running-mate John Edwards and thus became a faithless elector, Minnesota amended its statutes and became one of the few states whereby electors are legally required to vote for the candidate they are pledged to. This was the first election where the new laws were effective.[21]

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 10 were pledged to Barack Obama and Joe Biden:[22]

  1. Arthur A. Anderson
  2. Jim Gremmels
  3. Dave Lee
  4. Al Patton
  5. Joan M. Wittman
  6. William J. Davis
  7. Benjamin F. Gross
  8. Matt Little
  9. Jackie Stevenson
  10. Susan Kay Moravec - replaced Donyta J. Wright who did not appear for the ceremony[23]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Office of the State Of Minnesota Secretary of State. www.sos.state.mn.us. en. 2017-07-22.
  2. Web site: 2009-01-01. D.C.'s Political Report: The complete source for campaign summaries.. 2021-08-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20090101161206/http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/Predictions.html. 2009-01-01.
  3. Web site: 2015-05-05. Presidential. 2021-08-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20150505003043/http://cookpolitical.com/presidential. 2015-05-05.
  4. Web site: 2009-04-22. Vote 2008 - The Takeaway - 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/. 2009-04-22.
  5. Web site: Electoral-vote.com: President, Senate, House Updated Daily. 2021-08-23. electoral-vote.com.
  6. Based on Takeaway
  7. Web site: POLITICO's 2008 Swing State Map com. 2016-09-22. POLITICO .
  8. Web site: RealClearPolitics - Electoral Map. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080605003612/http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=5. 2008-06-05.
  9. Web site: CQ Presidential Election Maps, 2008. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090614004022/http://innovation.cq.com/prezMap08. June 14, 2009. December 20, 2009. CQ Politics.
  10. News: Nagourney. Adam. Zeleny. Jeff. Carter. Shan. 2008-11-04. The Electoral Map: Key States. The New York Times. May 26, 2010.
  11. News: 2008-10-31. October  - 2008  - CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs. CNN. May 26, 2010. 2010-06-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20100619013250/http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/. dead.
  12. News: April 27, 2010. Winning The Electoral College. Fox News.
  13. Web site: roadto270. 2016-09-22. hosted.ap.org.
  14. Web site: Election 2008: Electoral College Update - Rasmussen Reports. 2016-09-22. www.rasmussenreports.com.
  15. Web site: Minnesota: McCain vs. Obama. 2009-04-05.
  16. Web site: Presidential Campaign Finance . Federal Election Commission . 2009-08-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090324090010/http://www.fec.gov/DisclosureSearch/MapAppState.do?stateName=MN&cand_id=P00000001 . 2009-03-24 . dead .
  17. News: Map: Campaign Ad Spending - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com . CNN . 2010-05-26.
  18. News: Map: Campaign Candidate Visits - Election Center 2008 from CNN.com . CNN . 2010-05-26.
  19. News: Election Results 2008 . 2009-04-05 . The New York Times . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20041103020223/http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/history/ch13.htm . November 3, 2004 .
  20. Web site: Official General Election Results . 2008-12-12 . Minnesota Secretary of State . https://web.archive.org/web/20081208125007/http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/ElecRslts.asp?M=S&R=P . 2008-12-08 . dead .
  21. Web site: 208.08, 2008 Minnesota Statutes . Revisor.leg.state.mn.us . 2016-08-21.
  22. Web site: Archived copy . April 19, 2009 . dead . http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20081127113726/http%3A//www%2Esos%2Estate%2Emn%2Eus/docs/2008_presidential_candidates_and_electors%2Epdf . November 27, 2008 .
  23. http://citizenelector.us/ Citizen Elector

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